Mental practice is associated with learning the relative timing dimension of a task

Learning about the relative timing dimension of a motor skill is enhanced by factors that promote higher response stability between trials. Conversely, learning the absolute timing dimension is favored by lower trial-to-trial stability. The mental practice may increase response stability during acquisition since there is a low possibility of adjustments made between trials. Thus, this study aimed to test the hypothesis that some factors that increase response stability during the acquisition phase contribute to an enhanced relative timing dimension learning. Our hypothesis is that mental practice shows less relative timing error than the absence of practice. A sequential key-pressing task was practiced with two goals: learn (1) relative timing dimension and (2) absolute timing dimension. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: Physical, Mental, or No practice. The Physical group showed greater learning of both dimensions than the other two groups. The Mental group showed greater learning of relative timing dimension than the No practice group. The results suggest that mental practice produces increased stability, which in turn promotes learning of the relative timing dimension.