Posted by DanZ (65.50.47.186) on November 12, 2003 at 19:16:07:
Hello everyone...this is what I got back my buddy who's just finishing up his PhD...
"As to your question....there is not too much in terms of a strict measure for psychological fatigue. However, there are quick and dirties for concentration/attentional focus that you can use. For instance, a really simple one is to have a grid on a piece of paper that has numbers from 00-99 randomized (i.e., mixed up). The task is simply to see how many in ascending order (i.e., 01,02,03 or 21,22,23....etc.) you can find in a minute. Now, there isn't a particular 'critical value' that would identify you as being in a 'concentration danger zone' but it would be good comparison if you were to do it prior to biking and then again after two hours.
Another option would be to use a short questionnaire called the Profile of Mood States which directly asks you the degree to which you feel mentally fatigued, vigorous, depressed, etc. However, I don't know if it has been used in a situation similar to what you described....plus it does not give you any objective measure as to whether you ACTUALLY are fatigued or lack concentration. Mostly it is used as more a trait measure rather than state (remember those terms from intro sport psych???)"
...that's all I got for a psych test...let me know if you think this may work during a 5 hour ride...
cheers
dan