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Abstract Background Although task-oriented training has been shown to improve walking outcomes after stroke, it is not yet clear whether one task-oriented approach is superior to another. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of the Motor Learning Walking Program (MLWP), a varied overground walking task program consistent with key motor learning principles, to body-weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT) in community-dwelling, ambulatory, adults within 1 year of stroke. Methods/Design A parallel, randomized controlled trial with stratification by baseline gait speed will be conducted. Allocation will be controlled by a central randomization service and participants will be allocated to the two active intervention groups (1:1) using a permuted block randomization process. Seventy participants will be assigned to one of two 15-session training programs. In MLWP, one physiotherapist will supervise practice of various overground walking tasks. Instructions, feedback, and guidance will be provided in a manner that facilitates self-evaluation and problem solving. In BWSTT, training will emphasize repetition of the normal gait cycle while supported over a treadmill, assisted by up to three physiotherapists. Outcomes will be assessed by a blinded assessor at baseline, post-intervention and at 2-month follow-up. The primary outcome will be post-intervention comfortable gait speed. Secondary outcomes include fast gait speed, walking endurance, balance self-efficacy, participation in community mobility, health-related quality of life, and goal attainment. Groups will be compared using analysis of covariance with baseline gait speed strata as the single covariate. Intention-to-treat analysis will be used. Discussion In order to direct clinicians, patients, and other health decision-makers, there is a need for a head-to-head comparison of different approaches to active, task-related walking training after stroke. We hypothesize that outcomes will be optimized through the application of a task-related training program that is consistent with key motor learning principles related to practice, guidance and feedback. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT00561405

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of masking noise on laryngeal resistance for breathy, normal, and pressed voice in vocally trained women. Method: Eighteen vocally trained women produced breathy, normal, and pressed voice across 7 fundamental frequencies during a repeated CV utterance of /pi/ under normal and masked auditory feedback. Dependent variables were mean and standard deviation of laryngeal resistance (LR; cmH[subscript 2]O/l/s). Results: LR values for breathy and normal voice remained constant across normal and masked auditory feedback, whereas LR values for pressed voice increased significantly from normal to masked auditory feedback. Conclusions: The results suggest that both voice pattern and feedback condition influenced the stability of the LR data. Specifically, the pressed voice pattern may be more susceptible to auditory feedback influence because it was less stable than the breathy and the normal voice patterns. Future investigation should continue to explore the relevance of auditory feedback for theoretical and clinical issues surrounding voice.

Research suggests that allowing individuals to control their own practice schedule has a positive effect on motor learning. In this experiment we examined the effect of task difficulty and self-regulated practice strategies on motor learning. The task was to move a mouse-operated cursor through pattern arrays that differed in two levels of difficulty. Participants learned either four easy or hard patterns after assignment to one of four groups that ordered practice in blocked, random, self-regulated, and yoked-to-self-regulated schedules. Although self-regulation provided no special benefit in acquisition, these groups showed the most improved performance in retention, irrespective of task difficulty. Although individual switch strategies for members of the self-regulated groups were quite variable, the impact of self-regulation on motor learning remained similar. These findings add to the growing body of literature suggesting that self-regulated practice is an important variable for motor learning. (Contains 4 figures.)

Differing viewpoints concerning the specificity and generality of motor skill representations in memory were compared by contrasting versions of a skill having either extensive or minimal specific practice. In Experiments 1 and 2, skilled basketball players more accurately performed set shots at the foul line than would be predicted on the basis of the performance at the nearby locations, suggesting considerable specificity at this distance. This effect was replicated even when the lines on the court were obscured (in Experiment 2). However, the effect was absent when jump shots were executed in Experiment 3. The authors argue that massive levels of practice at 1 particular member of a class of actions produce specific effects that allow this skill to stand out from the other members of the class, giving it the status of an especial skill. Various theoretical views are proposed to account for the development of these skills.

What value is there in effective practice regimes if these same regimes do not, in themselves, engage the learner to continue to practice? This question was discussed in the context of two practice schedules that have been shown to be effective in studies of motor learning. But recent evidence has found these practice schedules to be either inefficient in their use of practice time (distributed practice), or results in metacognitive judgments of incompetence (random practice). We discuss these conundrums, possible ramifications relative to the law of practice, and potential resolutions of these issues by recent research efforts. (Contains 4 figures and 1 table.)

