9.

0 Practice Effects on
Motor Learning & Memory
Vickers Ch 9 -12
Carter - selected pages
Vickers Ch 5, 7
Omit Ch 4
1

Effect of Practice
Design, Feedback &
Instruction on
Motor Learning &
Performance

Outline
n

The Paradox in Motor Learning Research Defined

Shea & Morgan - variable and/or random practice vs blocked

or constant practice
n Evidence from the laboratory, applied class setting, elite
athletes

Reasons why variable and/or random practice is more

effective than blocked or constant
n The contextual interference effect
n Elaboration hypothesis
n Forgetting hypothesis
n Random-variable practice improves attention, short and
long term memory processes (Carter pp. 154 - 167)
n Limitations (psychological refractory period, Stroop,
n Limitations of random-variable practice
n Children, Stroke, Alzheimer's Disease

Sunday, November 16, 2014

The Paradox (or Reversal)

In Motor Learning
Research Defined

The Paradox of Modern Motor

Learning Research
Recent research (since 1990) shows that:

Traditional behavioural methods of training motor

skills leads to high levels of performance in the short

term, but performers trained exclusively under these
conditions break down in the long term, esp. under
conditions of high pressure and stress.

If you want to ensure long term learning of motor

skills, research now shows that cognitive decision

training needs to be incorporated into how practice,
feedback and instruction are provided

The Paradox in Motor Learning

n

The paradox applies to three areas of research:

n

Practice design - the design of drills and activities

affects short and long term learning, retention and
transfer? (Ch 9/10)

Providing feedback - the type of feedback affects

short and long term learning, retention and
transfer? (Ch 11)

Providing instruction - The type of instruction

affects short and long term learning, retention and
transfer? (Ch 12)

6
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Overview of Motor Learning Research

100
90
80
70
60
Percent
50
Improvement
40

Reviews
(Christina &
Bjork, 1992;
Schmidt &
Bjork, 1992;
Lee et al,
1994; Vickers,
1994)

30
20
10

Reversal

Training process of
instruction, practice
and feedback
Early in the season

Behavioural
training
Decision
training

Cognitive
training

Later in the season

Behavioural
Training

Cognitive Decision
Training

Practice Design
Blocked or Constant
Practice
Low variability

Practice Design
Variable practice
Random practice
High variability

Self - Tes)ng Ques)onnaire

Are you a behavioural trainer or a
cognitive-behavioural decision trainer?

In terms of practice, feedback and instruction skills,

what makes a great teacher or coach?
What are your personal beliefs/assumptions about
what it takes to be an excellent coach, teacher,
therapist, athlete?

Respond True or False to the following questions.

Answer: Add # of False Statements

9
Sunday, November 16, 2014

First Evidence Of
Paradox or Reversal
Contextual Interference Effects
Variable or Random Practice
vs
Blocked or Constant Practice

10

Contextual Interference Defined

n

Introducing variable elements of the task being

learned into drills and activities
First discovered in teaching English (Battig,1966); and
mathematics (Cuddy & Jacoby, 1982)
Blocked vs random practice: Is it better to teach one
element to perfection, or design learning activities that are
random?
Eg. learning multiplication table
n Using blocked practice (5x2; 5x3; 5x4, etc)
n Using random practice (3x8; 4x5; 9x2,etc)
Results:
n

11

First Motor Skill Evidence: Shea & Morgan, 1979

Perform 4 arm movements: simple to complex
Barrier Knock
Down Task
Stop
Variable

Stop

Sec

Start

Retention defined: Same skill or tactic performed

later on in same conditions

12
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Shea & Morgan, 1979 Transfer Results

A new barrier knock down task was performed

Variable

Sec

Transfer defined: A new skill or tactic is performed later on that is made up of

components of skills or tactics practiced earlier; performance context may also be
more difficult. eg. in competition

