Variabilitiy of Practice

Question 1

Practice Variability - defined

Answer 1

the variety of movement and context characteristics a person experiences while practicing a skill; experiencing practice in a variety of ways

Question 2

Assessing variability effects: transfer

Answer 2

experiment: reach target in 200ms; vary distance to target
constant group: practice same distance every time
variable group: practice at different distances
transfer task: try a distance never practiced before
result: variable group will have less error for both immediate and delayed transfer, meaning that variability is best for transfer of a skill

Question 3

Assessing variability effects: retention

Answer 3

experiment: goal force of squeezing
Criterion group: 100 trials of 150N
Criterion + V group: 100 trials of 150N + 50 trials of variable forces
Criterion + Criterion group: 200 trials of 150N split up
result: criterion+v was the best during the retention test

Question 4

Schema theory

Answer 4

with practice, people develop rules (“schemas”) about their own motor behavior
-rule = relationship between past environmental outcomes (outside performance) and parameters of generalized motor program used to produce that outcome

Question 5

How schema theory explains why variability of practice works

Answer 5

schema is the relationship between parameters of GMP and outcome of performance
-if experience is varied (several conditions), more parameters and more outcomes will be involved, making a “rule” more effective

Question 6

Contextual interference

Answer 6

the memory and performance disruptions (interference) that result from practicing multiple skills or variations of a skill within the context of practice

Question 7

Hall et al. experiment on contextual interference

Answer 7

• college-level baseball players
• 3 pitch types: fastball, curve, changeup
• three groups: control, blocked, random
• random group showed best performance in posttest of both random and blocked trials

Question 8

Two extremes of contextual interference

Answer 8

Blocked and Random

• blocked: non-repeated blocks of trials of each task variation
• random: random order of trials of all task variations
• blocked leads to better performance in acquisition
• random leads to better performance in retention

Question 9

Double Transfer Designs

Answer 9

all groups involved (control, blocked, and random) try both random and blocked methods of practice

Question 10

Explaining contextual interference effects

Answer 10

Two hypotheses:

• elaboration hypothesis
• action-plan reconstruction hypothesis

Question 11

Elaboration hypothesis

Answer 11

• blocked practice: strategy is the same for subsequent trials, so no comparison between programs and no elaboration on each program
• random practice: person engages in several strategies and is able to compare and contrast skill variations; able to elaborate on each movement program
• tasks are kept in working memory and are more memorable with random practice

Question 12

Action-plan reconstruction hypothesis

Answer 12

• blocked practice: previously constructed plan is available in working memory
• random practice: previous action plan is abandoned and then reconstructed when needed again - results in active cognitive thinking each time you reconstruct a movement plan
• tasks are continuously reconstructed and are thus more memorable with random practice