The authors describe a transient phase during training on a movement sequence wherein, after an initial improvement in speed and decrease in variability, individual participants' performance showed a significant increase in variability without change in mean performance speed. Subsequent to this phase, as practice continued, variability again decreased, performance significantly exceeded the ga...

In two vignette studies we examined beliefs about the nonverbal behavior and communication skills associated with high and low social power. Power was defined as both a trait (personality dominance) and a role (rank within an organization). Seventy nonverbal behaviors and skills were examined. Both Study 1 (a within-participants design) and Study 2 (a between-participants design) yielded highly...

Long-range correlations have been evidenced in a number of experiments, generally using overlearned and overpracticed tasks. The authors hypothesized that long-range correlation could represent the byproduct of learning. They analyzed the series of periods produced by a group of expert and a group of novices during prolonged trials on a ski simulator. Results showed a very low variability in ex...

Acquiring a new skill requires learning multiple aspects of a task simultaneously. For example, learning a piano sonata requires learning the musical notes and being able to implement this goal by learning the appropriate sequence of finger movements. After practice, skill continues to develop off-line during a period of consolidation. Here we show that different aspects of a procedural memory ...

In their analysis of complex motor skill learning, Shea, Wulf, Whitacre, and Park (2001) have overlooked one of the most robust conclusions of the experimental studies on implicit learning conducted during the last decade--namely that participants usually learn things that are different from those that the experimenter expected them to learn. We show that the available literature on implicit le...

Tool-related knowledge and skills are supported by a complex set of memory processes that are not well understood. Some aspects of tools are mediated by either declarative or procedural memory, while other aspects may rely on an interaction of both systems. Although motor skill learning is believed to be primarily supported by procedural memory, there is debate in the current literature regardi...

The importance of relative motion information when modelling a novel motor skill was examined. Participants were assigned to one of four groups. Groups 1 and 2 viewed demonstrations of a skilled cricket bowler presented in either 'video' or 'point light' format. Group 3 observed a single point of light pertaining to the 'wrist' of the skilled bowler only. Participants in Group 4 did not receive...