Figure - available via license: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
Background: Differential learning (DL) is a motor learning method characterized by high amounts of variability during practice and is claimed to provide the learner with a higher learning rate than other methods. However, some controversy surrounds DL theory, and to date, no overview exists that compares the effects of DL to other motor learning me...
Similar publications
Background
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is the virus that causes a massive pandemic of the decade and has brought more than 215 million infections and nearly 4.5 million deaths worldwide as of August 2021. In addition, survivors of COVID-19 patients suffer from acute, chronic, and persistent lung problems and pulmonary fibrosis,...
Citations
... As the field of human movement science has advanced, it has shown promise for enhancing and improving motor skills [1], [2]. Motor learning is defined as the natural acquisition and refinement of motor skills [3]. To artificially affect motor learning, feedback signals, including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic force cues, have been developed to facilitate skill acquisition and enhance movement precision and efficiency [4]. ...
The integration of technology into exercise regimens has emerged as a strategy to enhance normal human capabilities and return human motor function after injury or illness by enhancing motor learning and retention. Much research has focused on how active devices, whether confined to a lab or made into a wearable format, can apply forces at set times and conditions to optimize the process of learning. However, the focus on active force production often forces devices to either be confined to simple movements or interventions. As such, in this paper, we investigate how passive device behaviors can contribute to the process of motor learning by themselves. Our approach involves using a wearable resistance (WR) device, which is outfitted with elastic bands, to apply a force field that changes in response to a person's movements while performing exercises. We develop a method to measure the produced forces from the device without impeding the function and we characterize the device's force generation abilities. We then present a study assessing the impact of the WR device on motor learning of proper squat form compared to visual or no feedback. Biometrics such as knee and hip angles were used to monitor and assess subject performance. Our findings indicate that the force fields produced while training with the WR device can improve performance in full-body exercises similarly to a more direct visual feedback mechanism, though the improvement is not consistent across all performance metrics. Through our research, we contribute important insights into the application of passive wearable resistance technology in practical exercise settings.
... Organization of practice concerns how they arrange exercises and materials during treatment sessions. For instance, they use random or blocked practice to increase or decrease variation between tasks [4], or variable or constant practice to increase or decrease variation within tasks [5]. PPTs can manipulate task and environment to enhance motor learning as well, for instance, by decreasing distance to the target to improve throwing beanbags into a basket [6]. ...
... The analyses followed six steps: (1) listening to the audio-tape, and reading the complete transcript, to obtain a sense of the whole; (2) line-byline reading of the transcript, while making notes about first impressions and thoughts; (3) highlighting relevant text fragments; (4) coding these fragments using an inductive coding strategy (i.e. coding without predefined codes); (5) sorting open codes into categories; and (6) identifying themes by organizing and grouping categories into meaningful clusters [30,32]. ...
... Studies in children with DCD showed no differences in the effectiveness of variable versus constant practice on immediate transfer tests after Wii Fit training [19,20]. However, a systematic review including a meta-analysis concluded that effectiveness of variable practice in predominantly healthy young adults seemed promising, but that the included studies were at a high risk of bias, had small sample sizes and were difficult to compare due to large amounts of heterogeneity [5]. The authors also mentioned that variable practice can increase enjoyment, and that it suits real-world contexts better [5]. ...
Background
When teaching motor skills, paediatric physical therapists (PPTs) use various motor learning strategies (MLSs), adapting these to suit the individual child and the task being practised. Knowledge about the clinical decision-making process of PPTs in choosing and adapting MLSs when treating children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is currently lacking. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to explore PPTs’ use of MLSs when teaching motor skills to children with DCD.
Methods
Semi-structured individual and group interviews were conducted with PPTs with a wide range of experience in treating children with DCD. A conventional content analysis approach was used where all transcripts were open-coded by two reviewers independently. Categories and themes were discussed within the research group. Data were collected until saturation was reached.
