The strength of schema depends on the amount of variation during variable practice

• Published in: Journal of Physical Education and Sport Vol. 19; pp. 980 - 986
• Main Authors: Hallack, Isabelle M M, Figueiredo, Lucas S, Freire, Auro B, Benda, Rodolfo N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pitesti Universitatea din Pitesti 01.05.2019
• Subjects: Exercise; Feedback (Response); Hypotheses; Motor ability; Physical education; Psychomotor Skills; Research Design; Schedules; Skills; Theory; Transfer of Training; Undergraduate Students
• ISSN: 2247-8051; 2247-806X
• DOI: 10.7752/jpes.2019.s3141

Many studies have shown that the variable practice of a motor skill would facilitate its transfer to a new skill variation. Most of these studies, however, have tested this proposition under a limited amount of skill variation: generally three. We are interested in investigating if a more variable practice condition would enhance skill transfer. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of different amount of variation in variable practice in skill transfer. Undergraduate students (N=33) were randomly assigned to three groups: Constant practice; Variable practice with 3 variations; and Variable practice with 5 variations. Participants transported a tennis balls among six containers in a predefined sequence and target time. In acquisition phase, participants performed 30 trials with knowledge of results after every trial. In the transfer test, 10 trials were performed with the same sequence as in acquisition phase and a new target time, without knowledge of results. Results showed that most varied practice condition showed lower errors than the constant practice condition in transfer test. Moreover, differences among variable practice with different numbers of variations were not observed. Thus, variability of practice hypothesis was partially supported by the results of this study, since higher amounts of variations also led to a better transfer than constant practice. However, no advantages were found for the most variable practice condition when compared to the less variable condition in variable practice. New studies that investigate more complex skills and different amounts of variation in variable practice should be carried out in order to further investigate this specific issue of the variability of practice.