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Running Header: EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE
The effects of interrogative self-talk on endurance performance in a 10km time trial.
By Gavin Lloyd-Jones
School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University
Supervisor: James Hardy
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 2
Declaration
The following report is a presentation of my original research work. Every effort is made to
indicate clearly the contributions of others involved, with due reference to the literature as
well as acknowledgement of discussions and collaborative research. All data collected was
down to solely my efforts at Normal Site, Bangor University. The work was done under the
supervision of Professor James Hardy at the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences,
Bangor University.
Signed: ______________ Date: 10/05/16
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 3
Contents
1. Introduction Page 4.
2. Methods Page 9.
2.1 Participants Characteristics and Ethics Page 9.
2.2 Study Design and Procedures Page 9.
2.3 Pre Cycle Questionnaire Page 10.
2.4 Familiarisation Page 10.
2.5 Intervention Page 11.
2.6 Statistical Analysis Page 12.
3. Results Page 12.
3.1 Manipulation checks Page 12
3.2 Performance Time Trials Page 13.
3.3 Rate of Perceived Exertion Page 14.
3.4 Power output Page 15.
4. Discussion Page 16.
5. References Page 22.
6. Acknowledgments Page 24.
7. Appendices Page 25.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 4
1. Introduction
Self-talk is a mental skill where an individual will be saying specific statements to induce
a specific behaviour. According to Theodorakis, Weinberg, Natsis, Douma, and Kazakas
(2000) defined self-talk as “what people say to themselves either out loud or as a small voice
inside their head” (p. 254). Following this definition, performance seems as a perfect
dependant variable to measure as self-talk can be closely manipulated to identify its effects
on performance. Previous research has been published on what type of self-talk effects
endurance performance, although the research on how Interrogative self-talk (IS-T) effects
endurance performance specifically, is surprisingly limited.
It is believed that the characteristics of self-talk can have a wide range of effects on
performance. Factors such as what is said, how it is said, and its frequency are just a small
portion of examples. It is already known that the different types of self-talk can have a variety
of effects. For instance ; an investigation looking at instructional self-talk and motivational
self-talk on the participants perceived functions of the two types of self-talk during a
swimming task that included performing breast strokes with various types of self-talk which
showed that it increased the participants attentional focus (Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, 2006).
In addition, Hatzigeorgiadis (2006) suggested that Motivational self-talk increased the
participant’s level of effort in the task which resulted in a better performance. Although the
Motivational self-talk had an increased impact on effort, the Instructional self-talk cue had a
larger impact on the participant’s confidence. In differentiating between the
above ,Hatzigeorgiadis (2006) concluded that Instructional Self-talk was better for improving
attention focus and Motivational Self-talk was better for improving an individual’s drive.
Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, Nikos Zourbanos, Evangelos Galanis, and Yiannis Theodorakis, (2011)
assessed the effects of self-talk on novice tasks and well learned tasks on individuals. They
hypothesized that in novice tasks, there is more room for improvement and that performance
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 5
enhancement could be achieved faster compared to well mastered tasks. Accordingly
previous research by Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Theodorakis, Y., & Zourbanos, N.involving (2004)
involving water polo tasks for non-experienced participants found a large enhancement in
performance for non-experience participants (Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Theodorakis, Y., & Zourbanos,
N., 2004). On the other hand, Dennis Landin & Edward P. Hebert (1999) found a relatively small
enhancement in performance in their study on expert tennis players while measuring the
participant’s forehands swings. The support for this theory that novice learning of tasks will
benefit more from self-talk suggests that a participant characteristics, such as level of ability,
can be a strong factor on the effectiveness of self-talk on performance, therefore examining
participants that have little experience of the current study’s task is imperative.
Although participant characteristics and other affecting factors can all contribute to the
effectiveness of self-talk, the idea of task endurance must not be overshadowed by this. It is
suggested that self-talk can be of very good use for participants experiencing psychological
crisis during endurance tasks (Schüler, J., & Langens, T. A. 2007). A study on nine cyclists
by Ryan A. Hamilton, David Scott & Michael P. MacDougalla, (2007) applied three types of self-
talk interventions on cyclists during a 20 minute workout. The Interventions included self-
regulated positive self-talk, assisted positive self-talk, and assisted negative self-talk.
