Ironic processes: The effects of negative instructions on an externally paced Stroop-based rifle shooting performance

Suppressing unwanted thoughts is generally characterized by the opposite outcomes of what is desired in motor task performance, resulting in ironic errors. Purpose: This study aimed to examine the impact of negative cues on elite biathletes' ironic performance and reaction time (RT) in Stroop target shooting task within the context of Wegner's ironic process theory. Method: Elite biathletes (n = 10) participated in the study. The study used a within-subject design, particularly a one-way repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to determine participants hit towards three dependent variables: target, ironic error target, and non-ironic error target at the incongruent stimuli. In the study, the biathletes completed a Stroop target shooting task under no-frequency negative cue (NFN) and high-frequency negative cue (HFN) conditions. Results: The findings showed biathletes did not exhibit ironic shooting errors or delay towards target hits across conditions. The Bayes Factor robustness test in Bayesian paired samples t-test analysis yields moderate and anecdotal evidence in support of the null hypothesis for hit rates and RTs towards target hits, respectively. Conclusion: Inducing negative instructions alone had not significant effects on Stroop-based target shooting performance. This implies that negative cues like 'do not shoot blue,' regardless of whether they are frequently primed or not cannot undermine shooting performance in an ironic manner in the sample of elite biathletes. However, it is critical to apply caution when making inferences from these findings.