Abstract
The present study examined the effects of both security and performance based electronic monitoring systems on physiological and performance indices of users' behaviour. The 32 subjects performed a computer-based data entry task under various conditions. In the "control security challenge" condition subjects were informed that a keystroke security monitoring system had been instituted, but no security challenges occurred. In the "explicit security challenge" condition, however, a number of explicit security challenges occurred. In the final "electronic performance monitoring" (EPM) condition, subjects were informed their data entry speed was monitored and they were placed on a response-cost schedule for poor performance. Blood pressure and continuous inter-heart beat latency were recorded for the security challenge and EPM conditions. Results indicated that monitoring systems have the potential to evoke altered arousal states in the form of increased heart rate and blood pressure. The implications of these results for the design and implementation of electronic behavioural based security and performance monitoring systems are discussed."