Additionally, previous studies have shown the greatest increase is often found in the assisted
positive self-talk condition (Hamilton et al., 2007). Knowing that assisted self-talk enhanced
endurance in this case, supports my hypothesis as I also intend to give assisted self-talk to my
chosen participants in the form of interrogation. Although the findings of Hamilton et al
(2007) were as expected, the study itself was not based on a specific theory, thus our
understanding of the effects remain limited.
Following the above , a study on self-talk’s influence on performance, specifically
looking at motivational self-talk, assessed trained individuals who exercised on a cycle
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 6
ergometer until exhaustion (Blanchfield AW1, Hardy J, De Morree HM, Staiano W, Marcora
SM, 2014). Exhaustion was defined by performing below 60 revolutions per minute for five
5 consecutive seconds despite strong verbal encouragement. The method included a pre-test
and post-test method with 24 participants. Both cycle tests were split between a 2 week
period, including a self-talk intervention or a control phase in that period. As the intervention
occurred within a time scale of 14 days, it is valid to suggest that self-talk could have a
positive impact on endurance as the participant might have practised and mastered the uses of
self-talk during that period. Blanchfield et al study concluded a strong correlation between
perception of effort and endurance performance. Participants were measured on their time to
exertion (TTE) in seconds and their rate of perceived exertion
(RPE), which gave a strong indication of self-talk’s effect on the athlete. The findings of this
study suggested that self-talk significantly reduced RPE, facilitating performance. As the
study exclusively examined Motivational self-talk, further research on other types of self-talk
is necessary to further our understanding of self-talk and its effect on endurance performance,
therefore using Interrogative self-talk seems suitable to discover any new implications that
could further the current understanding.
Joseph Brhem’s (1989) established theory of motivational intensity states that
motivational intensity will narrow attention as oppose to low motivational intensity will
broaden attention (Harmon-Jones, E., 2013). The theory explains how the intensity of
motivation may be a result of high arousal therefore when participants have high arousal, he
or she thrives to achieve a certain motive by increasing self-effort (Brehm, J. W., & Self, E.
A., 1989).In addition, Interrogative self-talk can be seen as a strong branch of Brehm’s theory
as intensity is a key aspect in terms of the effectiveness of this type of self-talk. Knowing this
could have benefit my expected results as the Interrogative self-talk could have seen benefits
from an increase level of motivation as oppose to the Declarative self-talk condition
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 7
In terms of measuring RPE and power output, Barwood’s et al (2015) study consisted of a
10 kilometre time trial using motivational self-talk as an intervention. Participants included
14 young men who were recreationally active and accustomed to maximal exercise that was
not cycling. The study included four 10 kilometre time trials which were completed at
different occasions. Participants initially completed 2 familiarisation visits before being
assigned to either the Motivational self-talk group or Neutral self-talk group. Regarding
completion times, the Motivational self-talk proved to be faster in the fourth and final time
trial. In terms of participants rate of perceived exertion, a linearly increase occurred over the
course of each time trial which ended with a peak in both groups in the tenth kilometre. No
significant differences occurred between both groups’ RPE. Finally, power output was larger
in the Motivational self-talk group in the fourth time trial than the Neutral self-talk group.
Knowing that Motivational self-talk has previously induced better performance, looking
into the studies of Senay et al. (2010) as they conducted an investigation into interrogative
self-talk and its effect on goal-directed behaviour will further understanding in this field. The
study consisted of 3 experiments, that all had a different task while implementing self-talk.
All three experiments within this study strongly suggested that asking yourself an internal
question would induce a better performance.
Experiment 1 had 53 participants, with all individuals asked to use two thoughts, either a
question or an assertion, to complete an anagram-solving task. As a result they had to ask
themselves if they were going to complete the task or they were for definite going to
complete the task. Results showed that participants solved more anagrams when they were
told to think whether they would complete anagrams rather thinking they would definitely
complete anagrams .The second experiment within the study had a similar number of
participants of 50 that all had to either write ‘will I’ or ‘I will’ within a proposed handwriting
exercise. They were informed that this task was for handwriting practises. After writing one
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 8
of the options on a piece of paper 20 times, they were asked to complete an anagram task
similar to experiment 1. .The third and final experiment that included 46 participants wrote a
sequence or a pattern of 24 numbers in order to clear their minds for the next handwriting
task which included will I or I will. Following this participants had to write their intentions of
any physical activity they were planning on completing that week.