Bimanual coordination was tested at two metronome speeds with simultaneous performance of an attention-demanding task by 12 younger (20-22) and 12 older (65-74) adults. At the lower frequency, coordination patterns seemed automatic and impervious to aging. At the higher frequency, older adults sacrificed movement frequency in order to maintain task performance. (Contains 34 references.) (SK)

The authors examined the effects of self-regulating task information, identical in content, either before (proactive) or after (retroactive) a motor action. Participants were required to learn unique typographical script used to enter data into a personal data assistant. Consistent with previous findings, presenting task information proactively during acquisition facilitated performance, but presenting task information retroactively resulted in superior learning as measured in retention tests. However, those who selfregulated proactive task information demonstrated learning that was equivalent to those who received retroactive task information. These results suggest that when task information is equated, the learning benefits associated with self-regulation are independent of the timing of when the augmented information is made available during practise. Keywords: learning, self-regulation, practice, human-computer interaction DOI: 10.1037/a0016269

Learners (n=48) practiced three multisegment movements with distinct target movement times. Four practice groups were compared: blocked, random, and two groups who had a win-shift/lose-stay schedule (WSLS1 and WSLS2). For these latter groups switching between practice tasks was performance-contingent: within 5% of target time for 1 or 2 consecutive trials, respectively. During acquisition, blocked performance was more accurate than for both random and WSLS2 groups. The WSLS1 group performed between blocked and random groups, but did not differ from either. In a next-day retention test, the random group scored better than the blocked group. The WSLS1 group performed similarly to the random practice while the WSLS2 group's scores were similar to those of the blocked group. Results encourage further study of similar practice schedules.

ABSTRACT. The authors examined the patterns of expert and less skilled golfers in putting on an indoor surface to 1 of 3 circular targets (1, 3, and 5 m away) [...]

The timing of augmented information, either prior to or following a memory retrieval attempt has profound, and opposing, influences on immediate performance and retention. This effect was investigated in 2 experiments in which participants learned typographical symbols used to enter information into a personal data assistant. The effects of the spacing of the second of 2 repetitions (Experiment 1) and the number of retrieval attempts during practice (Experiment 2) failed to modify the relative effectiveness of the timing of augmented information--proactive information (prior to retrieval attempt) facilitated practice but degraded retention relative to retroactive information (after retrieval attempt). The theoretical roles of the timing of augmented information relative to the functions of retrieval practice were discussed. Keywords: learning, practice, human-computer interaction, augmented information Le moment de donner de l'information complementaire sur une tache de rememoration, que ce soit avant ou apres la tentative de rememoration, a des incidences marquees et opposees sur la performance immediate et la retention de l'information. Ce phenomene a ete etudie au cours de deux experiences pendant lesquelles les participants devaient apprendre les symboles typographiques utilises pour saisir de l'information dans un personal data assistant (assistant numerique). Les effets de l'espacement de la derniere des deux repetitions (experience 1) et le nombre de tentatives de rememoration pendant la phase d'apprentissage des symboles (experience 2) n'ont pas reussi a modifier l'efficacite relative du moment de donner de l'information complementaire; en revanche, l'information proactive (c.-a-d. avant la tentative de rememoration) a facilite l'apprentissage, mais elle a diminue la retention par rapport a l'information retroactive (c.-a-d. apres la tentative de rememoration). Les roles theoriques lies au moment de donner de l'information complementaire par rapport aux fonctions de la phase d'apprentissage d'une tache de la rememoration sont analyses.

ABSTRACT. Anchoring has been defined as synchronizing a point in a movement cycle with an external stimulus (W. D. Byblow, R. G. Carson, & D. Goodman, 1994). Previously, investigators have [...]

ABSTRACT: The authors describe the effects of practice conditions in motor learning (e.g., contextual interference, knowledge of results) within the constraints of 2 experimental variables: skill level and task difficulty. [...]

Two experiments are reported that compared younger and older adults on their performance of two bimanual temporal coordination tasks at varying movement speeds. In many cases, older adults performed as well as younger adults at all speeds of an in-phase coordination pattern and at slow speeds of an anti-phase pattern for both coordination accuracy and stability. Age differences tended to emerge most prominently at high speeds for the anti-phase pattern. These findings are consistent with the aging literature regarding automatic and effortful processing distinctions, suggesting that relative age differences become magnified when effortful resources are required for motor performance.

Two experiments are reported in which the question of whether or not contextual interference effects are found in motor tasks that require the acquisition of new coordination patterns was examined. Participants, (N = 18, Experiment 1; N = 12, Experiment 2) practiced 3 novel bimanual patterns (45 [degrees], 90 [degrees], and 135 [degrees] relative phase) in either a random or a blocked order. No statistically significant acquisition or retention differences between groups were found when all 3 patterns were practiced on each of 2 days (Experiment 1). When the blocked group practiced 1 pattern on each of 3 acquisition days (Experiment 2), however, typical contextual interference effects were found: The blocked group performed better than the random group in practice, but the random group performed better than the blocked group in a delayed (by 1 week) retention test. The experiments revealed that contextual interference effects can arise in motor tasks that require the acquisition of new coordination patterns and are not limited to tasks involving novel scaling of a previously existing pattern., Retention and transfer of motor skills that require learning a new coordination pattern are higher when practiced repeatedly over a period of time and not as high when motor skills are practiced in a random order. However, the group that participated in random testing out-performed the blocked group when the test was delayed for one week., Key words: bimanual coordination, contextual interference, learning, retention Retention and transfer of motor tasks that have been practiced in a random trial order are usually better than the retention and [...]

