Beyond the Beep: Complex, non-musical auditory stimuli enhance Performance and Affect in the 20-Meter Shuttle Run Test in Children

Abstract

Introduction & Purpose: The 20-meter shuttle run test (SRT) is widely used to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in youth. A major challenge in administering maximal exercise tests, such as the SRT, is ensuring that participants truly exert maximal effort (Poole & Jones, 2017). Failure to do so compromises internal validity, thereby limiting the usefulness of the assessment in both research and applied settings. Traditional auditory cues in the SRT, such as the standard beep, are unengaging and limited in their ability to encourage maximal effort investment. This study aimed to investigate whether complex, non-musical auditory stimuli could distract children from sensations of physical exertion, increase their willingness to exert maximal effort, and thereby influence performance in the SRT compared with the traditional beep sound.

Methods: Fifty-eight school-aged children (11±1 years; 43% girls) completed the SRT on two separate occasions under randomized and balanced conditions. In one session, participants were guided by the traditional beep, while in the other, they were exposed to a complex, non-musical auditory stimulus. Primary outcomes included total distance covered, peak oxygen consumption (VO₂peak), and peak heart rate. Secondary outcomes were ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), attentional focus, affective valence, and enjoyment.

Results: Under the complex auditory stimulus, children covered a greater distance (Δ=63.9 m, p=.004) and achieved higher VO₂peak (Δ=0.86 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹, p=.006) and peak heart rate (Δ=6.40 bpm, p<.001) compared with the traditional beep condition. Moreover, perceived exertion was higher (Δ=0.86, p=.010), and attentional focus was more externally directed (Δ=1.73, p<.001), while affective valence and enjoyment did not differ significantly between conditions.

Discussion: Replacing the conventional SRT beep with complex, non-musical auditory stimuli enhances children’s physical performance, effort investment, and dissociative attentional focus. These results align with previous research on the effects of verbal encouragement and the integration of music into the SRT (Lamoneda et al., 2021; Neto et al., 2015). However, complex, non-musical auditory stimuli appear more promising, as they ensure greater standardization compared to verbal encouragement and are less influenced by uncontrolled elements in music (e.g. lyrics, cultural associations, or personal familiarity).

Conclusions: Non-musical auditory stimuli represent a practical and scalable strategy to improve the internal validity and reliability of the SRT in children.

References

Lamoneda, J., Huertas-Delgado, F. J., & Cadenas-Sanchez, C. (2021). Feasibility and concurrent validity of a cardiorespiratory fitness test based on the adaptation of the original 20 m shuttle run: The 20 m shuttle run with music. Journal of Sports Sciences, 39(1), 57–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2020.1804785

Neto, J. M. M. D., Silva, F. B., De Oliveira, A. L. B., Couto, N. L., Dantas, E. H. M., & Nascimento, M. A. D. L. (2015). Effects of verbal encouragement on performance of the multistage 20 m shuttle run. Acta Scientiarum - Health Sciences, 37(1), 25–30. https://doi.org/10.4025/actascihealthsci.v37i1.23262

Poole, D. C., & Jones, A. M. (2017). Measurement of the maximum oxygen uptake $VO_2max$: $VO_2peak$ is no longer acceptable. Journal of Applied Physiology, 122(4), 997–1002. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01063.2016