Promoting imitative play through generalized observational learning in autisticlike children

Three autisticlike boys with deficits in imitative and appropriate play behaviors were taught to play with an unfamiliar toy by observing a peer model demonstrate appropriate play with the toy. Generalization was assessed across toys and models, and temporal maintenance was assessed at 1 and 3 weeks following generalization. Following training each child demonstrated increases in imitative play concomitant with decreases in the frequency of nonmanipulated selfstimulatory behavior. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the amelioration of social isolation and self-stimulatory behavior.The authors wish to acknowledge the help and cooperation of the Henry Wiseman Kendall Center and the Highpoint Preschool Enrichment Program.     

Implicit motor learning and complex decision making in time-constrained environments

The cost-effectiveness of the implicit (procedural) knowledge that supports motor expertise enables surprisingly efficient performance when a decision and an action must occur in close temporal proximity. The authors argue that if novices learn the motor component of performance implicitly rather than explicitly, then they will also be efficient when they make a decision and execute an action in close temporal proximity. Participants (N = 35) learned a table tennis shot implicitly or explicitly. The authors assessed participants' motor performance and movement kinematics under conditions that required a concurrent low-complexity decision or a concurrent high-complexity decision about where to direct each shot. Performance was disrupted only for participants who learned explicitly when they made high-complexity decisions but not when they made low-complexity decisions. The authors conclude that implicit motor learning encourages cognitively efficient motor control more than does explicit motor learning, which allows performance to remain stable when time constraints call for a complex decision in tandem with a motor action.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is represented in response locations

Previous work (Willingham, 1999) has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not primarily perceptual; that is, what is learned is not a sequence of stimuli. Still other work has indicated that implicit motor sequence learning is not specific to particular muscle groups or effectors. In the present work, we tested whether implicit motor sequence learning would be represented as a sequence of response locations. In Experiment 1, learning showed very poor transfer when the response locations were changed, even though the stimulus positions were unchanged. In Experiment 2, participants switched their hand positions at transfer, so that one group of participants pushed the same sequence of keys but used a different sequence of finger movements to do so, whereas another group pushed a different sequence of keys but used the same sequence of finger movements used at training. Knowledge of the sequence was shown at transfer only if the sequence of response locations was maintained, not the sequence of finger movements.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is not purely perceptual

Many reports have indicated that implicit learning of sequences in a choice response time task is primarily perceptual; subjects learn the sequence of stimuli rather than the sequence of motor responses. Three experiments tested whether implicit motor sequence learning could be purely perceptual: no support was found for that hypothesis. Subjects who merely watched stimuli did not learn the sequence implicitly (Experiment 1), and sequence learning transferred robustly to a different set of stimulus cues (Experiment 2). In the final experiment, the stimulus-response mapping was changed at transfer so that one group of subjects pushed the same sequence of keys but saw new stimuli, whereas another group pushed a different sequence of keys but saw the same stimuli. Transfer to the new mapping was shown only if the motor sequence was kept constant, not the perceptual sequence. It is proposed that subjects learn a sequence of response locations in this and similar tasks.     

The influence of symbolic and motor rehearsal in observational learning

The experiment investigated the effects of the mode and patterning of rehearsal on the acquisition and retention of modeled activities varying in organizational complexity. Subjects observed a filmed model construct two configurations, containing high or low organizational requirements. Immediately after exposure they rehearsed the modeled activities either mentally, motorically, mentally and then motorically, motorically and then mentally, or engaged in a distracting activity that prevented rehearsal of what they had see. Performance tests were conducted immediately after the rehearsal phase and again 1 week later. Subjects who rehearsed the modeled behaviors symbolically, whether singly or in conjunction with motor practice, reproduced both configurations more accurately than those who rehearsed motorically or not at all. Motor rehearsal increased speed on the organizationally simple task, but did not enhance response acquisition over and above observation alone. The overall results are interpreted as supporting the social learning view that modeled behaviors are best acquired when demonstrated activities are first organized symbolically and then refined on the basis of performance feedback.     

