Optimizing Feedback Frequency in Motor Learning: Self-Controlled and Moderate Frequency KR Enhance Skill Acquisition

2021 ◽  
pp. 003151252110364
Author(s):  
Edward P. Hebert ◽  
Cheryl Coker

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effects of self-controlled knowledge of results (SCKR) to other KR schedules of varying relative frequency (25%, 50%, and 100% of acquisition trials) on motor skill learning. Participants received basic instructions on the soccer overhead throw and then performed 50 acquisition trials, during which KR was provided according to the assigned schedule, followed by a retention test, during which no KR was provided. Retention scores were highest for the SCKR and 50% KR frequency groups who shared comparable absolute KR frequency and distribution relative to successful versus unsuccessful trials. These results indicated that both self-control and moderate frequency feedback enhanced learning, supporting an inverted U-shaped effect of feedback frequency on skill acquisition.

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle V. Thompson ◽  
Janet L. Utschig ◽  
Mikaela K. Vaughan ◽  
Marc V. Richard ◽  
Benjamin A. Clegg

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 1460-1471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lore W. E. Vleugels ◽  
Stephan P. Swinnen ◽  
Robert M. Hardwick

Developing approaches to improve motor skill learning is of considerable interest across multiple disciplines. Previous research has typically shown that repeating the same action on consecutive trials enhances short-term performance but has detrimental effects on longer term skill acquisition. However, most prior research has contrasted the effects of repetition only at the block level; in the current study we examined the effects of repeating individual trials embedded in a larger randomized block, a feature that is often overlooked when random trial orders are generated in learning tasks. With 4 days of practice, a “Minimal Repeats” group, who rarely experienced repeating stimuli on consecutive trials during training, improved to a greater extent than a “Frequent Repeats” group, who were frequently presented with repeating stimuli on consecutive trials during training. Our results extend the previous finding of the beneficial effects of random compared with blocked practice on performance, showing that reduced trial-to-trial repetition during training is favorable with regard to skill learning. This research highlights that limiting the number of repeats on consecutive trials is a simple behavioral manipulation that can enhance the process of skill learning. Data/analysis code and Supplemental Material are available at https://osf.io/p3278/ . NEW & NOTEWORTHY Numerous studies have shown that performing different subtasks across consecutive blocks of trials enhances learning. We examined whether the same effect would occur on a trial-to-trial level. Our Minimal Repeats group, who primarily responded to different stimuli on consecutive trials, learned more than our Frequent Repeats group, who frequently responded to the same stimulus on consecutive trials. This shows that minimizing trial-to-trial repetition is a simple and easily applicable manipulation that can enhance learning.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Fernando Carneiro Machado Ennes ◽  
Herbert Ugrinowitsch ◽  
Márcio Mario Vieira ◽  
Rodolfo Novellino Benda

Demonstration, verbal instruction and knowledge of results are variables presented during the process of motor skills acquisition but their interaction was not investigated. This question was tested with three frequencies of knowledge of results plus three ways to supply prior information (demonstration, verbal instruction and demonstration added to the verbal instruction). The task consisted of carrying three tennis balls in a predetermined sequence and target time. A hundred eight volunteers participated in the study, divided into nine groups according to the combination of variables. The experiment consisted of the acquisition phase with 60 trials of practice and tests and data reliability was tested through two way ANOVA. The results showed that demonstration and KR conducted to better performance during tests.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-30
Author(s):  
Lucieni B. Alcântara ◽  
Michela A. F. Alves ◽  
Renata C. O. Santos ◽  
Lívia K. de Medeiros ◽  
Wesley R. Gonçalves ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of self-controlled knowledge of results (KR) in motor skill learning of elderly adults. Twenty subjects (65.45 + 5.34 years-old), inexperienced in the required task, were randomly distributed in two experimental groups: 1) Self-controlled Group, who received KR whenever requested; 2) Yoked Group, who received KR on the same trials of the Self-controlled Group. The task consisted of moving three tennis balls into six roles, positioned in a wood platform, in a previously determined sequence and target time. During the acquisition phase, the subjects performed 45 trials with a target time of 4500 ms. The immediate transfer tests, conducted ten minutes after the acquisition phase, consisted of 45 trials with a target time of 5000 ms. After forty eight hours, the same procedure was conducted for the latest transfer test. The results showed marginal differences, suggesting a higher performance of self-controlled group. It was concluded that selfcontrolled KR is helpful to promote motor learning in elderly adults.


