Department of Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas.
J Surg Educ. 2013 Nov-Dec;70(6):789-95. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2013.06.014. Epub 2013 Aug 6.
Although break periods during training sessions are desirable, it is unclear what learners should do during these breaks. Some educators recommend that learners abstain from all task-related practice; however, it is possible that switching to an alternate exercise during break periods can also be effective. The construct of proactive interference (PI) posits that new learning is disrupted by prior learning. PI can be "released" when the nature of the task is changed after several practice trials. In this study, we examined the existence of PI in motor learning under 5 training conditions that differed in contrast to a target exercise.
Preclinical medical students (n = 75) performed 1 trial of peg transfer as a pretest. Participants were then randomly assigned to 1 of 5 training conditions: mass practice, similar exercise (laparoscopic bean transfer), dissimilar exercise (open suturing), observation, or rest. Participants in the mass practice condition practiced peg transfer in 3 training blocks of 15 minutes, each separated by a 5-minute break. Participants in the other conditions performed 3 training blocks consisting of 15 minutes of peg transfer followed by an interspersed alternate exercise. On completion of 3 training blocks, participants performed 1 additional peg transfer trial as a posttest.
Despite having trained for the same amount of time on the target task, Analysis of Covariance on posttest scores using pretest scores as the covariate indicated a significant main effect for training condition (p = 0.009). Participants engaging in mass practice performed significantly worse than participants in the dissimilar (p = 0.012), observation (p = 0.022), and rest (p < 0.001) conditions. Additionally, participants in the similar exercise condition performed worse than participants in the rest condition (p = 0.03).
When learning a laparoscopic task, a break comprised of dissimilar practice or unrelated activities is effective in releasing PI and improving performance.
尽管在训练过程中休息是可取的，但学习者在这些休息期间应该做什么还不清楚。一些教育者建议学习者避免所有与任务相关的练习；然而，在休息期间切换到另一种练习也可能是有效的。前摄干扰（PI）的构建假设新的学习会被先前的学习所干扰。当任务的性质在几次练习后发生变化时，PI 可以“释放”。在这项研究中，我们在 5 种不同的训练条件下检查了运动学习中的 PI 的存在，这些条件与目标练习不同。
临床医学专业学生（n=75）进行了一次 peg 转移作为预测试。然后，参与者被随机分配到 5 种训练条件之一：集中练习、类似练习（腹腔镜豆转移）、不相似练习（开放缝合）、观察或休息。集中练习组在 3 个 15 分钟的训练块中练习 peg 转移，每个训练块之间有 5 分钟的休息。其他条件下的参与者在 3 个 15 分钟的 peg 转移训练块后进行了穿插交替练习。完成 3 个训练块后，参与者进行了 1 次额外的 peg 转移测试作为后测。
尽管在目标任务上进行了相同时间的训练，但使用预测试成绩作为协变量的后测试成绩的协方差分析表明，训练条件有显著的主效应（p=0.009）。集中练习组的参与者表现明显差于不相似组（p=0.012）、观察组（p=0.022）和休息组（p<0.001）的参与者。此外，类似练习条件下的参与者表现不如休息条件下的参与者（p=0.03）。
在学习腹腔镜任务时，由不相似练习或不相关活动组成的休息时间可以有效地释放 PI 并提高表现。
