1. INCREASING GAME
PERFORMANCE & ENJOYMENT
BY REDUCING COGNITIVE
LOAD
HOW DOES ALLEVIATING THE BRAIN OF THE COGNITIVE FUNCTION
NEEDED TO MEMORIZE & KEEP TRACK OF ACCURATE SCORES IN A
PHYSICAL CHALLENGING GAME, AFFECT A PARTICIPANT’S
PERFORMANCE & ENJOYMENT?

2. COGNITIVE DOMAINS COVER
• Memory
• Language
• Executive Function
• Attention
• Perception
• Daily living activities

3. THE BRAIN HAS FINITE METABOLIC
RESOURCES
The transient hypofrontality hypothesis suggests
that during exercise the extensive neural
activation required to run motor patterns,
assimilate sensory inputs, and coordinate
autonomic regulation results in a concomitant
transient decrease of neural activity in brain
structures, such as the prefrontal cortex, that
are not pertinent to performing the exercise.

4. EXECUTIVE FUNTIONING
Refers to the cognitive processes necessary for goal-directed
cognition and behaviour which develop across childhood and
adolescence (Best, 2010). http://www.isbe.net/epe/pdf/reports-
webinars/iphi-epetf-rpt0313.pdf
EXECUTIVE CONTROL
Refers to a division of goal directed, self regulatory process involved in
the selection, scheduling, and coordination of computational processes
underlying perception, memory, and action
http://www.isbe.net/epe/pdf/reports-webinars/iphi-epetf-
rpt0313.pdf
COGNITIVE FUNCTION

5. TEST SUBJECT QUESTIONNAIRE (page 1)
On three different days within one calendar week, the test subjects shall be asked to play a standard 3 set
tennis game within a learning focused environment. The subjects will be told that the goal of each game is to
work hard, try to improve their tennis skills and technique, and to have fun. The objective outcome of the game
(i.e., win or loss) is devaluated. Immediately following each game, the subjects shall be asked to recall the
midpoint of their game and respond to 6 items targeting the qualitative nature of their cognitive content and
affect at that time.
On a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate the following questions?
(1 = strongly disagree & 5 = strongly agree)
Concentration (I concentrated well)
Performance worry (I was worried about my
performance)
Enjoyment (I was having a good time)
Perceived effort (I was trying my best)
Strategy formulation (I tried new strategies to
succeed)
Negative cognitions (I was saying negative
things to myself)

6. TEST SUBJECT QUESTIONNAIRE (page 2)
On three different days within one calendar week, the test subjects shall be asked to play a standard 3 set
tennis game within a learning focused environment. The subjects will be told that the goal of each game is to
work hard, try to improve their tennis skills and technique, and to have fun. The objective outcome of the game
(i.e., win or loss) is devaluated. Immediately following each game, the subjects shall be asked to recall the
midpoint of their game and respond to 6 items targeting the qualitative nature of their cognitive content and
affect at that time.
On a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate the following questions?
(1 = no impact & 5 = great impact)
Effort (How much effort did you put in this game)
Ability (What is your ability level)
Luck (lucky strikes versus skilled ones)
How did your opponent's ability impacted your overall game
performance.

7. REFERENCES
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/counting-on-your-brain-to-keep-score/
Counting on Your Brain to Keep Score
In-text: (Swaminathan, 2014)
Bibliography: Swaminathan, N. (2014). Counting on Your Brain to Keep Score. [online]
Scientificamerican.com. Available at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/counting-on-your-brain-to-keep-score/
[Accessed 5 Jun. 2014].
http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jocn.2006.18.11.1820#.U5EFjChzFjM
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience - Age-related Changes in the Activation of the
Intraparietal Sulcus during Nonsymbolic Magnitude Processing: An Event-related
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
“Our findings are the first to reveal that even the most basic aspects of numerical
cognition are subject to age-related changes in functional neuroanatomy. We propose
that developmental impairments of number may be associated with atypical specialization
of cortical regions underlying magnitude processing.”
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFQQFjAF
&url=http%3A%2F%2Falzheimers.org.uk%2Fsite%2Fscripts%2Fdownload.php%3FfileID%3D1