Frank F. Eves

From novice to no know-how: A longitudinal study of implicit motor learning

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the performances of implicit and explicit learners would converge over an extended period of learning. Participants practised a complex motor skill - golf putting - for 3000 trials, either with a concurrent secondary, tone-counting task (implicit learning) or without such a task (explicit learning). The cognitive demands of the secondary task were predicted to prevent the accumulation of verbalizable rules about the motor task. The implicit group reported significantly fewer rules than the explicit group on subsequent verbal protocols. The performance of the implicit group remained below that of the explicit group throughout the learning phase. However, no significant differences were found between groups during a delayed retention test. Additionally, for the participants in the explicit group only, a Reinvestment Scale score correlated positively with the number of rules accrued and negatively with overall putting performance during the learning phase. We use the results to argue against the excessive use of verbal instruction during skill acquisition, which might be unnecessary and ultimately might hamper performance under stressful conditions.

The role of working memory in motor learning and performance

Three experiments explore the role of working memory in motor skill acquisition and performance. Traditional theories postulate that skill acquisition proceeds through stages of knowing, which are initially declarative but later procedural. The reported experiments challenge that view and support an independent, parallel processing model, which predicts that procedural and declarative knowledge can be acquired separately and that the former does not depend on the availability of working memory, whereas, the latter does. The behaviour of these two processes was manipulated by providing or withholding visual (and auditory) appraisal of outcome feedback. Withholding feedback was predicted to inhibit the use of working memory to appraise success and, thus, prevent the formation of declarative knowledge without affecting the accumulation of procedural knowledge. While the first experiment failed to support these predictions, the second and third experiments demonstrated that procedural and declarative knowledge can be acquired independently. It is suggested that the availability of working memory is crucial to motor performance only when the learner has come to rely on its use.

An intervention to promote walking amongst the general population based on an 'extended' theory of planned behaviour: A waiting list randomised controlled trial

Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) studies have identified perceived behavioural control (PBC) as the key determinant of walking intentions. The present study investigated whether an intervention designed to alter PBC and create walking plans increased TPB measures concerning walking more, planning and objectively measured walking. One hundred and thirty UK adults participated in a waiting-list randomised controlled trial. The intervention consisted of strategies to boost PBC, plus volitional strategies to enact walking intentions. All TPB constructs were measured, along with self-reported measures of action planning and walking, and an objective pedometer measure of time spent walking. The intervention increased PBC, attitudes, intentions and objectively measured walking from 20 to 32 min a day. The effects of the intervention on intentions and behaviour were mediated by PBC, although the effects on PBC were not mediated by control beliefs. At 6 weeks follow-up, participants maintained their increases in walking. The findings of this study partially support the proposed causal nature of the extended TPB as a framework for developing and evaluating health behaviour change interventions. This is the first study using the TPB to develop, design and evaluate the components of an intervention which increased objectively measured behaviour, with effects mediated by TPB variables.

A Workplace Intervention to Promote Stair Climbing: Greater Effects in the Overweight

Objective: Stair climbing is a lifestyle physical activity that uses more calories per minute than jogging. This study tested an intervention designed to promote stair climbing in a workplace. Because previous studies provide only equivocal evidence of the effects of increased stair climbing in worksites, a formal comparison of the effects of the intervention on stair ascent and descent was made.

Reinvestment and movement disruption following stroke.

Background. Disruption of the automaticity of movement execution is commonly experienced by people with stroke and may result from the person consciously attempting to control the mechanics of his or her movements. This act of turning ones attention in toward the mechanics of an action is referred to as “reinvestment.” Objectives. This study aimed to explore the hypothesis that people with stroke have a greater propensity for reinvestment than the nondisabled population and to examine the relationship between reinvestment, functional impairment from stroke, and aspects of rehabilitation. Methods. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was used. A total of 148 people with stroke and 148 nondisabled adults completed the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between functional impairment and various potential predictors. Results. Compared with controls, people with stroke had a greater propensity for reinvestment. Conscious motor processing and time spent in rehabilitation were significant predictors of functional impairment following stroke. Conclusions. The association between functional impairment, propensity for reinvestment, and time spent in rehabilitation indicates that exclusive reliance on conscious motor processing strategies in the rehabilitation setting may be an impediment to regaining functional independence. There is a need to develop motor learning strategies for rehabilitation that restrain the propensity for reinvestment.

