Guidance hypothesis with verbal feedback in learning a palpation skill. Qualitative and quantitative knowledge of results: effects on motor learning. Effect of internal versus external focus of attention on implicit motor learning in children with developmental coordination disorder. Motor Learning in Children: Feedback Effects on Skill Acquisition Effects of physical guidance and knowledge of results on motor learning: support for the guidance hypothesis. Time rather than sleep appears to enhance off-line learning and transfer of learning of an implicit continuous task Evidence for motor learning in Parkinson's disease: Acquisition, automaticity and retention of cued gait performance after training with external rhythmical cues Motor learning, retention and transfer after virtual-reality-based training in Parkinson's disease--effect of motor and cognitive demands of games: a longitudinal, controlled clinical study. Effects of Cognitive Processes and Task Complexity on Acquisition, Retention, and Transfer of Motor Skills Practice Schedule and Acquisition, Retention, and Transfer of a Throwing Task in 6-YR.-Old Children
OBJECTIVE To investigate whether a force application of a novel motor skill was simple or complex and to determine the appropriate level of feedback during training . The objective was to determine the effects of various amounts of knowledge of results ( KR ) on learning a novel skill that is frequently taught in chiropractic for the assessment of vertebral motor unit dysfunction . METHODS Thirty-five active subjects were taught the novel skill of spring testing to a particular force range through 9 or 10 teaching sessions over a 2-week period ( a school holiday limited some to only 9 sessions ) . To determine the particular force range , an initial phase of the study involved a licensed and practicing clinician performing motion palpation spring testing of the thoracic spine of a prone subject . The data from a total of 47 pushes throughout the thoracic spine were recorded , and the mean force and st and ard deviation were calculated . The second phase of the study used the obtained mean and st and ard deviation for teaching the force of prone thoracic spine motion palpation to 35 active subjects by administering spring testing to 35 passive subjects . The active subjects were r and omly divided into 4 groups , with each receiving a varying amount of verbal feedback to move toward the target force of their learned skill . Each passive subject was laid prone on an instrumented adjusting table . Group 1 received the least amount of feedback while learning the novel skill . Groups 2 and 3 received more frequent , intermittent feedback while learning the skill , and group 4 received constant , frequent feedback during each of the 10 teaching sessions . All subjects returned within 2 weeks for 2 retention trials to determine the efficacy of the learned skill . RESULTS The mean force determined was 143 N with a st and ard deviation of 14 N. Each subject was taught spring testing within this target range . The 2 final retention trials showed group 3 to have demonstrated the most targeted retention of the learned motor skill . These subjects exhibited the closest force range to the target for the motor skill learned and fewer changes in st and ard deviation compared with their acquisition trials and thus the highest retention . Group 4 , receiving 100 % feedback , demonstrated the most accurate spring testing during the acquisition trials , but the subjects did not effectively demonstrate when compared on acquisition and retention trials . CONCLUSION The results of this study show data to be consistent with the guidance hypothesis in learning a novel motor skill . The constant KR feedback is beneficial for learning when used to reduce error during practice but detrimental when relied upon for retention and learning . These data suggest the necessity of using motor skill development learning theory in the teaching of chiropractic OBJECTIVE This study investigated the effects of qualitative and quantitative knowledge of results ( KR ) on the acquisition of a motor skill . It was hypothesized that there would be differences in performance during skill acquisition and retention , depending on the type of feedback given . Qualitative KR was in the form of verbal encouragement and quantitative KR was in the form of an algebraic number representing an error score . METHODS Seventy-seven adults were r and omly assigned to one of four feedback conditions , Quantitative , Qualitative , Quantitative and Qualitative , and no feedback ( Control ) .  Participants learned an isometric force production skill . Data were collected during skill acquisition and retention phases . Computer hardware and custom software were used to collect data and administer the feedback conditions of the independent variable . RESULTS There was a statistically significant difference in the Acquisition Phase for the main effect of Condition F(3,73 ) = 6.35 , p < .05 , and for Block F(9,657 ) = 2.07 , p < .05 , but there was no statistically significant Condition X Block interaction F(27,657 ) = 1.02 , p > .05 . Pair-wise comparisons revealed statistically significant differences between conditions containing qualitative feedback and conditions containing no qualitative feedback ( p < .05 ) . The main effect of condition was significant F(3,73 ) = 3.00 , p < .05 in the retention phase , however there were no significant pair-wise comparisons ( p > .05 ) . CONCLUSION The results of this study suggest that in a healthy adult population , qualitative feedback , by itself and when combined with quantitative feedback , result ed in superior skill acquisition , but not in the retention of that skill . The artificiality of the task along with differing modes of feedback ( audible versus visual ) are two potentially limiting factors to this study . Future research that controls for these factors may yield more definitive findings about the role that qualitative feedback has in improving motor performance and learning UNLABELLED Children with developmental coordination disorder ( DCD ) struggle to learn new motor skills . It is unknown whether children with DCD learn motor skills more effectively with an external focus of attention ( focusing on impact of movement on the environment ) or an internal focus