Findings suggested that the ‘will I’ prime produced better performance than any other
prime, while results for other primes had no significant difference .Results from the first
experiment suggested that participants completed the task better by asking themselves if they
were going to complete it rather than telling themselves they were going to. The interrogative
form of self-talk requires an internal answer from the participant which is often answered by
performing better. Again, in experiment two will I prime produced better performance than
any other prime. The third set of results were analysed in a 2 (number-sequence prime:
patterned s. random) x 2 (word prime: will I vs. I will) design and showed that participants
that created patterned sequences had a stronger intention to exercise (Senay et al. 2010).
Regarding the ‘will I’ or ‘I will task’, participants had stronger intentions to exercise when
using will I. The three experiments within this study strongly suggests that asking yourself an
internal question would induce a better overall performance.
As the current task consisted of a time trial on a watt bike, consideration must be took
for external factors that may affect participant’s power output and completion times during
the time trial such as fatigue (Amann. M., Ventruelli. M, Ives. SJ et al, 2013) and the heat
stress (Barwood, M.J., Corbett, J., White, D., James, J., 2012). The aforementioned factors
which may increase physiological stress could have a ‘knock on’ effect as the participants
may perceive the task as harder as a result. To limit any external factors influencing the
participant’s performance, each participant will have the option to have an electric fan on at
any time during the trials to reduce the chances of heat stress. Furthermore, participants will
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 9
have at least 2 days to prepare nutritionally for the task, however, protocol requires no
consumption of food 2 hours before the time trial itself. The current study fully intends to
extend the understanding of interrogative self-talk by applying it into motor domains in
particular endurance performance. Previous research has suggested that self-talk can raise
self-awareness during physical activities involving distance and time (Morin, A., 2005)
therefore on this basis, structured type of self-talk (IS-T) could be an altering factor towards
RPE. As well as this, a second hypothesis has been drawn which consists of an increase in
power output due to the use of IS-T and DS-T, however, I believe power output will be
higher in the Interrogative self-talk group.
2. Methodology
Participant Characteristics and Ethics.
The study consisted of 10 participants (9 male and 1 female. Mean Age =23), each
completing 3 visits to the lab completing a 10km cycle on a watt bike which had its resistance
on level 2. All participants had to be at fairly good health and non-smokers. To avoid any
data sampling inconstancies, all participants were asked not to have cycled competitively
prior to the task. In conjunction with this, participants were also required to not have had any
skeletal injuries prior to the task.
Regarding ethics, all participants had signed a consent form to allow the procedures to be
carried out. A brief overview of the task was read out to the participants so that the
procedures of the experiment and requirements were understood. Although an overview of
the experiment and information about the task were given, participants were requested not to
discuss or reveal any information with others prior to study completion.
Study Design and Procedures.
The following protocol was approved by the School of Sport, Health and Exercise
Sciences ethics committee. The study used a repeated measure design in which participants
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 10
completed a 10 km time trial on 3 different occasions. They initially completed 1
familiarisation prior to being randomly assigned to either completing the IS-T condition first
or the DS-T first. Tests took place between the hours of 9 am and 5pm during week days at
Padarn Lab, Normal site.
Pre-cycle protocols.
All participants were asked to fill in a consent form (item 1 in appendices) and health
form (item 2 in appendices) that consisted of questions asking about their last meal, any
recent injuries, any current consumption of medication, last consumption of alcohol and if the
participant had engaged in any strenuous exercise in the 48 hours prior to the task. Following
this, a short series of questions was applied with regards to their physical activity (item 3 in
appendices). The reasoning for this was to address any inconsistencies on data sampling as I
may have had participants that were indifferent in terms of fitness across subjects. By gaining
information of each participant’s weekly engagement, it was possible to see if participants
were relatively consistent in terms of fitness. Participants were asked to wear the same light
sport clothing for all three visits. All time trials were conducted in the same laboratory which
had the watt bike situated in the same place at all visits (corners of the watt bike were marked
on the floor with marking tape). The watt bike was externally connected to a laptop that had a
watt bike software that enabled me to view the participants distance covered as well as their
speed. The software allowed each participant to have a separate profile in which all three time
trials could be recorded under the same name.
