scholarly journals A multi-representation approach to the contextual interference effect: effects of sequence length and practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem B. Verwey ◽  
David L. Wright ◽  
Maarten A. Immink
Keyword(s):  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Contextual Interference ◽  
Sequence Length ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Cognitive Framework ◽  
Sequence Production ◽  
Extended Practice ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

AbstractThe present study investigated the long-term benefit of Random-Practice (RP) over Blocked-Practice (BP) within the contextual interference (CI) effect for motor learning. We addressed the extent to which motor sequence length and practice amount factors moderate the CI effect given that previous reports, often in applied research, have reported no long-term advantage from RP. Based on predictions arising from the Cognitive framework of Sequential Motor Behavior (C-SMB) and using the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task, two experiments were conducted to compare limited and extended practice amounts of 4- and 7-key sequences under RP and BP schedules. Twenty-four-hour delayed retention performance confirmed the C-SMB prediction that the CI-effect occurs only with short sequences that receive little practice. The benefit of RP with limited practice was associated with overnight motor memory consolidation. Further testing with single-stimulus as well as novel and unstructured (i.e., random) sequences indicated that limited practice under RP schedules enhances both reaction and chunking modes of sequence execution with the latter mode benefitting from the development of implicit and explicit forms of sequence representation. In the case of 7-key sequences, extended practice with RP and BP schedules provided for equivalent development of sequence representations. Higher explicit awareness of sequence structures was associated with faster completion of practiced but also of novel and unstructured sequences.

Evidence for chunking vs. statistical learning in motor sequence production

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola J. Popp ◽  
Neda Kordjaz ◽  
Paul Gribble ◽  
Jörn Diedrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Learning ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Sequence Production

scholarly journals Transient inhibition and long-term facilitation of locomotion by phasic optogenetic activation of serotonin neurons

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia A Correia ◽  
Eran Lottem ◽  
Dhruba Banerjee ◽  
Ana S Machado ◽  
Megan R Carey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Motor Impairment ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Strong Suppression ◽  
Serotonin Neurons ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Rapid Kinetics ◽  
Long Term Facilitation ◽  
The Impact

Serotonin (5-HT) is associated with mood and motivation but the function of endogenous 5-HT remains controversial. Here, we studied the impact of phasic optogenetic activation of 5-HT neurons in mice over time scales from seconds to weeks. We found that activating dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) 5-HT neurons induced a strong suppression of spontaneous locomotor behavior in the open field with rapid kinetics (onset ≤1 s). Inhibition of locomotion was independent of measures of anxiety or motor impairment and could be overcome by strong motivational drive. Repetitive place-contingent pairing of activation caused neither place preference nor aversion. However, repeated 15 min daily stimulation caused a persistent increase in spontaneous locomotion to emerge over three weeks. These results show that 5-HT transients have strong and opposing short and long-term effects on motor behavior that appear to arise from effects on the underlying factors that motivate actions.

scholarly journals Exploring Implicit and Explicit Attitudes of Employees’ Authentic Organizational Loyalty

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Woong Hong ◽  
Ah Jeong Hong ◽  
Sang Rak Kim
Keyword(s):  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Organizational Growth ◽  
Organizational Participation ◽  
Explicit Attitudes ◽  
Organizational Loyalty ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Target Company ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Implicit And Explicit Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to develop the OL-IAT (Organizational Loyalty – Implicit Association Test), an IAT tool that measures implicit attitudes toward organizational loyalty, and to verify its predictive validity. In total, 15 respondents were randomly selected from among the employees of P Company. The respondents were then asked open questions about the image they held of the target company. Based on their responses, a list of words was compiled for use on the OL-IAT. Evaluation categories, either like-dislike or positive-negative, were developed for this test based on the approach-avoidance words proposed by Ostafin and Palfai (2006). The OL-IAT was then administered to 127 employees of Company P, and self-reporting measures were also devised to measure explicit attitudes. A survey of whether the implicit attitude toward organizational loyalty was consistent with the explicit attitude showed that there was no significant correlation, and the attitude inconsistency was evident in the responses. When differences in rank were accounted for, organizational loyalty attitudes were consistent at the manager level, and organizational participation attitudes were consistent at the manager and general staff levels. This study will aid in the development of effective measures of organizational loyalty and accelerate interventions to increase it, which in turn will positively impact long-term organizational growth.

