The quantitative set.

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Abstract
The problem was to determine to what extent an individual's efficiency is influenced by the amount of work with which he is faced. The element of recognizing this amount constitutes for the authors the quantitative set. Two sets of experiments were made to measure the extent of the influence of quantitative set: (1) under both work and time limits and (2) without differentiating these. The criterion of efficiency used was speed, measured by number of examples done per unit of time in minutes or quarter minutes. The work consisted of adding pairs of digits arranged in continuous rows on a sheet of paper, and the answers were written by the subject on the sheet immediately under the digits. The writers conclude that initial efficiency in number work is directly proportional to the subject's quantitative set when the work limit method is used, which they designate in amount set, but not under the influence of a time set. The same thing is true of "the steepness of the decrement which will develop in a given amount of time in such a task." Again, "in a long task if presented to the S in parts, even though the S worked continuously with no respite between parts, he will work at a higher level of efficiency than he will when he regards the task as presented as a whole." There is a very close relationship between the particular quantitative set under which an individual is operating and the degree of increased tension which he will manifest. There is a lesser increase of tension for a long task and a greater increase in tension for a shorter task in anticipation of the nearness of the end of the work. The shift in the level of early tension the writers believe to be closely parallel, even identical, with the thing called initial spurt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

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