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“Two sides of the same coin”: constant motor learning speeds up, whereas variable motor learning stabilizes, speed–accuracy movements

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to determine the time course of the trade-off between speed and accuracy, intraindividual variability, and movement transfer and retention (4 weeks after learning) of speed–accuracy tasks.

Methods

The participants in this study were healthy adults randomly divided into three groups (control versus constant versus variable). They were aged 19–24 years, and 30 (15 men and 15 women) were in each group. Participants had to perform various tasks with the right dominant hand: (a) simple reaction test; (b) maximal velocity measurement; and (c) a speed–accuracy task.

Results

During constant and variable learning, the trade-off in a speed–accuracy task in specific situations shifted toward improved motor planning and motor execution speed, and to reduced intraindividual variability. However, during variable learning, the maximal velocity and variability of motor planning time did not change. Constant learning effectively transferred into variable tasks in terms of reaction time, average velocity and maximal velocity, and these effects were greater than those associated with variable learning. However, the effects of constant learning did not transfer fully into the performance variability of variable movements. Variable learning effectively transferred into constant tasks for the coefficient of variation of the path of movement, average velocity, maximal velocity and reaction time. The retention effect depended neither on learning nor task specificity (constant versus variable tasks).

Conclusion

Constant learning speeds up but does not stabilize speed–accuracy movements in variable tasks; whereas, variable learning stabilizes but does not speed up speed–accuracy movements in constant tasks.

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Abbreviations

CV:

Coefficient of variation

DPA-1:

Dynamic parameter analyzer of human movements

MVT:

Maximal velocity task

SATconst :

Constant speed–accuracy task

SATs:

Speed–accuracy tasks

SATvar :

Variable speed–accuracy task

SD:

Standard deviation

SRT:

Simple reaction task

References

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to participants for the time they have given to this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

AS, MB and GM: conceived and designed the study; DM, DV, DM and AS: collected and analysed the data; AS, MB and GM: analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and provided critical feedback on the manuscript before approving.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dovile Valanciene or Marius Brazaitis.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the local Ethics Committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Additional information

Communicated by Toshio Moritani.

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Skurvydas, A., Satas, A., Valanciene, D. et al. “Two sides of the same coin”: constant motor learning speeds up, whereas variable motor learning stabilizes, speed–accuracy movements. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 1027–1039 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04342-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04342-4

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