Dual-task interference between climbing and a simulated communication task. 2014

Kathryn A Darling, and William S Helton
Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8140, New Zealand.

Climbers often need to maintain communication with other people. Previous research indicates that climbers remember less of the information communicated to them while climbing than when not climbing. In the present research, we investigated at what stage of memory the source of this impairment occurs. Participants were required to respond to words presented to them by saying out loud an associated word. This enforced encoding of the words, and was completed alone, as well as while climbing. Participants then recalled as many words as possible. A separate single-task condition had participants climb without making word associations. Word recall was reduced in the dual-task compared with the single word association task, but there was no difference in the number of word associations made. This indicates that the reduction in word recall was not a result of reduced encoding in the dual-task condition. Concurrent climbing may have reduced word recall by interfering with rehearsal and maintenance of words in memory.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009051 Mountaineering A sport involving mountain climbing techniques. Mountaineerings
D011597 Psychomotor Performance The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity. Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D011930 Reaction Time The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed. Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D003142 Communication The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups. Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000161 Acoustic Stimulation Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system. Auditory Stimulation,Stimulation, Acoustic,Stimulation, Auditory
D000293 Adolescent A person 13 to 18 years of age. Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults

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