Research Design Connection: More on Activity While Working

Pilcher and Baker wanted to learn more about the relationship between moving in some way while working and professional performance. They had people participating in their study work on a desktop while pedaling (at a FitDesk, described below) and also at a traditional sedentary desk.

The researchers found that when study “participants pedaled the stationary bicycle at a slow pace (similar in exertion to a normal walking pace) while working…cognitive task performance did not change between the two workstations. However, positive affect [mood], motivation, and morale improved when using the stationary bicycle…Positive affect is associated with improved problem solving and decision making which can lead to flexible and creative cognitive processing (Isen, 2001) and can help facilitate coping mechanisms and healthy behaviors in individuals (Aspinwall, 1997).”

Questions from the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) were, for example, used to assess cognitive task performance. The FitDesk is a “silent, stationary bike with a desk top which allows the user to work on a laptop or tablet while pedaling the bike…the desk top [is] located at a comfortable distance from an adjustable height seat.” Study participants used the FitDesks for two one-hour professional work-type sessions before data were collected.

June Pilcher and Victoria Baker. 2016. “Task Performance and Meta-Cognitive Outcomes When Using Activity Workstations and Traditional Desks.” Frontiers in Psychology, http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00957/full.

Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.