Posters can prompt less active people to use the stairs

Climbing stairs is an incidental physical activity that people can incorporate within daily life. Observational studies have shown that posters at the point of choice between stairs and escalators can increase stair use.1-3 As the greatest public health benefits can be gained from encouraging the least active to exercise more,4 stair and escalator users were interviewed to assess whether poster prompts encouraged inactive people to use the stairs. Interview data from two studies in a Birmingham shopping mall were combined. In each study, a two week baseline period was followed by exposure to a poster, for up to four weeks, which encouraged stair use. The poster was located at the point of choice between the escalators and stairs. Interviews were conducted at the top of the …

Can Posters Prompt Stair Use in a Worksite Environment

Up to a third of the population in industrialised countries is completely sedentary, and, as a consequence, runs a two-fold risk of increased mortality . Encouraging the sedentary to be more active is, therefore, a public health priority. In light of evidence of an inverse gradient of risk between clinical disease and physical activity, such that some activity is better than none, exercise recommendations have been expanded to include the accumulation of lifestyle activities, such as walking and stair-climbing. Opportunities for stair-climbing are free and readily available to most population groups. Regular stairclimbing also has well documented health dividends such as increased fitness and strength, weight loss, improved lipid profiles and reduced risk of osteoporosis. Research in shopping centres and train stations has shown that poster prompts, placed at the choice point between adjacent escalators and stairs, can significantly increase stair use. Health promoters have, therefore, championed the use of such posters in public places, including worksites. Worksites have been targeted as an important setting for physical activity interventions as most adults spend half their waking hours at their workplace. In a recent review, however, the authors concluded that typical worksite interventions did not increase physical activity levels and that the scientific evaluation of such programmes was poor. While Knadler and Rogers reported that a stair-climbing contest, with incentives and cues, encouraged stair-climbing in a worksite, baseline stair use was not reported. Hence, there has been no formal evaluation of the effectiveness of simple poster prompts in a worksite. This study assessed the effectiveness of a poster prompt to increase stair use in two workplaces. Methods

Associations between visual attention, implicit and explicit attitude and behaviour for physical activity.

The current study explored associations between previous physical activity and both implicit and explicit attitudes, as well as visual attention and activity motivation (intention). Analyses were performed on participants initially unaware of the physical activity focus of the study (N = 98). Higher levels of physical activity were associated with positive implicit attitudes and an attentional bias towards exercise cues. There was a quadratic (‘U’ shaped) relationship between implicit attitude and attention: the more extreme individuals’ implicit attitudes towards exercise (positive or negative) the greater their attentional bias to exercise cues. Furthermore, explicit attitude moderated the relationship between attentional bias and physical activity: attentional bias to exercise cues was associated with higher levels of physical activity only for those who had a strong positive explicit attitude. Findings suggested that implicit cognitions are linked with previous physical activity. Future research should consider strategies for strengthening positive implicit and explicit attitudes and directing attention to cues signalling healthy behaviour.

Promoting Stair Use: Single Versus Multiple Stair-Riser Messages

Message banners attached to stair risers produced a significant increase in pedestrian stair use, exceeding effects previously reported for conventional posters. Multiple instances of the same message banner, however, were as effective as banners featuring different messages. Therefore, greater visibility, rather than message variety, appears to account for the superiority of the banner format. Our findings indicate the feasibility of simple stair-use promotion campaigns based around the repetition of a single message.

The theory of planned behaviour predicts self‐reports of walking, but does not predict step count

OBJECTIVES This paper compares multiple measures of walking in two studies, and the second study compares how well Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) constructs perform in predicting these different measures. METHODS In Study 1, 41 participants wore a New Lifestyles NL-2000 pedometer for 1 week. Subsequently, participants completed a questionnaire containing measures of the TPB constructs and two self-report measures of walking, followed by two interview measures of walking. For Study 2, 200 RAF trainee aircraftsmen wore pedometers for 2 weeks. At the end of each week, participants completed the questionnaire and interview measures of walking. RESULTS Both studies found no significant association between questionnaire measures of walking and pedometer measures. In Study 1, the interview measures produced significant, large correlations with the pedometer measure, but these relationships were markedly weaker in the second study. TPB variables were found to explain 22% of variance in intention to walk in Study 1 and 45% of the variance in Study 2. In Study 2, prediction of subsequent measures of behaviour was found to be weak, except when using a single-item measure of walking. CONCLUSIONS Recall of walking is poor, and accurate measurement by self-report is problematic. Although the TPB predicts intentions to walk well, it does not predict actual amount of walking, as assessed by pedometer. Possible reasons for these findings include the unique nature of walking as an activity primarily used to facilitate higher order goals. The use of single-item measures may exaggerate the effectiveness of the TPB model for walking, and possibly other forms of physical activity.