The effects of strategic self-talk on divided attention following physical exhaustion

Abstract

In the sport literature, strategic self-talk has been shown to improve task performance, and these effects have been partly attributed to enhanced attention. Furthermore, research has shown that strategic instructional self-talk can help counter the adverse effects of ego depletion on attention tasks. Extending this line of research, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of strategic instructional self-talk on a divided attention task following physical exhaustion. Participants of 60 undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.23 years were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Following a short familiarisation with task procedures, participants were induced into a state of physical exhaustion through a running protocol on a treadmill. Immediately after the conclusion of the physical task, they performed the divided attention test on the Vienna Test System, during which participants of the experimental group were instructed to use strategic intructional self-talk cues. The analysis of the final assessment showed that the self-talk group had a higher percentage of correct responses and faster reaction times than the control group. The results of this study suggest that strategic instructional self-talk can help counter the potentially negative consequences of physical exhaustion on attention. The findings provide further support for an attentional interpretation of self-talk effectiveness, suggesting that improvements in attention functions can be a plausible mechanism for explaining the facilitative effects of self-talk on task performance. © 2022 International Society of Sport Psychology.