抄録
The present study was planned to elucidate the effects of cooperation and competition on heart rate, problem solving and cognition in a 3-person or 2-person (pair) group.Subjects consisted of 112 junior college female students who were healthy and aged 19 to 20 years. 84 of them were divided into four groups, each consisting of seven sub-groups having three subjects each. The remaining 28 were divided into two groups, each consisting of seven pairs.The problem solving task was carried out under one of the following conditions, (1) competition, (2) cooperation, (3)cooperation in a group and competition between groups, and (4) neutral instruction. In the paired group, either (1) or (3) was used.Heart rate was continuously measured using cardiotachometers. Additionally, psychological time was measured by the estimation method and other questionnaires.The main results indicated that : 1. Heart rate during problem solving increased in all groups, but it was differed by each condition. In the competition and the neutral groups, it increased remarkably during the training period. In the coop-comp group, it showed no change, but it decreased in the cooperation group.2. Problem solving the showed no difference between competition and neutral group which were consisted of 3 persons. And results in the cooperation and the coop-comp groups indicated by group performance showed no difference between them. The times of the coop-comp group showed no differences from those of the first and second recorders of the competition and the neutral groups. The times of the cooperation group were not different from those of the second-place individuals in both groups. On the other hand, in the paired situation, the problem solving time in the coop-comp group showed no difference from that of a superior of the pair in the competition group.When these results, cognitive responses, and other factors such as psychological time, difficulty of the task, consciousness of other subjects in the group and interest in the experiment were combined, it was thought that a competitive situation induced excessive arousal levels, whereas a cooperative situation provided relatively optimal arousal levels for performance.
