DYNAMICS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF AFFECT DURING A MAXIMAL EXERCISE TEST

Abstract

1021 The pattern of changes and the physiological correlates of affective valence, perceived activation, and perceptions of effort, as measured by the Feeling Scale (FS), the Felt Arousal Scale (FAS), and the Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale, respectively, were examined during a maximal exercise test. Following a 3 min warm-up, 30 volunteers (age: 23.9±3.6 yrs; 13 ♀: VO2max: 47±4 ml·kg−1·min−1; 17 ♂: VO2max: 51.5±7 ml·kg−1·min−1) participated in an incremental treadmill test until volitional exhaustion and responded to FS, FAS, and RPE every min. The test was followed by a 3 min cool-down. The individual ventilatory threshold (VT) was determined using regression and graphical methods. Below VT, FS increased and was unrelated to physiological variables. Above VT and until the end of the test, FS gradually declined, exhibited increased inter-individual variability, and was negatively related (rs −0.52 to −.72) to the respiratory exchange ratio. During cool-down, FS recovered instantaneously, a pattern characteristic of an affective opponent process. FAS increased throughout the test and was positively related to O2 consumption. RPE was positively related to ventilation and O2 consumption above the VT, but not at the beginning or the end of the test. These findings suggest that increasing exercise intensity is associated with reduced affective positivity, but this trend reverses itself immediately upon the cessation of the stimulus. The motivational implications of this transient negative shift must be explored. It also appears that above the VT affective responses are influenced by physiological cues associated with anaerobiosis, as well as by yet unknown individual differences.