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The aim of the study was to compare the effects of implicit learning using dual task-paradigm, with explicit learning on learning a novel skill, and if the performance is maintained over a prolonged period of time. Twenty-six high school adolescents (n = 26, boys n = 15, girls n = 11, age: 16 ± 0.66 years) performed a four-week front-flip learning program, where participants underwent two hours front flip practice in total between the pre- and post-test session followed by two tests; three and six months after the post-test, in which the front-flip was not practiced. Performance was evaluated by two independent gymnastics judges. Both groups increased performance at the post test, with significantly higher scores in the explicit group compared with the implicit group. Probably benefiting from error correction to select positive action outcomes and avoid negative ones consciously. However, the explicit group was also the only group that significantly decreased performance again at first retention test, suggesting that their reliance on the retrieval of declarative knowledge from working memory was subject to decay. While it seems that performance learned via implicit learning may deteriorate more slowly, but also continuously throughout six months suggesting that the directly accumulated procedural knowledge may need for proper reinforcement and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of explicit learning with implicit learning using a dual-task paradigm on learning a novel skill and whether the performance was maintained over an extended period. Methods: Forty-four young children from a local gymnastics club (n = 44, boys n = 10, girls n = 34, age: 10 ± 2.9 years) completed four 30 min front-flip practice sessions over four weeks between pre- and post-test, followed by two retention tests three and six months after the post-test, in which no front-flip practice occurred. Results: Comparable improvements were found beyond baseline performance for both learning conditions over the six-month hiatus. While both groups increased performance at the post-test, neither explicit nor implicit learning groups were able to maintain the achieved performance level into six months of retention. In particular, the explicit group showed a more marked decrease than the implicit group after three months, which was probably caused by the decay of their reliance on the retrieval of declarative knowledge from working memory. Conclusions: The current findings highlight the importance of conducting retention tests over an extended period to monitor performance development after the acquisition of a novel task by different learning methods, as they can differ over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]