Effects of variability of practice in music: a pilot study on fast goal-directed movements in pianists

Bangert, Marc; Wiedemann, Anna; Jabusch, Hans‐Christian

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00598

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The Small Tempo Set and Non-random ordering led to smaller motor variability at test, suggesting that the musical motor skill showed greater generalization following learning conditions with smaller temporal variation and non-random ordering. This finding, that may appear in contrast with previous research showing that variable practice improves transfer of learning of a motor task [ 2 , 4 , 12 ], can be interpreted by the fact that variability of practice and contextual interference have led to poorer performance at immediate test (on familiar and transfer tasks) whereas better performance has been observed at retention, usually assessed few hours (even few days) after training [ 4 , 5 , 8 ]. Interestingly, sequence timing variability at test was unaffected by the order of tempi or the number of different tempi practiced.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 87%

“…In a seminal work, Schmidt [ 2 ] argued that variability in practice improves the strength of a schema. This theory has been tested in implicit learning contexts [ 6 ], applied to sports, like underhand volleyball serve [ 7 ], and musical instrument technique, such as wide left-hand interval leaps [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Motor variability during musical practice has been examined in a few studies with mixed findings. Motor variability was examined as college music students (with a minor in piano) learned a large left-hand interval on a piano keyboard [ 8 ] under three conditions: a fixed practice where only one interval was learned (the target interval); a variable practice where 4 intervals were learned, including a target interval; and “spaced” practice where only one interval was learned (the target interval) for the same number of trials as in the variable practice group, spaced among the same duration as for the fixed and variable groups. Performance was tested on the target interval after training and re-tested 24h after practice (retention).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At retention though, only the variable practice showed a significant difference between the target interval and transfer to the novel interval, with more errors for the transfer interval. These results thus suggest that over-practicing leads to poorer transfer right after training, but variability of practice leads to poorer transfer at retention [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissociable effects of practice variability on learning motor and timing skills

et al. 2018

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Motor skill acquisition inherently depends on the way one practices the motor task. The amount of motor task variability during practice has been shown to foster transfer of the learned skill to other similar motor tasks. In addition, variability in a learning schedule, in which a task and its variations are interweaved during practice, has been shown to help the transfer of learning in motor skill acquisition. However, there is little evidence on how motor task variations and variability schedules during practice act on the acquisition of complex motor skills such as music performance, in which a performer learns both the right movements (motor skill) and the right time to perform them (timing skill). This study investigated the impact of rate (tempo) variability and the schedule of tempo change during practice on timing and motor skill acquisition. Complete novices, with no musical training, practiced a simple musical sequence on a piano keyboard at different rates. Each novice was assigned to one of four learning conditions designed to manipulate the amount of tempo variability across trials (large or small tempo set) and the schedule of tempo change (randomized or non-randomized order) during practice. At test, the novices performed the same musical sequence at a familiar tempo and at novel tempi (testing tempo transfer), as well as two novel (but related) sequences at a familiar tempo (testing spatial transfer). We found that practice conditions had little effect on learning and transfer performance of timing skill. Interestingly, practice conditions influenced motor skill learning (reduction of movement variability): lower temporal variability during practice facilitated transfer to new tempi and new sequences; non-randomized learning schedule improved transfer to new tempi and new sequences. Tempo (rate) and the sequence difficulty (spatial manipulation) affected performance variability in both timing and movement. These findings suggest that there is a dissociable effect of practice variability on learning complex skills that involve both motor and timing constraints.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 87%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissociable effects of practice variability on learning motor and timing skills

et al. 2018

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“…Though the benefits of interleaving on retention are wellstudied, there is currently less evidence that interleaving can also lead to improved transfer to similar actions (Bangert et al, 2014;Brady, 2004;Meira & Tani, 2001;Russell & Newell, 2007;Schmidt & Lee, 2005). Transfer in the skill learning domain has been extensively studied, including transfer of learning from one effector to another (Kelso & Zanone, 2002), such as right hand to left hand, or scaling, such as performing a skilled action at a different rate or using greater force (Newell, 1996).…”

Section: Implicit Motor Sequence Transfermentioning

confidence: 99%

Interleaved practice benefits implicit sequence learning and transfer

Schorn

Knowlton

2021

Mem Cogn

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Compared to blocked practice, interleaved practice of different tasks leads to superior long-term retention despite poorer initial acquisition performance. This phenomenon, the contextual interference effect, is well documented in various domains but it is not yet clear if it persists in the absence of explicit knowledge in terms of fine motor sequence learning. Additionally, while there is some evidence that interleaved practice leads to improved transfer of learning to similar actions, transfer of implicit motor sequence learning has not been explored. The present studies used a serial reaction time task where participants practiced three different eight-item sequences that were either interleaved or blocked on Day 1 (training) and Day 2 (testing). In Experiment 1, the retention of the three training sequences was tested on Day 2 and in Experiment 2, three novel sequences were performed on Day 2 to measure transfer. We assessed whether subjects were aware of the sequences to determine whether the benefit of interleaved practice extends to implicitly learned sequences. Even for participants who reported no awareness of the sequences, interleaving led to a benefit for both retention and transfer compared to participants who practiced blocked sequences. Those who trained with blocked sequences were left unprepared for interleaved sequences at test, while those who trained with interleaved sequences were unaffected by testing condition, revealing that learning resulting from blocked practice may be less flexible and more vulnerable to testing conditions. These results indicate that the benefit of interleaved practice extends to implicit motor sequence learning and transfer.

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Fixed versus variable practice for teaching medical students the management of pediatric asthma exacerbations using simulation

et al. 2017

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Varying practice with different scenarios was equivalent to repetitive practice on the same scenario for novice learners, with both methods leading to transfer and long-term retention of the skills acquired during the training. What is known: • Simulation-based trainings represent an interesting approach to teach medical students the management of pediatric asthma exacerbations. • It is unclear whether students would benefit more from repetitive practice on the same scenario of asthma exacerbation or from practice on different scenarios in terms of transfer of skills. What is new: • An individual 30-min training on the management of pediatric asthma exacerbations using simulation allows transfer and long-term retention of the skills acquired. • Varying practice with different scenarios is equivalent to repetitive practice on the same scenario in terms of transfer of skills.

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Effects of variability of practice in music: a pilot study on fast goal-directed movements in pianists

Cited by 13 publications

References 66 publications

Dissociable effects of practice variability on learning motor and timing skills

Dissociable effects of practice variability on learning motor and timing skills

Interleaved practice benefits implicit sequence learning and transfer

Fixed versus variable practice for teaching medical students the management of pediatric asthma exacerbations using simulation

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