Distraction Conflict

Distraction Conflict

1. Saunders proposed that the presence of others creates distraction to the person attempting to perform the task

2. when a person is distracted, less attention is paid to the task which inhibits performance of simple tasks and facilitates performance of simple tasks

3. Saunders et al 1978

   • tested effect of distraction conflict on performance of a task
   • ppts presented with a simple or complex task in the presence of others doing either the same or a different task
     • hypothesized that an actor doing the same task as the ppt would provide more distraction as they would be a source of competition
   • those in the high-distraction condition performed the simple task better and the complex task worse
     • supports distraction-conflict
     • can also be applied to animals