scholarly journals The effects of habits on motor skill learning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola J. Popp ◽  
Atsushi Yokoi ◽  
Paul L. Gribble ◽  
Jörn Diedrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Training ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Habit Formation ◽  
Motor Pattern ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Training Period ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Sequence Production

AbstractSkill learning involves the formation of stable motor patterns. In musical and athletic training, however, these stable motor habits can also impede the attainment of higher levels of performance. We developed an experimental paradigm to induce a specific motor pattern in the context of a discrete sequence production task and to investigate how these habits affect performance over a 3-week training period. Participants initially practiced small segments of 2 to 3 finger movements (“chunks”) and then learned longer sequences composed of these chunks. This initial training induced a persistent temporal pattern during execution, with shorter inter-press-intervals within a chunk and longer ones at chunk boundaries. This pattern remained stable during the subsequent 10 days of training, in which participants were asked to produce the sequence as fast as possible from memory. The habit was also preserved when the sequences were directly displayed, removing the need for memory recall. We were able to induce chunking patterns that were either beneficial or detrimental to performance by taking into consideration the biomechanical constraints of the sequences. While we observed an overall reduction in the detrimental effect of the disadvantageous chunking instructions with training, our results show that the degree to which these detrimental chunk structures were maintained, was predictive of lower levels of final performance. In sum, we were able to induce beneficial and detrimental motor habits in a motor sequence production task and show that these initial instructions influenced performance outcomes over a prolonged period of time.Significance StatementA habit is defined as an automatized action that resists modification once sufficiently established. Preventing bad habits, while reinforcing good habits, is a key objective when teaching new motor skills. While habit formation is an integral part of motor skill acquisition, previous research has focused on habit formation in terms of action selection. In this paper, we examine habit formation in terms of motor skill execution, after the action has been selected. We were able to induce beneficial or detrimental motor habits in the production of motor sequences. Habits were stable over a prolonged training period. Our results demonstrate how cognitive instruction can lead to persistent motor habits and we explore how these habits are potentially modified with training.

Recruiting and Retaining People With Disabilities for Qualitative Health Research: Challenges and Solutions

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1056-1064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Banas ◽  
Susan Magasi ◽  
Kim The ◽  
David E. Victorson
Keyword(s):  
Health Research ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Qualitative Health Research ◽  
Research Challenges ◽  
Participatory Health Research ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

There are 56.7 million people with disabilities (PWD) living in the United States; yet, PWD are significantly underrepresented in health research. Even when researchers purposively seek to include PWD in studies, challenges emerge related to recruitment and retention, leading to inadequate representation and surface understandings of this population. This in turn contributes to the perpetuation of implicit and explicit health disparities that are already experienced by this population. Grounded within a qualitative, community-based participatory health research framework, we highlight challenges associated with recruiting and retaining PWD in health research, including a critical analysis of the research enterprise structure, how this disables accessible research practices for PWD, and leads to continued skepticism among PWD regarding the value of participating in research. Finally, we propose solutions to create and maintain a culture of access and inclusion as well as long-term collaborative and equity-focused partnerships.

scholarly journals Optimal Schedules in Multitask Motor Learning

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong Yoon Lee ◽  
Youngmin Oh ◽  
Sung Shin Kim ◽  
Robert A. Scheidt ◽  
Nicolas Schweighofer
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
State Space Model ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Single Session ◽  
Term Retention ◽  
Long Term Retention ◽  
Do So

Although scheduling multiple tasks in motor learning to maximize long-term retention of performance is of great practical importance in sports training and motor rehabilitation after brain injury, it is unclear how to do so. We propose here a novel theoretical approach that uses optimal control theory and computational models of motor adaptation to determine schedules that maximize long-term retention predictively. Using Pontryagin’s maximum principle, we derived a control law that determines the trial-by-trial task choice that maximizes overall delayed retention for all tasks, as predicted by the state-space model. Simulations of a single session of adaptation with two tasks show that when task interference is high, there exists a threshold in relative task difficulty below which the alternating schedule is optimal. Only for large differences in task difficulties do optimal schedules assign more trials to the harder task. However, over the parameter range tested, alternating schedules yield long-term retention performance that is only slightly inferior to performance given by the true optimal schedules. Our results thus predict that in a large number of learning situations wherein tasks interfere, intermixing tasks with an equal number of trials is an effective strategy in enhancing long-term retention.