13

Blocked or Constant Practice

Defined Today
n

The same class of skills or motor program is

repeated over and over on many consecutive
occasions
Goal is to groove the skill and achieve a state of
automatic, mindless performance
Examples:
n Basketball - 50 free throws in a row
n Golf - driving range - hit 100 balls with driver
Recommendation: Should be used with beginners
until the basics of the skill are acquired. Problem is
overuse
Once the basic skill is acquired move to variable and random practice

14

Variable Practice Defined Today

(Smart Variations)
n

A single class of skills or motor program is selected and

variations practiced that simulate important conditions
encountered in play or competition
A class of skills is normally defined using a
biomechanical principal or sport technique
Example:
n Badminton forehand strokes - clear, drop, smash same motor program used for all 3 strokes, with
variations of location, speed, deception, reaction time,
etc
Recommendation: Once the basics are learned, should
be main form of practice used

15
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Random Practice Defined Today

(Smart Combinations)
n

Different motor programs are combined that simulate

important conditions found in competition
Most often skills are combined tactically
n Eg. Badminton singles tactics: high serve > long
clear > drop > net shot - with correct footwork to 2-4
corners of the court
When variable and random practice are used
performance levels are usually lower at first, then
improve and greater gains in the long term
Takes patience and understanding of underlying neural
processes
Recommendation: Progress from variable to random practice asap

16

Variable Practice - First Applied Study

(Goode & Magill, 1986)

Novices (university students)

Task: Badminton 3 serves: long, short, drive
To right court only during training /left court for
retention test
Number of practices: 3x per week
Blocked Group: same serve each day
Variable Group: 3 serves each day
long
short
drive
Dependent variable: Accuracy of serves to target
areas on the court (retention and transfer)

17

Retention Test:
Transfer Test
Serve from right court Serve from left court

18
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Results Goode & Magill

Blocked - squares
Variable - circles

19

Results Goode & Magill

Blocked - squares
Variable - circles

20

First Study - Elite Athletes: Baseball

(Hall, Domingues & Cavazos, 1994)

21
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Measuring Cognitive Effort

n

Total pitches hit: 11 practices (do not count the

pretest) x 3 pitches x 15 each = 495 extra hits

Blocked group: 11 practices x 3 types of pitches x

~3 pitches with high levels of cognitive effort = 99
pitches in total
n

Variable: 11 practices x 3 types of pitches x ~ 12

with high levels of cognitive effort = 398
n

Percent 99/495 = ~ 20% total cognitive effort

Percent = 398/495 = ~ 80% cognitive effort

RESULT: Variable group had 4x the cognitive practice than the blocked yet the
total number of pitches hit was the same for both groups

22

Theoretical Reasons Why

Variable and/or Random Practice
Is More Effective Than Blocked
or Constant Practice

23

Increased Cognitive Effort

the mental work underlying optimum levels

of decision making ....anticipation,
regulation and interpretation of motor
performance (Lee, Swinnen & Serrien,
1994, 328-329).

24
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Elaboration Hypothesis
Shea & Zimny (1983)
n When individuals change from one task to another, as
in random-variable practice, they have a greater
opportunity to learn the distinctive elements of
each task
n Creates denser neural networks, more effective
synaptic connections
n In blocked practice, this occurs to a lesser degree or
not at all (automaticity takes over of simpler skills)
n Also called the distinctive and more meaning full hypothesis

25

The Forgetting Hypothesis

(also called Retrieval Practice)
Lee & Magill (1985). The spacing of movements during
variable-random practice requires the rapid retrieval
from long term memory of specific skills
n

n
n

Variable-random practice improves the ability to

access critical information in memory quickly
Creates better retrieval links to correct solutions
Richer more extensive neural networks laid down
linking long and short term memory

26

Random-Variable Practice
Enhances Memory Formation

Five (5) Types of Memory

1) Episodic
2) Semantic
3) Procedural
4) Implicit vs explicit
5) Working or short term memory (STM)
Carter

