Engaging Environments Enhance Motor Skill Learning in a Computer Gaming Task

ABSTRACT

Engagement during practice can motivate a learner to practice more, hence having indirect effects on learning through increased practice. However, it is not known whether engagement can also have a direct effect on learning when the amount of practice is held constant. To address this question, 40 participants played a video game that contained an embedded repeated sequence component, under either highly engaging conditions (the game group) or mechanically identical but less engaging conditions (the sterile group). The game environment facilitated retention over a 1-week interval. Specifically, the game group improved in both speed and accuracy for random and repeated trials, suggesting a general motor-related improvement, rather than a specific influence of engagement on implicit sequence learning. These data provide initial evidence that increased engagement during practice has a direct effect on generalized learning, improving retention and transfer of a complex motor skill.

Keywords:

• motor learning
• video games
• engagement
• motivation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank Kris De Asis and Bryan Luu for their assistance in programming the game, and Beverly Larssen for help with participant testing.

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Discovery grants awarded to Lara A. Boyd and Nicola J. Hodges). Lara A. Boyd receives salary support from the Canada Research Chairs and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Nicola J. Hodges receives salary support from the Canadian Institute for Health Research.