Ego Depletion and Attention Regulation Under Pressure: Is a Temporary Loss of Self-Control Strength Indeed Related to Impaired Attention Regulation?

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Englert ◽  
Kris Zwemmer ◽  
Alex Bertrams ◽  
Raôul R.D. Oudejans
Keyword(s):  
Motor Task ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
General Assumption ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Attention Regulation ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Dart Throwing ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Impaired Attention

In the current study we investigated whether ego depletion negatively affects attention regulation under pressure in sports by assessing participants’ dart throwing performance and accompanying gaze behavior. According to the strength model of self-control, the most important aspect of self-control is attention regulation. Because higher levels of state anxiety are associated with impaired attention regulation, we chose a mixed design with ego depletion (yes vs. no) as between-subjects and anxiety level (high vs. low) as within-subjects factor. Participants performed a perceptual-motor task requiring selective attention, namely, dart throwing. In line with our expectations, depleted participants in the high-anxiety condition performed worse and displayed a shorter final fixation on bull’s eye, demonstrating that when one’s self-control strength is depleted, attention regulation under pressure cannot be maintained. This is the first study that directly supports the general assumption that ego depletion is a major factor in influencing attention regulation under pressure.

The Effects of Depleted Self-Control Strength on Skill-Based Task Performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desmond McEwan ◽  
Kathleen A. Martin Ginis ◽  
Steven R. Bray
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Significant Decline ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Significant Deterioration ◽  
Myoelectrical Activity ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Experimental Group

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of depleted self-control strength on skill-based sports task performance. Sixty-two participants completed the following: a baseline dart-tossing task (20 tosses), with measures of accuracy, reaction time, and myoelectrical activity of the arms taken throughout; a self-control depletion (experimental) or a nondepletion (control) manipulation; and a second round of dart tossing. As hypothesized, participants in the experimental condition had poorer mean accuracy at Round 2 than control condition participants, and a significant decline in accuracy from Round 1 to Round 2. Experimental condition participants also demonstrated poorer consistency in accuracy compared with control condition participants at Round 2 and a significant deterioration in consistency from Round 1 to Round 2. In addition, consistency in reaction time improved significantly for the control group but not for the experimental group. The results of this study provide evidence that ego depletion effects occur in the performance of a skill-based sports task.

Anxiety, Ego Depletion, and Sports Performance

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 580-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Englert ◽  
Alex Bertrams
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Sports Performance ◽  
Significant Relation ◽  
Free Throw ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Performance Under Pressure

In the present article, we analyzed the role of self-control strength and state anxiety in sports performance. We tested the hypothesis that self-control strength and state anxiety interact in predicting sports performance on the basis of two studies, each using a different sports task (Study 1: performance in a basketball free throw task, N = 64; Study 2: performance in a dart task, N = 79). The patterns of results were as expected in both studies: Participants with depleted self-control strength performed worse in the specific tasks as their anxiety increased, whereas there was no significant relation for participants with fully available self-control strength. Furthermore, different degrees of available self-control strength did not predict performance in participants who were low in state anxiety, but did in participants who were high in state anxiety. Thus increasing self-control strength could reduce the negative anxiety effects in sports and improve athletes’ performance under pressure.

scholarly journals Effects of self-controlled knowledge of performance on motor learning and self-efficacy: A kinematic study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-196
Author(s):  
Rezvaneh Makki ◽  
Maryam Abdoshahi ◽  
Saeed Ghorbani
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Movement Pattern ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Acquisition Phase ◽  
Dart Throwing ◽  
Coordination Patterns

Abstract Study aim: To evaluate the effects of providing the learners with self-controlled knowledge of performance (KP) on motor learning and self-efficacy (SE) in a dart-throwing motor task. Material and methods: The participants were thirty female university students who were divided into two groups including self-control and yoked groups. Participants performed five blocks of five trials in the acquisition phase, and retention and transfer tests of 10 trials one day later. Intra-limb coordination patterns (movement pattern), throwing scores, and SE (both movement pattern and movement outcome) were measured as dependent variables. Independent t test and one-way ANOVA with repeated measures were used as statistical tests. Results: The self-controlled group performed significantly better than yoked group on movement pattern during the acquisition phase (F1,28 = 24.239, p = 0.001) and the retention test (t28 = –3.074, p = 0.007). However, there were no significant differences between groups in terms of throwing scores and SE during the acquisition, retention, and transfer phases (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: Providing self-controlled KP can improve learning of movement pattern in the novices but do not necessary increase movement outcome or SE.

