Characteristics of motor performance, learning, warm-up decrement, and reminiscence during a balancing task

Warm-up decrement and reminiscence effects have been primarily attributed to methods of distribution of practice. The present study investigated the effects of different amounts of practice on a balancing task and observed the differences in individual learning. Subjects were randomly assigned to a 5- or 10-trial practice group and performed a retention session on a stabilometer 1 wk. after the first set of trials. Subjects were given the same amount of rest between trials and sessions. Following the retention session subjects were assigned by retention performance into a warm-up decrement or reminiscence group for further comparison. The group with more practice had higher over-all performance. The warm-up decrement group showed more time-on-balance during the first practice session than the reminiscence group. The second session performance curves were nearly identical for the 5- and the 10-trial groups whether warm-up decrement or reminiscence occurred. These results suggested the importance of considering individual differences in retention of learning.