Sunday, November 16, 2014

27

1) Episodic Memory
Episodic defined:

reconstruction of past
experiences,
sensations, successes,
failures, highs, lows,
strategies, drills
Experienced from ones
own point of view
Eg. Drill in racquet
sports - Ability to see
opponent before
returning the shot
Effects of Blocked vs
Variable Practice

Memry established to see opponent before returning the shot

28

Athlete does
not
vary shot

Feeder does
not move

1) Basic FH Drop Drill

Blocked Practice
Most common method of
training
Stationary feeder (coach) sets
shuttle high to athlete
Athlete returns with a drop to
feeder
Continuous OH drops
(blocked practice)
Easily learn to make 100+
shots using blocked practice,
BUT
- no retention after 3 months
- no transfer to games
Vickers, p 186-187

29

Badminton
With Variable Practice
Athlete
returns
with a
different
drop

Feeder moves
to new location

1. Feeder lifts shuttle high to the

athlete
2. During flight of shuttle feeder
moves to a new location
3. Athlete must see feeder
before
Hitting to feeder
Hitting away from feeder
4. Improves detection of
opponents; execute more
effective shots

30
Sunday, November 16, 2014

2) Semantic Memory

or declarative

Defined: Factual

knowledge that stands

alone

Contains information that is

non-personal;

Together with episodic

memories also called

declarative knowledge

Stored primarily in the

frontal and temporal lobes

Eg. Rules, History of Sport,

Nutrition, Exercise,
Physiology, Biomechanics

Eg. Dan Proulx, Team

Canada Cyling Coach

31

Using Random Variable Practice & Questions to

Teach Declarative Knowledge
n

Dan Proulx cycling

coach

Elite 14-16 yr.olds

Now Team Canada

Olympic Coach

During exercise,
asks high level of
questions about
balance, bumping,
focus of attention both declarative &
procedural
knowledge of sport
trained at same time,
plus develop fitness

32

3) Procedural Memory
Defined - automatic motor

skills; motor programs how to walk, run, ride a

bike, swim, drive a car, play
a sport, play an instrument

Learned movements stored

in neural networks in
midbrain, basal ganglia and
cerebellum

Only when some aspects

of a skill become
automatic can the athlete
do more

33
Sunday, November 16, 2014

4) Implicit vs Explicit Memories

Implicit - memories that cannot be retrieved consciously but are
activated by a particular skill or action
Eg. my xerox number in HPL (20 years) cannot tell you what
it is, but when I look down at the keypad, my hand(s) know
what it is
The quiet eye is implicit prior to training; athletes do not know
they have one (or not); after QE training becomes explicit

Explicit memory - memories that can be consciously retrieved and

reported
Once an athlete views his/her QE on video, they can report
on the 5 characteristics
location is easy to report
duration is next
Offset is challenging in some tasks (golf)
onset relative to final movement most difficult

34

5) Short Term Memory (STM)

Defined: information held in mind
as active neural traffic, until it is
forgotten or encoded in LTM

Limit: 7 plus or minus 2 items

(Miller, G. A.1956)

Question: Is 7 2 due to

A capacity problem (memory

span limit, ie longest list one can

remember; longest seq of skills fig. skate routines; # gates on a
race course,
or to
Semantics - how meaningful is
something?

35

Motor Learning Involves

Changes in Long Term
Memory
Carter pp. 158-159

36
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Memory Central: Hippocampus & Amygdala

Hippocampus Encodes and retrieves long

terms memories
Sends processed memories to
the part of the brain where they
were first created, eg. lines,
colors, edges to occipital cortex;
decisions & strategies to frontal
cortex, etc
Amygdala

tastas all incoming stimuli to prodct appropriate reactions and emotions

37

Where Long Term Memories Are Made

Hippocampus:
Selects transient

memories for permanent

storage as long term
memories (eg. learning to
hit a curve vs fastball in
baseball)
Encoding - When signal
is persistent enough, new
connections are forged
Enterorhinal cortex
central to long term memory process

