Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 1976-6
Effects of Massed and Distributed Practice,Additional Monetary and Placebo Incentives,and Changes in Characteristics of Control Element during Learning of Human Motor Control
15 male Ss were tested in a pursuit tracking test with forcing functions of fixed and adaptively changing levels of difficulty. The influence of various factors during learning has been evaluated by a continuous scoring method (integrated absolute error). There was significantly better performance under distributed than massed practice, significantly positive influences of an additional monetary incentive, and deleterious effects of a change in the regime of practice. Over-all results give some hints for the limits of validity of time-invariant models of human control behavior.
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