of attention ( focusing on one 's body movements ) during implicit ( unconscious ) and explicit ( conscious ) motor learning . PURPOSE This paper aims to determine the trends of implicit motor learning in children with DCD , and how focus of attention influences motor learning in children with DCD in comparison with typically developing children . METHODS 25 children , aged 8 - 12 , with ( n=12 ) and without ( n=13 ) DCD were r and omly assigned to receive instructions that focused attention externally or internally while completing a computer tracking task during acquisition , retention , and transfer phases . The motor task involved tracking both repeated and r and om patterns , with the repeated pattern indicative of implicit learning . RESULTS Children with DCD scored lower on the motor task in all three phases of the study , demonstrating poorer implicit learning . Furthermore , graphical data showed that for the children with DCD , there was no apparent difference between internal and external focus of attention during retention and transfer , while there was an advantage to the external focus of attention group for typically developing children . CONCLUSION Children with DCD demonstrate less accuracy than typically developing children in learning a motor task . Also , the effect of focus of attention on motor performance is different in children with DCD versus their typically developing counterparts during the three phases of motor learning . IMPLICATION S Results may inform clinicians how to facilitate motor learning in children with DCD by incorporating explicit learning with either internal or external focus of attention within interventions Background and Purpose : Reduced feedback during motor skill practice benefits motor learning . However , it is unknown whether these findings can be applied to motor learning in children , given that children have different information-processing capabilities than adults . The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different relative frequencies of feedback on skill acquisition in children compared with young adults . Subjects : The participants were 20 young adults and 20 children . Methods : All participants practice d 200 trials of a discrete arm movement with specific spatiotemporal parameters . Participants from each group ( adults and children ) were r and omly assigned to either a 100 % feedback group or a reduced ( 62 % faded ) feedback group . Learning was inferred from the performance on the delayed ( 24-hour ) retention and reacquisition tests . Results : All participants improved accuracy and consistency across practice trials . During practice , the adults performed with significantly less error than the children . Adults who practice d with reduced feedback performed with increased consistency during the retention test compared with those who practice d with 100 % feedback . In contrast , children who received reduced feedback during practice performed with less accuracy and consistency during the retention test than those who received 100 % feedback . However , when feedback was reintroduced during the reacquisition test , the children in the reduced feedback group were able to improve their performance comparable to those in the 100 % feedback group . Discussion and Conclusions : During motor learning , children use feedback in a manner different from that of adults . To optimize motor learning , children may require longer periods of practice , with feedback reduced more gradually , compared with young adults The guidance hypothesis ( Schmidt , 1991 ) predicts that the guiding properties of augmented feedback are beneficial for motor learning when used to reduce error , but detrimental when relied upon . Therefore , a heavily guiding form of feedback might be detrimental for learning . In addition , the guidance hypothesis predicts that practice with a high relative frequency of augmented feedback would be detrimental for learning . An experiment is described that crossed two forms of feedback with two levels of relative frequency . Subjects practice d movements to a target with either physical guidance or knowledge of results , and with either a high or faded relative frequency . The high frequency physical guidance condition result ed in the poorest retention , and both high frequency feedback conditions result ed in the least accuracy in transfer . These results provide support for the guidance hypothesis and suggest consideration of the combined effects on learning of the type and relative frequency of augmented feedback and acquisition-test conditions There is increasing evidence that sleep promotes off-line enhancement of a variety of explicitly learned motor tasks in young adults . However , whether sleep promotes off-line consolidation of implicitly learned motor tasks is still under question . Furthermore , the role of sleep in promoting transfer of learning remains unknown . This study examined the role of sleep in learning and transfer of learning of an implicit continuous motor task . Twenty-three neurologically intact individuals ( mean age 26.4 years ) were r and omly assigned to either a sleep group or a no-sleep group . The sleep group practice d a continuous tracking task in the evening and underwent retention and transfer testing the following morning , while the no-sleep group practice d the tracking task in the morning and underwent retention and transfer testing in the evening . The results show that in both the sleep and no-sleep groups , performance improved off-line without further practice for both the general skill and the sequence-specific skill . The results also indicate that sleep and time promote transfer of learning of both sequence-specific and general skill learning to a spatial and temporal variation of the motor task . These findings demonstrate that sleep does not play a critical role in promoting off-line learning and transfer of learning of an implicit continuous motor task People with Parkinson 's disease ( PD ) have difficulty learning new motor skills . Evidence suggests external stimuli ( cues ) may enhance learning ; however , this may be specific to cued rather than non-cued performance . We aim ed to test effects of cued training on motor learning in PD . We defined motor learning as acquisition ( single task ) , automaticity ( dual task ) and retention of single- and dual-task performance ( follow-up ) . 