Müssgens Diana M, Ullén Fredrik
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 Nov 24;9:642. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00642. eCollection 2015.
Transfer (i.e., the application of a learned skill in a novel context) is an important and desirable outcome of motor skill learning. While much research has been devoted to understanding transfer of explicit skills the mechanisms of skill transfer after incidental learning remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to (1) examine the effect of practice schedule on transfer and (2) investigate whether sequence-specific knowledge can transfer to an unfamiliar sequence context. We trained two groups of participants on an implicit serial response time task under a Constant (one sequence for 10 blocks) or Variable (alternating between two sequences for a total of 10 blocks) practice schedule. We evaluated response times for three types of transfer: task-general transfer to a structurally non-overlapping sequence, inter-manual transfer to a perceptually identical sequence, and sequence-specific transfer to a partially overlapping (three shared triplets) sequence. Results showed partial skill transfer to all three sequences and an advantage of Variable practice only for task-general transfer. Further, we found expression of sequence-specific knowledge for familiar sub-sequences in the overlapping sequence. These findings suggest that (1) constant practice may create interference for task-general transfer and (2) sequence-specific knowledge can transfer to a new sequential context.
迁移（即在新情境中应用所学技能）是运动技能学习的一个重要且理想的成果。虽然已有大量研究致力于理解显性技能的迁移，但对偶然学习后技能迁移的机制仍知之甚少。本研究的目的是：（1）检验练习计划对迁移的影响；（2）调查特定序列知识是否能迁移到不熟悉的序列情境中。我们在恒定（一个序列进行10个组块）或可变（在两个序列之间交替，共10个组块）练习计划下，对两组参与者进行了一项内隐序列反应时任务训练。我们评估了三种迁移类型的反应时：向结构上不重叠序列的任务通用迁移、向感知上相同序列的双手间迁移，以及向部分重叠（三个共享三联体）序列的特定序列迁移。结果表明，技能部分迁移到了所有三个序列，且可变练习仅在任务通用迁移方面具有优势。此外，我们在重叠序列中发现了熟悉子序列的特定序列知识表达。这些发现表明：（1）恒定练习可能会对任务通用迁移产生干扰；（2）特定序列知识可以迁移到新的序列情境中。