Familiarisation
All participants in visit one completed the task so that self-talk cues were recorded and
changed into either declarative self-talk or interrogative self-talk on their personal forms
(item 4 in appendices), this visit was labelled as the ‘familiarisation’ visit. First of all,
participants were measured in terms of their height and weight as well as their watt bike
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 11
saddle and handlebar height. Participants completed a 10 minute warm in which they
remained between 75 and 95 rpm. After dismounting the watt bike, participants were advised
to stretch leg muscles in particular to limit any muscle damage during the task. After
stretching, participants were asked to remount on to the watt bike to complete the time trial
with maximal effort and as quickly as possible. As participants started the task, they were
informed that RPE would be asked of them and recorded on a form every kilometre (item 5 in
appendices) from the Borg scale of perceived effort which was taped on to the wall in front of
the bike. The watt bike display screen would be tilted forwards once the time trial had started
so that participants had no knowledge of speed or distance completed.
Intervention
Both intervention trials followed the same protocol as the familiarisation visit, the
difference being that either interrogative self-talk or declarative self-talk cues were applied of
course. Participants were given their interrogative self-talk statements at least 5 days prior to
the time trial to ensure that they had been practising the use of the specific statements. By
rehearsing statements participants could memorize the cues to increase the flow of changing
cues every 2 kilometres. Although participants could not see the cues on the day of the time
trial, the experimenter gave them the cues every 2 kilometre to use during the time trial. To
avoid any learning effect, participants were counterbalanced between both conditions
therefore half the participants were intervened with IS-T in the first real visit and the other
half were intervened with DS-T in real visit 1.Participant measurements of saddle height and
handlebar heights were already recorded therefore were set prior to the participant’s arrival.
Prior to the task, participants were informed of the Borg scale which was situated on the wall
in front of them and were told that they were going to be asked every 1km for their perceived
exertion. As the task began, participants were given their first adjusted self-talk cue from the
familiarisation visit (depending on condition) for the first 2 kilometres. For example, a
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 12
participant during the Interrogative self-talk condition were given statements such as “have I
started well?” whereas participants in the Declarative self-talk condition were given
statements such as “I’ve started well”. After completing the task, participants were asked to
complete a 10 minute cool down at their own pace to lower heart rate as well as filling in a
series of questions regarding a manipulation check (Item 6 in appendices)
Statistical Analysis
Test completion times, power output, RPE and manipulation were measured during time
trial 2 and 3. Using a computerised statistical software analysis package, SPSS software, both
means and standard deviation were measured for the following variables over each kilometre
of each time trial; completion times (seconds), power output (watts) and RPE (Borg
scale).Completion times were analysed using a paired sample t-test while power output for
each kilometre were compared using a 2x10 repeated measure ANOVA with within subjects
factor Self-Talk and Distance (km). By using the Muchly test to check sphericity, it proved
necessary to use a Greehnhouse-Geisser adjustment. Furthermore, I decided to further
explore the main effect with single repeated measures ANOVA and multiple t-tests and the
significant differences of each kilometre with a Bonferroni multiple comparisons test.
Regarding RPE, A 2x120 way ANOVA was utilised to discover the main effect for self-talk,
condition as well as the interaction.
3. Results
Manipulation Checks
A paired sample t-test was conducted on the data collected from the manipulation
checks. We discovered that there was a significant difference in three different types of
questions one being the scores of the extent that self-talk reflected Interrogative Self-Talk
(M=7.5, SD=1.58) and Declarative Self-Talk (M=4.7, SD=1.57) during the Interrogative Self
talk condition (t (9) =3.096, p=0.13). Following this, a question asking what extent the self-
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 13
talk reflected interrogative self-talk (M=4.6, SD=2.17) and declarative self-talk (M=7.8,
SD=
1.39) during declarative self-talk time trials also revealed a significant difference (t (9) =-
4.311, p=.002). In question 5, participants had to record how useful they thought each type of
Self-Talk was during both conditions. Statements were created by participants independently
prior to each time trial. Results showed a significant difference between the perceived
usefulness of both interrogative (M = 7.5, SD= 1.37) and declarative self-talk cues (M =
7.5, SD =1.79) in their respective time trials, (t (9) = 2.449, p = .037) suggesting that
participants found Interrogative self-talk more useful. Regarding participants interest in the
task, the post-trial manipulation checks showed that interest in the Interrogative Self-talk (M
=6.7, SD = 2.6) trial was significantly lower than the interest in Declarative Self-Talk (M =
8.7, SD = 2.26) trial (t (9) = -3.354, p = .008).
