The effect of skill complexity on the effectiveness of practice variability
Poster Presentation
Paper ID : 1788-SSRC
Authors
Motor Behavior Department, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
Abstract
One factor that has an effect on motor skill learning is “practice variability”. However, the “nature of skill” is also considered to affect motor learning. The present study, thus, aimed to investigate whether the complexity of skill in interaction with practice variability affects motor skill learning.
For this purpose, 42 right-handed high school students were divided randomly into two experimental groups (fixed and variable) and a control group. In pretest, all participants performed penalty shot (5 trials) and three-step shot (5 trials) at a distance 6 meters far from the goal. Then, in the acquisition phase, each experimental group performed their specific training program for 6 sessions. Each session included 36 penalty and 36 three-step shots, with a 3-minute break between them. The fixed group performed both tasks (penalty and three-step shots) at a distance of 6 meters, while the variable group performed their shots at three different distances (5, 6, and 7 meters) in a random order (12 shots from each distance for each task). The control group did no practice during this phase. Ten minutes and one day after acquisition phase, all groups participated in posttest and retention test, respectively. These tests were performed exactly the same as pretest (5 penalty and 5 three-shot shots). Note that the order of penalty shots and three-step shots has been interspersed among the participants of each group in all experimental phases; so that, half participants of each group first started with penalty shots and the other half with three-step shots. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data.
The results showed that experimental groups (fixed and variable) outperformed the control group in both penalty and three-step shots, indicating that learning has occurred, regardless of the type of practice schedule. More importantly, in both posttest and retention test, fixed group performed better than variable group in penalty shot (less complex task), whereas there were no significant differences between them in three-step shot (more complex task). The results illustrate that the nature of skill is an important factor involved in the effectiveness of variability in practice.
For this purpose, 42 right-handed high school students were divided randomly into two experimental groups (fixed and variable) and a control group. In pretest, all participants performed penalty shot (5 trials) and three-step shot (5 trials) at a distance 6 meters far from the goal. Then, in the acquisition phase, each experimental group performed their specific training program for 6 sessions. Each session included 36 penalty and 36 three-step shots, with a 3-minute break between them. The fixed group performed both tasks (penalty and three-step shots) at a distance of 6 meters, while the variable group performed their shots at three different distances (5, 6, and 7 meters) in a random order (12 shots from each distance for each task). The control group did no practice during this phase. Ten minutes and one day after acquisition phase, all groups participated in posttest and retention test, respectively. These tests were performed exactly the same as pretest (5 penalty and 5 three-shot shots). Note that the order of penalty shots and three-step shots has been interspersed among the participants of each group in all experimental phases; so that, half participants of each group first started with penalty shots and the other half with three-step shots. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to analyze the data.
The results showed that experimental groups (fixed and variable) outperformed the control group in both penalty and three-step shots, indicating that learning has occurred, regardless of the type of practice schedule. More importantly, in both posttest and retention test, fixed group performed better than variable group in penalty shot (less complex task), whereas there were no significant differences between them in three-step shot (more complex task). The results illustrate that the nature of skill is an important factor involved in the effectiveness of variability in practice.
Keywords