Background and Purpose: Memory consolidation and learning are effective factors to form and develop motor and cognitive skills in children. In the present study, practice structure and off- line time periods have been manipulated to examine its effects on motor memory consolidation in children
Method: 36 female students (9-12 years old) from Maktabi elementary school of Qom city were elected and randomly assigned to 3 groups of constant, blocked, and random practice. This study includes acquisition and retention tests for dart throwing task (tests were done in 3 time periods; 1hour, a day, and one week after practice). Retention tests were done by constant, blocked, and random to evaluate the variability and memory encoding specificity principles.
Results: Means of radial errors showed skill improvement for blocked and constant practice groups. This improvement was not meaningful but remained over time for blocked practice group. Paired samples T test between end of acquisition and retention test similar to practice that showed significant decrease of error (p≤0.05) in the blocked practice group only (confirmation of the specificity principle). Paired comparisons between end of acquisition and constant retention tests in per group did not show any significant improvement (P≥0.05) for none of the off- line time periods in blocked and random practice groups (rejection of the variability of practice). However, we showed significant improvements (P≤0.05) for performance of both random and blocked groups in similar retention tests to practice (principle the specificity).
Conclusion: Memory consolidation and performance improvement could occur in children, even after 1 hour end of acquisition (in off- line time period). Furthermore, constant or low variable (blocked) practice could lead to more improvements in consolidation process and motor memory in children.