The influence of reminder trials on contextual interference effects

Area of Science:

• Motor Learning
• Cognitive Psychology
• Human Movement Science

Background:

• Contextual interference theory suggests random practice schedules enhance long-term motor skill retention compared to blocked schedules.
• The elaboration hypothesis posits that random practice keeps multiple tasks active in working memory, promoting deeper processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the elaboration explanation for contextual interference effects in motor skill acquisition and retention.
• To examine the impact of reminder trials on performance in random versus blocked practice schedules.

Main Methods:

• Three motor tasks were practiced under either random or blocked schedules.
• Acquisition and retention phases were assessed, with some conditions receiving reminder trials.

Main Results:

• Acquisition performance was slower in random practice than blocked practice.
• Retention performance was superior in random practice compared to blocked practice without reminder trials.
• No significant performance differences were observed between random practice and blocked practice with reminder trials.

Conclusions:

• Reminder trials can aid in distinguishing task characteristics, potentially mitigating the acquisition-performance trade-off in random practice.
• The effectiveness of reminder trials depends on factors like timing and the number of intervening tasks.