Regarding insignificant results from the post-trial manipulation checks, the
differences in questions 1, 4, 6 and 8 did not reach a significant level. Question 1 asked
required participants to record to what extent they adhered to the instructions of the task
before and during each trial, results showed no significant difference ( t (9) = 1.172, p =.271).
Results showed no significant difference in question 4 that targeted the participants
motivation during both conditions (t (9) = 1.769, p= .111). Regarding participant’s
involvement and happiness, the paired sample t test did not show a significant difference
between both conditions regarding their involvement (t (9) = 1.0, p =.343) nor participants
happiness to work on the task (t (9) = -.502, p = .627). See appendix for full questionnaire.
Performance – Time trial Times.
Interrogative self-talk time trials did not overcome those of declarative self-talk,
Participants’ time trials did not support the aforementioned. When examined, Interrogative
Self-Talk (M = 1045.1, SD = 89.78) and Declarative Self-Talk (M = 1045.2, SD = 84.16) had
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 14
no significant difference in time trial completion times; (t (9) = -.11, p=.922). Figure 1 shows
clearly the non-significant differences between both conditions in time trials.
Rate of perceived exertion
Participants were 9 males and 1 female from Bangor University (M=21.4,
SD=1.43) .The original sample size for the study was 14 which then came down to 10 as 4
dropped out due to health issues as well as unavailability. I hypothesised that participants (n
=10) would benefit from the Interrogative Self-Talk cues which would result in a lower rate
of perceived exertion. We analysed both the mean RPE scores of each kilometre (1 to 10) for
Interrogative Self-Talk (IS-T) and the Declarative Self-Talk (DS-T) conditions with a 2 x 10
ANOVA. RPE increased linearly over the course of each TT, reaching a peak in (1 to 10) for
Interrogative Self-Talk (IS-T) and the Declarative Self-Talk (DS-T) conditions with a 2 x 10
ANOVA. RPE increased linearly over the course of each TT, reaching a peak in both groups
on completion of the tenth and final kilometre. The 2 x 10 ANOVA with Kilometres (1-10)
and Conditions (Interrogative Self-Talk and Declarative Self-Talk) as within-subject factors
INTERROGATIVE SELF TALK DECLARATVIE SELF TALK1045
1045.05
1045.1
1045.15
1045.2
1045.25
Self-Talk
Tim
e (s
ec)
Figure 1. Time trial completion times for both IS-T and DS-T in a 10km time trial on a watt
bike.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 15
revealed a main effect of Kilometres, (F (9, 81) = 91.65, p < .001) but did not reveal a main
effect of Condition, (F (1, 9) = .00 p =.988). Furthermore, the interaction between Kilometres
and Condition did not reach a statistically significant level (F (9, 81) = .33, p =.962). RPE is
shown in Figure 2.
Power Output
A 2x10 repeated measure ANOVA was conducted on the power output data, with
within subject’s factor Condition (declarative, interrogative) and Distance (Km 1-2, 2-3 ... 9-
10). A Greenhouse-geisser correction was applied when Mauchy’s test of Sphericity
indicated a violation of the assumption. The analysis showed a non-significant main effect for
self-talk
(F (1, 9) = 0.337, p= .576), however, we observed a significant main effect of Distance (F (2,
28) = 7.57, p < .005). As well as this, the final comparison showed a nearly significant
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100.00001.00002.00003.00004.00005.00006.00007.00008.00009.0000
10.0000
Interrogative Self-Talk
Declarative Self-Talk
Distance (Km)
Mea
n R
PE
Figure.2 – The Ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) in time trial (TT) 2 and TT3 in
Interrogative Self-Talk group (M=5.36, SD=2.37) and Declarative Self-Talk group
(M=5.36, SD=2.34) across 1km increments.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 16
difference in the interaction between self-talk and distance (F (1, 9) = 3.814, p =.083).
However, based on our a priori hypothesis we decided to further explore the main effect of
Distance with single repeated measures ANOVA and multiple t-tests.
