The Effects of an Audience on Participants Reaction Times.
Many studies have been carried out to determine whether the presence of an audience effects the way in which humans perform. The aim of this experiment was to ascertain whether an audience would have an effect on the scores of individuals taking part in a reaction time test, the hypothesis being that participants would gain faster reaction times if they were in front of an audience. Earlier studies have indicated that if people are being watched while they perform a simple task, their dominant response will usually be correct and will therefore achieve better results. 16 undergraduate psychology students took part in the experiment and a repeated measures design was used as well as counterbalancing to avoid the effect that practice may have on results. There were 10 trials of simple reaction time carried out, followed by 20 choice reaction time trials and ending with another 10 simple reaction time trials. After carrying out a t-test it was found that the results showed no significance and therefore that hypothesis was rejected.
Introduction.
The effect of an audience upon the performance of individuals has been studied for many years. Spectators may affect individuals in a positive way, therefore improving their performance, or they may be inhibited which can lead to mistakes and poor performance. Everybody has experienced these feelings; it may have been while a child's parents were watching him race at a school sports day, causing a positive effect, or if somebody is watching over your shoulder while you type, which may have a negative effect. People who are being watched, by one person or a group of people often feel self-conscious but these feelings are less in people who have more self confidence.
Triplett (1898) carried out the first known study on the effects of an audience on the performance of individuals. He used a sample of young children.