153 subjects with PD received 3 weeks cued gait training as part of a r and omised trial ( the RESCUE trial ) . We measured changes in  cued gait performance  with three external rhythmical cues ( ERC ) ( auditory , visual and somatosensory ) during single and dual tasks after training and 6 weeks follow-up . Gait was tested without cues to compare specificity of learning ( transfer ) . Subjects were ' on ' medication and were cued at preferred step frequency during assessment . Accelerometers recorded gait and walking speed , step length and step frequency were determined from raw data . Data were analysed with SAS using linear regression models . Walking speed and step length significantly increased with all cues after training during both single- and dual-task gait and these effects were retained . Training effects were not specific to cued gait and were observed in dual-task step length , and walking speed however was more limited in single-task non-cued gait . These results support the use of ERC to enhance motor learning in PD as defined by increased acquisition , automaticity and retention . They also highlight the potential for sustained improvement in walking and complex task performance OBJECTIVES To evaluate the learning , retention and transfer of performance improvements after Nintendo Wii Fit ™ training in patients with Parkinson 's disease and healthy elderly people . DESIGN Longitudinal , controlled clinical study . PARTICIPANTS Sixteen patients with early-stage Parkinson 's disease and 11 healthy elderly people . INTERVENTIONS Warm-up exercises and Wii Fit training that involved training motor ( shifts centre of gravity and step alternation ) and cognitive skills . A follow-up evaluative Wii Fit session was held 60 days after the end of training . Participants performed a functional reach test before and after training as a measure of learning transfer . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Learning and retention were determined based on the scores of 10 Wii Fit games over eight sessions . Transfer of learning was assessed after training using the functional reach test . RESULTS Patients with Parkinson 's disease showed no deficit in learning or retention on seven of the 10 games , despite showing poorer performance on five games compared with the healthy elderly group . Patients with Parkinson 's disease showed marked learning deficits on three other games , independent of poorer initial performance . This deficit appears to be associated with cognitive dem and s of the games which require decision-making , response inhibition , divided attention and working memory . Finally , patients with Parkinson 's disease were able to transfer motor ability trained on the games to a similar untrained task . CONCLUSIONS The ability of patients with Parkinson 's disease to learn , retain and transfer performance improvements after training on the Nintendo Wii Fit depends largely on the dem and s , particularly cognitive dem and s , of the games involved , reiterating the importance of game selection for rehabilitation purpose This experiment was design ed to investigate the effect of cognitive problem-solving operations ( termed context ual interference ) and complexity of tasks on the acquisition retention and transfer of motor skills .  Ninety-six children , ages 7.5–9.5 practised the task of throwing beanbags under either low context ual interference ( blocked practice ) , high context ual interference ( r and om practice ) or medium context ual interference ( combined practice ) . Half of the participants acquired a complex task and the other half a simple task . All participants performed 30 acquisition trials , 9 retention trials and 4 transfer trials . Results indicated that participants who practised in the blocked practice group did not differ in their performance whether they acquired complex or simple tasks . On the other h and , participants from the r and om and combined practice groups who acquired simple tasks performed better than those who acquired complex tasks . These findings support the hypothesis that there is a limit to the interference during practice that will benefit retention and transfer , thus creating the context ual interference effect . It seems that the complex-task condition combined with r and om or combined practice schedule increased the difficulty of acquisition , possibly impeding the cognitive processing during acquisition , thus impairing the learning process Earlier studies have raised questions about the usefulness of variable and r and om practice in learning motor tasks so this study was design ed to investigate the effects of context ual interference in young children , and specifically to evaluate the effectiveness of variable or r and om practice structure in 6-yr.-old boys and girls . Participants on a variable practice schedule showed better performances than those on a blocked schedule . The differences between the two groups were significant in the acquisition , retention , and transfer phases . These results support the hypothesis that context ual interference enhances skill learning . Because the study involved groups of young children in the setting of their normally scheduled physical education class , the practical applications of the results are evident
VAF should be considered in the rehabilitation of lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunctions .
However , it can not be unequivocally confirmed that VAF is effective in this population , owing to study heterogeneity and a lack of high- quality evidence .
Nevertheless , positive effects on lower extremity biomechanics and postural control have been identified .
BACKGROUND Verbal augmented feedback ( VAF ) is commonly used in physiotherapy rehabilitation of individuals with lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunction or to induce motor learning for injury prevention .
Its effectiveness for acquisition , retention and transfer of learning of new skills in this population is unknown .
OBJECTIVES First , to investigate the effect of VAF for rehabilitation and prevention of lower extremity musculoskeletal dysfunction .
Second , to determine its effect on motor learning and the stages of acquisition , retention and transfer in this population .