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Manipulating balance perceptions in healthy young adults
Larkin Lamarche1, James A Shaw, Kimberley L Gammage
1Department of Physical Education and Kinesiology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada.
Gait & Posture
|November 28, 2008
Summary
Verbal persuasion can alter perceived stability in young adults, even without changing actual balance or balance efficacy. This study explored how feedback affects balance perception.
Area of Science:
- Motor Control
- Psychology
- Human Performance
Background:
- Balance efficacy, the belief in one's ability to maintain balance, is crucial for motor performance.
- Verbal persuasion is a potential tool to influence psychological states related to physical tasks.
- Understanding the interplay between perceived and actual balance is important for rehabilitation and training.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of manipulated balance efficacy using verbal persuasion on perceived and actual balance in healthy young adults.
- To determine if providing high or low balance information, irrespective of actual performance, influences balance perception.
- To examine the relationship between balance efficacy, perceived stability, and objective measures of balance.
Main Methods:
- Forty-six healthy young adults participated in the study.
- Participants completed two balance tasks, receiving feedback designed to create high or low balance efficacy groups.
- Balance efficacy, perceived stability, and trunk movements (as a measure of actual balance) were assessed before and after the manipulation.
Main Results:
- The manipulation of balance efficacy through verbal persuasion was unsuccessful in altering participants' self-reported balance efficacy.
- Despite no significant changes in actual balance, participants receiving positive balance information reported greater perceived stability compared to those receiving negative information.
- Perceived stability was influenced by the provided feedback, independent of changes in actual balance or balance efficacy.
Conclusions:
- Verbal persuasion can modify perceptions of stability in healthy young adults, even when it does not affect actual balance or confidence in balance ability.
- The findings highlight the dissociation between perceived stability and actual balance performance.
- This suggests that psychological factors, such as performance feedback, play a significant role in how individuals experience their balance.
