Increasing ecological validity in mental fatigue research—A Footbonaut study

Past studies have mainly used Stroop tasks to induce mental fatigue in soccer. However, due to the non-sport-specificity of these tasks, their transferability to the real-life effects of mental fatigue in soccer have been questioned. The study's aim was to investigate the effects of two differe...

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Published inFrontiers in psychology Vol. 16; p. 1586944
Main Authors Weiler, Helena, Ennigkeit, Fabienne, Spielmann, Jan, Englert, Chris
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 27.05.2025
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ISSN1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1586944

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Summary:Past studies have mainly used Stroop tasks to induce mental fatigue in soccer. However, due to the non-sport-specificity of these tasks, their transferability to the real-life effects of mental fatigue in soccer have been questioned. The study's aim was to investigate the effects of two different versions (mentally less vs. mentally more demanding) of a soccer passing task in the so-called Footbonaut on cognitive and soccer-specific performance. A randomized, counterbalanced experimental within-subjects design was employed ( = 27). We developed two different versions of the soccer passing task in the Footbonaut: a mentally more demanding decision-making and inhibition task in the experimental condition, and a mentally less demanding standard task of the Footbonaut in the control condition. Participants showed significantly worse soccer-specific performance in the experimental condition compared to the control condition. No corresponding effects were revealed in cognitive performance. The findings suggest that cognitive-motor interference induced by 30-min Footbonaut technology-based training may induce mental fatigue in soccer players. Future studies should consider developing mentally less-demanding yet comparable control tasks.
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Reviewed by: Jesús Díaz-García, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara, Italy
Edited by: Bruno Teixeira Barbosa, Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil
Chao Bian, Vrije University Brussels, Belgium
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1586944