Practice Amount Distribution (L18)

Question 1

What is the power law of practice?

Answer 1

Practice improves performance
negatively accelerating change in rate of improvement

Question 2

Why does overlearning lead to poor learning?

Answer 2

1. Extended practice of relatively simple skills may result in learners
   not continuing to engage in appropriate amounts of cognitive
   effort (boredom)
2. Lack of practice variability may result in decreased capability to
   remember the movement and transfer to a movement variation
   *May indicate need for practice variability

Question 3

What is the best way to schedule the available time in terms of:
-The length and frequency of the practice sessions?
-The length of rest intervals between trials during each practice
session?

Answer 3

Two Types of Practice Distribution Schedules
Massed Practice
*Longer and fewer sessions
*None to very short between-
trial rests
Distributed Practice (spacing)
*Shorter and greater number of
sessions
*Between-trial rest intervals
longer than for massed practi

Question 4

Why Are Distributed Practice Sessions Better for Learning?
Three Hypotheses

Answer 4

. Fatigue hypothesis
2. Cognitive effort hypothesis
3. Memory consolidation hypothesis

Question 5

Practice distribution schedule
that is best for learning depends
on type of skill

which is better for continuous and discrete?

Answer 5

*Continuous motor skills
-Distributed schedules more
effective than massed
*Discrete motor skills
-Massed schedules could be
more effective; no
evidence it is worse than
distributed