38

Forming Memories (p.156)

Potentiation - the

synchronous firing of
neurons makes it more likely
they will fire again
1. Input
2 Circuit formation
3 Increasing activity
Long term
potentiation - When a
pattern of neurons becomes
permanently sensitized to
each other

Neurons that fire together wire together

39
Sunday, November 16, 2014

200 ms Percep)on/A;en)on Is Needed

Percep5on & a7en5on - locked in
by frontal cortex - central to
memory forma3on
Percep3on - next slide
A8en3on - next slide
Neurons that register object or
event re more frequently (RT/AP/
ERP) (reac3on 3me, ac3on poten3al,
event related poten3al)
Quiet Eye

Increases the likelihood the event

will be encoded in the hippocampus
and eventually stored in long term
memory (LTM)

40

More On Perception
1) Perception - Explains how we process sensory
information (vision, hearing, touch, smell, taste) in very
short periods of time, usually less than 100 ms
(1000 ms in 1 second).
Considered subconscious (lack of awareness); we have
no recollection of this information, nor can we recall it
when asked.
With effort, an object shifts from perception to
awareness. Try these exercises
41

41

Attention & Anticipation Defined

2) Attention - Explains how we select information
42
for
more extensive processing in reactions times

that range from 120 to 220 ms for simple tasks,

depending on the sensory system: vision (slowest),
hearing (2nd slowest), touch (fastest). RT can be
very long on complex tasks like golf. QE and RT are
related.
Anticipation is a form of early attention, the ability to predict in advance what is going to, critical i performing all motor skills

42
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Perception & Attention

Exercises

43

43

Can you find 5 horses in this picture?

44

Artist: Bev
Doolittle

44

How many faces do you see in

this picture?

45

Sunday, November 16, 2014

45

Accurate motor perception is especially difficult

Ali versus Liston (1985) - Which hand landed the
knockout? Left or Right?

University of Calgary

Vickers

quieteyesolutions.com

46

Primary & Secondary Attention in

Motor Skills
Attention is a limited resource.
Difficult to attend at a high level to more than one thing at a time.
Selective attention is required

Primary
attention driving a
car - takes
most
resources

Driving
Car

Secondary
attention takes
remaining

47

Primary & Secondary Attention

Attention is
diverted
easily to more
interesting
topics

Driving

Talking/looking
at a special
friend

48
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Attentional capacity can easily be

exceeded

Cat runs across

the road

49

Attention changes with

training
have to devote
Novices
all their attention to how

Noviceshow skill is
performed

to perform a skill; little

attentional capacity left
for anything else
are able to
Experts
attend externally to
what is happening in the
environment because
more and more of their
motor skills become
automatic

Expert - what is
the opponent
doing

Automatic
control shifts
to other areas of
the brain
Limbic and
cerebellum

50

How Skill
Is Performed

50

51
Sunday, November 16, 2014

 Children aged

6.2 to10 - cannot

attend to three
tasks at once
Children aged
10.1 to 14 are able
to skate and ID
shapes better than
stickhandle and ID
shapes
Adolescents
14.1-19.6 are able
to attend to all
three tasks at high
speed

52

increases a8en3on
250 ms Rapid Impact of Emo3on
leading to faster memory
Emo5onal memories
forma3on

Unconscious route goes

directly to amygdala. Eg.

Frightening visual image -
about 100-120 ms. (bear)
Amygdala can trigger ght or
ight in 100 -120 ms - rapidly
goes to frontal cortex and
direct to motor cortex (see p.
127)
Amygdala keeps the memory
alive by replaying it in a loop
Hippocampus sends memories
to e stored permanently in different parts of the brain

53

500 ms 10 mins
Working or Short Term Memory
2 circuits involved:
Visual circuit
- occipital to frontal lobe
- visual and spa3al
informa3on
Auditory circuit
- temporal lobe to frontal
lobe
- Sound based informa3on
Informa3on must loop to
become permanent

