Fig. 1: Experimental task.
From: Acute stress impairs decision-making at varying levels of decision complexity
Trial: A set of 8 items is shown, each with a value and a weight. A capacity constraint, target profit, and timer are shown at the screen’s centre. The goal is to decide whether there exists a subset of items for which (1) the sum of weights is lower or equal to the capacity constraint; and (2) the sum of values is at least the target profit. Nothing on the screen could be moved, selected or highlighted. Response: Participants selected Yes or No as their answer. Perceived difficulty: After each trial, participants rated its difficulty. Perceived stress: After every ninth trial, participants rated their perceived level of stress.
