The Effects of Acute Exercise and Learning Strategy Implementation on Episodic Memory Performance

Over the years, a growing body of research has shown that exercise has beneficial impacts on various types of memory function. However, most of these studies have focused on children or older adults, with less research conducted among young adults, despite research demonstrating that memory function may start to decline in early adulthood. This thesis provides background information regarding the effects of exercise on memory function, as well as different learning-based strategies to help facilitate learning and memory retention. Furthermore, the research I completed for this thesis specifically evaluated the experimental effects of acute exercise, a specific learning strategy (3-R technique), and their combined effects, on short- and long-term memory function. The results of this experiment demonstrate that memory function was enhanced, to the greatest extent, among those who engaged in an acute bout of exercise (brisk walking) and also implemented the 3-R learning technique, when compared to those who only exercised, only implemented the learning technique, or those doing neither