The Psychobiological Model of Endurance Performance: An Effort-Based Decision-Making Theory to Explain Self-Paced Endura
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Psychobiological Model of Endurance Performance: An Effort-Based Decision-Making Theory to Explain Self-Paced Endurance Performance Benjamin Pageaux
Ó Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
To the Editor, In a recent review published in this journal [1], Renfree and colleagues demonstrated the importance of considering decision-making theories to understand self-paced endurance performance. The authors aimed to examine current models/theories of decision-making in an attempt to explain the manner in which regulation of muscular work (pacing) is achieved during self-paced endurance performance. As explained by the authors, it is crucial that models explaining self-paced endurance performance take into account both internal (e.g. perception of effort, physiological responses) and external (e.g. tactical decisions, presence of competitors) factors. Interestingly, among all models presented in their review, the authors omitted to present an effort-based decision-making model recently proposed to explain self-paced endurance performance: the psychobiological model (of endurance performance) [2]. The psychobiological model has been shown to provide a valid explanation of the effects of both psychological [3, 4] and physiological [5] manipulations on endurance performance during constant-load exercise (time to exhaustion). Recently, its explanatory validity was extended to selfpaced exercise where endurance performance was altered by psychological (mental fatigue) [6] and physiological (muscle fatigue) [7] manipulations. Consequently, it seems important to mention its existence in a review on decisionmaking theories relevant to self-regulation of pacing. Therefore, the main aim of this letter is to briefly present
B. Pageaux (&) Endurance Research Group, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Kent at Medway, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4AG, UK e-mail: [email protected]
the psychobiological model and its sensitivity to internal and external factors known to alter self-paced endurance performance. This letter will also attempt to provide to the reader a brief alternative interpretation of the role of perception of effort in endurance performance. The psychobiological model is an effort-based decisionmaking model [2] based on motivational intensity theory [8], and postulates that the conscious regulation of pace is determined primarily by five different cognitive/motivational factors: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Perception of effort Potential motivation Knowledge of the distance/time to cover Knowledge of the distance/time remaining Previous experience/memory of perception of effort during exercise of varying intensity and duration
Factor 2 (potential motivation) refers to the maximum effort an individual is willing to exert to satisfy a motive, and could be easily influenced by external factors (e.g. higher motivation during an event with competitors than during laboratory testing). Factors 3 to 5 are self-explanatory and can explain the end-spurt phenomenon [9] or why athletes star
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