Month: June 2017

In an age of increased obesity and obsession with exercise, software companies have created exercise video games that engage users both mentally and physically. Mixed reviews about the effectiveness of such exergames stem from several components: the perceived task demands during a game, the reward given by the game, and the user’s Exercise Self-Efficacy (ESE, individuals’ confidence in performing exercise tasks). Cornick & Blascovich (2017) explore these components in their study to find exercise and physiological reactions and, in turn, effective motivations in exergames.

The experiment included 89 female undergraduate students who were first evaluated based on the ESE scale. Next, they were randomly assigned to either a high task demand condition in which their avatar weight remained constant, or a low task demand condition in which their avatar lost weight. Participants exercised on a stationary bike while absorbed in a virtual environment. Both groups were informed that their avatar would lose weight if they biked fast enough, when in reality, only half of their avatars could.

Participants’ physiological responses including heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, pre-ejection period, and blood pressure were all measured concurrently, continuously, and noninvasively with a BIOPAC MP System while biking. Cardiac performance was measured with an Impedance Cardiograph (ICG) and NIBP100D. AcqKnowledge software was used to distinguish participant challenge and threat states. One week following the study, participants reported how much they exercised in the last week.

The surprising results revealed that participants with high ESE had a high threat response and performed a modest amount of cardiac work, regardless of task demands. Participants with low ESE were extremely influenced by exergame task demands. When presented with a slimming avatar, they had the highest levels of a threat response, and the highest cardiac workload. When presented with a constant avatar, they had a challenge response and low levels of cardiac workload. As a result, it is conclusive that female self-perception has a significant influence on physiological response when body dissatisfaction is high. Exergames must include options that tailor to each individual based on their ESE as well as their preference of performance tracking during exercise.

The cognitive processing of memory affects our individual perception therefore it is important to understand what factors influence an individual’s processing. We have compiled a list of studies that look at how recall can influence individual’s message perception and work to help understand how small cases of memory load or the act of remembering can carry greater implications.

Cognitive Psychology Experiment

Cognitive development is crucial at the preliminary stages of infancy in children. Researchers Brito et al. (2016) examined associations between infants’ EEG power and cognitive abilities such as language and memory and situational factors such as SES. BIOPAC’s EEG100C and electrocap were used to record EEG while the infants were asleep. Overall EEG was then compared to memory and language skills, which were assessed through various tasks while the infant was awake. The findings identified that there are no associations between SES and EEG power, nor was EEG power related to language and memory ability.

EEG and Movie Trailers

University of Pennsylvania researchers studied EEG monitoring to understand how memory recall can influence the effectiveness of an advertiser’s messages. Utilizing a mixed methodology approach, measuring EEG brain activity data and physiological reactance, researchers Barnett and Cerf (2017) created a cross brain correlation (CBC) of 58 participants being exposed to the same 13 movie trailers. BIOPAC’s BioNomadix wireless EEG amplifier recorded EEG data in a commercial movie theater setting. Physiological monitoring solutions included BIOPAC’s respiration belt transducer, and a wireless EDA amplifier. The study’s results suggested that a trailer’s level of memorability could predict the movie’s overall success.

Intrusive Memory Study

One unfortunate side effect of memory is its intrusiveness in perceiving messages. Researchers from Oklahoma State University attempted to identify how worry (an effect of memory load) can influence “attention allocation” and an individual’s ability to process information. In the study conducted by White and Grant, it was hypothesized that, “working memory load will decrease attention allocation during processing of emotional images (White and Grant, 2017).” BIOPAC solutions were utilized in the methodology using an MP research system paired with an EEG100C amplifier as well as AcqKnowledge software. The study compared two groups of participants who were shown a series of similar photos. One group was presented with memory based verbal or visual tasks at the beginning of the experiment. Among other more specified findings, the results indicated that individuals with lower levels of worrying had reduced attention when required to remember visual and verbal memory tasks.

Understanding how cognitive processes and memory relate to one another provides researchers with the opportunity of gaining greater insight into message retention. The foundations of language and memory that we development as infants play key roles in our message retention. These combined with individual attention and outside stimuli show that our memory can inhibit message reception.