Practicing with gradual increases in contextual interference enhances visuomotor learning

The purpose of this study was to determine if practicing with gradual increases in contextual interference (CI) facilitated the learning of a continuous motor skill that required visuomotor tracking. We hypothesized the group that practiced with increasing amounts of CI would perform significantly better on a retention and transfer test compared to participants that practiced with blocked and random scheduling. A total of 78 participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups (i.e. Blocked, Increasing, Random). The level of CI was modified by varying the number of revolutions per minute (RPM) on a rotary pursuit tracker. Following the acquisition phase, participants returned after a 24-hour period and completed the 12-trial retention and transfer test. The results of statistical analysis indicated that all three groups improved their performance during practice. The posttest analysis indicated the Increasing group was better than the Blocked and Random groups on the retention and transfer test.

Does Rotary Pursuit Data Predict Mouse Task Performance? a Pilot Study

Knight & Salvendy (1992) suggested that performance of mouse task depends on precision control and arm-hand steadiness. However, the claims lacked empirical support. This pilot study collected rotary pursuit data, measured by time-on-target (TOT), to assess participants' precision control ability. Performance of mouse task was operationalized using a Fitts' pointing task. Stepwise multiple regression revealed target diameter (D), distance amplitude (A), and TOT contributed to the variability of movement time (MT). Despite highly significant relations, the regression coefficients were so small that they offered little practical value. However, the results indicated that precision control ability is indeed predictive of the performance of mouse task. Several recommendations were made for subsequent studies, they include (i) psychomotor ability should be assessed using multiple trials, (ii) a wider range of ID values should be tested with, (iii) a multi-directional Fitts' paradigm should be employed, and (iv) the mouse task should be more representative of the direct manipulation paradigm.