Although there is evidence for age-related changes in both cognition and motor control, very little is known about the effect of age on learning of new motor skills. The present experiment addressed the interaction between aging and the role of knowledge of results (KR) on a motor learning task. Using a three-segment task on which each segment had specific timing goals, three different manipulations of relative frequency of information about performance were compared in younger and older adults. The three conditions were (a) 100% KR in which information about performance on each segment was provided after every trial, (b) 67% KR in which the performance information was faded over trials, and (c) 67% KR in which the performance information was faded over the segments within each trial. Following 90 acquisition trials, all subjects performed retention, transfer, and reacquisition tests. There were age-related differences for movement accuracy and consistency on acquisition and on the retention tests but not on the transfer test. However, none of these differences interacted with the frequency of KR manipulations. Surprisingly, there was no effect due to the fading schedules of KR. In general, these results indicated that younger and older adults use KR in a similar way to learn a motor skill.

24 7-yr.-old children and 24 university-age adults practiced a ballistic aiming task under either low contextual interference (blocked practice) or high contextual interference (random practice). All subjects performed 90 acquisition trials, followed by 20 transfer trials and 15 retention trials. Similar to previous findings, the adults performed the acquisition trials better under blocked than under random conditions, yet performed the retention and transfer tests better after random than blocked practice. No differences in acquisition were found between blocked and random practice conditions for the children; nevertheless, the random group performed the retention and transfer tests better than the blocked group. The results are discussed in relation to applied and theoretical issues of contextual interference.

According to dynamic pattern theory, intrinsically stable bimanual coordination patterns affect, and are affected by, the acquisition of a new coordination pattern. In Experiment 1, subjects practiced either a 45 [degrees] or a 135 [degrees] relative phase pattern for 4 days; in Experiment 2, they practiced a 90 [degrees] relative phase pattern over 6 days. Retention tests were conducted 4 weeks after the last practice session in both experiments. Performance on both the in-phase (0 [degree]) and anti-phase (180 [degrees]) patterns was also measured on each day. Contrary to predictions, the experiments revealed that reciprocal effects between the intrinsic patterns and the new pattern were only temporary, and did not affect learning in any permanent way. As well, learning a new pattern was not differentially affected by its relation to an intrinsic pattern.

The present experiments addressed the learner's capability to perform different upper-limb actions simultaneously with the help of various sources of information feedback. An elbow flexion movement was made in the left limb together with a flexion-extension-flexion movement in the right limb. Interlimb interactions were assessed at the structural as well as the metrical level of movement specification during acquisition and retention. Despite a strong initial tendency for the limbs to be synchronized, findings revealed that Ss became gradually more successful in interlimb decoupling as a result of practice with augmented feedback. However, detailed knowledge of movement kinematics was no more effective than global outcome information for interlimb decoupling, indicating that knowledge of results may have more potential for acquiring multiple degree-of-freedom tasks than previously believed. Finally, the data support the general notion that learning new coordination tasks involves the suppression of preexisting preferred coordination tendencies, which is often a prerequisite for building new coordination modes.

Young and older subjects were compared on their ability to use extrinsic, verbal information feedback to learn a movement timing task. The young subjects aged 20 to 23 years old benefitted more with knowledge of results and performed more accurately during the acquisition and retention trials than the older subjects. However, no differences were detected between the two age groups with regard to processing of knowledge of results in learning a motor skill. This suggests that the ability to process schedules of knowledge or results and the effects of knowledge of results on motor learning are similar between the two age groups studied.

Three experiments examined the influence of prior judgments on direct and indirect memory tests in gymnastic judging. Results for both perceptual and recognition judgments depended on an item's relationship between study and test. For perceptual judgments, moves performed the same resulted in the highest level of accuracy, new moves were less accurate, and the lowest level of accuracy occurred for items where the performance was altered between study and the perceptual test. Novice and expert judges revealed similar memory influences (Experiment 1). Memory influences were reduced but not eliminated when subjects were given prior knowledge of these effects (Experiment 2). Spacing of repetitions did not enhance these prior processing effects (Experiment 3). The findings are discussed in terms of perceptual biases and the practical implications of judges' exposure to an athlete's performance before competition.