Motor Learning Chapter 9

A practice sequence in which individuals rehearse the same skill repeatedly.

A practice sequence in which individuals perform a number of skills in a (quasi-) random order, thus avoiding or minimizing consecutive repetitions of any single skill.

A collection of findings showing that certain conditions that depress performance during practice produce more learning as measured on delayed test of retention.

The idea that random practice during practice causes people to elaborate or discover the distinctiveness among skills (whereas blocked practice does not), which is beneficial for performance in a retention test.

The hypothesis that random practice prevents the repetition of a given task on successive attempts, allowing short-term forgetting, which requires the learner to generate the solution on every trial (whereas blocked practice does not); the method generating the solution is learned, which is effective on delayed tests of retention.

The act of generating a solution to a motor problem (e.g., retrieving a motor program and its parameters from long-term memory); facilitated by a random-practice schedule.

The variable inputs to a generalized motor program, such as speed for amplitude of the movement, which result in different surface features.

The act of assigning parameters to a generalized motor program (e.g., large force, left hand, short movement time) that allows the performer to achieve a particular movement goal.

Elements of practice that make effective performance more difficult to achieve during practice yet result in more effective learning later on

Learning various information processing activities, which are exercised in particular types of practice, that are appropriate for performance in retention or transfer situations.

A practice sequence in which performers rehearse a number of variations of a given class of skills during a session; also referred to as variable practice.

A practice sequence in which people rehearse only one variation of a given class of skills during a session.

A particular skill variation that receives massive amounts of practice; as a result it emerges as a highly specific skill for achieving a highly specific goal (e.g., the free throw shot in basketball).