Spacing practice sessions across days earlier rather than later in training improves performance of a visuomotor skill

Exp Brain Res. 2008 Aug;189(2):189-97. doi: 10.1007/s00221-008-1414-9. Epub 2008 May 15.

Abstract

Our goal was to determine whether the extent of off-line performance improvements on a visuomotor task depends on the amount of practice individuals experience prior to a 24-h between-session break. Subjects completed ten trials of a mirror-tracing task over two days. On Day 1, subjects experienced either one, three or seven trials. Twenty-four hours later subjects completed the remainder of the ten trials. Despite experiencing an equivalent number of total training trials, subjects experiencing the 24-h delay after one or three trials demonstrated off-line performance improvements, but those experiencing the delay after seven trials did not. Furthermore, the one- and three-trial groups reached a superior level of performance by the end of training relative to the seven-trial group.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aptitude / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Learning / physiology*
  • Male
  • Motor Skills / physiology
  • Practice, Psychological*
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Teaching / methods*
  • Time Factors