Intention in motor learning through observation

The purpose of this experiment was to assess whether learning an action through observation is enhanced by the intention to reproduce the observed behaviour. Two groups of participants observed a model practise a timing task and performed a 24-hour delayed retention test. Participants in the first group of observers were explicitly instructed that they would be required to execute the timing task that they had observed as accurately as possible during the delayed retention test. Observers in the second group were instructed that they would be required to describe as accurately as possible the behaviour that they had observed. A control group of participants, who did not observe the model, was also administered the delayed retention test. The results of the retention test indicated that absolute timing (parameterization) was learned by the observers to the same extent with or without intention to reproduce the task. Indeed, on the retention test absolute timing for the two groups of observers was as effective as that for the models. However, observing with an intention to reproduce the task was beneficial for learning the movement's relative timing structure. Results are discussed with respect to a potential mechanism by which intention enhances observation.     

Intention in motor learning through observation

The purpose of this experiment was to assess whether learning an action through observation is enhanced by the intention to reproduce the observed behaviour. Two groups of participants observed a model practise a timing task and performed a 24-hour delayed retention test. Participants in the first group of observers were explicitly instructed that they would be required to execute the timing task that they had observed as accurately as possible during the delayed retention test. Observers in the second group were instructed that they would be required to describe as accurately as possible the behaviour that they had observed. A control group of participants, who did not observe the model, was also administered the delayed retention test. The results of the retention test indicated that absolute timing (parameterization) was learned by the observers to the same extent with or without intention to reproduce the task. Indeed, on the retention test absolute timing for the two groups of observers was as effective as that for the models. However, observing with an intention to reproduce the task was beneficial for learning the movement's relative timing structure. Results are discussed with respect to a potential mechanism by which intention enhances observation.     

Implicit motor sequence learning is not represented purely in response locations

This study employed a novel variant of the serial reaction time task, focused on sequencing one element of movement—direction. During the task a repeated pattern of alternating directions (right–left–right, etc.) was embedded in the stimuli, and there was no series of response locations. Responses were made via two effector systems: single-finger responding (necessitates lateral arm movements between response keys), and four-fingered responding (4 individual fingers on 4 individual keys; requires no lateral arm movement). The sequence of directions was only learned by participants who performed lateral movements during training, indicating that learning was contingent on the particular motor effector used. Participants with low levels of sequence awareness displayed the same pattern of results.     

Associative learning and imagery training in children

Two experiments are reported which examine imagery as a factor in children's learning to associate object pairs. The results of the first experiment indicated that presenting the objects in an interacting fashion greatly facilitated subsequent recognition performance. The outcome of Experiment II revealed that children can be trained to form their own interaction images. These findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to contemporary views of mediation in children's learning.     

Implicit sequence learning in deaf children with cochlear implants

Deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) represent an intriguing opportunity to study neurocognitive plasticity and reorganization when sound is introduced following a period of auditory deprivation early in development. Although it is common to consider deafness as affecting hearing alone, it may be the case that auditory deprivation leads to more global changes in neurocognitive function. In this paper, we investigate implicit sequence learning abilities in deaf children with CIs using a novel task that measured learning through improvement to immediate serial recall for statistically consistent visual sequences. The results demonstrated two key findings. First, the deaf children with CIs showed disturbances in their visual sequence learning abilities relative to the typically developing normal-hearing children. Second, sequence learning was significantly correlated with a standardized measure of language outcome in the CI children. These findings suggest that a period of auditory deprivation has secondary effects related to general sequencing deficits, and that disturbances in sequence learning may at least partially explain why some deaf children still struggle with language following cochlear implantation.     

