Generality and specificity in a piecewise linear map model for motor learning

The specificity and generality of practice effects are central issues in motor learning, retention and transfer. The current study implemented the piecewise linear map model to analyze practice effects on five different target time conditions in discrete timing tasks. Five individualized target times were constructed and tested for eighteen adult healthy participants. After the pre-test, all participants practiced the mid-fast condition for 7 sessions before the post-test and the one-week retention-test were performed. In addition to the stochastic and deterministic model parameters, the success rates and ratios of absolute errors to the target windows were analyzed for the task performance. The results showed the general performance improvements as well as reduction of the noise amplitudes in the stochastic component of the map model for the mid-fast, median, mid-slow, and slow conditions but not the fast condition. The decreased absolute value of the trial-to-trial slopes that indicated a more efficient target time adjustment was only observed for the mid-fast condition. The practice effects of generality and specificity in performing sequential timing tasks were revealed in the stochastic and deterministic components of the piecewise linear map model.