Computer response time measurements of mood, fatigue and symptom scale items: Implications for scale response time uses

摘要

Response time (RT) to computer-administered questionnaire items were measured in two studies to evaluate how useful it might be in various research areas. These studies had different start-of-day times and each had two exercise levels. Thirty subjects were tested over two continuous 20 hour days (CW1 and CW2) with three hours of nap time allowed between days. The scales analyzed were the Vigor and Fatigue scales of the Profile of Mood States (POMS), a symptom checklist, a Guttman type fatigue scale, and a Negative and Positive mood scale. Response time to most scales were faster on CW2, whereas the symptom, negative mood and fatigue scales increased and the vigor and positive scale values were lower CW2. There were no differences between exercise levels or start time studies in scale RT. Reaction time on a simple psychomotor task was significantly slower on CW2, but was not correlated with any scale RT either day, indicating that response speed was not involved in scale RT. Also, there were no significant correlations between reading speed or reading grade level with scale RTs. Mean POMS Fatigue scale RT was highly correlated with the mean scale value both days, showing slower RT with higher fatigue scale values. The Positive Scale took longer than the Negative Scale, and the POMS Vigor took longer than Fatigue both days showing some support for the theory that moods congruent with the present state are more prominent in memory as indicated by faster FT. The most complex scale (Guttman) had the longest RT while the most simple (dichotomous) had the shortest RT. Scale RT showed some usefulness as a measure in a variety of research areas.