Ego Depletion and Auditors' Busy Season

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Hurley
Keyword(s):  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Severe Form ◽  
Judgment And Decision Making ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Accumulation Effect ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Theoretical Mechanism ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of busy season on auditors through ego depletion theory. Ego depletion theory posits that using self-control depletes a cognitive resource and decreases the ability to exercise self-control on subsequent tasks, which can decrease judgment and decision-making (JDM) quality. Using a within-subjects quasi-experiment, I compare self-control resources at the onset of days within and outside of busy season to determine whether auditors experience a between-day accumulation of depletion. I predict and find that auditors experience an accumulation of ego depletion, and therefore begin workdays within busy season in a depleted state. Starting a workday in a depleted state can exacerbate within-day depletion, as studied in prior research. This research contributes a theoretical mechanism linking busy season to auditors' JDM quality and expands ego depletion theory by predicting and finding initial evidence of an accumulation effect, a more severe form of depletion than studied in prior literature. Data Availability: The data used in this study are available from the author upon request.

The “10 Mentality”: A Longitudinal Case Study of Self-Control Strength in Two Competitive Recurve Archers

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-151
Author(s):  
Roy David Samuel ◽  
Guy Matzkin ◽  
Saar Gal ◽  
Chris Englert
Keyword(s):  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Subjective Perceptions ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Reported Data

In this case study, the authors’ aim was to apply the tenets of the strength model of self-control (Baumeister et al., 1998) with two Israeli competitive archers over the 2019–20 season. According to this model, the ability to control the self is based on a finite resource that can become temporarily depleted. Under ego depletion, subsequent self-control acts are executed less efficiently, potentially resulting in lower effort and attentional focus. Recurve archery is a closed, self-paced shooting sport, which requires exerting control over physical and mental elements. Archers’ ability to control their performance sequence is partly dependent on self-control. The two archers practiced (in consultation sessions, training and competitions, and independently) a range of well-established intervention techniques (e.g., self-talk, performance routines, mindfulness) designed to increase their self-control strength and focus on the present shot. Archers self-reported data on their trait and state of self-control and mental states during several performance situations in training and competition. The results indicated a complex self-control—performance relationship, potentially underlined by the athletes’ preperformance mental state, self-control strength, and subjective perceptions of temporarily available self-control resources. The archers’ and the authors’ reflections demonstrate the importance of incorporating self-control training in an idiosyncratic manner to achieve positive performance outcomes.

The Effect of Ego Depletion on Sprint Start Reaction Time

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 506-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Englert ◽  
Alex Bertrams
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
False Start ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Practical Implications

In the current study, we consider that optimal sprint start performance requires the self-control of responses. Therefore, start performance should depend on athletes’ self-control strength. We assumed that momentary depletion of self-control strength (ego depletion) would either speed up or slow down the initiation of a sprint start, where an initiation that was sped up would carry the increased risk of a false start. Applying a mixed between- (depletion vs. nondepletion) and within- (before vs. after manipulation of depletion) subjects design, we tested the start reaction times of 37 sport students. We found that participants’ start reaction times decelerated after finishing a depleting task, whereas it remained constant in the nondepletion condition. These results indicate that sprint start performance can be impaired by unrelated preceding actions that lower momentary self-control strength. We discuss practical implications in terms of optimizing sprint starts and related overall sprint performance.

scholarly journals Testing the Effects of a Preceding Self-Control Task on Decision-Making in Soccer Refereeing

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Englert ◽  
Anna Dziuba ◽  
Geoffrey Schweizer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Soccer Players ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Task ◽  
Control Strength ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Accuracy Rates

The present study tested the assumption that the momentary level of self-control strength affects the accuracy rates in a sports-related judgment and decision-making task. A total of N = 27 participants rated the veracity of 28 video-taped statements of soccer players who were interviewed by a non-visible referee after a critical game-related situation. In half of the videos, the players were lying, and in the other half, they were telling the truth. Participants were tested twice: once with temporarily depleted self-control strength and once with temporarily available self-control strength (order counterbalanced; measurements separated by exactly 7 days). Self-control strength was experimentally manipulated with the Stroop task. In line with two-process models of information processing, we hypothesized that under ego depletion, information is processed in a rather heuristic manner, leading to lower accuracy rates. Contrary to our expectations, the level of temporarily available self-control strength did not have an effect on accuracy rates. Limitations and implications for future research endeavors are discussed.

The Limits of Ego Depletion

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 292-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Wenzel ◽  
Marina Lind ◽  
Zarah Rowland ◽  
Daniela Zahn ◽  
Thomas Kubiak
Keyword(s):  
Research Agenda ◽  
Statistical Power ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Crossover Design ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Within Subjects

Abstract. Evidence on the existence of the ego depletion phenomena as well as the size of the effects and potential moderators and mediators are ambiguous. Building on a crossover design that enables superior statistical power within a single study, we investigated the robustness of the ego depletion effect between and within subjects and moderating and mediating influences of the ego depletion manipulation checks. Our results, based on a sample of 187 participants, demonstrated that (a) the between- and within-subject ego depletion effects only had negligible effect sizes and that there was (b) large interindividual variability that (c) could not be explained by differences in ego depletion manipulation checks. We discuss the implications of these results and outline a future research agenda.

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