Spatial error detection in rapid unimanual and bimanual aiming movements

Exercising choice over feedback schedules during practice is not advantageous for motor learning

The idea that there is a self-controlled learning advantage, where individuals demonstrate improved motor learning after exercising choice over an aspect of practice compared to no-choice groups, has different causal explanations according to the OPTIMAL theory or an information-processing perspective. Within OPTIMAL theory, giving learners choice is considered an autonomy-supportive manipulation that enhances expectations for success and intrinsic motivation. In the information-processing view, choice allows learners to engage in performance-dependent strategies that reduce uncertainty about task outcomes. To disentangle these potential explanations, we provided participants in choice and yoked groups with error or graded feedback (Experiment 1) and binary feedback (Experiment 2) while learning a novel motor task with spatial and timing goals. Across both experiments (N = 228 participants), we did not find any evidence to support a self-controlled learning advantage. Exercising choice during practice did not increase perceptions of autonomy, competence, or intrinsic motivation, nor did it lead to more accurate error estimation skills. Both error and graded feedback facilitated skill acquisition and learning, whereas no improvements from pre-test performance were found with binary feedback. Finally, the impact of graded and binary feedback on perceived competence highlights a potential dissociation of motivational and informational roles of feedback. Although our results regarding self-controlled practice conditions are difficult to reconcile with either the OPTIMAL theory or the information-processing perspective, they are consistent with a growing body of evidence that strongly suggests self-controlled conditions are not an effective approach to enhance motor performance and learning.

Accuracy of Subjective Performance Appraisal is Not Modulated by the Method Used by the Learner During Motor Skill Acquisition

The present experiment examined whether the method of subjectively appraising motor performance during skill acquisition would differentially strengthen performance appraisal capabilities and subsequent motor learning. Thirty-six participants (18 men and 18 women; M age = 20.8 years, SD = 1.0) learned to execute a serial key-pressing task at a particular overall movement time (2550 ms). Participants were randomly separated into three groups: the Generate group estimated their overall movement time then received knowledge of results of their actual movement time; the Choice group selected their perceived movement time from a list of three alternatives; the third group, the Control group, did not self-report their perceived movement time and received knowledge of results of their actual movement time on every trial. All groups practiced 90 acquisition trials and 30 no knowledge of results trials in a delayed retention test. Results from the delayed retention test showed that both methods of performance appraisal (Generate and Choice) facilitated superior motor performance and greater accuracy in assessing their actual motor performance compared with the control condition. Therefore, the processing required for accurate appraisal of performance was strengthened, independent of performance appraisal method.

The use of mouse and one- and two-finger input methods for searching a large, horizontal display

A horizontal, table-sized computer display was used to examine one- and two-finger search performances. 31 college students participated in a basic computer operation and target landmark search task. The mean completion times of the target landmark search task were analyzed by a repeated-measures analysis of variance with the following factors: input device, environmental familiarity, and cue. Compared to the mouse, directly touching the computer display with one finger was inefficient when the task required more precise human-computer interactions, such as selecting small objects, or complicated tasks such as searching for targets in a computerized geographic application. However, directly touching the computer display with two fingers, one finger of each hand, appears efficient in complicated tasks. Additionally, familiar and cued environments can aid in the target landmark search task especially when searching within the cued conditions. However, the unfavorable effect of using a one-finger touch technique in searching may eliminate such cue effects.