Perceptual and cognitive responses during exercise: Relationships with metamotivational state and dominance

Perceptual and cognitive responses during exercise: Relationships with metamotivational state and dominance

Authors: Joanne Thatcher a; Yusuke Kuroda a; Rhys Thatcher a;Fabien Legrand b
Affiliations: a Department of Sport and Exercise Science, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
b Laboratoire de Psychologie Applique, Universit de Reims, Reims, France
DOI: 10.1080/17461390903470012
Publication Frequency: 6 issues per year
Published in: European Journal of Sport Science, Volume 10, Issue 3 May 2010 , pages 199 - 207
Subject: Sport & Exercise Science;
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Abstract
In this study, we examined ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and attentional focus during exercise in relation to telic and paratelic metamotivational dominance and state. Thirty regular exercisers (11 females, 19 males), of whom 10 were telic dominant (mean Paratelic Dominance Scale score=6.2±2.9), 10 paratelic dominant (mean PDS score=23.8±1.4), and 10 non-dominant (mean PDS score=15.4±0.7) completed two exercise trials. In the first trial, the participants completed a maximal ramped exercise test on a motorized treadmill to determine their gas exchange threshold (the speed at which determined exercise intensity of the subsequent trial). Throughout the second trial (a 30-min treadmill run), the participants reported their metamotivational state, RPE, and attentional focus (associative or dissociative) at 5-min intervals. Heart rate was recorded at 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, and 28 min and expired air was analysed for oxygen consumption (VO2) between 1-3, 6-8, 11-13, 16-18, 21-23, and 26-28 min. There was no main effect of dominance or dominancetime interaction on any variables (P >0.05). Oxygen consumption did not differ between states but RPE was higher in the telic than paratelic state at 25 and 30 min (t 28=2.87, P <0.05; t 26.77=3.88, P <0.05, respectively). Attentional focus was more associative in the telic than paratelic state at 20, 25, and 30 min (t 28=- 3.73, P <0.05; t 28=- 4.85, P <0.01; t 28=- 5.15, P <0.05, respectively) and heart rate was higher at 23 min in the telic state (t 27=3.40, P <0.05). During the latter stages of exercise, the telic metamotivational state, not dominance, was related to a more associative attentional focus and higher RPE. Our results support the use of reversal theory (Apter, 2001) to understand perceptual and cognitive responses during aerobic exercise, but an experimental design in which state is manipulated is needed to examine the effects of metamotivational dominance and state on perceptual and cognitive responses.