THE EFFECT OF DISTRIBUTION OF PRACTICE TIME ON LEARNING AND MAINTENANCE ON A CONINUOUS MOTOR SKILL

CHRONIC DISEASE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

THE EFFECT OF DISTRIBUTION OF PRACTICE TIME ON LEARNING AND MAINTENANCE ON A CONINUOUS MOTOR SKILL

Tsourlinis Grigorios, Porfiriadou Anthi, Iakovidis Paris
T.E.I. Thessaloniki, Department of Physiotherapy, Greece

The studies about the kind of training and its effects on performance and motor learning have a long history. The results were often opposable regarding the effectiveness of the different kinds of training. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of the massed and the distributed practice on learning and on the maintenance of learning of a motor skill. The skill which was investigated was balance on a stability platform.  The measurement was applied on three groups, each consisted of 3 healthy subjects (total n=9). Group A practiced in massed practice (100% practice without break), group B practiced in massed practice consisted of 60% practice time and 40% break time and group C practiced in distributed practice consisted of 40% practice time and 60% break time. According to the results there were no significant differences between the 3 groups regarding learning and maintenance of learning (p=0.812) whereas the group which was practiced in distributed practice presented an advantage comparatively to the other two groups. There was significant difference between initial and final measurement (p=0.024) in all groups and between initial and maintenance measurement (p=0.007) in all groups also. The results of this study confirm the general findings from previous studies that either massed or distributed practice have a positive contribution on motor learning, especially when it concerns continuous skills with low energy demands such as balance training.
KEY WORDS: performance, motor learning, massed practice, distributed practice, continuous skill, balance.