Relationships Between University Students’ Gender and Physical Activity (PA) and Their Exercise Self-Schemas, Processing of PA-Related Information, and PA Decision-Making

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110601
Author(s):  
In Kyoung Park ◽  
Youngho Kim

In the current study, we investigated the effects of gender and regular physical activity (PA) on PA decision-making and speed of information processing. We enrolled 110 university students ( Mage = 20.91, SD =2.28 years) in an experiment involving two tasks and a questionnaire. One of the two tasks assessed how much participants agreed with presented PA words and phrases and the other task predicted behavior and responses to future situations. We collected and measured the participants’ choices and the time they took to make them. The questionnaire, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), consisted of exercise self-schema and PA questions. We conducted a 2 (gender: male or female) ×2 (regular PA or not) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and found statistically significant differences between variables as a function of participants’ gender (λ = .66, p < .001) and regular PA engagement (λ = .51, p < .001). In a regression analysis, we also found gender differences [males showed relationships between agreement with PA information and information processing speed for decisions on future behavior ( R 2 = .31, F = 12.50); females showed relationships between their exercise self-schema ( R 2 = .26, F = 18.18) and regular PA such that, in the non-regular PA group, exercise self-schema was related to reaction time in making decisions on future behavior ( R 2 = .29, F = 11.23), and in the regular PA group, agreement with PA information was related to reaction time for PA-related words, and agreement with non-PA information ( R 2 = .29, F = 8.91)]. These results highlight the need to consider participant characteristics when designing exercise interventions, and we present supplementary data regarding exercise self-schemas, decision-making, and the speed of processing PA information.

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 867-870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Small ◽  
J. F. Raney ◽  
Terry J. Knapp

Two reaction time tasks were compared as measures of information-processing speed. A multiple R between the WAIS—R Full, Performance, and Verbal scales and several reaction time parameters was calculated for 28 college students. Results indicate that the reaction-time task used in exploring the relationships between speed of information processing and IQ can be less complex than those used to date.


2013 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoju Duan ◽  
Zhou Dan ◽  
Jiannong Shi

In general, intellectually gifted children perform better than non-gifted children across many domains. The present validation study investigated the speed with which intellectually gifted children process information. 184 children, ages 9 to 13 years old (91 gifted, M age = 10.9 yr., SD = 1.8; 93 non-gifted children, M age = 11.0 yr., SD = 1.7) were tested individually on three information processing tasks: an inspection time task, a choice reaction time task, an abstract matching task. Intellectually gifted children outperformed their non-gifted peers on all three tasks obtaining shorter reaction time and doing so with greater accuracy. The findings supported the validity of the information processing speed in identifying intellectually gifted children.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Aida Arroyo-Ferrer ◽  
Jorge Andreo ◽  
José A. Periáñez ◽  
Marcos Ríos-Lago ◽  
Genny Lubrini ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients are known to suffer from subtle cognitive and balance deficits from the early stages although they usually manifest in advanced stages. Postural instability (PI) has been correlated with slower information processing speed. Simple reaction time (SRT) tasks can be used to measure the speed of information processing. The main objective of this study was to examine the usefulness of SRT as a valid predictor of balance in PD, thus providing a simple and complementary assessment method. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This cross-sectional study included 52 PD patients without dementia who were evaluated for balance using the pull test (PT) maneuver and Biodex® limits of stability (LOS). In addition, a reaction time task was used to measure processing speed. Correlation and linear regression analyses were performed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The performance of SRT tasks was correlated with the evaluation of LOS% and PT, suggesting that the SRT may be a predictor of balance performance. Longer reaction time and poorer postural stability were also associated with disease duration but not with age. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Poor performance in a simple reaction task can predict altered PI and can complement staging and evaluation in PD patients.


1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances A. Carter ◽  
Cynthia M. Bulik ◽  
Rachel H. Lawson ◽  
Patrick F. Sullivan ◽  
Jenny S. Wilson

Information-processing speed and cue reactivity were evaluated in women with bulimia nervosa and controls in response to neutral, mood, and food cues in isolation, and mood and food cues in combination. Significant differences were consistently observed between women with bulimia nervosa and control women on information-processing speed for food/body-related words, but not for words unrelated to food/body concerns. As expected, women with bulimia nervosa demonstrated slower processing of information related to food/body concerns. In addition, the presentation of mood and food cues affected speed of information processing. Especially for women with bulimia nervosa, information processing was slowest when either mood or food cues were presented in isolation. Significant cue reactivity was also observed, again especially for women with bulimia nervosa. In conclusion, both transient and more enduring subject characteristics affected information-processing speed. Moreover, the way transient factors were presented significantly affected speed of information processing. This suggests a more complex relationship between cue presentation and information processing than was anticipated.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Scantlebury ◽  
Todd Cunningham ◽  
Colleen Dockstader ◽  
Suzanne Laughlin ◽  
William Gaetz ◽  
...  

AbstractWhite matter matures with age and is important for the efficient transmission of neuronal signals. Consequently, white matter growth may underlie the development of cognitive processes important for learning, including the speed of information processing. To dissect the relationship between white matter structure and information processing speed, we administered a reaction time task (finger abduction in response to visual cue) to 27 typically developing, right-handed children aged 4 to 13. Magnetoencephalography and Diffusion Tensor Imaging were used to delineate white matter connections implicated in visual-motor information processing. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) of the optic radiation in the left hemisphere, and FA and mean diffusivity (MD) of the optic radiation in the right hemisphere changed significantly with age. MD and RD decreased with age in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and bilaterally in the cortico-spinal tracts. No age-related changes were evident in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. FA of the cortico-spinal tract in the left hemisphere and MD of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus of the right hemisphere contributed uniquely beyond the effect of age in accounting for reaction time performance of the right hand. Our findings support the role of white matter maturation in the development of information processing speed. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–14)


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