The repeated measures ANOVA on declarative self-talk revealed a significant simple
effect of Distance, (F (2, 20) = 4.1, p < .05) but no significant changes was shown by
Bonferroni multiple comparisons over each point. Notably, the repeated measures ANOVA
on declarative self-talk showed a significant simple effect of distance (F (2, 21) = 4.101, p
= .027) as well as a significant main effect of distance for interrogative self-talk (F (2, 20) =
7.72, p < .005). Bonferroni multiple comparisons, revealed a significant increases of power
output in the last kilometre (9 to 10) compared to the kilometre 5 to 6 (marginal significance
p = .063), 6 to 7 (p < .05), and 8 to 9 (p< .05). Furthermore, multiple t-tests contrasting the
two self-talk conditions in each kilometre revealed a significant difference in km 9-10 but
nowhere else, with larger power output for participants using interrogative self-talk (t (9) = -
2.33, p = 0.44).Power output data is shown in Figure 3.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10150.0000000000
160.0000000000
170.0000000000
180.0000000000
190.0000000000
200.0000000000
210.0000000000
220.0000000000
Declarativative self-talk
Interrogative self-talk
Distance (km)
Pow
er O
utpu
t (W
atts
)
Figure 3. The Power output in TT2 and TT3 for Interrogative Self-Talk (M= 173.3398,
SD=13.83) and Declarative Self-Talk (M=172.5754, SD= 12.04) across 1km increments.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 17
4. Discussion
This study examined the effect of Interrogative self-talk and declarative self-talk on
performance, RPE and power output during a 10km time trial on a watt bike. The majority of
the results were not as predicted as there were no significant differences between time trial
times in both conditions. One possible reason over this is that the self-talk cues that were
given were powerful not enough, however, it could also be a result of numerous reasons such
as fatigue, psychological state, or the participant’s inability to use self-talk. Following this,
RPE also did not show a significant difference between both groups across all 10 kilometres,
however, looking at power output, a significant difference in the last kilometre suggests that
IS-T may be a beneficial intervention for power output towards the end of an endurance task.
The above finding confirms the findings of Atkinson, G., & Brunskill, A. (2000) which states
that events such as a fixed distance time trials will demonstrate an end spurt of power output
which exceeds any initial power production. Although there were no significant differences
in time trial times or RPE between both conditions, comparing both power output and the
RPE in the tenth kilometre for the IS-T condition proved to be relatively interesting. We
could assume that although power output increased significantly in the last kilometre for the
IS-T condition, participants did not perceive the task any easier using this type of self-
talk .One assumption that could be made from this is that IS-T may have encouraged the
participant to work harder in last kilometre but at the same time have no effect on how the
participants perceived the difficulty of the task. Earlier predictions derived from Barwood’s
et al (2015) study that RPE would decrease as a result of, in this case IS-T, have not been
supported by the data. As it was in Barwood’s findings, RPE increased linearly over both
conditions but had no significant differences between both sets of time trials (see Figure 1).
Knowing this therefore confirms the findings of Barwood et al (2015) which would lead to
the conclusion that further research needs to be carried out on how to lower RPE using IS-T.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 18
Similar to Barwood’s study, power output mean across both conditions mirrored those
of completion times, however, results showed a peak power output for both groups at the end
of the time trial. As previously mentioned, RPE remained consistent across all kilometres
(see Figure 1) and completion times had no significant differences, therefore a significant
difference in the power out of the last kilometre, which mirrors Barwood’s findings, is
unusual to say the least. One possible assumption that could be made from this that
participants may have kept a mental count of the times that the experimenter had asked for
RPE therefore had knowledge of distance, and more importantly, being in the last kilometre.
By gaining this information, participants may have been motivated to give a ‘big last push’
towards the finish line, resulting in a higher power output at this point. A potential limitation
could be drawn from this as asking for RPE every kilometre gives away information of
distance to the participant which violates the conditions.
Regarding manipulation checks, a post cycle questionnaire was given to each
participant (see appendices) that asked a variety of questions concerning their emotions and
obedience during the task. Interestingly enough, results show a variety of differences that was
not expected. First of all, results suggested that participants were more interested in the task
while using DS-T than IS-T, however, there were no significant differences in how happy
participants were during both conditions. Referring back to the findings of Senay et al (2010)
that suggested participants had a stronger intention to exercise after using IS-T statements
such as ‘Will I?’ in an anagram solving task, a comparison could be made between his
findings on participants intentions, and the current study’s findings on participants perceived
usefulness of self-talk cues. Results from the current research suggest that participants found
the declarative from of self-talk to be more useful in terms of performing better. Comparing
both factors (intention vs usefulness), we could draw a conclusion that IS-T may be a
beneficial way of enhancing someone’s intentions after a task but DS-T may be perceived
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 19
more useful during a task. One possible explanation for this comes down to previously
known self-talk, participants may have been naturally self-talking in the declarative form for
years prior to the task therefore this type of self-talk may be stored in the long term memory,
yet again IS-T is also highly unlikely to be a form of self-talk that the participants would have
been using years prior to the task. Although this is a limitation, it would be almost impossible
to control without violating the participant’s rights, however, using another type of self-talk
instead of DS-T that’s as abnormal as IS-T on the participants may prove beneficial in terms
of limiting the effect of stored DS-T. One possible applied implication that could be drawn
from this principle is that IS-T may be a beneficial way of promoting health and could be
used within the health sector as a solution for some aspects of obesity. For instance; using IS-
T as an intervention on an overweight adult during a healthy eating scheme could promote
physical activity after the scheme. This is a topic for further research that could enhance the
understanding of the aforementioned point.