2015 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Andrieux ◽  
Arnaud Boutin ◽  
Bernard Thon

Author(s):  
Seyyed Mohammadreza Mousavi ◽  
Laura Gray ◽  
Sahar Beik ◽  
Maxime Deshayes

This study investigated the effect of gender stereotypes on (a) a soccer learning task based on accuracy (i.e., shooting on different size targets) among young adolescents and (b) the strategy used to score as many points as possible. After performing 10 baseline trials, 45 young adolescents were randomly divided into three groups: positive stereotype, negative stereotype, and control. Then, they performed five blocks of 10 trials and two retention tests, 1 and 3 days after the stereotype manipulation to assess the relatively permanent consequences of stereotype effects. Results showed that when the negative stereotype was induced, participants performed worse during the acquisition phase and the first retention test. The positive stereotype only had a positive effect on performance during the second retention test. These findings provide the first evidence of the effect of gender stereotypes on motor learning tasks requiring accuracy among young adolescents.


2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Coxon ◽  
Nicola M. Peat ◽  
Winston D. Byblow

Motor learning requires practice over a period of time and depends on brain plasticity, yet even for relatively simple movements, there are multiple practice strategies that can be used for skill acquisition. We investigated the role of intracortical inhibition in the primary motor cortex (M1) during motor skill learning. Event-related transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to assess corticomotor excitability and inhibition thought to involve synaptic and extrasynaptic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Short intracortical inhibition (SICI) was assessed using 1- and 2.5-ms interstimulus intervals (ISIs). Participants learned a novel, sequential pinch-grip task on a computer in either a repetitive or interleaved practice structure. Both practice structures showed equivalent levels of motor performance at the end of acquisition and at retention 1 wk later. There was a novel task-related modulation of 1-ms SICI. Repetitive practice elicited a greater reduction of 1- and 2.5-ms SICI, i.e., disinhibition, between rest and task acquisition, compared with interleaved practice. These novel findings support the use of a repetitive practice structure for motor learning because the associated effects within M1 have relevance for motor rehabilitation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Azzaritto ◽  
Gabriel Ziegler ◽  
Eveline Huber ◽  
Patrick Grabher ◽  
Martina Callaghan ◽  
...  

Motor skill learning relies on neural plasticity in the motor and limbic systems. However, the spatial and temporal dependencies of these changes, and their microstructural underpinnings, remain unclear. Eighteen healthy males received training in a computer- controlled motion game 4 times a week, for 4 weeks. Performance improvements were observed in all trained participants. Serial myelin-sensitive multiparametric mapping at 3T during this period of intensive motor skill acquisition revealed temporally and spatially distributed, performance-related myelin-sensitive microstructural changes in the grey and white matter across the corticospinal system and hippocampus. Interestingly, analysis of the trajectory of these transient changes revealed a time-shifted choreography across white and grey matter of the corticospinal system as well as with changes in the hippocampus. Crucially, in the cranial corticospinal tracts, myelin-sensitive changes during training in the posterior part of the limb of the internal capsule were of greater magnitude in lower-limb trainees compared to upper limb trainees. Motor skill learning is depended on coherent waves of plasticity within a corticospinal-hippocampal loop.


Author(s):  
Catherine L. Ojakangas

The field of brain research has made numerous advances in the past few decades into how we learn new motor skills, from the value of sleep to the discovery of “mirror neurons,” which fire when we watch others performing movements we are attempting to learn. Accent modification may be conceptualized as a form of sensorimotor skill learning – learning to produce a set of movement components and performing them as a whole automatically in spontaneous speech. Motor skill learning occurs in stages and motor habits are formed after acquisition of the new behavior, consolidation of the new brain patterns, and automatic production in appropriate settings. New neural pathways are formed and both cortical and subcortical brain regions participate. The author of this article reviews concepts from the neuroscience literature in the field of motor skill acquisition, work which has primarily focused on the learning of arm and finger movements, and attempts to apply them in a practical manner for the clinician working with non-native English speakers. Discussed are the neurophysiology of motor skill learning, stages of habit formation, intermittent practice, sleep, feedback, mirror neurons and motor imagery. Practical suggestions are given to optimize the accent modification process for the clinician and client.


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