The facilitating effects of learner's self-‎control in selecting the levels of contextual ‎interference on learning of multiple motor ‎skills

To create more efficient learning environments, the learner’s role and his/her influence on the learning process should be considered. The aim of this study was to determine the way self-controlled practice affected performance and learning of motor patterns. 60 female undergraduate students (mean age = 20.73 yr., SD = 2.98) were randomly assigned to four groups that ordered self-controlled practice or three yoked-to-self-controlled. In the acquisition phase, the self-controlled group was told they could choose whichever of three motor patterns they wanted before they practiced each trial. Each self-controlled participant’s practice schedule was served as the predetermined practice schedule for each corresponding participant in the yoked control groups. The yoked control participants practiced the tasks with high, low, or no (classic yoked-control) variability. The results showed that the self-controlled group performed the tasks faster than the other yoked control groups in both the acquisition phase and the retention tests. The findings suggest that if the learners are allowed to choose the sequence of practice in multiple motor skills, this would have facilitating effects on their performance and motor learning.