Regarding question 2 and 3 which asked about the participants used interrogative self-
talk the declarative condition and vice versa. Results show that participants followed the in
instructions of each condition fairly well as the self-talk assigned to each condition were used
appropriately. Knowing this, we can confirm that counterbalancing the order of conditions
had a beneficial outcome as participants reported no significant carry on effect. Although
previously mentioned that motivational intensity increases an individual’s attentional focus
during goal-directed task, the current study did not show any supportive evidence of this
theory. Referring back to Blanchard et al (2013) that states this theory, it is possible that
finishing the 10km in the fastest time, was not an appropriate goal to induce maximal
motivation.
Hypothetically, if the participants had a more rewarding goal such as a cash prize rather
than a general goal of simply finishing the 10km in the fastest time, the increase in
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 20
motivation towards the goal would have narrowed attentional focus resulting in better
performance (Hart. W., & Gable, P. A 2013). On the other hand, implementing cash prizes
would have been problematic in terms of controlling self-talk as participants self-talk could
have be drawn more towards the reward rather than finishing the 10km quickly. Knowing
this, we could assume that IS-T did not act as a motivator during the task as there were no
significant differences in how motivating participants saw each type of self-talk. Although
IS-T has shown little effect on motivation during the task, we could assume that coaches of
novice and elite athletes who struggle with increasing their athletes’ motivation would benefit
from knowing this, however, the current study had a limited amount of participants, and
therefore drawing such a broad implication would be rash without any further research. The
limitation that could be drawn from this is that participants were limited in terms of sources
of motivation. Although hypothetically, IST should increase one’s motivation, participants
did not have a highly rewarding goal to thrive towards, therefore motivation may have
suffered in terms of reaching its potential during the task.
This study is not without limitations. First of all, participants count did not have depth
in which more reliable data could have been found. As well as low participant count, an equal
mix of genders was not present therefore further comparisons of the effect of IS-T on
endurance performance regarding both genders was not possible. Consequently, the findings
reflect a small population of primarily males which call out for further research in this field.
In addition, less-skilled participants are more likely to respond to self-talk than skilled
participants (Tod, D., Hardy, J., & Oliver, E. 2011) therefore examining participants on a
skill that in fairly unfamiliar would have theoretically be beneficial. Furthermore, the lack of
information of participant’s fitness prior to task has also limited analysis. By gaining records
of Vo2 max prior to time trial 1, evaluation of pre and post Vo2 max scores would have been
beneficial in terms of seeing the effect of the intervention on this measure.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 21
Overall, the above suggest that interrogative self-talk does not alter completion times,
RPE or power output for most of a 10 kilometre time trial, however a peak power output in
the last kilometre suggests Interrogative self-talk may be a beneficial psychological
intervention for novice cyclists in the final part of an endurance test
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Acknowledgements.
The author would like to thank James Hardy for clarification of thinking data analysis, Ross
Roberts for constructive feedback on data collecting, Eduardo Bellomo with guidance
on statistical analysis, Ian Lloyd-Jones for giving advice on the written structure and the
participants for their involvement.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 25
Appendices
1. Consent Form
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 26
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 27
2. Health Form
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 28
3.i Weekly Engagment in Activity Form
3.ii
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 29
3.iii
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 30
4.i Forms to create IS-T and DS-T cues
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 31
4ii
4. iii
4. iv
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 32
4.v
4.vi
5. Rate of Perceived Exertion
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 33
6.i Manipulation Checks.
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 34
EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE SELF-TALK ON ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE 35
6.ii