Results
Twenty-six PPTs (median age: 49 years; range: 26–66) participated in 12 individual interviews and two focus-group interviews. Six themes were identified: (1) PPTs treated children in a tailor-made way; (2) PPTs ’ teaching style was either more indirect or direct; (3) PPTs used various strategies to improve children’s motivation ; (4) PPTs had reached the optimal level of practice when children were challenged; (5) PPTs gave special attention to automatization and transfer during treatment; and (6) PPTs considered task complexity when choosing MLSs, which appeared determined by task constraints, environmental demands, child and therapist characteristics.
Conclusion
PPTs’ clinical decision-making processes in choosing MLSs appeared strongly influenced by therapist characteristics like knowledge and experience, resulting in large variation in the use of MLSs and teaching styles to enhance motivation, automatization, and transfer. This study indicates the importance of the level of education on using MLSs to teach children motor skills, and clinical decision-making. Future research should focus on implementing this knowledge into daily practice.
... DL is a motor learning method that is characterized by a high amount of variability during practice and is claimed to provide the learner with a higher learning rate than other methods (Tassignon et al., 2021). In DL training, he emphasizes the importance of variability during learning and argues that a movement pattern can be characterized by adding randomly variable elements. ...
In this research, it was aimed to determine the effect of the differentiated training strategy on the development of football skills by using flexible grouping in order to develop and make permanent football skills. The research consisted of 147 second grade students of Saif Al-Dawla Junior High School, Al-Karkh, Baghdad Third Education Department. Groups are control group (KG; n:8; Age 22.7±.1.5yeer, height 171±6.8 cm, body weight 65.4±3.3 kg; BMI 22.4±2.7and experimental group (DG; n:12; Age 21.9±.2.1 year, height 170.6±5.4cm, body weight 64.2±5.5 kg; BMI It is divided into two equal groups: 22.7±2.9. Put down, Passing and Rolling tests were applied to the research group at the beginning and end of the study. Tested for differences between groups with unpaired t-tests. Results were considered significant when p<0.05. The research hypothesis assumes that there is a statistically significant difference at the significance level (p<0.01) between the Pre-test and post-test mean score results of the experimental and control groups in favor of the posttest group in terms of football skill development. test. The post-test mean results for the two study groups were statistically significantly different at the significance level (p<0.01) and favored the experimental group. The post-test and post-test (post-test) results for the maintenance range experimental group were statistically significantly different at the significance level (p<0.01). There was a statistically significant difference between the results of the soccer skill posttest and the maintenance test. In conludes; emphasizes that differentiated learning is a promising approach to nurture adaptive behavior and develop basic skills in football players.
... The post-training increase in alpha-band activity may suggest the foundation for early and robust consolidation of motor learning features from a pre-learning state (Henz and Schöllhorn, 2016). This phenomenon is readily shown with differential learning, characterized by practice variability to facilitate faster learning rates (Tassignon et al., 2021). The grasp-and-place task for this study was repetitive as it did ...
Introduction: Physical therapy is crucial to rehabilitating hand function needed for activities of daily living after neurological traumas such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). Virtual reality (VR) can motivate participation in motor rehabilitation therapies. This study examines how multimodal feedback in VR to train grasp-and-place function will impact the neurological and motor responses in TBI participants ( n = 7) compared to neurotypicals ( n = 13).
Methods: We newly incorporated VR with our existing intelligent glove system to seamlessly enhance the augmented visual and audio feedback to inform participants about grasp security. We then assessed how multimodal feedback (audio plus visual cues) impacted electroencephalography (EEG) power, grasp-and-place task performance (motion pathlength, completion time), and electromyography (EMG) measures.
Results: After training with multimodal feedback, electroencephalography (EEG) alpha power significantly increased for TBI and neurotypical groups. However, only the TBI group demonstrated significantly improved performance or significant shifts in EMG activity.
Discussion: These results suggest that the effectiveness of motor training with augmented sensory feedback will depend on the nature of the feedback and the presence of neurological dysfunction. Specifically, adding sensory cues may better consolidate early motor learning when neurological dysfunction is present. Computerized interfaces such as virtual reality offer a powerful platform to personalize rehabilitative training and improve functional outcomes based on neuropathology.
... Practice scheduling has progressed from a repetitive drill-based blocked practice focused on controlled skill execution to increased levels of variability and randomised practice designs that utilise small-sided and modified games more regularly. [4][5][6] A more recent approach to practice design simulates the interaction of constraints that players and teams encounter during competition. 1,7,8 Manipulation of constraints within the learning environment presents different affordances to athletes to execute sports-specific actions. ...
