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- Coventry University (West Midlands) (CU)
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14007SEP – Research into Sport and exercise science.
Assessing participants reaction to demands of a novel task
Little is known about how brain activity within an individual reacts when placed under
demands of a novel task. A novel task resembles something an individual has not previously
been introduced to. Processing fluency, the factor we will be assessing is defined as the ease
within which information is processed. It is based upon a few basic assumptions; Objects
differ in the fluency with which they can be processed. High fluency is subjectively perceived
as positive, and finally fluency affects judgement and appreciation. Participants were
presented with an exercise routine, they were then asked to read this routine carefully,
shortly after they were handed a questionnaire to complete. The independent variable
(being changed) was the font of the text on each routine script. The measure (dependent
variable) was the time people would associate with completing the programme aswell as
how hard they perceive it to be based on ease upon processing the information. The group
who read the exercise programme in the “harder to read font” gave on average significantly
higher estimates of time taken to complete the exercise programme as opposed to the
easier to read condition. The results are discussed alongside innovative ways of its
implications to society and how we can overcome this.
Being provided instructions allows us as humans to implement novel behaviours without
prior practice as opposed to more time-consuming alternatives such as trial and error or
reinforcement. Findings from recent studies have shown that when preparing to perform a
novel task, brain activation patterns are organized accordingly to the instruction given
(Palenciano, Gonzalez-Garcia, Arco, Pessoa, et al., 2019). Furthermore, studies conducted by
(Schwarz&Clore, 1983) through the University of Michigan show that people are more likely
to engage in a behaviour that requires less effort, however the problem is that with novel
tasks little is known about the level of effort involved and this is all perceived by the
individual. Incidental variables (when your coefficient end up being inconsistent) that affect
how easily an individual can interpret information may see the individual favour more
towards a task requiring less effort. In addition to this, (Claypool et al, 2015) also found that
easier to read text is associated with more positive attitudes. From this we can infer that the
results of most of the research into processing fluency theory has reliability in findings.
Ultimately this is the aim of the research, set to find out whether fluency of processing
information affects motivation to exercise. There is intended to be “a difference in the
intentions to exercise based upon different levels of processing fluency”. ‘People with higher
levels of processing fluency will be more inclined to exercise’ would be a suitable hypothesis
for the study. The topic of processing fluency on exercise is not widely researched and there
is not an abundance of information to go off, just like any other topic it has some key gaps
that include not accounting for confounding variables or individual differences in some
studies to reflect the difference in results and solely placing the change as a result of
manipulation of the independent variable.
, 2
Participants:
The study sample size consisted of a total of 182 people, 71 of these participants being
female and 111 of them being female. The mean age of the participants was 20 years old.
Design:
The study was a between participants experimental design/independent samples – each
person is only exposed to one condition of the test: the Arial font group or the Brush font
group. The arial font being the easier to read variable and the brush being the more difficult.
There was a total of 94 people in the Arial condition and 88 in the Brush condition.
The study states there is no particular inclusion or exclusion characteristics for the
participants chosen for the study, therefore we can infer the sampling used was random
sampling – everyone in the target population (Coventry university) has an equal chance of
being selected. Participants in each condition were handed a sheet with a strength training
programme for a football defender.
Procedure:
One condition had the easier to read font and the other the harder to read font. Upon
completion of reading the training programme, a questionnaire shortly followed in which
the participants had to circle from a scale of 1-7. The dependent variable in this study was
the participants ratings of willingness to incorporate the plan into their own exercise aswell
as the estimated time taken to perform it. The independent variable was the font of the text
used in each condition. Factors that were held constant during the study within both
conditions consisted of; the content of the exercise plan aswell as the size of the text
despite it being in different font style. This is so that there could be a clearly established
cause and effect of the fluency to understands effect on task demands without extraneous
or confounding variables taking over.
Ethical issues/evaluation:
Prior to the study taking place ethical issues were accounted for as participants were
informed that their participation was voluntary, and they would give their consent through
signing the consent form. In addition to this each participant was debriefed and told the aim
of the study and why this was taking place. No deception was involved. Furthermore,
participants were told told that their data would not be stored and kept anonymous so that
they could not be identified in the future. Lastly, participants were told they could withdraw
from the investigation at any time by emailing the lead researcher.
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