State, Stress, and Time Pressure

Research investigating the effects of time pressure on judgment and decision making has tended to conceptualize the effects of time constraints in one of two ways. One approach has considered the imposition of a deadline as a stressor, emphasizing the mediating role of changes in affective state in influencing cognition (Maule & Mackie, 1990; Svenson & dland, 1989). The second approach has assumed that time constraints are one among a number of task and environmental factors that are included in a cost/benefit determination of cognitive strategy (Payne, Bettman & Johnson, 1988; Payne, Johnson, Bettman, & Coupey, 1990). The aim of the present chapter is to critically evaluate these approaches and to consider them in the light of recent research on the effects of stress on cognition. To meet these aims, the chapter is structured in the following way. First, there is a brief discussion of a number of key methodological issues. This is followed by a brief and selective review of major approaches investigating the effects of time constraints on judgment and decision making Finally, there is a review of Variable State Activation Theory (VSAT) (Hockey, 1986; Hockey, Briner, Tattersall, & Wiethoff, 1989; Hockey & Hamilton, 1983) and an analysis of how it may provide a unifying approach to develop our understanding of the effects of time constraints on judgment and decision making.

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