Abstract
A quantitative review of time pressure effects on human performance was conducted. One-hundred-twenty-five references were identified that met selection criteria. These studies provided 827 effect sizes. Analyses revealed an overall small but detrimental effect of time pressure on performance. However, moderator analyses indicated that the effect of time pressure varied as a function of task type and the measure of performance (accuracy vs. speed). As expected, time pressure facilitated speed but impaired accuracy for both perceptual and cognitive tasks. Although there were few studies available for motor tasks, evidence from the available studies indicated that time pressure reduced speed. Accuracy data were inconclusive. Across all analyses there was evidence of substantial variability across studies, indicating that other moderating variables may influence the performance effects of time pressure.
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