Ego depletion does not negatively impact novice sprinters' start performance during a timed 20m all-out sprint.

Temporary reductions in self-control due to previous cognitive effort, also known as 'ego depletion', have been shown to negatively impact performance in subsequent tasks requiring self-control. Various theoretical accounts suggest that high levels of task motivation may prevent negative behavioural effects of ego depletion. Against this background, the current study performed a conceptual replication of a previous study examining the effects of ego depletion on sprint start performance (i.e., Englert et al., 2015) and implemented additional monetary incentives to manipulate task motivation. Using a pretest-intervention-posttest design, ninety-six novice sprinters performed a sprinting task that required them to complete a series of 20-m sprints. In between pretest and posttest, participants performed a letter writing task either under high cognitive demand (depletion group) or low cognitive demand (non-depletion control group). Subsequently, and prior to starting the posttest, participants were presented either with a monetary incentive or no incentive. Manipulation checks confirmed that the letter writing task successfully manipulated perceived regulatory demand and that task motivation at the posttest was higher for participants who were offered a monetary incentive. The number of false starts decreased significantly with ego depletion, while sprint start reaction times and sprint finish times remained unaffected. Regardless of ego depletion, sprint finish times significantly improved with monetary incentives. These results suggest that brief engagement in a demanding cognitive task is unlikely to impair novice sprinters' ability to self-regulate during the start of a subsequent, maximal sprinting effort for which they are highly motivated.

The effects of fatigued working memory functions on hypothesis testing during acquisition of a motor skill.

Implicit motor learning paradigms aim to minimize verbal-analytical engagement in motor performance. Some paradigms do this by decreasing working memory activity during practice, which reduces explicit processes associated with the search for motor solutions (e.g., hypothesis testing). Here we designed a mentally demanding motor task to fatigue working memory prior to motor practice and then tested whether it reduced hypothesis testing. Fifty-nine participants were randomly assigned to complete the mentally demanding motor task (cognitive fatigue group) or to complete an undemanding motor task (nonfatigued control group). Feelings of fatigue, working memory functions, electroencephalography (EEG) Fz power, and vagal control were assessed pre- and posttask to quantify the effect of the mentally demanding motor task on cognitive fatigue. Thereafter, an adapted shuffleboard task was completed to determine the impact on hypothesis testing. Hypothesis testing was assessed by self-report, technique changes, and equipment-use solutions. Additionally, verbal-analytical engagement in motor performance was (indirectly) gauged with EEG T7-Fz connectivity and T7 power measures. Participants in the cognitive fatigue group reported more fatigue and displayed moderated working memory functions and Fz theta power. During practice of the shuffleboard task, participants also displayed more technique changes and higher verbal-analytical engagement in motor planning (EEG T7-Fz connectivity), compared with participants in the control group. The mentally demanding motor task suppressed working memory functions, but resulted in more, rather than less, hypothesis testing during shuffleboard practice. The implications are discussed in the context of implicit motor learning theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Discerning measures of conscious brain processes associated with superior early motor performance: Capacity, coactivation, and character.

This study explored the relationship between working memory (WM) capacity, corticocortical communication (EEG coherence), and propensity for conscious control of movement during the performance of a complex far-aiming task. We were specifically interested in the role of these variables in predicting motor performance by novices. Forty-eight participants completed (a) an assessment of WM capacity (an adapted Rotation Span task), (b) a questionnaire that assessed the propensity to consciously control movement (the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale), and (c) a hockey push-pass task. The hockey push-pass task was performed in a single task (movement only) condition and a combined task (movement plus decision) condition. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to examine brain activity during the single task. WM capacity best predicted single task performance. WM capacity in combination with T8-Fz coherence (between the visuospatial and motor regions of the brain) best predicted combined task performance. We discuss the implied roles of visuospatial information processing capacity, neural coactivation, and propensity for conscious processing during performance of complex motor tasks.