Week 7.1

Question 1

variable vs constant practice

Answer 1

constant = better in acquisition
variable = better for both retention and transfer

Question 2

what type of skills would constant practice better for than variable practice?

Answer 2

1. task you don’t want people to do (something you shouldn’t vary)
   ex. landing a plant - don’t want to practice cause of inherent riskiness
2. when cost/risk of practice is too high

Question 3

what happens if you are restricted in variable practice?

Answer 3

you perform constant practice
- typically more costly + risky though

Question 4

high functional connectivity

Answer 4

high correlation between time spaces
- great degree of overlap and signals change in similar ways

Question 5

low functional connectivity

Answer 5

not much overlap

Question 6

functional connectivity

Answer 6

involves a timeseries correlation between BOLD signals (measures of oxygenated to de-oxygenated blood) in different regions in the brain

Question 7

high correlation

Answer 7

interpreted at greater connectivity

Question 8

low correlation

Answer 8

interpreted as lower connectivity

Question 9

mcgregor and gribble 2017

Answer 9

participants with greater connectivity ( higher correlation), were better at observational learning

Question 10

are participants with higher or lower connectivity better at observational learning

Answer 10

participants with higher connectivity

Question 11

can we measure the rate of learning?

Answer 11

hard to quantify because of variables such as the criterion used to assess people and we have no measure of their potential for learning

Question 12

blocked practice

Answer 12

practicing the same tasks repeatedly in a predictable manner
AAA BBB CCC
- predictable and repetitive

Question 13

random practice

Answer 13

practicing multiple tasks in an unpredictable manner
CAB BCA ACB
- unpredictable and not repetitive

Question 14

blocked vs random practice study

Answer 14

1. they practiced 3 barrier knockdown task in blocked or random order
2. performance was measured during acquisition, retention, and transfer
3. groups were split in retention to be either blocked or random

Question 15

blocked practice group in study

Answer 15

respond to the same stimulus repeatedly

Question 16

random practice group study

Answer 16

stimuli were internalized

Question 17

results of blocked vs random practice study

Answer 17

1. blocked practice outperformed random practice in acquisition
2. random practice outperformed blocked practice in both retention and transfer
   - therefore random has biggest benefit for learning

Question 18

where did the greatest deficit in learning come from in the blocked vs. random practice study

Answer 18

the greatest deficit in performance if practice blocked in acquisition then did random in retention

Question 19

contextual interference (CI)

Answer 19

interference that is generated due to the context associated with skilled practice
- reduced performance in acquisition but produces an advantage in learning
- by randomizing the order in which tasks were performed you generate high CI

Question 20

comparing constant and variable practice

Answer 20

1. performance during ACQUISITION is better for CONSTANT practice
2. performance during LEARNING is better for VARIABLE practice

Question 21

comparing blocked and random practice

Answer 21

1. performance during ACQUISITION is better for BLOCKED practice
2. performance during LEARNING is better for RANDOM practice

Question 22

psychology research (performance learning paradox)

Answer 22

variables that enhance performance were thought to be good for learning
NOT THE CASE

Question 23

contextual interference - task influences

Answer 23

1. knot tying tasks
2. badminton
3. tennis serving
4. foreign language vocabulary

Question 24

blocked practice and learning

Answer 24

rarely does blocked practice lead to more learning
- volleyball serves

Question 25

the magnitude of CI

Answer 25

1. effects may differ with age 2. effects may depend on expertise

Question 26

CI and effects differing with age

Answer 26

children don't always show CI effects

Question 27

CI and effects depending on expertise

Answer 27

even highly skilled learners can benefit from random practice - random practice can be discouraging = making less effective

Question 28

hall et al, 1994

Answer 28

examined the effect of blocked and random practice in NCAA athletes - pitchers performed blocked and random practice and then were tested in both a blocked and random post-test (15 fastballs, 15 curveballs, 15 changeups)

