Albert V. Carron

The Effect of Fatigue on Learning and Performance of a Gross Motor Task

40 college males were sequentially assigned to 1 of 2 groups to examine the effects of induced physical fatigue upon the performance and learning of a gross motor task, the stabilometer. All Ss were given 32 practice trials over 3 practice sessions, with 48 hr. rest interpolated between sessions. Trials 1 and 2 were performed under control conditions (no fatigue) for both groups. The Experimental Group was then required to perform under conditions of physical fatigue during Trials 3-26. Trials 27-32 (Session 3) were performed under control conditions. The condition of fatigue was achieved on Trials 3-26 by having Ss pedal a bicycle ergometer until a heart rate of 180 beats/min was attained prior to each trial. The Control Group cancelled vowels. The results indicated that physical fatigue was detrimental to the performance and learning of the Experimental Group.

Reactions to "anxiety and motor behavior".

Martens has presented and excellent and provocative paper in an extremely interesting area. He has certainly outlined most of the complexities of anxiety, discussed the limitations and strengths of various theoretical approaches to its study, and has presented alternatives to existing methods. My approach has been to try to summarize what I have held to be the major problem ares or limiting factors in the study of state anxiety (stress) and motor performance and then incorporate these problem areas into the context of Martens conclusions.

Performance and Learning in a Discrete Motor Task under Massed Vs. Distributed Practice

Abstract Three hundred male subjects, assigned in systematic rotation to five experimental groups (N = 60 in each) which differed in amount of distribution of practice, were tested on a discrete-trial motor learning task, the peg turn. All subjects were given 120 practice trials (60 trials a day), on two days separated by a 48-hour rest. Even though the peg turn task is inherently distributed, reminiscence did occur when the massing was made as large as practically possible. The amount of reminiscence depended upon the stage of practice. Warm-up decrement occurred in the peg turn under both massed and distributed practice conditions; the longer the rest, the greater the amount. Performance of the task under nonrhythmical conditions reduced the development of “set” during practice and thus decreased the amount of warm-up decrement after rest. Increased amounts of massing did have a deleterious effect on performance, but did not reduce the amount learned.

Physical Fatigue and Motor Learning

Abstract In an attempt to investigate the effects of physical fatigue upon the learning of a motor skill, 75 college women were assigned in systematic rotation to either a control group or to one of two experimental groups (N = 25 in each group). All subjects were given a total of 50 trials on the pursuit rotor: 25 trials on Day 1, the practice session; and 25 trials on Day 2, the test session. One of the experimental groups was fatigued early in the practice session while the other was fatigued late in the practice session. Fatigue interpolated early and late was detrimental to subsequent performance improvements but had no effect upon the amount learned.

Evidence for Reliable Individual Differences in Intra-Individual Variability.

In reliability theory, the deviations in an individuals performance from his own mean score are referred to as error and the assumption is made that error scores in a series of repeated tests will be uncorrected. To test this assumption, 24 college males were given 175 RT trials a day for 5 days (the first day served as a warm-up session and was not used in the analyses). Within each test day, a short rest period was given following every block of 35 trials. When data were examined on a day-to-day basis, i.e., the total 175 trials per day were used, the reliability coefficients were high (.811 to .866); on a block-to-block within-days basis, i.e., the total 175 trials per day were subdivided into 5 blocks of 35 trials, the coefficients were lower but statistically significant (the average block-to-block correlations for test Days 1, 2, 3 and 4 were .639, .704, .734 and .646 respectively). Re-evaluation of reliability theory and its assumption that an individuals deviations from his own mean ability represent error is needed. Present data suggest these deviations from mean ability in a motor skill actually reflect a biological variability and, as such, should be referred to as intra-individual variability.

INTRA-TASK RELIABILITY AND SPECIFICITY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSISTENCY

The present report is based on reanalysis of data of Marisi (1969) in order to examine the relationship of consistency of motor response among the component responses of a single motor task. 120 high school Ss were tested on a special task, the rho. A single trial on this motor task can be logically separated into three component motor responses: reaction time, a short circular movement, and a short linear movement. The results indicated that consistency of motor response was moderately reliable within the response components but tended to be response-component specific. Further, both the reliability and specificity of motor-response consistency were independent of the size of the mean performance scores.

Anxiety, stress and motor learning.

The interactive effects of stress and anxiety upon motor learning were examined. 120 Ss (60 high-anxious and 60 low-anxious) were divided into three groups: Control, Stress Early and Stress Late. All groups were given 35 20-sec. trials a day for a period of 2 days on the stabilometer. An electric shock was administered to the two experimental groups early or late in learning. The shock stressor had no effect upon the amount learned in any experimental groups. The results were discussed in relation to drive theory.

Motor Performance and Response Consistency as a Function of Age

The specificity versus generality of motor performance and motor response consistency ws investigated as a function of age. 120 Ss, 30 each at age 7, 11, 15 and 19 yr., were given 120 practice trials (60 trials per session with 24 hr. interpolated between sessions) on both simple and choice RT tasks. For motor performance the reliability of individual differences were high in both tasks at all ages, while the amount of generality was moderately high in the two younger groups but diminished with age. The reliability coefficients for motor response consistency were low for both tasks but, with two exceptions, statistically significant. There was no evidences for generality in motor response consistency at any age.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN TWO MOTOR LEARNING TASKS UNDER MASSED PRACTICE

50 boys, age 14 to 15 yr., were tested on a tracking task (pursuit rotor) and a large-muscle motor-learning task (stabilometer) to examine the effect of relatively massed practice upon individual differences and intra-individual variation. The practice schedule, which was identical for both tasks, called for 20 50-sec. practice trials with a 10-sec. intertrial rest period. A 5-min. rest was also interpolated every fourth trial. The greatest change in individual differences and intra-individual variation in both tasks occurred during the first 4 practice trials and in the 5-min. interpolated rest which immediately followed. Additional practice and interpolated rest over the remaining 15 practice trials had little additional effect upon either of the sources of variation. The changes in the sources of variation did not, with the exception of intra-individual variability in the stabilometer, appear to be proportional to changes in the mean.

MOTOR RESPONSE CONSISTENCY

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the specificity versus generality of motor response consistency. 30 right-handed college males were given 200 RT trials a day for 8 days: 4 days on a simple RT task (100 trials per day with the left hand and 100 trials per day with the right hand) and 4 days on a choice RT task (again 100 trials per day with each hand). Thus, 4 RT measures were obtained for each S over 4 test days: simple RT left hand, simple RT right hand, choice RT left hand and choice RT right hand. The reliability of motor response consistency was high for all RT measures, the average rs being .797, .830, .780, and .793 for Days 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. There was evidence for a moderate general factor between two pairs of measures (the average correlation for left correlated with right hand in simple RT and left correlated with right hand in choice RT was .620 raw and .800 when corrected for attenuation). However, in general, the correlations reflected high task specificity even when corrected for attenuation (average correlation for the remaining pairs of measures was .325 uncorrected, .434 corrected).