Using heart rate as a physical activity metric

Physical activity (PA) is critical for a healthy lifestyle. The current study assessed heart rate (HR) as a primary measure of moderate and vigorous PA with four typically developing children. First, individualized HR assessments were conducted to determine moderate and vigorous HR zones. Next, participants engaged in various exercises at a local YMCA facility (i.e., biking, elliptical, basketball, and exergame boxing) to determine how HR during these activities aligned with their individualized HR zones. During exercise bouts, HR was typically above moderate, but below vigorous HR zones for all participants. Additionally, exercises that restricted range of motion (i.e., biking and elliptical) engendered generally lower HR than exercises with greater range of motion. Vocal instructions to exercise at vigorous levels were effective at increasing HR to vigorous levels for one participant. The advantages of using HR as a metric of PA during assessment and intervention are discussed.     

Individual differences in the gesture effect on working memory

Co-speech gestures have been shown to interact with working memory (WM). However, no study has investigated whether there are individual differences in the effect of gestures on WM. Combining a novel gesture/no-gesture task and an operation span task, we examined the differences in WM accuracy between individuals who gestured and individuals who did not gesture in relation to their WM capacity. Our results showed individual differences in the gesture effect on WM. Specifically, only individuals with low WM capacity showed a reduced WM accuracy when they did not gesture. Individuals with low WM capacity who did gesture, as well as high-capacity individuals (irrespective of whether they gestured or not), did not show the effect. Our findings show that the interaction between co-speech gestures and WM is affected by an individual’s WM load.     

The Effects of Performance Extremities on Ratings of Dynamic Performance

The impact of performance extremities (peaks and troughs) on performance ratings was unexamined. Based on judgment and decision-making theories, we hypothesized that performance extremities would exert an incremental (beyond performance mean and trend) impact on ratings and that the impact of troughs would exceed that of peaks. We also hypothesized that extremities would exert a greater impact when performance trends were in the opposite direction and when performance information was presented in a graphical rather than tabular display format. We tested these hypotheses via a policy-capturing study in which participants rated employee performance profiles across which extremities, trends, and mean levels were manipulated. The results consistently indicated that performance troughs, but not performance peaks, influenced performance ratings in expected ways.