An analysis of observational learning in autistic and normal children

The present investigation studied observational learning in autistic children. Fifteen autistic and 15 normal children watched an adult model engage in a set of behaviors under specific verbal instructions. After observing this situation, the children were tested to determine what they had acquired through observation. The results showed that (1) the majority of the autistic and the youngest normal children acquired only some limited features of the observational situation and (2) chronological age was related to the amount of learning through observation in the normal children but not in the autistics. The deficit that the autistic children showed in observational learning may be related to a failure to discriminate or attend to the total stimulus input presented. Their failure in observational learning can be seen to contribute in a major way to the severely impoverished behavioral repertoires of these children.     

Altering mindset can enhance motor learning in older adults

Beliefs about personal capability have been shown to affect performance. Lowered ability expectations due to older age may themselves contribute to a decline in performance. In the present study, we investigated whether enhancing older adults' performance expectancies would facilitate the learning of a novel balance task. In Experiment 1, providing older women (71 years) with fabricated feedback indicating that their performance was above average reduced their ability-related concerns and nervousness, and resulted in more effective balance learning, compared with a control group. In Experiment 2, also involving older women (64 years), a simple statement made at the beginning of practice, suggesting that their peers usually do well on that task, enhanced participants' self-efficacy and learning of the task. These results demonstrate that motor performance and learning in older age can be influenced quickly and positively by enhancing individuals' ability perceptions.     

The interaction of observational learning with overt practice: effects on motor skill learning

This study explored various methods of combining observational learning via demonstration with the effects of overt practice for learning a discrete action pattern. Three groups were compared that varied by the timing of demonstration in relation to practice. An all-pre-practice demonstration group viewed 10 pre-practice videotape demonstrations of an expert performing the skill, and then engaged in practice. An interspersed demonstration group viewed one pre-practice demonstration, then initiated practice on the skill. Every three attempts, practice was halted while participants viewed another demonstration, with this pattern repeated throughout acquisition. A combination demonstration group experienced elements of each schedule by viewing five demonstrations prior to practice, then five more once practice had begun (one every three attempts) so that modeling was completed by mid-acquisition. Ratings of form and accuracy were assessed in an acquisition phase, an immediate retention test, and a 48-h retention test. Group main effects for form scores were detected in acquisition, immediate, and 48-h retention, with the combination group obtaining the highest form scores, followed by the all-pre-practice group, and finally the interspersed group. These findings suggest that several modeling exposures before practice and several more exposures in the early stages of practice were optimal for acquisition and retention of form.     

Implicit learning of predictive relationships in three-element visual sequences by young and old adults

Knowledge of sequential relationships enables future events to be anticipated and processed efficiently. Research with the serial reaction time task (SRTT) has shown that sequence learning often occurs implicitly without effort or awareness. Here, the authors report 4 experiments that use a triplet-learning task (TLT) to investigate sequence learning in young and older adults. In the TLT, people respond only to the last target event in a series of discrete, 3-event sequences or triplets. Target predictability is manipulated by varying the triplet frequency (joint probability) and/or the statistical relationships (conditional probabilities) among events within the triplets. Results reveal that both groups learned, though older adults showed less learning of both joint and conditional probabilities. Young people used the statistical information in both cues, but older adults relied primarily on information in the 2nd cue alone. The authors conclude that the TLT complements and extends the SRTT and other tasks by offering flexibility in the kinds of sequential statistical regularities that may be studied as well as by controlling event timing and eliminating motor response sequencing.     

Positive social-comparative feedback enhances motor learning in children

ObjectivesThe present study investigated the influence of social-comparative feedback on the learning of a throwing task in 10-year-old children.DesignTwo-group experimental design, including a practice phase and retention test.MethodBoth groups of participants, a positive social-comparative feedback and a control group, received veridical feedback about their performance (accuracy score) after each practice trial. In addition, after each block of 10 trials, the positive feedback group was given bogus feedback suggesting that their own performance was better than that of a peer group's on that block. One day after the practice phase, a retention test without (veridical or social-comparative) feedback was performed to assess learning effects as a function of feedback.ResultsThe positive feedback group demonstrated greater throwing accuracy than the control group on the retention test. In addition, questionnaire results indicated that this group scored higher in terms of perceived competence than the control group.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate that feedback can have an important motivational function that affects the learning of motor skills in children.     

