Gaynor Parfitt

The psychological and physiological responses of sedentary individuals to prescribed and preferred intensity exercise

OBJECTIVESnAffective valence responses to exercise may influence adherence. According to a newly proposed dual-mode model, affective responses have been proposed to vary depending on whether exercise is undertaken above or below the anaerobic threshold. With the model in mind, the study objectives were to explore the impact of an above-lactate, below-lactate, and self-selected exercise condition on acute affective responses in sedentary individuals.nnnDESIGNnUsing a repeated measures design, 12 volunteers participated in two prescribed intensity exercise conditions (above and below-lactate threshold) and one self-selected intensity exercise condition. The three conditions were randomized.nnnMETHODnAn incremental walking protocol was used to identify exercise intensities that would elicit above- and below-lactate threshold work rates for each participant. The exercise conditions were completed on different days and each lasted for 20 minutes. Physiological and affective responses were recorded pre-exercise, during exercise, and post-exercise.nnnRESULTSnAffective responses were more negative in the above-lactate condition during exercise compared with the below-lactate and self-selected conditions. There were no differences between the conditions post-exercise. Participants exercised around the lactate threshold and at a significantly higher intensity in the self-selected compared with the below-lactate condition. Inter-individual variability in responses was greatest below the lactate threshold, with similar levels of variability in the self-selected and above-lactate conditions.nnnCONCLUSIONSnData are consistent with the proposals of the dual-mode model and support the use of self-selected intensity with sedentary individuals to promote positive affective responses.

The effect of choice of exercise mode on psychological responses.

Abstract Objectives : Choice has been linked to both motivation and psychological responses to exercise. This paper investigates participants’ psychological responses when they completed an exercise session where there was a high-preference exercise mode as opposed to a low-preference exercise mode. High- and low-preference were established by participants indicating their preferred choice of exercise from three standard modes used for aerobic work. Method : Participants were 20 low-active adults who exercised for 20 min on each mode of exercise (high-preference versus low-preference). Affect, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) were recorded every 5 min during exercise, and affect and HR were assessed pre-exercise and 5 min post-exercise. Results : Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed condition and time main effects for affect sub-scales and RPE and a time main effect for HR. Affect sub-scales, RPE and HR generally increased over time. RPE, Fatigue and Psychological Distress were higher in the low-preference condition and positive well-being was higher in the high-preference condition. Conclusions : Affect and RPE were influenced by the preferred choice manipulation. Affect was more positive, and RPE lower, in the high-preference versus low-preference condition while work rate remained constant across conditions.

Performance catastrophes in sport: A test of the hysteresis hypothesis

An experiment is reported which tests Fazey and Hardys (1988) catastrophe model of anxiety and performance. Eight experienced crown green bowlers performed a bowling task under conditions of high and low cognitive anxiety. On each of these occasions, physiological arousal (measured by heart rate) was manipulated by means of physical work in such a way that the subjects were tested with physiological arousal increasing and decreasing. A repeated-measures three-factor ANOVA was used to test the hysteresis hypothesis that the performance x heart rate graph would follow a different path for heart rate increasing compared with heart rate decreasing in the high cognitive anxiety condition, but not in the low cognitive anxiety condition. The ANOVA revealed the predicted three-way interaction of cognitive anxiety, heart rate, and the direction of change in heart rate upon performance, with follow-up tests indicating that the interaction was due to hysteresis occurring in the high cognitive anxiety condition but not in the low cognitive anxiety condition. Other statistical procedures showed that, in the high cognitive anxiety condition, subjects best performances were significantly better, and their worst performances significantly worse, than in the low cognitive anxiety condition. However, the results did not provide unequivocal support for the catastrophe model of anxiety and performance.

The development and initial validation of the Exercise Causality Orientations Scale

Deci and Ryans causality orientations theory suggests that there are individual differences in motivational orientation towards initiating and regulating behaviour. They described three causality orientations: autonomy, control and impersonal. The aim of this paper is to describe the development and concurrent validity of the Exercise Causality Orientations Scale (ECOS), which was designed to measure the strength of these three orientations within exercise. Altogether, 592 working adults aged 35.0±11.4 years (mean±s ) completed the ECOS and measures of self-determination, self-consciousness and social desirability. The analysis was conducted in two parts. First, the data were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis using a multi-trait, multimethod framework. The original model resulted in a poor fit to the data. On the basis of its modification indices, three scenarios with ambiguous items were removed successively, resulting in a scale with good psychometric properties. Secondly, Pearsons correlations were conducted between the subscales of the ECOS and those of the questionnaires used for validation. Most of the results supported a priori hypotheses. In conclusion, our results show the ECOS to have good psychometric properties and they provide some support for its concurrent validity.

The effects of competitive anxiety on memory span and rebound shooting tasks in basketball players

Two theoretical models were used to investigate aspects of basketball performance: Eysencks (1979, 1984) compensatory arousal model and Humphreys and Revelles (1984) twin resources model. Cognitive and somatic anxiety were manipulated using a time to event paradigm. The aspects of performance were a short-term memory task (letter span) and a low memory demand, motoric-sustained information transfer task (rebound shooting). Hypotheses based on the different models were formulated and subsequently tested using analysis of variance and polynomial regression analysis. The results indicated significant (P < 0.01) linear relationships with negative slopes between cognitive anxiety and letter span, and between somatic anxiety and letter span; while significant (P < 0.01) linear relationships with positive slopes were recorded between cognitive anxiety and rebound shooting, and between somatic anxiety and rebound shooting. The analysis of variance results were in agreement with a positive effect (P < 0.05) for cognitive anxiety upon rebound shooting, and a negative effect which approached significance (P < 0.07) for somatic anxiety upon letter span. The results were interpreted as offering partial support for Eysencks (1979) theoretical model, although further examination of multidimensional anxiety effects via the two models is warranted.

Performance profiling and predictive validity

Abstract Based on the principles of Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955), performance profiling has been proposed as a means of understanding an athletes perspective of his or her own notions of self and performance. This study represents the first attempt to validate the use of a quantitative performance profile technique within track and field athletics. Participants consisted of thirty-nine track and field athletes regularly presenting for training and competition (22 male, 17 female: mean age = 20.9, SD = 2.26). Participants completed their profile prior to three intra-season competitions. Correlation and linear regression analyses results provided support for the validity and predictive ability between profile ratings and performance, but also suggested that the profile should not be used unreservedly. Progressively stronger relationships were found from competition one to three. The latter may be associated with an accommodation phase to accuracy of profiling. This suggests that the technique sh...

Physical Self-Perceptions, Aerobic Capacity and Physical Activity in Male and Female Members of a Corporate Health and Fitness Club

As physical activity and fitness are believed to influence esteem and self-perceptions positively, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among participation in physical activity, aerobic capacity, and physical self-perceptions in 40 men and 33 women, members of a British corporate health and fitness club. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated a significant linear relationship for men between scores on Physical Self-worth and composite scores on Participation in Physical Activity. Mens feelings regarding general physical self-worth may be an important determinant of their subsequent levels of physical exercise.