Introduction

In general, increasing speed pressure decreases accuracy, and increasing accuracy pressure decreases speed. There are a few exceptions to this rule, like swinging an axe, but otherwise it holds up pretty well. For example, when you are typing, if you try to go very fast, you will make mistakes, but if you try to type perfectly, you will have to slow down. The speed-accuracy trade-off is a concern for researchers in cognitive psychology because, if some participants in an experiment emphasize speed and not accuracy, while others emphasize accuracy and not speed, the statistical results of the experiment can be misleading. Researchers deal with this issue in a variety of ways, from excluding trials with incorrect responses to limiting the response time window for an experiment. In the present experiment, if you follow the instructions properly, you should be able to observe the impact that putting a focus on either speed or accuracy can have on even a very simple experiment.