Optimising practice - contextual interference and differential learning - 6.1 Flashcards
retention tests
Skill is performed in the same condition as training
Immediate (directly after training)
Delayed (after a break from training – usually 24 hrs – 7 days)
transfer tests
Skill is performed in a similar but different condition than training
No specific time period
what is practice
Schmidt(1991):
“any activity, overt or covert, through which a person seeks to establish or refine intended performance.”
blocked practice
A practice sequence in which individuals rehearse a single task or skill repeatedly before moving on to the next task
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serial practice
Skills are practiced in a serial order
ABCABCABC
random practice
Practice sequence where individuals perform a number of tasks/skills in a random order
specificity of learning - Henry (1960)
In order for learning to occur the practice environment should be as close as possible to the performance environment
Moradi et al. (2014)
diagrams on slides
Ps could either see or not see the target
only performed well in the same condition in which they trained
same for immediate and delayed conditions
schema theory (Schmidt, 1977)
Actions are not stored as a whole
We gather information from movement – Initial conditions – Motor action characteristics – how fast/high – Results of action (success/failure) – Sensory aspects of action
Relationships between this information used to create recognition schema/recall schema
Variable practice beneficial?
variability of practice - Shea and Cole (1990)
diagram on slide
move arm to match target amount of force
specific, specific-variable, specific-specific
short-term, specific and then different movements in the break beneficial - fewer errors
constant practice better long-term
no different between groups at retention 2
Landin et al. (1993)
graph on slide
variability better at first retention - more effective short-term - higher score
no difference between that and specific at second
contextual interference
Performer alternates between different skills or same skill in different conditions
Coach corrects movement errors
Variability introduced in controlled manner
(continuum on slide)
reliant on coach feedback - have to know what they’re talking about
elaboration hypothesis
Random practice causes people to elaborate or discover the distinctiveness among skills (which blocked practice does not)
Beneficial for performance in a retention test
Goode and Magill (1986)
Which is more effective for learning a badminton serve?
3 groups performing 36 serves a day
3 different types of serve – short, long, drive.
Blocked group:
– Day 1 = all short, day 2 = all long, day 3 = all drive
Serial group:
– 1 short, 1 long, 1 drive (repeated every day)
Random group:
– No serve repeated more than twice consecutively
random group had best performance at retention
(graph on slide)
Hall et al. (1994)
graph on slide
random/blocked/control group
transfer test random/blocked
no sig diffs in pretest
random performed better
optimal movement pattern
Schollman (1994)–Elite discus thrower
Discus throws before, throughout and during winter training
didn’t produce same throw twice - no optimal movement pattern
within and between athlete variability - Schollhorn and Bauer (1998)
8 male, 19 female elite javelin throwers
Large variation in throwing techniques
No ideal throwing technique identified
Schollhorn et al. (2006)
graph on slide
challenging traditional learning theory
traditional theory that learning occurs linearly
Usually trained by minimising variability and correcting ‘movement errors’
Low probability that athlete will encounter same movement condition twice
Motor learning may be aided by self-organisation
differential learning (Schollhorn et al., 2006)
Ecological approach to skill acquisition
Maximises variability by preventing repetition – athlete never completes same movement twice
Forces athlete to experience as many movements as possible by forcing variability
Uses stochastic resonance
Each element can be varied –variation requires
attention and adaptability
Challenges the view that there is one target movement pattern that should be achieve
Schollhorn et al. (2009)
diagram on slide
children need more variation
Hossner et al. (2016)
graph on slide
no statistically significant differences between groups
better with feedback/small differences between trials
positive benefits of DL cannot be attributed to decreased feedback or trial fluctuations
specificity of learning - Proteau et al. (1992) – visual aiming task
Conducted aiming task with no visual feedback
Adding visual information reduced performance!
Suggests what we learn is specific to training condition
Shea and Morgan (1979)
learned skills under blocked/random practice
perf and transfer better:
- with complex task
- with random practice
- when retention in different condition to learning
Wulf and Schmidt (1997)
2/3 random and 1/3 repeated part of task
repeated performed better at transfer - suggest learnt repeated implicitly
variable practice enhanced learning
Schollhorn et al. (2012)
traditional v differential groups - football
advantages for differential in learning and acquisition
promoting explicit techniques?
Savelsbergh et al. (2010)
speed skating
sig improvement in differential learning group
Sanatos et al. (2018)
football
differential v control
greater creativity in attempts and originality in differential
U13 showed greater improvements than U15
Schollhorn (2016)
incorrect interpretations of DL by Hossner et al. (2016)
discrepancies in the experimental condition
