Author(s): CZYZ, S., WÓJCIK, A.M., Institution: WROCŁAW UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH AND SPORT SCIENCES, Country: POLAND, Abstract-ID: 745

INTRODUCTION:
Contextual interference (CI) (Battig, 1966) effect is claimed to enhance motor skill retention, though the general meta-analyses evinced that the beneficial effect of CI effect on retention is more conspicuous in adults and the elderly than in children (Brady, 2004; Czyż et al. 2024a, 2024b). Moreover, majority of the studies on adults and older adults were conducted in laboratory setting while studies on children in applied settings. To determine whether the presence of the CI effects in adults or lack in children is due to the age or setting issues we examined the interaction between practice schedule in childrens and older adults learning an aiming skill in applied settings.
METHODS:
A total of 96 participants (48 children, mean age 11.09 ± 1.01; 48 older adults, mean age 72.9 ± 4.98) were randomly assigned to Blocked or Random practice schedules with either 18 or 24 repetitions per session. Participants threw beanbags towards the circular target (Ávila et al., 2012; Chiviacowsky et al., 2008) from 3m, 4m, and 5m. The study consisted of three phases: pretest, acquisition, and 24-hour retention test. Performance accuracy was analyzed using a 4-way mixed ANOVA.
RESULTS:
Older adults consistently outperformed children (p < 0.001, η² = 0.503). Younger participants improved across acquisition and retention but showed no significant CI effect. In older adults, random practice led to better retention only at 5m (p = 0.006, η² = 0.1098), while performance at 3m and 4m remained stable. No significant interaction was found between CI and practice volume (p = 0.238).
CONCLUSION:
Findings suggest that CI effects depend on task novelty and difficulty rather than age or settings alone. Based on these findings, we propose the Novelty of the Task Hypothesis, suggesting that the CI effect may depend on the relative novelty and challenge of a task for the learner. In applied settings, CI may be less effective when tasks are already well-practiced. Future studies should explore CI across diverse motor tasks and environments.

Literature:
Ávila et al. (2012). Positive social-comparative feedback enhances motor learning in children. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(6), 849–853.
Battig (1966). Facilitation and interference. In E. A. Bilodeau (Ed.), Acquisition of skill (pp. 215–244). Academic Press.
Brady (2004). Contextual Interference: A Meta-Analytic Study. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 99(1), 116–126.
Chiviacowsky et al. (2008). Learning benefits of self-controlled knowledge of results in 10-year-old children. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 79(3), 405–410.
Czyż et al. (2024a). The effect of contextual interference on transfer in motor learning - a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1377122.
Czyż et al. (2024b). High contextual interference improves retention in motor learning: systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports 2024 14:1, 14(1), 1–45.