Seven recent experimental and quasi-experimental studies have compared the exercise of subjects instructed to pursue some added goal (often termed purposeful activity) with the exercise of subjects instructed to exercise without the suggestion of an added goal (often termed nonpurposeful activity). This article suggests a new terminology for this type of independent variable and describes an experiment within this developing tradition. An occupational form designed, through materials and instructions, to elicit a rotary arm exercise with the added purpose of stirring cookie dough was compared with an occupational form designed to elicit the rotary arm exercise with no added purpose. The subjects were 30 elderly female nursing home residents randomly assigned to the occupational forms. Results indicated that the added-purpose, occupationally embedded exercise condition elicited significantly more exercise repetitions than did the rote exercise condition (one-tailed p = .012). Exercise duration and exercise stoppages were also recorded. This study provides additional support for the traditional occupational therapy idea of embedding exercise within occupation. Suggestions are made for future research involving the experimental analysis of therapeutic occupation.
This study demonstrates how added purpose can enhance motor performance in persons with hemiplegia. Purpose may be effectively added to an exercise through the use of materials or imagery.
This research replicates and extends an occupational therapy research project reported by Kircher in 1984. Thirty women aged 18 to 31 years jumped with a rope on one day and jumped in place on another day in a counterbalanced design. Each subject stopped jumping when she reached what she perceived as the very hard level on the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion (Borg, 1970). Differences from Kircher's design included an imposed target zone formula for safe maximum exertion, use of a portable, more easily read heart rate monitor (Exersentry, Model 3), use of the Osgood Semantic Differential to measure affective meanings, and asking the subjects to identify the type of jumping they preferred. Data analysis supported Kircher's finding that at the given rate of perceived exertion, heart rate increase after jumping rope was significantly higher (p = .01) than after jumping without a rope. The difference in duration of jumping approached significance (p = .06), but in the direction opposite to what Kircher found. There were no significant differences in affective meanings or preference. Results are discussed in terms of the need for a growing body of occupational therapy literature in regard to the purposefulness of activities.
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