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Updated: May 10, 2026
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Using Gold-standard Gait Analysis Methods to Assess Experience Effects on Lower-limb Mechanics During Moderate High-heeled Jogging and Running
Published on: September 14, 2017
Thinking while walking: experienced high-heel walkers flexibly adjust their gait.
Sabine Schaefer1, Ulman Lindenberger
1Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development , Berlin , Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|June 14, 2013
Summary
High-heel experts show more flexible walking adjustments under cognitive load, unlike novices. Expertise enhances motor control adaptability, not necessarily attentional capacity during complex tasks.
Area of Science:
- Motor control and learning
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Motor skill acquisition theories suggest reduced attentional demands with practice.
- Experts are expected to have less attentional conflict when performing expert tasks alongside cognitive tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cognitive and motor performance differences between high-heel experts and novices.
- To assess how cognitive load and footwear (high heels vs. gym shoes) affect walking performance.
- To determine if expertise in high-heel walking influences attentional resource allocation.
Main Methods:
- Participants: High-heel experts and novices.
- Tasks: Walking on a treadmill (in gym shoes or high heels) while performing a working memory task.
- Measurements: Cognitive performance (working memory) and motor performance (walking regularity, gait cycle parameters).
Main Results:
- Neither group exhibited decreased working memory performance when walking versus sitting.
- High-heel experts demonstrated more flexible adaptation of walking regularity to shoe type and cognitive load.
- Experts reduced gait variability (single-support phase) in high heels under cognitive challenge, unlike novices.
Conclusions:
- High-heel expertise is linked to flexible motor pattern adjustments.
- Expertise may facilitate adaptive gait control rather than solely reducing cognitive load.
- Further research needed on more challenging walking tasks to reveal expertise-related cognitive differences.