54
Sunday, November 16, 2014

10 mins - 2 years -
Hippocampal Processing
Striking experiences break
out of STM and go to the
hippocampus/enterorhinal
cortex
The memory is then played
back to the region of the brain
that rst created it -
Sight - visual cortex
Sound - temporal cortex
Movement - motor cortex/
cerebellum
Where it may be stored
permanently for life

55

2 Years onward
Consolida5on
Neural pa)erns between

the hippocampus and

cor5cal cells become
similar/synchronized
Memory is stored in the
cerebral cortex, thus
freeing up the
hippocampus for new
memory forma5on
This process occurs during
sleep .. during slow wave phase sleep

56

Memory is Distributed

Where Memories
Are Stored

Amygdala - emotional

memories/fight or flight

Lobe - holds
Temporal
general knowledge/
concepts

- turns
Hippocampus
experiences into memories
- maintains
Thalamus
sensory inputs; maintains
memories for how to
direct attention

Parietal Lobe - spatial memories

57
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Where Memories
Are Stored
Occipital lobe - edges,
speed,
direction, color,

depth of objects & events

stored (eg. Baseball
pitches)

lobe - working
Frontal
memory, strategies, goals,
decisions, higher levels of
thinking and planning

- automatic
Putamen
procedural skills (motor
skills)

Cerebellum
Conditioned memories, events linked by time

58

Limitations of Attention
and/or Memory

59

S1 & S2 Person
executing fake

The Psychological Refractory

Period (PRP)

Person
being
faked

An inherent bottleneck in our

attention system

Functions when 2 stimuli (S1

& S2) enter the system with
an intra-stimulus interval
60-80 ms (100 ms max)

Has to be timed just right. 40

ms too fast - 100 ms too
slow.

Creates a delay in the

response of opponent of
200-300 ms

Why? Only one motor

program can be
programmed and executed
at a time

(Schmidt & Wrisberg, 2004/2008)

Sunday, November 16, 2014

60

Psychological Refractory Period

n

There is a bottle neck in attention that can affect

RT and MT - a delay in response when 2 stimuli (S1
and S2) are processed close to one another

if we detect the 2nd stimulus while processing the

1st stimulus we are unable to process the second
until we finish processing the first. Slows MT

Although S1 and S2 may only be 60-80 ms apart a

delay occurs in MT 200-300 ms in responding.

61

THE STROOP TASK

Most attentional processes occur in serial order (one

event after another)

But under certain conditions attention can occur in

parallel

Evidence for parallel processing - STROOP TASK Evidence of parallel processing

2 or more stimuli are perceived at once and under

certain conditions are in conflict

Exercise: As quickly as possible, call out the COLOR

of the following

62

62

Stroop Effect - Why?

Parallel streams of information were processed by
the brain at the same time
If information is meaningful, then top-down
processing adds to conflict
Your visual system saw green, but your ability to read the wrd yellow created a conflict
During stoop - RT is slower and errors are greater

63
Sunday, November 16, 2014

What happened??
n

Some in class experienced conflict, but others

did not? Why?

The word vert means green in French.

n those who speak french would have experienced the conflict the french word for green (verbal part of brain)

and the color red would have been processed in parallel

64

Why Stroop?

Color vert and word

vert were processed
simultaneously
by two different
parts of brain
- Word
comprehension
(Wernickes area)
- Color vision
(Occipital area)
- Prior to speaking
(Brocas area)
65

Lift without a Hippocampus

The Story of HM & Dr. Brenda Milner
Milner, 1953

Severe epilepsy
Removed most (but
not all) of his
hippocampus

No memory of past

(retroac3ve memory)
or new memories
(proac3ve)

But he could learn

simple motor skills?

