Disentangling the effects of task difficulty and effort on flow experience.

ABSTRACT: Flow, which is a rewarding state of full focus, typically arises when engaging in tasks with an optimal level of difficulty that is matched with a person's skill level. Meanwhile, optimal task difficulty usually comes with the greatest effort exertion. We propose that not only the difficulty level, but also the level of effort invested plays a role in the subjective feelings of flow. Using a visual discrimination task, we manipulated stimulus complexity and the expected probability of detecting a difference to induce and disentangle perceived task difficulty and effort exertion, respectively. Notably, perceived task difficulty increased proportionally with increasing stimulus complexity. Reaction time as an index of effort exertion, increased in challenging tasks with higher expectancy. Pa

SUBMITTER: Lu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12202627 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature