Incidental Motor Learning

Abstract

Sixty subjects experienced four linear arm-positioning movements in the absence of visual cues. Half the subjects had instructions to learn the movements and anticipated a recall test. The other subjects thought they were participating in an experiment to test accuracy of movement estimation, in which they attempted to guess the length of each movement. The groups were subdivided and experienced the series of movements 1, 5, or 10 times. All subjects completed a serial recall test. Intentional learners produced superior recall only with low levels of practice, and there was no difference between incidental and intentional learning with higher levels of practice.