The birth of flow: Why Coles et al. (1985) is important.

Abstract

This perspective article explains why the article of Coles et al. (1985) must be considered a milestone in research on human cognition: Because it was the first convincing demonstration that Eriksen's theoretical flow idea can be tested and confirmed, because it foreshadowed systematic modeling attempts to capture the dynamics of decision making and response conflicts, and because its findings provided one of the strongest arguments against the back then dominating stage-analytical approach, which opened the door for more dynamic, interactive models of human cognition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).