281 research outputs found
Why is it Difficult to Cross the Street While Talking?
In everyday life, we often do a task with our body (like walking or running),
while we talk to someone or think about something else. This can sometimes
cause problems, especially when the tasks are very difficult, or when they are
not well-practiced. Researchers are interested in how people perform tasks
at the same time, and also in age differences: Do children and older adults
encounter more problems in such situations than young adults? Findings
indicate that children and older adults tend to pay more attention to the
motor task when there is a risk of getting hurt, which is a smart strategy
because it keeps them safe
Implementing FullâBody Movements in a Verbal Memory Task: Searching for Benefits but Finding Mainly Costs
Studies on âembodimentâ show that moving your body can enhance cognition. We investigated such effects in a verbal memory task across age. In Study 1, children, adolescents, and young adults (N = 148) were tested in group sessions and reproduced number series of increasing length. In the âembodiedâ condition, subjects walked to numbered gymnastic mats. In the âsittingâ condition, the numbers were presented visually. All age groups, except the youngest, showed a deterioration of verbal memory performance in the embodied condition compared to sitting. In Study 2, young adults (n = 33, Mage = 24.5âyears) and children (n = 28, Mage = 7.3âyears) were tested individually, with smaller target fields. There were no differences in verbal memory performance between the conditions. This indicates that âembodimentâ does not always lead to performance enhancements. Instead, moving through space while thinking represents a dual-task situation, causing performance decrements across age
Table tennis expertise influences dual-task costs in timed and self-initiated tasks
Theories on resource sharing predict that performances will suffer under dual-task conditions. However, in creases in skill level should decrease attentional resources needed to perform a task, resulting in a reduction of
dual-task costs. The current study investigates whether table tennis experts are better able than novices to keep
up their motor and cognitive performances in a dual-task situation. Two different cognitive tasks, 3-back and
Counting Backwards in steps of 7, and two different table tennis tasks, returns and serves, were assessed in each
possible cognitive-motor task combination in a within-subjects design. While 3-back and returns were timed,
Counting Backwards and serves were self-initiated. We assumed that self-initiated tasks increase dual-task costs,
since the scheduling of the responses requires attentional resources. As predicted, dual-task costs of novices were
considerably higher (35%) than those of experts, who did not show costs (â 1%). The predicted increase of costs
for self-initiated tasks was only observed in the experts, while novices showed a tendency to reduce their dual task costs for self-initiated tasks. It is argued that this is due to the psychometric properties of the underlying task,
since timed tasks were specified by a fixed number of targets and responses. We conclude that cognitive-motor
dual-task costs may be a valuable measure of sporting skill, over and above âpureâ motor or cognitive
performances
Running During Encoding Improves Word Learning for Children
The learning of new information is an important task in everyday life, especially at
a young age. Acute physical exercise can facilitate cognitive processes in multiple
ways, and previous studies have shown that memory can profit from physical exercise
before and during the encoding of vocabulary. The current study investigates the
interplay of movement and vocabulary learning and also addresses lifespan differences
in these effects. Participants were recruited in a recreational basketball club. Children
(n = 24, Mage = 12.3 years; 13 girls), young adults (n = 30, Mage = 21.5 years;
17 women), and older adults (n = 24, Mage = 59.3 years; 9 women) learned 20 new
pseudo-words, which corresponded to a German word. In a between-subjects design,
encoding took place either while standing, while running, or while running and dribbling
a basketball. Recall was assessed three times throughout the learning session and
on the following day. In children, more words could be remembered in the running
condition compared to the standing condition. There were no differences between
conditions for the young and older adults. Age-dependent reasons for this pattern
of results are discussed and embedded into the literature of physical exercise. Our
result suggests that implementing learning activities into childrenâs physical education
or exercise activities could be beneficial
Negative Effects of Embodiment in a Visuo-Spatial Working Memory Task in Children, Young Adults, and Older Adults
Studies examining the effect of embodied cognition have shown that linking oneâs
body movements to a cognitive task can enhance performance. The current study
investigated whether concurrent walking while encoding or recalling spatial information
improves working memory performance, and whether 10-year-old children, young
adults, or older adults (Mage = 72 years) are affected differently by embodiment. The
goal of the Spatial Memory Task was to encode and recall sequences of increasing
length by reproducing positions of target fields in the correct order. The nine targets
were positioned in a random configuration on a large square carpet (2.5 m Ă 2.5 m).
During encoding and recall, participants either did not move, or they walked into the
target fields. In a within-subjects design, all possible combinations of encoding and recall
conditions were tested in counterbalanced order. Contrary to our predictions, moving
particularly impaired encoding, but also recall. These negative effects were present in
all age groups, but older adultsâ memory was hampered even more strongly by walking
during encoding and recall. Our results indicate that embodiment may not help people
to memorize spatial information, but can create a dual-task situation instead
Tennis expertise reduces costs in cognition but not in motor skills in a cognitive-motor dual-task condition
Dual-process theories predict performance reductions under dual-task situations (= situations where two tasks have to be processed and executed simultaneously), because limited cognitive resources have to be shared between concurrent tasks. Increases in expertise should reduce the attentional resources needed to perform a motor task, leading to reduced dual-task costs. The current studies investigated whether expert tennis players (performance ratings of 1 to 14 in the German system) show smaller costs compared to intermediate players (performance ratings of 15 to 23). Two studies assessed single- and dual-task performance in a within-subject design in the same tennis task, returning balls into a target field. Two different cognitive tasks were used, a 3-back working memory task in study 1, and a vocabulary-learning task (episodic memory) in study 2. As predicted, performance in both cognitive tasks was reduced during dual-tasking, while the accuracy of tennis returns remained stable under cognitive challenge. These findings indicate that skilled tennis players show a task-prioritization strategy in favor of the tennis task in a dual-task situation. In study 1, intermediate players showed higher overall dual-task costs than experts, but the group differences in dual-task costs did not reach significance in study 2. This may have been due to less pronounced expertise-differences between the groups in study 2. The findings replicate and extend previous expertise studies in sports to the domain of tennis. We argue that an athlete's ability to keep up cognitive and motor performances in challenging dual-task situations may be a valid indicator of skill level
Can acute resistance exercise facilitate episodic memory encoding?
