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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Study Motor Skill Learning by Single-pellet Reaching Tasks in Mice
Published on: March 4, 2014
Sequential precession and diminishing returns in the acquisition of a motor skill
1Department of Behavioral Science, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey 17033, USA.
Abstract:
As students progress to higher and higher levels in the acquisition of a skill their number gets smaller and smaller. This article concerns the average length of time it takes the members of these successively smaller groups to complete earlier stages of skill acquisition. In the data presented, which concern Red Cross swimming, the more advanced a group is the less time its members take on the average to complete a preceding stage (sequential precession). The discussion section brings out a second relation in the same data: Namely, the further the same students advance in skill acquisition the smaller the advantage they enjoy over other students at the same level (diminishing returns).
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