Learner-centered versus automatic adaptive motor skill training

Three types of training (fixed-difficulty, automatic-adaptive, and learner-centered) were used to teach 18 male and 18 female students a two-dimensional pursuit-tracking task. A 7-min tracking session, in which task difficulty shifted each minute, was used to measure transfer. Although training type did not result in differences in training time, students trained under learner-centered procedures had less tracking error during transfer. Females required on the average twice as much training as mates. During transfer no sex differences were noted. The differences in training time for males and females may reflect previous experience with similar motor-control tasks.