Je. Goodwin et al., EFFECT OF DIFFERENT QUANTITIES OF VARIABLE PRACTICE ON ACQUISITION, RETENTION, AND TRANSFER OF AN APPLIED MOTOR SKILL, Perceptual and motor skills, 87(1), 1998, pp. 147-151
This investigation examined the effect of manipulating different quant
ities of variable practice in the acquisition phase on the retention a
nd transfer performance of a dart throw. Participants in the Specific
condition practiced a total of 75 acquisition trials from a distance o
f 2.39 m. Participants in the Specific+Variable condition practiced a
total of 75 acquisition trials with 25 trials from distances of 1.47 m
, 2.39 m, and 3.30 m. Participants in the Specific+Varplus condition p
racticed a total of 75 acquisition trials with 15 trials from distance
s of 1.47 m, 1.93 m, 2.39 m, 2.84 m, and 3.30 m. Results of the one-wa
y analysis of variance on the 24-hr, retention test from 2.39 m yielde
d no significant differences among practice conditions for mean radial
error. A one-way analysis of variance on the 24-hr. transfer test fro
m 3.76 m indicated that the Specific+Variable and Specific+Varplus con
ditions performed with significantly smaller mean radial error than th
e Specific condition. The results are discussed in regard to recent re
search and applicability to instructional settings.