Structural organization of practice: Effects of practicing under differentinformational constraints on the acquisition of one-handed catching skill

The question addressed in this study was the effects of the manipulation of the informational constraints of practice conditions on the acquisition of one-handed catching skill. Three groups of poor catchers (8 participants p er group) practiced in either a normal-light, ball-only, or interspersed ba ll-only and normal-light condition (N = 450 trials). All groups exhibited a significant improvement in the number of catches and catching score and a reduction in the number of misses by the end of practice. The structural or ganization of the practice conditions had a significant effect on catching performance. Practicing in the interspersed condition had a positive residu al effect on subjects' performance in normal light. Similarly, there was a positive residual effect of practicing in the ball-only and the intersperse d conditions on subjects' normal-light, posttest performance. The findings are interpreted as support for the argument that practicing under varying i nformational constraints can benefit skill acquisition by directing the sub jects' search toward relevant sources of information.