Role of timing of visual monitoring and motor rehearsal in observational learning of action patterns

This experiment tested the hypothesis that observational learning is enhanced by visual monitoring of enactments that is optimally timed for conception-action matching and by motor rehearsal that serves to refine the cognitive representation. Subjects observed a modeled action pattern, after which they enacted it with either concurrent, delayed, or no visual monitoring. They then engaged in motor rehearsal or did not rehearse the action pattern. Development of the cognitive representation of the modeled action was also measured. Concurrent visual monitoring of enactments greatly facilitated observational learning, whereas delayed visual monitoring did not affect the acquisition process. Rehearsal aided cognitive representation and behavioral reproduction. The more accurate the cognitive representation of the modeled action pattern, the more skilled were the subsequent reproductions of it. After gaining proficiency in converting conception to action, subjects showed no decline in reproduction accuracy when modeling and visual monitoring were withdrawn.     

Short and long-term motor skill learning in an accelerated rotarod training paradigm

Rodent models of motor skill learning include skilled forelimb reaching and acrobatic locomotor paradigms. This study characterizes motor skill learning in the accelerated rotarod task. Thirty Long-Evans rats (300-400 g) were trained on an accelerated rotarod (1cm/s(2)) over eight consecutive sessions (=days, 20 trials each). Improvement in rotarod velocities mastered before falling off the rod was observed within and between sessions (plateau after five sessions). Intrasession improvement was incompletely retained at the beginning of the next day's session. Over several training sessions, intrasession improvement diminished, suggesting a ceiling effect. After 1 week of pause, the rotarod skill was retained. Locomotor exercise in a running wheel for 30 min before the first rotarod session did not affect intrasession improvement. Running-wheel exposure for 6 days did not diminish the rate of rotarod skill learning (steepness of the learning curve) but improved overall performance (upward shift of curve). Video analysis of gait on the rotarod showed that rats developed a motor strategy by modifying their gait patterns during training. The data demonstrate that rotarod improvement is not the result of enhanced general locomotor ability or fitness, which are trained in the running wheel, but requires a change in the motor strategy to master the task. Accelerated rotarod training can be regarded a valid paradigm for motor skill learning over short (intrasession, minutes) and long time frames (intersession, days).     

Object retrieval through observational learning in 8- to 18-month-old infants

Observational learning was studied in 8-, 10-, 12-, 15- and 18-month-old infants. Using object-retrieval tasks of relatively comparable difficulty for each age group, we showed that between 10 and 12 months there is a change in the capacity to learn a new skill by observation.     

Rule learning in children: Multiple-set training and intermediate-size transposition

Two experiments were conducted in which the subjects were trained to choose the middle-size stimulus in either a single stimulus set or in each of two nonoverlapping stimulus sets. Following criterion, each subject was presented with a series of 12 test trials involving a new stimulus set. In Experiment 1, kindergarten children tended to choose the middle-size test stimulus if the test set consisted of stimuli intermediate in size to the stimuli in the smaller and larger training sets. When the test stimuli were all larger than any of the training stimuli, the probability of choosing the middle-size stimulus increased as the distance between the two training sets increased. Three groups of children participated in Experiment 2: a kindergarten group, a first-grade group, and a first-grade group that experienced middle-size training a year earlier. The distance between training sets and two training procedures affected the three groups in a similar manner during acquisition, but several interactions were obtained during the test. The findings were discussed in terms of the Lane and Rabinowitz (D. M. Lane & F. M. Rabinowitz, Child Development, 1977, 48, 412–426) rule based theory of intermediate-size transposition and suggestions were made as to how children acquire the concept of middle.