Effects of a “boredom” treatment on children’s simple RT performance

Abstract

First-graders were given alternating blocks of trials on a picture-viewing and a simple RT task. Half the Ss were “bored” during picture viewing via repeated exposure to a simple geometric form; the remaining Ss viewed nonrepeated colored pictures of high interest value. Bored girls had significantly slower travel speeds on the RT task than did non-bored girls. For boys, a difference of only slightly lesser magnitude, but in the opposite direction and nonsignificant, was obtained. © 1968, Psychonomic Journals. All rights reserved.