Variability effects on retention of a motor skill in elementary school children

High contextual interference improves retention in motor learning: systematic review and meta-analysis

The effect of practice schedule on retention and transfer has been studied since the first publication on contextual interference (CI) in 1966. However, strongly advocated by scientists and practitioners, the CI effect also aroused some doubts. Therefore, our objective was to review the existing literature on CI and to determine how it affects retention in motor learning. We found 1255 articles in the following databases: Scopus, EBSCO, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, supplemented by the Google Scholar search engine. We screened full texts of 294 studies, of which 54 were included in the meta-analysis. In the meta-analyses, two different models were applied, i.e., a three-level mixed model and random-effects model with averaged effect sizes from single studies. According to both analyses, high CI has a medium beneficial effect on the whole population. These effects were statistically significant. We found that the random practice schedule in laboratory settings effectively improved motor skills retention. On the contrary, in the applied setting, the beneficial effect of random practice on the retention was almost negligible. The random schedule was more beneficial for retention in older adults (large effect size) and in adults (medium effect size). In young participants, the pooled effect size was negligible and statically insignificant.

Promoting Children's Psychomotor Development with Multi-Teaching Didactics

This group randomized control trial examined the dose-response effect of varied combinations of linear and nonlinear pedagogy (enriched physical education with specific program led by specialist vs. conventional physical education led by generalist) for improving first-grade children's motor creativity, executive functions, self-efficacy, and learning enjoyment. We led three physical education classes per group through 12 weeks of combined instruction, based on linear and nonlinear pedagogy: mostly linear (ML; 80% linear, 20% nonlinear; n = 62); mostly nonlinear (MNL; 20% linear, 80% nonlinear; n = 61); and control (C; conventional teaching from generalists; n = 60). MNL improved in (a) motor creativity ability (DMA; 48.7%, 76.5%, and 47.6% for locomotor, stability, and manipulative tasks, respectively); (b) executive functions (working memory and inhibitory control) for RNG task (14.7%) and task errors (70.8%); (c) self-efficacy (5.9%); and (d) enjoyment (8.3%). In ML, DMA improved by 18.0% in locomotor and 60.9% in manipulative tasks. C improved of 10.5% in enjoyment, and RNG task worsened by 22.6%. MNL improvements in DMA tasks, executive functions, and self-efficacy were significantly better than those in C. ML was better than C in DMA task and in executive functions' task errors. Overall, ML and MNL approaches were more effective than conventional generalist teaching (C), and the MNL combination of 80% nonlinear and 20% linear pedagogy was optimal. We recommend that educators favor the MNL approach.

Contextual Interference: A Meta-Analytic Study

A meta-analysis of the contextual interference effect produced 139 estimates of effect sizes from 61 studies. The average overall effect size was .38. The effect size for basic research (.57) was significantly different from applied research (.19). Significant differences were also obtained between the effect sizes for adults (.50) and those for younger learners (.10). Power for retention and transfer scores was not significantly different. The overall mean power of the studies reviewed was .43.

Contextual interference effects in learning volleyball skills

The aim of this study was to examine the contextual interference effect on learning three volleyball skills. Participants were 26 novice female volleyball players (M age= 12.4 yr., SD= 1.2). They were assigned into two groups, Low Interference (n = 13) and High Interference (n = 13). Two practice schedules were used: blocked (Low Interference) and random (High Interference). The training period lasted for 10 weeks and included 2 training sessions of 75 min. each per week. The pretest was performed before the first training session, the posttest was performed after the completion of the last training period, and the retention test was performed two weeks after the posttest. A 2 (Groups) x 3 (Measurement Periods) analysis of variance with repeated measures indicated significant improvement in performance between pre- and posttests for both High Interference and Low Interference groups for the three skills included in this study. There was no significant main effect of group or interaction effect of group and measure. These findings suggest that either blocked or random practice could be effectively used in learning of volleyball skills by unskilled children.

Rehearsal of task variations and contextual interference effect in a field setting

The present study showed a consistent pattern with a typical contextual interference effect in motor skill learning (N=38 adults). Individuals trained under the high contextual interference condition may receive greater learning benefits than those under the low contextual interference condition during the rehearsal of task variations of a single motor skill in a field setting.