Shifts in Attention Demands and Motor Program Utilization During Motor Learning

Dual-Task and Single-Task Practice Does Not Influence the Attentional Demands of Movement Sequence Representations

This study examined the attentional demands of movement sequence representations at different temporal points after single- or dual-task practice. The visual-spatial representation encodes the movement based on visual-spatial coordinates such as the target locations. The motor representation encodes the movement in motor coordinates including joint angles and muscle activation patterns. Participants were randomly assigned to a single-task or dual-task practice group. Following acquisition, participants performed two retention tests and inter-manual transfer tests, both under dual-task and single-task. The transfer tests consisted of a mirror and non-mirror test and examined motor and visual-spatial representation development. The main finding is that attentional demands of the sequence representations were not affected by the practice condition. However, movement initiation requires more attention than the end of the movement in both representations.

Attentional Demand of a Movement Sequence Guided by Visual-Spatial and by Motor Representations

The objective of the experiment was to assess the change in attentional demands of a movement sequence guided by visual-spatial and motor representations across practice sessions in a dual-task probe paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 1-day or 2-day practice group. Following acquisition of the motor sequence task, participants first conducted a retention test and then four inter-manual transfer tests under single and dual-task conditions. The probe task was a simple reaction time. The inter-manual transfer tests, consisting of a mirror and non-mirror test, examined the development of the motor and visual-spatial representation, respectively. The results indicated that both representations guided the movement sequence and required attention. The attentional demands did not change with additional practice.

What Employees Do Today Because of Their Experience Yesterday: How Incidental Learning Influences Train Driver Behavior and Safety Margins (A Big Data Analysis)

Employee behavior plays an important role in the occurrence and prevention of incidents, affecting safety margins. In this study, we examine the potential impact of incidental learning on human behavior in the presence of variation in task design. Incidental learning is the day-to-day on-the-job learning that occurs unintentionally. This learning influences which behavior (schema) is more likely to be activated in the employee’s brain. We posit that an incorrect schema can be activated and lead to undesired behavior if the employee is often exposed to (visually) similar tasks that require different behavior. In rail transport, there is a risk of trains passing through red signals. The train driver’s behavior plays an important role in preventing these signal passed at danger (SPAD) incidents. In this study we used speed and location data to analyze train driver deceleration behavior during red signal approaches in the Netherlands. The Dutch rail system showed variation in yellow signal aspects and signal distance. An analysis using 19 months of empirical data indicated changes in behavior when the employee had been previously exposed to different behavior requirements in the same location with a similar yellow signal. These results imply that task design can be improved by taking into consideration what an employee is exposed to during other moments of the shift, and not just during the execution of the specific task.

Evaluation of attentional demands during motor learning: validity of a dual-task probe paradigm

The aim of this study was to examine the validity of a 2-choice audio-vocal reaction time (RT) probe task for measuring the changes in attentional demand during practice and learning of a discrete motor task. Twenty participants practiced the motor task across 3 days and were probed with the RT task during either the preparation or execution phase of the primary task. As practice progressed, participants improved in the primary task performance and shortened the RTs to the probe task. This indicated that less attention was required to plan and execute the movement and suggested that the RT probe task was a sensitive and valid tool to measure changes in attentional demands across practice. The authors implemented several additional experimental controls to address possible confounders including unintentional learning of the probe task, primary-secondary task trade-off effects, and compliance with task priority instructions. These experimental controls further ensured the validity of the probe paradigm and interpretability of the dual-task cost findings. Our experimental methods provided confirmatory evidence for the validity of the 2-choice RT task as a means to assess attentional demands during motor learning.

The automaticity of complex motor skill learning as a function of attentional focus

The present experiment was designed to test the predictions of the constrained-action hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that when performers utilize an internal focus of attention (focus on their movements) they may actually constrain or interfere with automatic control processes that would normally regulate the movement, whereas an external focus of attention (focus on the movement effect) allows the motor system to more naturally self-organize. To test this hypothesis, a dynamic balance task (stabilometer) was used with participants instructed to adopt either an internal or external focus of attention. Consistent with earlier experiments, the external focus group produced generally smaller balance errors than did the internal focus group and responded at a higher frequency indicating higher confluence between voluntary and reflexive mechanisms. In addition, probe reaction times (RTs) were taken as a measure of the attention demands required under the two attentional focus conditions. Consistent with the hypothesis, the external focus participants demonstrated lower probe RTs than did the internal focus participants, indicating a higher degree of automaticity and less conscious interference in the control processes associated with the balance task.

Effect of adding cognitively demanding tasks on soccer skill performance

The effect of adding cognitively demanding elements to the performance of a real-world motor task in which functional interference among the elements in performance existed was investigated across level of expertise. The primary task involved running as quickly as possible through a 15.25-m slalom course. Two secondary tasks were used, dribbling of a soccer ball and identification of geometric shapes projected on a screen located at the end of the slalom course. 4 novice, 5 intermediate, and 5 expert female soccer players served as subjects and performed three trials each of three experimental conditions: running through the slalom course, running through the slalom course while dribbling a soccer ball, and running through the slalom course while dribbling a soccer ball and identifying geometric shapes. Analysis of variance using a 3 (experimental condition) x 3 (level of expertise) design gave significant main effects and a significant interaction. The latter indicated that, although the addition of cognitively demanding elements caused a decrement in performance, the amount of decrement decreased as level of expertise increased. It was concluded that structural interference between elements of performance decreased the positive effect of automation of one element on dual task performance.

On the Nature of the Probe Reaction-Time Task to Uncover the Attentional Demands of Movement

McLeod (1980) reported some findings which showed that no phase of a movement was more attention-demanding than the other phases, contrary to all the results previously reported (e.g., Ells, 1973; Glencross, 1980). However, McLeod used a paradigm in which the two tasks were serial. Each task consisted of a series of 50 reaction time (RT) trials and/or 50 aiming movement trials. In addition to this, the interval of time between a response and the following signal within each series was constant. In order to try to replicated McLeod's findings, two experiments were conducted in which the response-signal interval was manipulated. The hypothesis was that time certainty associated with a constant interval would facilitate the allocation of time and would thus artificially reduce the interference between tasks. In Experiment 1, manual responses were used for the RT task; in Experiment II, they were vocal. Manipulation of the response-signal interval does not change one of the conclusions reached by McLeod: when the RT task involves vocal responses and the results on the RT task are analyzed in terms of response rather than stimulus arrival during the movement, then there is no phase of the movement which is more attention-demanding than the other phases. However, the results of Experiment II in which both the vocal RT task and the movement task significantly deteriorated in the dual-task condition were taken as an indication that the movement studied involved central attentional demands.