Random Practice Enhances Retention and Spatial Transfer in Force Field Adaptation

The contextual-interference effect is a frequently examined phenomenon in motor skill learning but has not been extensively investigated in motor adaptation. Here, we first tested experimentally if the contextual-interference effect is detectable in force field adaptation regarding retention and spatial transfer, and then fitted state-space models to the data to relate the findings to the “forgetting-and-reconstruction hypothesis”. Thirty-two participants were divided into two groups with either a random or a blocked practice schedule. They practiced reaching to four targets and were tested 10 min and 24 h afterward for motor retention and spatial transfer on an interpolation and an extrapolation target, and on targets which were shifted 10 cm away. The adaptation progress was participant-specifically fitted with 4-slow-1-fast state-space models accounting for generalization and set breaks. The blocked group adapted faster (p = 0.007) but did not reach a better adaptation at practice end. We found better retention (10 min), interpolation transfer (10 min), and transfer to shifted targets (10 min and 24 h) for the random group (each p < 0.05). However, no differences were found for retention or for the interpolation target after 24 h. Neither group showed transfer to the extrapolation target. The extended state-space model could replicate the behavioral results with some exceptions. The study shows that the contextual-interference effect is partially detectable in practice, short-term retention, and spatial transfer in force field adaptation; and that state-space models provide explanatory descriptions for the contextual-interference effect in force field adaptation.