An intervention to promote walking amongst the general population based on an 'extended' theory of planned behaviour: a waiting list randomised controlled trial.

Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) studies have identified perceived behavioural control (PBC) as the key determinant of walking intentions. The present study investigated whether an intervention designed to alter PBC and create walking plans increased TPB measures concerning walking more, planning and objectively measured walking. One hundred and thirty UK adults participated in a waiting-list randomised controlled trial. The intervention consisted of strategies to boost PBC, plus volitional strategies to enact walking intentions. All TPB constructs were measured, along with self-reported measures of action planning and walking, and an objective pedometer measure of time spent walking. The intervention increased PBC, attitudes, intentions and objectively measured walking from 20 to 32 min a day. The effects of the intervention on intentions and behaviour were mediated by PBC, although the effects on PBC were not mediated by control beliefs. At 6 weeks follow-up, participants maintained their increases in walking. The findings of this study partially support the proposed causal nature of the extended TPB as a framework for developing and evaluating health behaviour change interventions. This is the first study using the TPB to develop, design and evaluate the components of an intervention which increased objectively measured behaviour, with effects mediated by TPB variables.

Reinvestment and movement disruption following stroke.

BACKGROUND: Disruption of the automaticity of movement execution is commonly experienced by people with stroke and may result from the person consciously attempting to control the mechanics of his or her movements. This act of turning one's attention in toward the mechanics of an action is referred to as "reinvestment." OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the hypothesis that people with stroke have a greater propensity for reinvestment than the nondisabled population and to examine the relationship between reinvestment, functional impairment from stroke, and aspects of rehabilitation. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was used. A total of 148 people with stroke and 148 nondisabled adults completed the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between functional impairment and various potential predictors. RESULTS: Compared with controls, people with stroke had a greater propensity for reinvestment. Conscious motor processing and time spent in rehabilitation were significant predictors of functional impairment following stroke. CONCLUSIONS: The association between functional impairment, propensity for reinvestment, and time spent in rehabilitation indicates that exclusive reliance on conscious motor processing strategies in the rehabilitation setting may be an impediment to regaining functional independence. There is a need to develop motor learning strategies for rehabilitation that restrain the propensity for reinvestment.

Implicit sequence learning processes after unilateral stroke.

Implicit learning is durable over time, robust under psychological stress and shows specificity of transfer; characteristics that may be beneficial in stroke rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to investigate implicit sequence learning processes in unilateral stroke using an extended number of trial blocks in a serial reaction time task (SRTT). Previous research, using a SRTT, has produced equivocal results that may be associated with the small number of trial blocks used. Seven adults, at least one year after stroke, and eight controls performed 54 blocks of a modified SRTT over two weeks. Participants responded with a finger key press during acquisition and retention and with a whole arm movement during transfer. Response times in milliseconds were used to measure learning. The stroke group performed more slowly than the controls during all experimental phases. Response times for both groups decreased with practice of the repeating sequence, increased with introduction of a random sequence, and decreased when reintroduced to the repeating sequence of the SRTT. Both groups demonstrated delayed retention of knowledge of the sequence over a two-week period and exhibited specificity of transfer. These data suggest that with extended practice people with unilateral stroke are able to learn implicitly.

Duration of Parkinson disease is associated with an increased propensity for "reinvestment".

BACKGROUND: As a consequence of difficulties in movement initiation and execution, people with Parkinson's disease (PD) are typically encouraged to consciously monitor and control the mechanics of their actions. This is described as 'reinvestment' and has been shown to help mediate effective motor output. Paradoxically, in situations where people with PD are particularly motivated to move effectively, reinvestment may exacerbate existing movement deficits. OBJECTIVE: To examine the propensity for reinvestment in a sample of people with PD. METHODS: A volunteer sample of 55 people with PD was asked to complete a previously validated measure, the Reinvestment Scale. A sub-sample (and age matched controls) was asked to complete a recently developed, movement specific, version of the Scale. Data was collected on Mini Mental State Examination and the Hoehn & Yahr Scale. Participant demographics, including age of onset and duration of disease, were also collated. RESULTS: Multiple regression analyses showed that duration of disease was associated with reinvestment score on both the Reinvestment Scale and the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale. CONCLUSIONS: Participants appeared to become more aware of the mechanics of their actions over time. Possible explanations for this finding are discussed with reference to rehabilitation.

