INVESTIGATION OF THE CONTEXTUAL INTERFERENCE EFFECT IN THE MANIPULATION OF THE MOTOR PARAMETER OF OVER-ALL FORCE

This investigation examined the contextual interference effect when ma nipulating over-all force in a golf-putting task. Undergraduate women (N=30) were randomly assigned to a Random, Blocked-Random, or Blocked practice condition and practiced golf putting from distances of 2.43 m , 3.95 m, and 5.47 m during acquisition. Subjects in the Random condit ion practiced trials in a quasirandom sequence and those in the Blocke d-Random condition practiced trials initially in a blocked sequence wi th the remainder of the trials practiced in a quasirandom sequence. In the Blocked condition subjects practiced trials in a blocked sequence . A 24-hr, transfer test consisted of 30 trials with 10 trials each fr om 1.67 m, 3.19 m, and 6.23 m. Transfer scores supported the Magill an d Hall (1990) hypothesis that, when task variations involve learning p arameters of a generalized motor program, the benefit of random practi ce over blocked practice would not be found.