The Effect of Task Constraint on Learning of Movement Pattern and Parameter during Observational Learning

The purpose of this study was to address the effect of task constraint on learning of movement pattern and parameter during observational learning. For this purpose 16 participants, all right-handed, were randomly divided into ball and no-ball groups. Both groups observed a point-light display of full body demonstration while one group had to throw a ball like the model (with task constraint) and the other had no information about the external goal of the task (without task constraint). Both groups performed 20 trials as acquisition, and one day later they completed 5 trials as retention. Movement kinematics were recorded to be compared with the model. Variability of intra-limb coordination and the peak wrist velocity difference in reference to the model were calculated. The results showed that in movement coordination the no-ball group performed more comparable to the model than ball group, but, in peak wrist velocity, the ball group was more comparable to the model. These results were observed both in acquisition and retention. A possible reason for these results could be the ball group’s ignoring of the movement pattern in order to achieve the external movement goal.