title: Attention and the contextual interference effect for a continuous task.
abstract: Many studies have shown that practicing several motor tasks in a random (high contextual interference) order promotes motor learning relative to practicing the same tasks in a blocked order (low contextual interference). The facilitative effect of high contextual interference has been attributed to more frequent intertask comparisons, greater difficulty in recalling task solutions between trials, and the dissimilarity among the various tasks. Each of those explanations suggests that task difficulty is increased by high contextual interference. The hypothesis of this study was that this increase in task difficulty during practice would be associated with a higher attention load during practice. This hypothesis was supported; however, high contextual interference promoted only a transient increase in retention. The short-lived effect was attributed to the continuous nature of the task and was discussed in terms of the necessary conditions for contextual interference to emerge.
authors.affiliation: University of Wales, School of Sport, Health, and Physical Education Sciences, Bangor, Gwynedd. pes005@bangor.ac.uk
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014163:Transfer, Psychology