scholarly journals Linear-Polyethyleneimine-Templated Synthesis of N-Doped Carbon Nanonet Flakes for High-performance Supercapacitor Electrodes

Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dengchao Xia ◽  
Junpeng Quan ◽  
Guodong Wu ◽  
Xinling Liu ◽  
Zongtao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
High Surface ◽  
High Surface Area ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Formaldehyde Resin ◽  
Retention Performance ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
N2 Atmosphere

Novel N-doped carbon nanonet flakes (NCNFs), consisting of three-dimensional interconnected carbon nanotube and penetrable mesopore channels were synthesized in the assistance of a hybrid catalytic template of silica-coated-linear polyethyleneimine (PEI). Resorcinol-formaldehyde resin and melamine were used as precursors for carbon and nitrogen, respectively, which were spontaneously formed on the silica-coated-PEI template and then annealed at 700 °C in a N2 atmosphere to be transformed into the hierarchical 3D N-doped carbon nanonetworks. The obtained NCNFs possess high surface area (946 m2 g−1), uniform pore size (2–5 nm), and excellent electron and ion conductivity, which were quite beneficial for electrochemical double-layered supercapacitors (EDLSs). The supercapacitor synthesized from NCNFs electrodes exhibited both extremely high capacitance (up to 613 F g−1 at 1 A g−1) and excellent long-term capacitance retention performance (96% capacitive retention after 20,000 cycles), which established the current processing among the most competitive strategies for the synthesis of high performance supercapacitors.

scholarly journals Sequence learning is driven by improvements in motor planning

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 2088-2100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Ariani ◽  
Jörn Diedrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Learning ◽  
Forced Response ◽  
Learning Effects ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Motor Execution ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Single Action ◽  
Online Planning ◽  
Sequence Production ◽  
Planning Processes

The ability to perform complex sequences of movements quickly and accurately is critical for many motor skills. Although training improves performance in a large variety of motor sequence tasks, the precise mechanisms behind such improvements are poorly understood. Here we investigated the contribution of single-action selection, sequence preplanning, online planning, and motor execution to performance in a discrete sequence production task. Five visually presented numbers cued a sequence of five finger presses, which had to be executed as quickly and accurately as possible. To study how sequence planning influenced sequence production, we manipulated the amount of time that participants were given to prepare each sequence by using a forced-response paradigm. Over 4 days, participants were trained on 10 sequences and tested on 80 novel sequences. Our results revealed that participants became faster in selecting individual finger presses. They also preplanned three or four sequence items into the future, and the speed of preplanning improved for trained, but not for untrained, sequences. Because preplanning capacity remained limited, the remaining sequence elements had to be planned online during sequence execution, a process that also improved with sequence-specific training. Overall, our results support the view that motor sequence learning effects are best characterized by improvements in planning processes that occur both before and concurrently with motor execution. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Complex skills often require the production of sequential movements. Although practice improves performance, it remains unclear how these improvements are achieved. Our findings show that learning effects in a sequence production task can be attributed to an enhanced ability to plan upcoming movements. These results shed new light on planning processes in the context of movement sequences and have important implications for our understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie skill acquisition.

scholarly journals Multifaceted aspects of chunking enable robust algorithms

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (8) ◽  
pp. 1849-1856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Acuna ◽  
Nicholas F. Wymbs ◽  
Chelsea A. Reynolds ◽  
Nathalie Picard ◽  
Robert S. Turner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Physiological Data ◽  
Bayesian Algorithm ◽  
Robust Algorithms ◽  
Sequence Production ◽  
Standard Tool

Sequence production tasks are a standard tool to analyze motor learning, consolidation, and habituation. As sequences are learned, movements are typically grouped into subsets or chunks. For example, most Americans memorize telephone numbers in two chunks of three digits, and one chunk of four. Studies generally use response times or error rates to estimate how subjects chunk, and these estimates are often related to physiological data. Here we show that chunking is simultaneously reflected in reaction times, errors, and their correlations. This multimodal structure enables us to propose a Bayesian algorithm that better estimates chunks while avoiding overfitting. Our algorithm reveals previously unknown behavioral structure, such as an increased error correlations with training, and promises a useful tool for the characterization of many forms of sequential motor behavior.

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