Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 5-14-2023

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Health, Exercise Science, and Recreation Management

First Advisor

Paul Loprinzi

Second Advisor

Jeremy Loenneke

Third Advisor

Matthew Jessee

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The Encoding-Specificity Paradigm states that memory recall will be enhanced when contextual factors are congruent between memory encoding and memory retrieval (i.e., state-dependent learning). However, minimal research has evaluated this paradigm in the exercise domain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute exercise intensity on memory while considering these potential state-dependent effects. Forty-eight university students completed a within-subject experiment involving seven laboratory visits, during which they encoded a list of 15 words and were subsequently asked to free-recall as many of these words as possible. The encoding and retrieval phases were matched or mismatched by occurring at rest or during a three-minute bout of moderate- or vigorous-intensity exercise. The conditions included: (1) encoding and retrieval at rest (R-R), (2) encoding at rest and retrieval during moderate exercise (R-E Mod), (3) encoding at rest and retrieval during vigorous exercise (R-E Vig), (4) encoding during moderate exercise and retrieval at rest (E-R Mod), (5) encoding during vigorous exercise and retrieval at rest (E-R Vig), (6) encoding and retrieval during moderate exercise (E-E Mod), and (7) encoding and retrieval during vigorous exercise (E-E Vig). With the number of words correctly recalled as the outcome, a 2 (Encoding: rest v exercise) × 2 (Retrieval: rest v exercise) repeated-measures ANOVA was employed to evaluate potential state-dependent effects; models were computed separately for moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise. For moderate-intensity exercise, there was no main effect for Encoding, p = .79, Retrieval, p = .11, or an Encoding × Retrieval interaction, p = .47. For vigorous-intensity exercise, there was no main effect for Encoding, p = .26, and no Encoding × Retrieval interaction, p = .91, but there was a main effect for Retrieval, p= .02. Memory recall was greater when memory retrieval occurred during vigorous-intensity exercise when compared to rest, Mdiff= .55, p = .02, d = .34. We did not observe evidence that the effects of acute exercise on memory are state-dependent, but did demonstrate that memory recall is greater when memory retrieval occurs during vigorous-intensity exercise. These findings have important implications for the strategic placement of exercise during the phases of memory to optimize memory performance.

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