Attentional Style in Ratings of Perceived Exertion during Physical Exercise

This study assessed the effects of associative and dissociative psychological strategies of attention on heart rate and self-report ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during cycling performance. Seven trained cyclists performed a control ride, a dissociation ride, and an association ride on a bicycle ergometer at a work rate corresponding to 75% of their maximal heart rate. For the dissociation ride, subjects watched a videotape unrelated to cycling and responded to a key word each time it occurred on tape. For the association ride, subjects focused attention on heart-rate feedback available throughout the ride. During the control ride, attentional focus was not intentionally manipulated. Analysis indicated that the deliberate application of an attentional strategy did not significantly affect heart rate or RPE scores; however, the dissociation condition yielded somewhat higher RPE scores. From a postexperimental interview, four subjects responded that the association ride was the easier to complete, while three subjects responded the control ride was the easier one, matching a possible trend in the data.