Implicit motor learning of a balancing task.

This study examined the implicit learning of a balancing task. Three treatment conditions were constructed using different motor learning strategies. In two of the treatment conditions, explicit learning of the balancing task was impeded by using either an analogy or an errorless learning technique. In the third treatment condition, participants learnt the task by discovery learning, which typically results in explicit knowledge. It was hypothesised that in the analogy and errorless learning conditions, learning of the balancing task would be implicit in character. Three criteria of implicit learning were used to test this hypothesis; the accumulation of few explicit rules, robustness under secondary task loading and durability over time. Although the discovery learners acquired more explicit rules, all groups appear to have acquired the skill implicitly, in that all groups were robust to imposition of a concurrent task load and over time. Indeed, balance performance with a concurrent verbal task was better than balance performance alone. Discussion focuses on the contribution of verbal and non-verbal processes to balancing.

The role of working memory in motor learning and performance.

Three experiments explore the role of working memory in motor skill acquisition and performance. Traditional theories postulate that skill acquisition proceeds through stages of knowing, which are initially declarative but later procedural. The reported experiments challenge that view and support an independent, parallel processing model, which predicts that procedural and declarative knowledge can be acquired separately and that the former does not depend on the availability of working memory, whereas, the latter does. The behaviour of these two processes was manipulated by providing or withholding visual (and auditory) appraisal of outcome feedback. Withholding feedback was predicted to inhibit the use of working memory to appraise success and, thus, prevent the formation of declarative knowledge without affecting the accumulation of procedural knowledge. While the first experiment failed to support these predictions, the second and third experiments demonstrated that procedural and declarative knowledge can be acquired independently. It is suggested that the availability of working memory is crucial to motor performance only when the learner has come to rely on its use.

Getting more people on the stairs: the impact of a new message format.

Previous research has found that poster prompts are associated with significant increases in stair use. The present study examined the use of messages on the stair risers, as an alternative to posters, to encourage stair climbing. Observers monitored shoppers' stair and escalator use over a 2-week baseline and 6-week intervention period. The prevalence of stair use increased from a baseline value of 8.1 percent to 18.3 percent when the motivating messages were in place. This increase is greater than that found in studies that used poster prompts in shopping centre venues. The apparent advantage of stair-riser banners is discussed in terms of their visibility and attractiveness, as well as their capacity to present multiple messages likely to appeal to a broader constituency. It is concluded that promoters of physical activity should use colourful, tailored stair-riser banners, rather than posters, to encourage stair climbing.

From novice to no know-how: a longitudinal study of implicit motor learning.

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the performances of implicit and explicit learners would converge over an extended period of learning. Participants practised a complex motor skill--golf putting--for 3000 trials, either with a concurrent secondary, tone-counting task (implicit learning) or without such a task (explicit learning). The cognitive demands of the secondary task were predicted to prevent the accumulation of verbalizable rules about the motor task. The implicit group reported significantly fewer rules than the explicit group on subsequent verbal protocols. The performance of the implicit group remained below that of the explicit group throughout the learning phase. However, no significant differences were found between groups during a delayed retention test. Additionally, for the participants in the explicit group only, a Reinvestment Scale score correlated positively with the number of rules accrued and negatively with overall putting performance during the learning phase. We use the results to argue against the excessive use of verbal instruction during skill acquisition, which might be unnecessary and ultimately might hamper performance under stressful conditions.

Genetic and environmental factors in premenstrual symptom reporting and its relationship to depression and a general neuroticism trait.

