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MODULE Motor Learning

Introduction

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Important Terms

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  • Blocked Practice - refers to practice where trials are completed in a repetitive nature. E.g., a golfer would hit 100 x 7 irons in a row.

 

  • Serial Practice - refers to when different tasks are practise but are done so in a systematic order. E.g. a golfer could practice 20 x 3 irons, 20 x 5 irons, 

 

  • Random Practice - refers to practice where trials are completed in a random nature. E.g. a golfer could hit 

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Introduction

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Does the Practise Type Matter?

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Is it better to practice in a constant repetitive nature, or is it better to have a variable learning environment?

 

It is thought a variable learning environment closer mimics the competitive environment and therefore provides a better transfer of skills. In addition, it is thought that random practice is better because it produces more cognitive engagement which helps memory storage, recall and retention. Generally, studies have shown that random practice, although produces worse performance during the skill acquisition phase (they perform worse during the early stages of learning), leads to better recall and retention or transfer test (better performance).

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Which training method adds cognitive challenge to a task? Which has more cognitive interference?  

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Block practice would be considered a low level of contextual interference in comparison to variable practice.

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Blocked practice would be considered easier as their is less cognitive effort in remembering the movements required. As there is less space between retrieving the movement required from memory, it is less challenging. Contrast this to random practise which makes you recall a different movement pattern each time you need to complete a task. There is an element of forgetting and having to reconstruct your action plan before each trial. This tasks  more cognitive effort and is more challenging for your working memory as it has to attend to that task.

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Whether you choose to practise within a blocked or variable framework will depend upon your the task difficult and 

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Therefore, I have made the task harder which means I need to reduce the difficulty of the challenge point, which means doing more blocked practice or similar until I have progressed with the learning and then can make it more difficult. How do I know? Dual Task? When do you stop becoming a novice golfer?

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Porter and Magill (2010) completed a study that showed novice performers benefited from increasing the contextual interference, e.g., progressing from blocked, to serial, to random practice in comparison to doing blocked or random alone. Participants had to complete a putting task where there performance was measured 

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Participant's task was to putt a golf ball to 3 targets that varied in distance (0.9 m, 1.37 m , and 1.82 m). They received a score from 0 to 7 depending upon how accurate they were. A ball resting in the inner circle received 0 points, 1 point for the next circle, and so on, and a score of 7 for a ball that came to rest outside the 6th ring. Participants were assigned to one of the following groups:

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Each participant had 81 putts.

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  • Blocked - they putted 27 consecutive putts from one distance, followed by 27 consecutive putts to another distance, followed by 27 consecutive putts to the final distance.

  • Random - they putted 81 putts in random order, no more than two trials were putted from the same location.

  • Increasing - they followed a block schedule for the first 27 putts, 9 consecutive putts to each location. The next 27 putts followed a serial schedule - 1 putt. The final series of 27 putts, followed a random order but with 9 trials for each).

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Participants then returned 24 hours later. The researchers conducted a retention test where participants had to complete 10 putts each to distance A and C in an alternating order. For the transfer test, participants were tested on two new distances 1.6 m and 1.52 m at a different angle.

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The more difficult you find a task, the more working memory you will have to allocate. So for example, a novice will require more working memory to do a task than an expert.

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You wouldn't let you 5 year old daughter cross the road on her own without first providing some explicit instructions on what to do first. However, after she has become more proficient you can start to let go and let her discover on her own, and add challenges as she becomes more proficient.

 

Porter and Magill (2010) did a study where they showed increasing the contextual interference improved learning compared to groups who just practice blocked or random. They started with Blocked to Serial and then Random. Did this in a golf study. A putting task. The thought is that during the early stages of learning you need repeated trials to get an idea of the movement pattern (Gentile, 1972). Introduce greater CIE as practise progressed is consistent with Challenge Point and benefits of introducing more desirable difficulty. CIE should not be introduced until a certain level of mastery is obtained (Boyce, Coker, Bunker, 2006).

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