Evaluation of Paradigm for Reflecting Motor Sequence Learning and Baseline Performance
We then evaluated whether the paradigm, with our chosen parameters, enabled detection of motor sequence learning and whether the random allocation of partipants to the stimulation groups resulted in similar performance levels before stimulation was applied. We used the RTs of the last sequence for each block, for learned and for random sequences separately for each group at baseline, and performed a three-way ANOVA with the within-subject factors To investigate whether a transition from motor sequence learning to the execution of a learned sequence took place before stimulation was applied, or during, or after the stimulation, we performed two-way repeated measures ANOVAs of the RTs pooled across groups during the baseline, the online, and the offline phases, with the factors We then evaluated whether a speed–accuracy trade-off meant that the faster RTs during the learned sequences were at the expense of reduced accuracy. The primary outcome measure of the SRTT is the RT, as the simplicity of the paradigm is expected to enable mostly correct responses, and errors are not likely to reflect the magnitude of learning [