Retention and relearning of five novel gross motor skills after a long period of no practice were studied. College women were classified into high, average, and low skill groups in a previous experiment, and this classification of 36 of the original subjects was retained in the present retesting study. A high degree of skill was retained after approximately one year of no practice. Relearning to previously attained skill levels was rapid. There were significant differences among classified high, average, and low skill groups in learning, retention, and relearning.IMPLICIT IN THE TEACHING of gross motor skills is the assumption of at least partial retention. Few experimental studies have been concerned, however, with retention of gross motor skills; physical educators have acted largely on the assumption that the results of studies in which verbal materials and fine motor skills have been utilized can be applied to gross motor periormance. Since these types of learning may differ considerably, the present investigation was designed to measure certain aspects of gross motor performance. Specifically, answers were sought for the following questions: (a) To what extent are gross motor skills retained after a long period of no practice? ( b ) How many practice periods are necessary to regain proficiency after a long period of no practice? (c) If differences in learning exist among subjects classified as high, average, or low skilled on the basis of previously learned motor skills, are these differences evident in retention and relearning of the same skills? ( d ) Is initial performance in new motor skills an index of future performance?
Review of the LiteratureEbbinghaus, in his classic study on retention and memory published in 188S, employed nonsense syllables in order to eliminate pie-rstablishcd associations (22). This device (and its parallel, novel motor skills) is still widely used in experimental studies on learning and retention. Findings of subsequent studies indicate that meaningful verbal materials are better retained than nonsense materials (22), and that there is a high degree of retention of academic suhject matter, rmging from 60 to 80 percent after long periods of time (8, 14, 15, 18). One study showed that fast learners retain verbal materials better than do slow lcarners ( l l ) , and another concluded that intent to retain does not affect retention of verbal materials (1).Rcsults of siudies on retention of fine motor skills do not present a clear-cut picture.Pelrentages of retentinn range from 15 to 80 percent
45 university Ss practiced balancing on a stabilometer to a performance criterion (Day 1) and then were designated as fast, medium, and slow learners based on the number of trials needed to attain it. Each S received an additional number of trials the following day (Day 2) equal to the number needed to reach the criterion (100% overlearning). Absolute and relative retention scores were calculated following a retention interval of 1 wk. No significant difference was found between the fast and slow learners on absolute recall, although the results favored the fast learners. The fast learners showed significant reminiscence between Day 1 and Day 2 and following the 1-wk. retention interval. It was concluded that the "equal amount learned" method did not discriminate against the fast learner and that speed of learning may be an important factor in determining whether or not reminiscence occurs following the attainment of a performance criterion.
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