Effects of different movement amplitudes on sequence learning in the motor domain
Wed—Casino_1.811—Poster3—9107
Presented by: Zixin Shen
Sequence learning in the perceptual domain has been demonstrated to be affected by stimulus intensity. In the present study, we investigated whether this is also true in the motor domain. To this end, we tested the effect of different amplitudes on motor sequence learning. Response time (RT) was measured in a sequential button-pressing task. Perceptual learning was prevented by random color assignments to the buttons in each trial. Sequence blocks used a list with two randomized and four sequential elements; random blocks used a fully randomized list. Participants (n=44, mean age=24.63, 13 male) were randomly assigned to the large or small amplitude groups. A mixed 2 (block: sequence vs random) * 2 (group: large vs small) ANOVA on the RT showed a main effect of block, F(1,42)=6.736, p=.013, ηp2=0.138, but no block*group interaction, F(1,42)=0.373, p=.545, ηp2=0.009, indicating that both groups learned the sequence. A mixed 2 (element subtype: sequential vs randomized) * 2 (group) ANOVA on the RT within the sequence block showed a main effect of subtype, F(1,42)=5.610, p=.023, ηp2=0.118, and a subtype*group interaction, F(1,42)=6.683, p=.013, ηp2 =0.137. For the large amplitude group, RT for the sequential elements was significantly shorter than for the randomized elements, whereas there was no difference for the small amplitude group. Our findings show that the motor sequence was learned similarly for both large and small movement amplitudes, but that learning of the sequential elements specifically was found only for large amplitudes.
Keywords: sequence learning, motor learning, movement amplitudes