Retention of Simple Motor Skills as a Function of the Number of Trials by Which KR is Delayed

Abstract

I. Bilodeau (1956) studied the effect of delay of knowledge of results ( K R ) in a siruation in which additional responses were required during the delay, e.g., in the 2-trial delay condition KR on the first trial was given after the third trial had been completed, KR on the second trial after the fourth, etc.She found that with I-, 2-, 3-, or 5-trial delays rate of learning and level of accuracy reached within 30 KR trials decrease with the number of trials by which KR is delayed. .One purpose of the present experiment was to determine whether these findings hold for other simple skills. Confirmation of the Bilodeau finding would have special interest since the only other Es (Lorge & Thorndike, 1935) to use such a delay technique failed to find any learning, although only one trial intervened. A second purpose was to investigate the effect of the trial-delay method on the retention of such skills. A previous study (Lavery, 1962) suggested that any method which enhances the cues inherent in the [ask produces higher retention than one chat does not. It could be supposed that the trial-delay method obliges Ss to compare responses just made with responses made some trials back and thus they have more opportunity of profiting from such cues. It was predicted, therefore, that Ss trained with delay of KR would retain a skill better than Ss who received immediate KR.Two experiments were carried out. The first dealt with the problem of extending the trial-delay technique to orher tasks and of measuring its effecc on retention. The second experiment was designed to measure the effect upon retention of longer and shorter training periods within each technique. Subjects and A ppmatasTwenty-fou paid housewives (aged 25 to 36 yr.) served as Ss. Three tasks were used in order to have a within-subjects comparison of the three delay conditions.Manual lever.-This is a close duplicate of the apparatus used by Bilodeau and described in detail in Bilodeau and Ferguson ( 1953). Procedure used with this apparatus was as described in Bilodeau (1956). Briefly, the apparatus consists of a pulley and weight system at one end of a 2-ft. shaft and a lever at the other. The lever has an adjustable handle which was set at 14 in. from he '

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“…When setting up a psychokinetic training you have to devise exercises that recreate more realistic situations to the game, but that force the player to think in order to answer correctly . With training, the player will gain some experience that will then be re-performed automatically during the game (Lavery et al 1962). The exercises should initially be easy to solve and enjoyable, to avoid attitudes of refusal by the players.…”

The Effect of Voice Ambulatory Biofeedback on the Daily Performance and Retention of a Modified Vocal Motor Behavior in Participants With Normal Voices

“…Conversely, lower-frequency and delayed-feedback schedules have been shown to produce significantly higher long-term retention after feedback removal than immediate and frequent-feedback schedules (Lavery & Suddon, 1962; Lee, White, & Carnahan, 1990; Salmoni et al, 1984; Schmidt & Lee, 2011). The feedback used in this study was meant to closely approximate a high-frequency and immediate type of schedule, which appears to have been accomplished given the demonstration of the type of performance and retention results that would be expected for this type of feedback schedule.…”

Beyond componentry: How principles of motor learning can enhance locomotor rehabilitation of individuals with lower limb loss--A review

“…Motor learning is also improved when KR is delivered with a slight delay following completion of the movement under evaluation in order to allow the learner sufficient time to first evaluate his or her movement and generate his or her error estimates [87]. Providing KR in a summary form [88][89] about a series of trials, rather than each individual trial, also improves motor learning. The optimal number of trials to be summarized when providing KR appears to depend on the interaction between task difficulty and experience of the learner [88].…”