WHY?
It illustrates why we need distributed long term memory
66

Sunday, November 16, 2014

66

All of HMs hippocampus was removed

Centre of memory formation

Connection to frontal cortex removed - no learning or memory of
new events/people/movements

Some connections to cerebellum remained - allowed learning

simple movements (he worked in hospital gift shop)

67

Clive
Wearing

Brilliant conductor, composer and pianist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WmzU47i2xgw&feature=related

Virus destroyed all of his hippocampus at a young age

Complete amnesia - both anterograde (inability to create
new memories) and retrograde (no memory of past)

68

Bias and Selective Attention:

Attention Blindness

Our cognitive abilities are greatly

influenced by what our attention is biased
toward: Exercise

Selective Attention Test

Original visual search research by Ulrich

Neisser (1960s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=vJG698U2Mvo&feature=related

69

Sunday, November 16, 2014

69

Inattention Or Change Blindness - our

attention system is often controlled by
internal biases or processes
n

We can be look right at something and not

see it
n

TV show Oblivious

A person viewing a visual scene fails to

detect large changes in the scene due to
prior knowledge, assumptions,
expectations

Top-down...

Can you detect the changes in these

bias to detect specific pre detrmined information processing

70

71

Bottom-up versus top-down

processing

Bottom-up processing - A form of attention that

proceeds in a single direction from sensory
input, through perceptual analysis, towards
motor output, without involving feedback
information flowing backwards from higher
centers to lower centers (Corbetta & Shulman,
2002, p. 201).

Salient cues, such as..

71

Bottom up processing is less likely to occur during change or attention

blindness

72
Sunday, November 16, 2014

During change blindness top-down

processing occurs more than bottom-

Top-down processing - The flow of information

is from the higher to lower centers, conveying
knowledge derived from previous experience
rather than sensory stimulation (Corbetta &
Shulman, 2002, p. 201).

Top-down processing is affected by our

memories, our goals and expectations, and the
amount of knowledge and experience we have in
a given situation.

Top-down processing often occurs rapidly and

has qualities linked to awareness, insight, and
the degree of experience the person has in a

Summary: Why Random & Variable

Training Works Better Than Blocked
n

n
n
n
n

n
n

There are more opportunities to learn how to attend to

critical cues
Simulates pressure, stress and unpredictable conditions
Greater cognitive effort is expended by the performers
Memory retrieval is enhanced; neural plasticity promoted
Less tendency to learn irrelevant/harmful /artificial/
useless movements
Provides more opportunities for performers to figure out
what is required on their own; develop rapid retrieval
skills
More shared problem solving opportunities
Overall - maximizes training of decision making skills
during physical training

Random variable processes helps athlees see things they normally

don't see

73

Builds better long term memory skills in a variety of conditions

More opportunities to learn to attend to critical cues and avoid memory
limitations
Promotes independence - provides more opportunities for performers to
figure out what is required on their own
More shared problem solving opportunities with coaches and teachers
greater confidence in one another
Overall - neural plasticity is promoted

74

Limitations of Variable and/or

Random Practice
Children
Stroke Patients
Alzheimer's Patients

75
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Random/Variable Practice: Is it Recommended

for Young Children & Beginners?
n
n
n

n
n

NO
Wrisberg & Mead (1983)
Coincident or anticipation
timing task
6-8 years olds
2 Constant or blocked groups
n Slow light speed
n Fast light speed
2 Varied or Random groups
n One group had 4 speeds
presented in random order
n One group had 6 reps of
one speed; 6 reps of other
speed

Results - Best performance

by the group that had 6 reps
of one speed, then 6 reps of
second speed, etc.
Conclusion: children and most novies require blocked training before variable or random training

76

Is Random Variable Practice

Effective For Stroke Patients?

77

Random/Variable Practice for Stroke

Patients?
n

YES

Hanlon (1996)
24 stroke patients with
hemiparesis (paralysis of
one limb from stroke)

Damage to left parietal areas

causes paralysis of right
arm, and vice versa
Task: open cabinet door,
grasp a coffee cup handle
and place cup on the
counter and release
Success Goal = 3 successful

All patients - attempted task 10x

per day until successful
Random group - 1/3 of group
practiced pointing, touching &
grasping tasks
Control group - practiced neither
RESULTS: No difference in
groups during training, but the
random group better in
retention / completed more than 10 trials
Yes random variable practice is good for stroke patients
Helps heal the brain

78
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Applications
Is Variable and Random Practice
Good for Alzheimers Patients?

