Random termination of practice periods does not reduce micro-offline gains, ruling out preemptive motor slowing¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? With unpredictably terminated practice periods (5–10 s jittered), total early learning and microscale learning did not differ significantly from the 10 s practice group and microscale learning was statistically equivalent. → Marlene Bönstrup 2020

Evidence¶

Marlene Bönstrup 2020¶

Marlene Bönstrup, Iñaki Iturrate, Martin N. Hebart, Nitzan Censor and Leonardo G. Cohen. (2020). Mechanisms of offline motor learning at a microscale of seconds in large-scale crowdsourced data. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-0066-9

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Experiment 4: 71 participants trained 41 trials with randomized 5–10 s practice periods and 10 s rest, preventing preemptive slowing toward a predictable practice end. Micro-offline gains remained substantial (1.52 ± 0.27 keypresses/s, P < 0.001) and micro-online changes were nil.

"No signi ficant differ-ences in total early learning or microscale learning were evident (P > 0.05) and microscale learning between groups was statistically equivalent (TOST for equivalence)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Halving practice-period duration from 10 s to 5 s leaves micro-offline gains unchanged, arguing against recovery from motor fatigue — related
• Performance improvements during early motor skill learning occur predominantly during short rest periods (micro-offline gains), replicated in a large crowdsourced sample and in a laboratory study — related
• Micro-offline gains are inconsistent with a dominant contribution of latent motor slowing, supporting consolidation as their driver — a broader claim this one bears on