Quiz Review

Class Average 93%!!

 1. Which error score is the best measure of
consistency?
a) Constant Error

Quiz Review!! b) Absolute Error

c) Variable Error
d) RMSE
 2. Kinematics is measured using which of the
following?
a) Spatial position of a limb or joint over a
period of time
b) Rate of change in an object position with
Quiz respect to time
c) Change in velocity during the movement
Review!! d) All of the above
e) None of the above
 3. You have been typing your notes and doing all
of your assignments on a laptop all term. When
it comes to your term paper, you need to use a
desktop computer. What are you challenging
with regards to your typing skills?
a) Persistence

Quiz b) Reduced attention demands

c) Stability
Review!!! d) Adaptability
e) Improvement
f) Consistency
 4. Which of the following is FALSE with regards to
learning?
a) Learning is inferred from performance
b) Learning may not be due to practice
c) Learning results in relatively permanent
Quiz changes in the capability to perform a skill
Review!!! d) Learning is not influenced by performance
variables
 5. When assessing learning from Transfer Tests,
there are novel context characteristics to
consider. Which of the following is NOT a context
characteristic?
a) Different variations of the skill
Quiz b) Availability of Feedback
Review!!! c) The Physical Environment
d) Personal Characteristics of the test taker
 6. Which of the following is true of Learning Tests?
a) Retention tests overcome performance
variables by evaluating stability of learning
b) Retention tests overcome performance
variables by evaluating adaptability of learning

Quiz Review!! c) Transfer tests overcome performance

variables by evaluating persistence in novel
situations
d) Transfer tests overcome performance
variables by evaluating adaptability to novel
situations
 7. Which of the following common measures of motor
learning and control research uses detection of cortical
activity via scalp electrodes to detect electrical activity in the
regions of the brain?
a) EMG
b) fMRI
Quiz Review c) MEG
d) EEG
e) TMS
f) MNG
 8. The amount of error in performing a
movement is an example of which kind of
measurement?
a) Performance production
Quiz Review b) Performance outcome
c) Brain activity
d) Observation Bias
 9. After a Rotator Cuff Surgery, a patient is re-
learning how to put their jacket on. They move
slowly and after some thought, they put the un-
injured arm in first, and then they try to put both
arms in at the same time. You remind them to put
Quiz the injured arm in first. According to the Fitts and
Posner model of learning, this patient is in which
Review!!! stage of learning?
a) Initial
b) Associative
c) Cognitive
d) Later
 10. As a baby, Olivia is holding onto a coffee table and
stepping sideways with hips in neutral flexion/extension and
knees extended. Many years later, as a professional
basketball player, she is defending in a lateral direction with
hips and knees flexed, shoulders abducted and externally
Quiz rotated, elbows flexed and fingers abducted. What
measurable change has occurred with learning this shuffling
Review!!! skill?
a) Rate of improvement
b) Developing coordination patterns
c) Attention demands
d) Brain activity
Questions from the last couple of lectures
• Midterm:
• MOSTLY short answer
• Some ”explain the following concept/theory”
• Some “Compare and contrast”
• Some “ define….”
• One application question of your choosing-
• Functional synergy- improved coordination
• Massed vs Distributed
• Patients
• Outpatient
• Inpatient
• School
• Skills- Dry Needling,
• Overlearning
• Less cognitive function
• Less ability to adapt
 Review!

Computer: Mobile:
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Practice
Variability
and
Specificity

Kin 322
Practice continued..
Learning Objectives
• Explain the meaning of the term practice variability and its relation to
predictions of theories of motor skill learning
• Discuss ways to implement practice variability in skill learning or
relearning contexts
• Describe how the contextual interference effect relates to organizing
variable practice
• Identify reasons why contextual interference benefits motor skill
learning
• Describe the practice specificity hypothesis and contrast it with the
practice variability hypothesis
Practice Variability
and Specificity

Concept:

Variability of practice __experience__ is important for

learning motor skills in all settings ie) Rehabilitation,
teaching, coaching
 • Practice Variability
• Refers to the variety of movement and context
characteristics the learner experiences while
practicing a skill
• Movement and context characteristics that can
Practice be varied in practice:
Variability • Skill variations that will be required in the
“test/performance” conditions
• Physical Context in which the skill is performed
• Environment
• Situation in which the skill occurs
• Emotional state
• Fatigue state
 • Research evidence shows that more practice
The Future variability is better for learning and
performance in future “test” situations
Performance • Practice variability benefit can be related to
Benefit of the _increased_amount of performance
error during practice
Practice • Ie) More variability more error --> greater
Variability learning
• Remember that performance is NOT learning
 • Assess characteristics of the physical
context and skill characteristics of that
performance
Implementing • NOTE: Transfer of learning- effective
Practice transfer needs similarities between skill,
context and cognitive processing
Variability characteristics (practice-to-test)
• Can’t be in a closed environment for too
long if being tested on an open skill
 • Vary these characteristics according to
the type of skill being learned
• Practice condition to vary for closed
Implementing skills- Both regulatory and non-
Practice regulatory conditions need to be
present
Variability • Practice conditions to vary for open
skills- have to change the non-
regulatory conditions
Organizing Variable Practice
• Contextual Interference: The __disruption___ of memory and
performance that results from performing variations of a skill within
the context of practice. Ie) Throwing in different ways- overhand,
underhand, windmill
• Blocked: Keep practicing it over and over and over consecutively
• Serial: Different things but in the same order
• Random: Various things, never the same order
6 Day plan for 3 Different Throwing Patterns
 • Contextual Interference Effect: The __learning benefit__
Organizing resulting from performing multiple skills in a high contextual
interference practice schedule (Random), rather than
Variable Practice performing the skills in a low contextual interference
schedule (blocked)
Contextual Interference and Judgements about
Learning

• A characteristic of blocked practice schedules: Metacognition- what we

know, about what we know.
• Learners overestimate their learning
• Performance during practice misleads them to judge they are learning
more than they actually are
• Simon & Bjork (2001)
• Asked to predict how well they think they will do
Judgements
Cont..
Blocked vs random
performance vs predicted
performance
Practical Application in Rehab Setting
• Hanlon (1996)- An Application of the Contextual Interference Effect to
the Physical Therapy of Stroke Patients
• 24 adult patients with chronic hemiparesis due to a unilateral
cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or stroke
• Movement Sequence: Used hemiparetic arm to perform a 5-step
sequence designed to approximate steps needed to 1. Open a
cupboard door 2. gras a coffee cup by the handle, 3) Lift the cup off its
shelf 4) Place the cup on the counter 5) release the grasp
Practical Application in Rehab Setting
• Practice conditions
• Random Practice: 10 trials in one session per day until participants achieved
the performance criterion of three consecutive correct trials. Between each
trial, participants performed 3 other tasks 1) Pointing, 2) Touching specified
objects 3) touching specified spots on a horizontal surface
• Blocked Practice schedule- 10 trials in one session per day until participants
achieved the performance criterion of 3 consecutive correct trials
• No practice control condition
Practical application in Rehab
• Retention tests: All participants performed the 5 step movement
sequence for 5 trials two and 7 das after the end of the practice sessions

• Results:
• Practice trials: No statistically significant difference between the random and
blocked practice groups fr the mean number of trials required to achieve the
performance criterion
• Retention Tests: The Random practice group performed significantly more
successful trials on both retention tests than the blocked group and control group
• * Blocked practice did not differ from the control group on the first retention test
but significantly better on the second retention test
Practical Application in Rehab
• Conclusion: It is possible to create the contextual interference effect
in a clinical setting by interposing other activities between trials or
repetitions of the skill or activity being rehabilitated. The functional
benefit is a longer lasting performance improvement than would
result from repeating repetitions without the intervening activities
Application in the Clinic Setting
• PhysioYoga Classes
• Blocked practice for the first few weeks, then serial, then random
• Next level of class, one week of review/ blocked and then random
• Exercise prescription:
• ??
• Blocked first then random among their others exercises that are added
Limits of the • Research shows much support for the
Contextual contextual interference effect but also shows
Interference that is not NOT apply to all motor skill
learning situations…
Effect
 • Characteristics related to the limits of the
effect:
• Motor skill characteristics- in lab when they are
Limits of the more dissimilar than similar it is better, but in
the real world, the opposite is true
Contextual • Ie) Basketball shots from different areas of the court
(High CIE but low for 3 different volleyball skills
Interference • Learner Characteristics
• Ie) Age- __younger__ learners benefit from blocked
Effect practice
• Ie) Skill level- low skill benefits from blocked
• Task difficulty – Higher CI will be optimal for learning
skills with the lowest levels of difficulty, but less
optimal for skills with the highest levels of difficulty.
WHY does • Two Predominant Hypotheses:

Contextual 1. Elaboration hypothesis: The effect is related to the

elaboration of the memory representation of the
skill variations that a learner is practicing (Shae &
Interference Morgan 1979)
2. Action Plan Reconstruction Hypothesis: High
Effect amounts of contextual interference benefit
learning because the interference requires a

Occur?
person to reconstruct an action plan on
subsequent practice trials for each skill variation
(Lee & Magill, 1985)
WHY Does • Regardless of which hypothesis,
two important characteristics have
the been demonstrated:
Contextual • Higher levels of contextual
interference involves greater
Interference attention demands during practice
• People who practice according to a
Effect blocked schedule tend to
_overestimate_ how well they are
Occur learning during practice
 • Specificity of practice hypothesis:
• Test performance is directly related to the
similarity between characteristics of the practice
and test conditions
• One of the oldest principles of human learnin-
Practice early 1900s

Specificity
So……..
• Is this hypothesis at odds with the contextual
interference effect?
 • 3 Practice – Test Characteristics related to
Practice the practice specificity hypothesis:
1. Sensory/Perceptual Characteristics
Specificity 2. Performance context characteristics
3. Cognitive Processing Characteristics
 1. Sensory/ Perceptual Characteristics:
• Motor skill learning is specific to the sources of
sensory/perceptual information available
during practice
Practice • Ie) Use of vision- prefer to use vision when
performing skill – then use vision when
Specificity practicing the skill
• Ie) Watching a skilled performer right vs
left hand – right and left handed shooters
• Watch similar handed athletes
• Ie) Visual Metronome
 2. Performance Context Characteristics
• The more memory test context resembles the
practice, the better retention performance will
be
• ___Intentional___ Remembering- when
you must remember specified
Practice characteristics of an environmental context
• _Incidental_ Remembering- remembering
Specificity of related but nonessential parts of the
context
• People learn more about the context than
they are explicitly instructed to learn
• ie) Testing in the same environment as
practice- cues/aids to help them retrieve
information
 3. Cognitive Processing Characteristics
• Practice needs some type of cognitive processing
as is required in transfer test
• “Transfer-appropriate processing theory”- the type

Practice
of practice that is best when a person is learning a
skill requires the same type of cognitive processing
activity that will be required in a ___physical
Specificity similarity____, regardless of the physical similarity
between the practice and test skills
• Ie)If test situation requires rapid decision making,
practice should consist of activities that require
rapid decision making.
• Ie) Balance with cognitive task vs just balance
Relating the Practice Variability and
Specificity Hypotheses
• Although they seem at odds, research indicates that each hypothesis
may pertain to specific aspects of the practice context
• The Practice variability hypothesis explains the retention and transfer
benefit associated with practicing multiple variations of a _skill__
• The practice specificity hypothesis explains why retention and transfer
performance tend to be better when the practice and test contexts
are _similar_ relative to 1. Sensory/perceptual info, 2. the
environment context 3. the cognitive processing requirements
• Worth noting: the higher the contextual interference during practice,
the more similar to the test situation.
Especial Skill Effect
• Support aspects of the practice variability and practice specificity
hypotheses, but not fully supported by either one.
• well skilled individuals consistently more accurate from the distance
they are used to performing at
• Ie) Basketball free-throw line, baseball bitchers (60.5 ft), archers ( 18 m)