title: Self-Control of Task Difficulty During Early Practice Promotes Motor Skill Learning.
abstract: This study was designed to determine whether the effect of self-control of task difficulty on motor learning is a function of the period of self-control administration. In a complex anticipation-coincidence task that required participants to intercept 3 targets with a virtual racquet, the task difficulty was either self-controlled or imposed to the participants in the two phases of the acquisition session. First, the results confirmed the beneficial effects of self-control over fully prescribed conditions. Second, the authors also demonstrated that a partial self-control of task difficulty better promotes learning than does a complete self-controlled procedure. Overall, the results revealed that these benefits are increased when this choice is allowed during early practice. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and applied perspectives.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratoire PRISSMH (EA 4561), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier , Faculté des Sciences du Sport , Toulouse , France.|b Département de Kinésiologie , Université de Montréal , Montréal , Canada.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andrieux
authors.affiliation: c IfADo - Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors , Dortmund , Germany.|d Research Center at the Geriatric Institute of the University of Montréal - Functional Neuroimaging Unit , Montréal , Canada.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boutin
authors.affiliation: a Laboratoire PRISSMH (EA 4561), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier , Faculté des Sciences du Sport , Toulouse , France.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thon
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D000068356:Self-Control; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: challenge point; specificity of practice; stages of learning; transfer-appropriate processing