The Effects of Acute Exercise and Virtual Reality Tasks on Children’s Memory Function and Exercise Preference

International journal of kinesiology and sports science

article

Charalampos Krommidas¹  Evangelos Galanis¹  Emmanouil Tzormpatzakis¹  Mary Mary Hasandra¹  Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis¹  Ioannis D. Morres²  Nikos Comoutos¹  Yannis Theodorakis¹ 

[1] Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly;Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Thessaly

关键词: Children;    Exercise;    Virtual Reality;    Pleasure;    Memory;    Technology;    Exergame;   

DOI  :  10.7575/aiac.ijkss.v.10n.3p.7

来源: Australian International Academic Centre PTY. LTD.

【 摘 要 】

Background: It is well established that regular participation in exercise and virtual reality (VR)environments are important tools for improving or maintaining human health and cognitivefunction. Objectives: This study examined the effects of acute exercise and VR environmentson children’s memory function and exercise preference (i.e. cycling with or without the use ofVR technology). Methods: Α 2×3 factorial design was adopted with two measures (pre, post)and three study groups. Forty-five healthy children aged 9 to 13 years (Mage = 10.91±1.24 years)voluntarily participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into three groupsreceiving different treatment: (1) an exercise+VR group that cycled for 15 min in a VRenvironment (forest path) combined with basic mathematical problem-solving tasks, (2) anexercise group that cycled for 15 min, and (3) a no-exercise group that sat in a specific place in alab for 15 min (the control group). Before and after the acute exercise, all the groups completedthe Sternberg Memory Task. Upon completion of the intervention, the two exercise groupscompleted measures of enjoyment, intention and attitudes towards cycling. The exercise+VRgroup also completed a scale capturing the VR’s usability. Results: The results show that theexercise group scored higher on Sternberg’s Memory Task (p <.05) after the acute exercisetreatment (post) than before it (pre). Similarly, the exercise+VR participants scored higher on thepost-intervention memory task than did the exercise and control groups (p <.05). Moreover, theexercise+VR group reported higher scores on enjoyment, intention and attitude towards cyclingthan the exercise group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p >.05). Finally, theexercise+VR participants recorded high scores on the usability of the VR system during the acuteexercise programme. Conclusions: These findings are in line with those of previous studies,underlining the important roles of exercise and VR environments on youths’ cognitive function.

【 授权许可】

Unknown