Previous work has indicated a genetic contribution to premenstrual symptom reporting, regularity and menarche but no genetic contribution to cycle length, and no consistent genetic contribution to premenstrual symptom reporting. This paper reports the results (n = 634) of multivariate genetic analysis in which premenstrual symptom reporting is included in a general personality factor along with extroversion (E), neuroticism (N) and depression (D). The results showed that N, E, D and PMS all fitted on a common personality factor. There was no evidence for a specific genetic contribution of depression or premenstrual symptom reporting over and above those shown in the common personality factor. There were, however, unique/specific environmental contributions for PMS. For E and N, in contrast, both unique genetic and environmental contributions were apparent.

Menstrual cycle symptom reporting in three British ethnic groups.

Three different British ethnic groups were targeted to assess the influence of learned or culturally prescribed symptom reporting behaviour across different phases of the menstrual cycle. Forty-eight Afro-Caribbean, 73 Caucasian and 32 Oriental subjects completed a Positive/Negative Affectivity scale, a Retrospective assessment of premenstrual symptoms and daily symptom reports for 35 days. The results showed a significantly elevated level of symptomatology premenstrually and menstrually in the Caucasian group compared to both others. Analysis of subscales suggested elevated symptom reporting occurred for the psychological mood, body symptoms and pain, but not for the mental performance and social behaviour subscales. Intermenstrual reports of symptoms and Negative Affectivity did not differ between groups. A response bias or underlying trait is therefore unlikely to account for the selective reporting observed. It is suggested that the question of learning variables playing an important role in the reporting of symptoms at different phases of the menstrual cycle may be reopened.

Menstrual cycle symptom reporting in three British Ethnic groups

Three different British ethnic groups were targeted to assess the influence of learned or culturally prescribed symptom reporting behaviour across different phases of the menstrual cycle. Forty-eight Afro-Caribbean, 73 Caucasian and 32 Oriental subjects completed a positive/negative affectivity scale, a retrospective assessment of premenstrual symptoms and daily symptom reports for 35 days. The results showed a significantly elevated level of symptomatology premenstrually and menstually in the Caucasian groups compared to both others. Analysis of subscales suggested elevated symptom reporting occurred for the psychological mood, body symptoms and pain, but not for the mental performance and social behaviour subscales. Intermenstrual reports of symptoms and negative affectivity did not differ between groups. A response bias or underlying trait is therefore unlikely to account for the selective reporting observed. It is suggested that the question of learning variables playing an important role in the reporting of symptoms at different phases of the menstrual cycle may be reopened (AU)

The effects of alcohol on psychological functions in normal volunteers after 8 days' treatment with pipequaline (PK 8165), diazepam or placebo.

The effects of daily administration for 8 days of 50 mg pipequaline, 10 mg diazepam and placebo were assessed in a double-blind cross-over study with 12 healthy volunteers. This study also tested for an interaction between the drugs and alcohol on the eighth day. Subjective ratings, psychomotor and memory performance were evaluated. Diazepam produced the typical pattern of changes, namely impairments in psychomotor performance and reductions in the retention of newly memorised information. In contrast, the effects of pipequaline were relatively minor. In general, neither drug potentiated the effects of alcohol on performance, only isolated instances of non-additive interactions occurring. Subjective reports revealed that whereas both active drugs increased feelings of calmness, this result was accomplished by pipequaline with considerably less drowsiness, no euphoria and a general absence of the adverse side effects of diazepam.

The effects on memory of pipequaline, alone or in combination with diazepam.

Pipequaline (PK 8165) is a putative mixed agonist/antagonist at benzodiazepine receptors. The effects of pipequaline and diazepam on memory were assessed in 12 normal volunteers. Diazepam 10 mg or placebo was added to two doses of pipequaline, 50 and 150 mg, or to placebo in a double-blind crossover design. Diazepam produced impairments of episodic memory. In contrast, the effects of pipequaline were minor. Addition diazepam to pipequaline increased drowsiness and general lethargy, with a less marked effect occurring for the higher dose of pipequaline alone. Pipequaline did not antagonise any of the effects of diazepam.