Practice Variability and Specificity

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Chapter 16

• Practice Variability and Specificity

Concept Variability of practice experiences is
important for learning motor skills
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Practice Variability

• Refers to the variety of movement and context
  characteristics the learner experiences while
  practicing a skill
• Movement and context characteristics that can be
  varied in practice
• Skill variations that will be required in test
  conditions
• Physical context in which the skill is performed
• Situation in which the skill occurs

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The Future Performance Benefit of Practice
Variability

• Research evidence shows that more practice
  variability is better for learning and
  performance in future test situations than less
  variability
• Practice variability benefit can be related to
  the increased amount of performance error during
  practice

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Shea and Kohl

• Goal Learn to use 175 N of force to press a
  handle
• Constant practice group practiced using 175N
  for 289 trials
• Variable practice group practiced producint
  four different amounts of force
• 125N, 150N 200N, 225N (175N not practiced)
• Retention/transfer test for 175N variable group
  performed more accurately

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The Future Performance Benefit of Practice
Variability

• Research evidence shows that more practice
  variability is better for learning and
  performance in future test situations than less
  variability
• Practice variability benefit can be related to
  the increased amount of performance error during
  practice

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How to ImplementPractice Variability?

• Assess characteristics of the physical context
  and skill characteristics of that performance
• Vary these characteristics according to the type
  of skill being learned
• Practice conditions to vary for closed skills
• See Table 16.1
• Practice conditions to vary for open skills

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How to ImplementPractice Variability?

• Assess characteristics of the physical context
  and skill characteristics of that performance
• Vary these characteristics according to the type
  of skill being learned
• Practice conditions to vary for closed skills
• See Table 16.1
• Practice conditions to vary for open skills

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Organizing Variable Practice

• Is there a best way to organize practice
  variability?
• See 3 options in Figure 16.2
• Answer can be determined from applying the
  learning phenomenon known as the contextual
  interference effect

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Organizing Variable Practice

• Is there a best way to organize practice
  variability?
• See 3 options in Figure 16.2
• Answer can be determined from applying the
  learning phenomenon known as the contextual
  interference effect

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Contextual Interference

• The memory and performance disruption that
  results from performing variations of a skill
  within the context of practice
• Originally described by Battig (1979)
• Various amounts of contextual interference can
  occur during practice depending on the scheduling
  of the practice variability
• see Figure 16.3
• The contextual interference effect occurs when
  higher amounts of contextual interference are
  involved in practice than lower amounts

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Contextual Interference

• The memory and performance disruption that
  results from performing variations of a skill
  within the context of practice
• Originally described by Battig (1979)
• Various amounts of contextual interference can
  occur during practice depending on the scheduling
  of the practice variability
• see Figure 16.3
• The contextual interference effect occurs when
  higher amounts of contextual interference are
  involved in practice than lower amounts

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Research Evidence for the Contextual Interference
Effect

• Laboratory experiments
• Shea Morgan (1979) 1st demonstration of the
  effect for learning motor skills
• Non-laboratory experiments
• Beginners learning multiple skill variations
• Magill Goode (1986) badminton serves
• Skilled athletes practicing to improve
  performance of multiple skill variations
• Hall et al. (1994) baseball players hitting
  different types of pitches

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Research Evidence for the Contextual Interference
Effect

• Laboratory experiments
• Shea Morgan (1979) 1st demonstration of the
  effect for learning motor skills
• Non-laboratory experiments
• Beginners learning multiple skill variations
• Magill Goode (1986) badminton serves
• Skilled athletes practicing to improve
  performance of multiple skill variations
• Hall et al. (1994) baseball players hitting
  different types of pitches

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Contextual Interference and Judgments about
Learning

• A characteristic of blocked practice schedules
• Learners overestimate their learning
• Performance during practice misleads them to
  judge they are learning more than they actually
  are
• See experiment by Simon Bjork (2001)

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Limits of the Contextual Interference Effect

• Research shows much support for the contextual
  interference effect but also shows that it does
  not apply to all motor skill learning situations
• Characteristics related to the limits of the
  effect
• Motor skill characteristics
• Learner characteristics

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Limits of the Contextual Interference Effect

• Research shows much support for the contextual
  interference effect but also shows that it does
  not apply to all motor skill learning situations
• Characteristics related to the limits of the
  effect
• Motor skill characteristics
• Learner characteristics

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Why Does the Contextual Interference Effect Occur?

• Two predominant hypotheses
• Elaboration Hypothesis The effect is related to
  the elaboration of the memory representation of
  the skill variations that a learner is practicing
  (Shea Morgan, 1979) (Engages in more
  strategies-compare and contrast)
• Action Plan Reconstruction Hypothesis High
  amounts of contextual interference benefit
  learning because the interference requires a
  person to reconstruct an action plan on
  subsequent practice trials for each skill
  variation (Lee Magill, 1985)

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Why Does the Contextual Interference Effect
Occur?, contd

• Regardless of which hypothesis, two important
  characteristics have been demonstrated
• Higher levels of contextual interference
  involves greater attention demands during
  practice
• People who practice according to a blocked
  schedule tend to overestimate how well they are
  learning during practice

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Practice Specificity

• Specificity of practice hypothesis
• Test performance is directly related to the
  similarity between characteristics of the
  practice and test conditions
• Is this hypothesis at odds with the contextual
  interference effect?
• Agreement that the hypothesis applies to three
  characteristics of the practice and test
  conditions

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Practice Specificity, contd

• 3 Practice Test characteristics related to the
  practice specificity hypothesis
• Sensory/perceptual characteristics
• Performance context characteristics
• Cognitive processing characteristics