Research has shown benefts of physical exercise on memory performance when carried out before or after a memory task.
The efects of concurrent physical exercise and particularly resistance exercise are still inconclusive. The current study
investigates the infuence of resistance exercise with two intensities (fast and slow squats) on performance in a wordlist
learning task using a within-subject design. Sport students (N=58, Mage=23 years; 26 women) were trained in a mnemonic
technique to encode word lists (method of loci). In each session they were asked to encode two lists, each consisting of 20
words. During encoding, participants either performed one squat per word (fast-squat-condition), one squat every second
word (slow-squat-condition), or stayed seated (control-condition). Participants performed three sessions for each condi tion, in counterbalanced order. Heart rates difered signifcantly according to exercise intensity. Memory performances in
the sitting condition were better, compared to the exercise conditions. Performance in sitting and the fast squat conditions
improved similarly over time, while performance in the slow squat condition increased faster, and reached the level of the
fast squat condition at the end of the study phase. We conclude that light to moderate resistance exercise while working on
an episodic memory task may rather represent a dual-task situation (=two tasks that compete for attentional resources).
Especially doing a squat every second word may represent an inhibition task that people have to get used to. Future studies
should include biochemical markers of arousal and neuronal plasticity in addition to heart rate
Mutual interference between memory encoding and motor skills: the influence of motor expertise
In cognitiveâmotor dual-task situations, the extent of performance decrements
is influenced by the attentional requirements of each task. Well-learned motor
skills should be automatized, leading to less interference. This study presents two
studies combining an episodic memory encoding task with well-practiced motor
tasks in athletes. Study 1 asked 40 rowers (early teenagers to middle adulthood)
to row on ergometers at slow or fast speeds. In study 2, Taekwondo athletes
(nâ =â 37) of different skill levels performed a well-practiced sequence of martial
arts movements. Performing the motor task during encoding led to pronounced
performance reductions in memory in both studies, with costs of up to 80%.
Cognitive costs were even larger when rowing with the fast compared to the slow
speed in study 1. Both studies also revealed decrements in motor performances
under dual-task conditions: Rowing became slower and more irregular (study 1),
and the quality of the Taekwondo performance was reduced. Although higherlevel athletes outperformed others in motor skills under single-task conditions,
proportional dual-task costs were similar across skill levels for most domains. This
indicates that even well-practiced motor tasks require cognitive resources
Age-related changes in childrenâs cognitiveâmotor dual tasking: Evidence from a large cross-sectional sample
Children coordinate two tasks simultaneously at several occasions
throughout the day; however, this dual-task ability and its development across childhood are poorly understood. Therefore, the
current study investigated age-related changes in childrenâs dualtask ability using a large cross-sectional sample of 8- to 13-yearold children (N = 135). In our dual-task methodology, children
were asked to walk across an electronic pathway while performing
three concurrent cognitive tasks. These tasks targeted at childrenâs
executive function components: inhibition, switching, and updating skills. Our findings indicate associations between age and childrenâs stride time variability but not with normalized velocity.
Younger children showed higher stride time variability in the
dual-task situation as compared with older children after accounting for their single-task performance, intelligence, anthropometric
variables, and sex, indicating a more regular gait pattern in older
children. Furthermore, age was differently related to childrenâs
accuracy in solving the concurrent cognitive tasks. Whereas age
was associated with childrenâs performance in the updating and
switching task, there was no relation between age and childrenâs
inhibitory skills. In addition, our data imply that childrenâs dualtask ability was associated with a number of individual variables.
In particular, children with higher intelligence scores showed
fewer errors and girls showed lower stride time variability in the
dual tasks. Our results suggest a considerable developmental progression in childrenâs ability to coordinate two simultaneous
tasks across middle childhood. Furthermore, our study qualifies
previous dual-task research and implies that heterogeneous findings may be related to a differential involvement of executive function components in the dual task
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Investigating patterns of local climate governance: how low-carbon municipalities and intentional communities intervene into social practices
The local level has gained prominence in climate policy and governance in recent years as it is increasingly perceived as privileged arena for policy experimentation and social and institutional innovation. Yet, the success of local climate governance in industrialised countries has been limited so far. One reason may be that local communities focus too much on strategies of technology-oriented ecological modernisation (EM) and individual behaviour change and too little on strategies that target unsustainable social practices and their embeddedness in complex patterns of practices. In this paper we assess and compare the strategies of âlow-carbon municipalitiesâ (top-down initiatives) and those of âintentional communitiesâ (bottom-up initiatives). We are interested to find out to what extent and in which ways each community type intervenes in social practices to curb carbon emissions and to explore the scope for further and deeper interventions on the local level. Employing an analytical framework based on social practice theory we identify characteristic patterns of intervention for each community type. We find that low-carbon municipalities face tenacious difficulties in transforming carbon-intensive social practices. While offering some additional low-carbon choices, their ability to reduce carbon-intensive practices is very limited. Their focus on efficiency and individual choice shows little transformative potential. Intentional communities, by contrast, have more institutional and organisational options to intervene into the web of social practices. Finally, we explore to what extent low-carbon municipalities can learn from intentional communities and propose strategies of hybridisation for policy innovation to combine the strengths of both models
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