Ecological Momentary Assessments and the Science of Behavior Change

摘要

Scientific understanding of physical activity has been constrained by a temporal and spatial leash produced by research designs that fail to capture the ebb and flow of behavior as it unfolds in daily life. In this issue of Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, Dunton (3) makes a timely and persuasive argument for using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods to loosen this leash and test new hypotheses about the synchronicity, sequentiality, and instability of physical activity.