Motor programming when sequencing multiple elements of the same duration.

Motor programming at the self-select paradigm was adopted in 2 experiments to examine the processing demands of independent processes. One process (INT) is responsible for organizing the internal features of the individual elements in a movement (e.g.

Random and blocked practice of movement sequences: differential effects on response structure and movement speed.

Three similar six-element key press sequences were practiced under blocked or random practice schedules with acquisition conducted on one day and retention and transfer on the next day. The task required participants to type, as quickly as possible, one of three 6-element sequences as observed on a computer monitor. In blocked practice, participants completed all practice in one repeated sequence before the next repeated sequence was introduced.

Programming and reprogramming sequence timing following high and low contextual interference practice.

Individuals practiced two unique discrete sequence production tasks that differed in their relative time profile in either a blocked or random practice schedule. Each participant was subsequently administered a "precuing" protocol to examine the cost of initially compiling or modifying the plan for an upcoming movement's relative timing. The findings indicated that, in general, random practice facilitated the programming of the required movement timing, and this was accomplished while exhibiting greater accuracy in movement production.

Learning to detect error in movement timing using physical and observational practice.

Three experiments assessed the possibility that a physical practice participant's ability to render appropriate movement timing estimates may be hindered compared to those who merely observed. Results from these experiments revealed that observers and physical practice participants executed and estimated the overall durations of movement sequences similarly and more accurately than those who were not privy to any previous practice. This was true for a case in which (a) the execution demands for the physical practice participant were relatively high when multiple movement sequences were practiced with a consistent relative time structure but different overall durations (Experiment 1) and (b) the execution demands were relatively modest when only a single sequential motor task was learned (Experiment 2).

Effects of repeated retention tests on learning a single timing task.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility that administering an initial retention test would influence any subsequent retention tests administered to the same participants. Participants performed 40 practice trials of a four-segment key-pressing task with a movement time goal of 925 ms. Participants were then administered either two retention tests (Day 1-Day 1 group, 10 min and 20 min after practice; Day 1-Day 2 group, 10 min and 24 hr after practice; Day 2-Day 2 group, 23 hr 50 min and 24 hr after practice) or one retention test (Day 1-Control group, 20 min after practice; Day 2-Control group, 24 hr after practice).

Changes in the incidental context impacts search but not loading of the motor buffer.

During a retention test, a change in the nature of the incidental contextual information present during training can have a deleterious impact on response selection by not activating particular subsets of information in memory that help direct the retrieval process. The present experiment addressed whether a change in the incidental context also impacted the completion of processes associated with loading and searching the motor buffer during motor programming. A self-select paradigm was used to describe the planning and execution of one- and four-element sequences that consisted of short and long duration key-presses.

Long-term motor programming improvements occur via concatenation of movement sequences during random but not during blocked practice.

According to S. T. Klapp (1995, 1996), extensive practice serves to induce the concatenation of multiple-element responses.