title: Does self-efficacy mediate transfer effects in the learning of easy and difficult motor skills?
abstract: The effect of task difficulty on inter-task transfer is a classic issue in motor learning. We examined the relation between self-efficacy and transfer of learning after practicing different versions of a stick balancing task. Practicing the same task or an easier version led to significant pre- to post-test transfer of learning, whereas practicing a more difficult version did not. Self-efficacy increased modestly from pre- to post-test with easy practice, but decreased significantly with difficult practice. In addition, self-efficacy immediately prior to the post-test was significantly lower after difficult practice than easy or intermediate practice. Self-efficacy immediately prior to the post-test, performance at the end of practice, and pre-test performance explained 75% of the variance in post-test performance. The mediating role of self-efficacy on transfer of learning offers an alternative explanation for recent findings on the superiority of easy-to-difficult transfer and may help clarify inconsistencies in earlier research.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Exercise and Sport Science, The University of Sydney, Australia. david.stevens@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: O'Dwyer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mark Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014163:Transfer, Psychology