The purpose of this research was to determine if the training design of an elite Australian Rules football team replicated match conditions for inside-50 entries. Notational analyses of one professional Australian Rules football club's training and match footage were conducted for every disposal that entered the inside-50 during either game-based training or matches. Analysed variables included how the ball was received, time in possession and location. Statistical analyses were undertaken using Mann–Whitney tests, a multivariate analysis of variance and a decision tree analysis. Significant differences were identified between game-based training and competition matches for 34 of the 54 inside-50 entry variables. Of these 34 variables, 10 showed a strong effect between session types. When examining the efficiency of inside-50 entries, only effective disposals produced a significant difference between training and matches, with no differences for neutral and ineffective disposals. The session type, how the ball was received, decision (e.g., kick vs. handball) and pressure acts were the most important contributors to effective inside-50 entry disposal efficiency. The results suggest this professional Australian Rules team does not participate in training sessions that reflect inside-50 match conditions. This study may provide a framework for elite Australian Rules teams on which to structure their inside-50 training.
... Both ecological dynamics and differential learning (also conceptualized as self-organization approaches) have been used as theoretical frameworks in football skill-related interventions, which often (but not always) resorted to small-sided games (SSGs) as primary training tools (Bergmann et al., 2021;Clemente, Afonso, & Sarmento, 2021). However, the evidence of longterm adaptations to these interventions is still scarce (Bergmann et al., 2021;Bujalance-Moreno, Latorre-Román, & García-Pinillos, 2019;Clemente et al., , 2021Ometto et al., 2018;Tassignon et al., 2021). Apart from the aforementioned, game-based approaches (such as Teaching Games for Understanding, TGfU) have been used in football skills development (Bunker & Thorpe, 1982;Kinnerk, Harvey, MacDonncha, & Lyons, 2018), but these approaches do not necessarily have a consistent theoretical framework behind them (Renshaw et al., 2015). ...
The concept of skill is a key element in football and has been studied from many different perspectives. A global view on skill-related football interventions help comprehend and identify gaps in current knowledge. The aim of this scoping review was threefold: (a) to scope the theoretical bases, concepts and skills that have been used in skill-related interventions in football, (b) to summarize the skill-related interventions, (c) to identify research gaps. A scoping literature search was carried out following JBI and PRISMA-ScR guidelines in APA PsycINFO, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science. The main inclusion criterium was that studies had to examine football players aged U15 (non-beginners) to adult (high-performance/professional), encompassing both genders across youth and high-performance levels, and consider all types of interventional studies published in English peer-reviewed journals, focusing on acute and long-term adaptations. A total of 4086 peer-reviewed journal articles were identified, 83 of them were fully analyzed, and three key results were obtained: (a) the examined articles predominantly used two theoretical approaches for football skills (self-organization approaches and information processing, 42.2 and 19.3%, respectively), or did not have any theoretical grounding (38.6%), (b) a multitude of different key concepts (> 60) have been used, (c) most football skill-related research was conducted in Europe (81.0%) with samples heavily focused on male participants (90.1%). Findings highlight the need to clarify the conceptualization of football skill and broaden the scope on football skill throughout the world, especially to include ecological research designs with female participants.
... 27 Compared to the 20 lifts during this experiment, participants lifted 320 times throughout the prolonged lifting experiment allowing participants to explore and adapt to the exosuit assistance via implicit exposure. 41 These findings align with gait studies showing exosuit efficacy improves as an individual learns to exploit this human-robot interface with repeated utilization. 42,43 Additionally, we analyzed whether the exosuit would produce undesired biomechanical side-effects including antagonist co-activation and changes in joint kinematics. ...
