Mental Fatigue Impairs Temporal Perceptual Prediction: A Study on Boxing Performance Across Skill Levels.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the impact of mental fatigue on the temporal perceptual prediction of action recognition among boxers of different skill levels.

METHODS

A mixed experimental design of two (groups: Mental Fatigue Expert Group and Mental Fatigue Novice Group) × two (technique types: attack and defense) × three (time shields: -80 ms, -40 ms, and action start) was implemented. Twenty expert and novice boxers participated in this study. Mental fatigue was induced using a 45-min Stroop paradigm, and the effects were assessed using the VAS, Brog-20, BRUMS-F, and BRUMS-V. The experimental procedure for time perception was developed using E-prime 3.0, incorporating 36 videos depicting various attack and defense techniques, and reaction time and accuracy were recorded.

RESULTS

(1) A significant main effect on reaction time (RT) was observed (F (1,38) = 5.97, < 0.05, η = 0.14) but not on accuracy (ACC), suggesting a pronounced influence of mental fatigue on novice boxers' temporal perceptual prediction in action recognition; (2) significant main effects of skill types were noted in both RT (F (1,38) = 9.03, < 0.05, η = 0.19) and ACC (F (1,38) = 18.496, < 0.05, η = 0.327), indicating disparities in the recognition of offensive and defensive skills under mental fatigue; (3) temporal shielding significantly influenced both RT (F (2,76) = 31.42, < 0.05, η = 0.45) and ACC (F (2,76) = 125.727, < 0.05, η = 0.768), with -80 ms showing a lower RT and ACC compared to -40 ms and action initiation; (4) second-order interaction effects were present in both RT (F (2,76) = 9.85, < 0.05, η = 0.21) and ACC (F (2,76) = 8.773, < 0.05, η = 0.188), with the RT interaction suggesting a negative impact on perceptual prediction at -80 ms and a faster offensive RT than defensive RT. The ACC interaction indicated that under mental fatigue, -40 ms approached and exceeded -80 ms in both offensive and defensive actions, with higher ACC in offense than defense; and (5) a third-order interaction effect among group, technique type, and time shielding on RT (F (2,76) = 3.92, < 0.05, η = 0.09) suggests that mental fatigue more significantly affects novice defensive technique RT than offensive technique.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) The 45-min Stroop task effectively induced mental fatigue. (2) Mental fatigue negatively impacts both expert and novice boxers, with a more pronounced effect on experts' defensive skills. (3) The -40 ms time perception is crucial for predicting action recognition as it approaches action initiation.