79

What is Alzheimers disease?

n
n

NO
Plaque builds up in the brain
and destroys synaptic
connections. Cause unknown.
Severe memory loss
Build up of a protein (beta
amyloid) destroys brain tissue
Early onset can occur, but
more prevalent in over 70 age;

80

Random/Variable Practice: Is It
Recommended for Alzheimer Patients?
n

Dick et al (1998) - provided blocked or random practice

for patients
No beneficial effects found for random practice;
blocked practice best.
Why? Cognitive impairment prevented the beneficial
effects of random practice
Random practice facilitates the development of new
neural connections and networks.
Conclusion: Variable and random practice do not work as well in populations with permanent or regressive neural impairment, compared to normal population

81
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Practice Scheduling
Is it better to schedule short practices over
a longer period of time (ex. 1 hr per day for
12 weeks)
OR
n long practices over a shorter period of time
(ex. 2 hrs per day for 6 weeks)
n How is learning, retention & transfer
affected?
n Which do learners prefer?
n

82

Baddeley & Longman, 1978

Design of Study
Participants: Postal workers in UK
operating sorting machines
Task: Typing - goal: 80 wpm/with no errors
n What training schedule is best for
reaching 80 wpm?
n 60 hrs of practice scheduled initially
n Plus additional hours added if 80 wpm
not reached in 60 hrs

83

4 Groups
n

All groups received 60 hours of initial training, followed by extra

hours until each group averaged 80 wpm
n

Group 1 - 1 hr per day x 5 days/wk x 12 wks = 60 hrs (most

weeks/less time per day)

Group 2 - 1 hr x 2/day x 5 days x 6 wks =

weeks/twice per day)

Group 3 - 2 hrs x 1/day x 5 days x 6 wks = 60 hrs (medium

weeks/once per day)

Group 4 - 2 hrs x 2/day x 5 days x 3 wks = 60 hrs (fewest

weeks/most time per day)

Hypotheses (Predictions)

60 hrs (medium

84
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Results Baddeley & Longman

90

Goal

Correct key
strokes
per minute

80

70

I per day for 1 hr x 12 wks

2 per day for 1 hr x 6 wks

60

1 per day for 2 hrs x 6

2 per day for 2 hrs x 3

50

40
40

50

60

70

80

retention
(months)

Hours of practice

Data analyzed when min 40 wpm (or more attained)

85

Results Baddeley & Longman

90

Goal

Retention test
procedures

80

70

Correct key
strokes
per minute

After training,
told not to use
a typewriter for
3 months

I per day for 1 hr x 12

2 per day for 1 hr x 6

60

7 did and were

eliminated

1 per day for 2 hrs x 6

2 per day for 2 hrs x 3

50

40
40

50

60

70

Hours of practice

80

retention

Retention rates
were deemed
quite good high of 70 wpm
and low of 50.

(months)

Data analyzed when 50 wpm (or more attained)

86

Baddeley & Longman

Conclusions
n

Fewest total training hours to reach 80 wpm?

n Group 1 - 12 wks x 1 hr per day x 5 days/wk = took
60 hrs
Most training hrs to reach 80 wpm?
n Group 4 - 3 wk, 2x2 = 80 hrs - blocked in fewest
weeks in training
Least satisfied typists?
n Group 1 - 12 weeks
Most satisfied typists?
n Group 4 - 3 weeks
Advice -

87
Sunday, November 16, 2014

Original Figure
Baddeley & Longman, 1978

From original paper: Progress plotted after 40 wpm

achieved; note faster earlier progress of 1 x 1 group

88

Sunday, November 16, 2014