Relationships Between Reaction Time, Selective Attention, Physical Activity, and Physical Fitness in Children

Rafael E Reigal; Silvia Barrero; Ignacio Martín; Verónica Morales-Sánchez; Rocío Juárez-Ruiz de Mier; Antonio Hernández-Mendo

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02278

Relationships Between Reaction Time, Selective Attention, Physical Activity, and Physical Fitness in Children

Front Psychol. 2019 Oct 15:10:2278. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02278. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Rafael E Reigal¹, Silvia Barrero², Ignacio Martín², Verónica Morales-Sánchez³, Rocío Juárez-Ruiz de Mier⁴, Antonio Hernández-Mendo³

Affiliations

¹ University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain.
² Department of Methodology for Behavioral Science, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
³ Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Anthropology and East Asian Studies, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain.
⁴ Department of Evolutionary Psychology and Education, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the relationships between simple and complex reaction times (RTs) with the physical activity performed weekly, the physical fitness and selective attention in children of the third cycle of primary education. Participants were 119 children aged between 10 and 12 years (M = 10.71; SD = 0.77). The instruments used for data collection were the D2 attention test to analyze selective attention, various tests of the Eurofit and ALPHA-Fitness Battery to evaluate the physical condition, a bioimpedanciometer Tanita TBF 300 to evaluate the body composition, and the FITLIGHT Trainer to measure the simple and complex RTs. The group that carried out more weekly physical activity used less time in simple (p < 0.05, d = -0.68, 95% CI [-1.19, -0.17]) and complex RT tests (p < 0.05, d = -0.63, 95% CI [-1.14, -0.12]). Also, the results showed that the simple RT was related in a significant way with physical fitness, while the complex RT was related significantly to attentional capacity and physical fitness.

Keywords: FITLIGHT trainer; physical activity; physical fitness; reaction time; selective attention.