Back exosuits deliver mechanical assistance to reduce the risk of back injury, however, minimising restriction is critical for adoption. We developed the adaptive impedance controller to minimise restriction while maintaining assistance by modulating impedance based on the user's movement direction and nonlinear sine curves. The objective of this study was to compare active assistance, delivered by a back exosuit via our adaptive impedance controller, to three levels of assistance from passive elastics. Fifteen participants completed five experimental blocks (4 exosuits and 1 no-suit) consisting of a maximum flexion and a constrained lifting task. While a higher stiffness elastic reduced back extensor muscle activity by 13%, it restricted maximum range of motion (RoM) by 13°. The adaptive impedance approach did not restrict RoM while reducing back extensor muscle activity by 15%, when lifting. This study highlights an adaptive impedance approach might improve usability by circumventing the assistance-restriction trade-off inherent to passive approaches.Practitioner summary: This study demonstrates a soft active exosuit that delivers assistance with an adaptive impedance approach can provide reductions in overall back muscle activity without the impacts of restricted range of motion or perception of restriction and discomfort.
... Increases in alpha-band activity can also suggest early consolidation of motor learning features from a pre-learning state [30]. This phenomenon is readily observed with differential learning, characterized by practice variability to facilitate faster learning rates [31]. The grasp-and-place task for this study was naturally repetitive, and it did not vary intrinsically within or across training and testing (i.e., pre and post) conditions. ...
... There are different educational methods in motor learning; that three of the most well-known of them are traditional linear pedagogy (LP), non-linear pedagogy (NLP) and differential learning (DL). LP emphasizes on providing models/pattern and feedback for the athlete to learn more (Schmidt et al., 2018), NLP instead of providing feedback and models/patterns, emphasizes manipulating constraints, so that the athlete discovers the movement solution by herself/himself (Chow et al., 2021), DL by prescribing different solutions, so the learner tries to choose her/his own optimal model/pattern (Tassignon et al., 2021) (see more, . In contrast to LP methods, which strive to optimize kinetic and kinematic movement characteristics by reducing movement variability, current NLP and DL methods focus on increasing variability during practice. ...
... However, the intervention only lasted 3 months, while permanently changing kinematic and kinetic characteristics of COD manoeuvres may require a longer duration, especially in more skilled players . So, understanding the superiority/lack of superiority of the DL compared to other methods requires further studies (Tassignon et al., 2021). ...
This study compared the efficacy of linear, non-linear and differential methods on variables related to ACL injury risk of a side-step cutting task in male and female basketball players. Thirty males and thirty females practiced basketball skills in sixty 90-minute sessions across 5 months. Ten players trained in each of the LP, NLP and DL female/male groups separately. Before and after the intervention, each player was tested on a side-step cutting task. A repeated 3 × 2 × 2 factorial ANOVA with repeated measures was performed for each biomechanical variable. Variables (trunk, hip, and knee flexion angle, knee valgus angle, ankle dorsiflexion angle, hip, knee, and ankle ROM, peak VGRF and knee extension/flexion, knee moment and ankle dorsiflexion moment) all revealed significant test by group interactions (P < 0.05) but no significant group by sex interactions (P > 0.05). In both sex, biomechanical changes were better in the NLP, followed by the DL and LP. It is argued that the advantage of the NLP method results from increased exploration of movement solutions induced by the manipulation of task constraints. Therefore, according to the NLP, it is possible to manipulate the constraints without feedback and the model/pattern can keep the athlete away from possible risks. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Coutinho et al. [44] implemented a similar protocol, whereby participants were randomly assigned to 4 different experimental conditions. These comprised a half-squat using traditional repetitive and differential learning styles [73], with performance being assessed in the CMJ, sprint and repeated COD tasks preintervention and at 30 s and 10 min post-intervention. The differential learning approach included random movement perturbations (i.e. ...
... right arm overhead, left arm abduction, receive tennis ball left hand) that were used to challenge participants in a different way to traditional linear repetitive methods [74]. Despite all conditions resulting in performance decrements, this was comparatively less following the differential learning protocols (please refer to Table 2), which is in accordance with similar investigations [73,75,76]. The authors suggested that the lack of positive findings was as a result of the participants' limited FIT experience, making them more susceptible to fatigue and less able to realise a performance enhancement [71,77]. ...
The aim of this systematic review was to critically appraise the effects of eccentric resistance training on measures of physical performance (i.e. muscular strength, jump, sprint and change of direction) in youth athletes 18 years of age and
under
