Effortless attention and composite challenges in movement interaction

This paper describes an empirical investigation into the nature of challenge within the context of flow or effortless attention. An important condition of the flow state is that the challenges of the task are commensurate with the person’s level of skill. However when considering movement interaction those challenges could be composite in the sense that they could comprise physical as well as intellectual elements. In order to evaluate the importance of composite challenges, this investigation compares an unbalanced with a balanced activity in terms of their challenge composition. The results of the study suggest that balanced activities are more likely to promote flow but also highlight the need of undertaking more detailed studies of balancing in composite challenges within the context of flow.