Question 29

results of hall et al, 1994

Answer 29

1. random practice facilitated transfer in both blocked and random tests 2. even highly skilled athletes can benefit from random practice

Question 30

elaborative processing hypothesis -CI

Answer 30

random practice promotes more comparative and contrastive analyses of actions required to complete the tasks - preparatory and evaluative processes for each task are different - representatives of actions are more memorable

Question 31

studies looking at verbal reports

Answer 31

found that more reflection led to greater retention in blocked practice groups

Question 32

forgetting and reconstructing hypothesis - CI

Answer 32

the processes associated with the reconstruction of the motor program are trained to a greater extent by random practice than blocked practice

Question 33

process of forgetting and reconstruction hypothesis

Answer 33

1. when you perform a task, you draw the motor program from long term memory 2. an action plan is constructed and then it stays in working memory 3. if the same program is used for the subsequent trial is stays in working memory

Question 34

reconstructing the motor program

Answer 34

involves drawing it from long term memory again - these are the processes tested in retention and transfer

Question 35

cuddy and jacoby

Answer 35

forgetting to remember - examined the recall and words in a list - words are presented once or more times - words presented more than once are presented either immediately, or in between intervening words

Question 36

results of cuddle and jacoby

Answer 36

words repeated with lots of words in between are recalled more effectively than words repeated with no lags or short lags (SPACING EFFECT)

Question 37

spacing

Answer 37

higher chance remembering words if 20 words spaced in between

Question 38

CI - forgetting and reconstruction results

Answer 38

1. any activity between trials that causes short-term forgetting should promote learning 2. any activity that limits reconstruction should be detrimental to performance

Question 39

lee et al, 1997 study description

Answer 39

1. participant performed a sequential typing task 2. participants performed blocked practice, random practice or random practice with a model 3. examined practice with retention and transfer

Question 40

what did the practice with a model do in lee et al, 1997

Answer 40

model gave information to aid reconstruction in working memory - kinda a hint

Question 41

lee et al, 1997 results

Answer 41

1. greatest detriment of learning is random practice + model 2. was as good as the other types of practice at first- but large error in R+T 3. performing acquisition with a model diminished the effects of random practice

Question 42

giving the learner hints to help performance

Answer 42

1. extreme short-term benefit during acquisition - similar to blocked practice at first 2. detrimental in the long-term

Question 43

neural basis of CI

Answer 43

1. default mode activation might change in older adults 2. functional connectivity analysis could yield interesting findings

Question 44

pauwels et al, 2018 study description

Answer 44

examined brain activation in response to blocked and random practice in young adults and older adults (examined the differences)

Question 45

measuring activation in the default mode network

Answer 45

set of brain structures that exhibit a stable pattern of oscillations during resting state

Question 46

oscillation patterns

Answer 46

change when involved in focused tasks

Question 47

what does the default mode network contain?

Answer 47

1. precuneus 2. hippocampus 3. prefrontal cortex 4. posterior cingulate cortex

Question 48

results of pauwels et al, 2018

Answer 48

1. random practice led to better retention performance than blocked practice 2. there was differential modulation of default mode network (DMN) activation as a function of practice 3. for older adults - random practice resulted in larger decreases in DMN activation

Question 49

why could it be that older adults had a larger decrease in DMN activation with random practice?

Answer 49

could be associated with more disperse, learning-related activity

Question 50

serial practice

Answer 50

combines the predictableness of blocked practice with the non- repetitiveness of random practice ABC-ABC-ABC (like a circuit)

Question 51

serial practice effect

Answer 51

serial is not much different in retention than random, but better than blocked in retention

Question 52

what does the serial practice result mean for interpreting the benefits of random practice?

Answer 52

non-repetativeness and predictableness = benefit

Question 53

how could contextual interference explain the benefits of random practice?

Answer 53

1. elaborative processing hypothesis 2. forgetting and reconstructing hypothesis