Different delayed consequences of attaining a plateau phase in practicing a simple (finger-tapping sequence learning) and a complex (Tower of Hanoi puzzle) task.

In practicing a new task, the initial performance gains, across consecutive trials, decrease; in the following phase, performance tends to plateau. However, after a long delay additional performance improvements may emerge (delayed/ "offline" gains). It has been suggested that the attainment of the...

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Published in:Memory & Cognition Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 960 - 974
Main Authors: Lowenscuss-Erlich, Iris, Karni, Avi, Gal, Carmit, Vakil, Eli
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Apr2025
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Different delayed consequences of attaining a plateau phase in practicing a simple (finger-tapping sequence learning) and a complex (Tower of Hanoi puzzle) task.
      aug:
        au:
          Lowenscuss-Erlich, Iris
          Karni, Avi
          Gal, Carmit
          Vakil, Eli
        affil:
          https://ror.org/03kgsv495 Department of Psychology and Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, 52900, Ramat-Gan, Israel
          https://ror.org/02f009v59 Sagol Department of Neurobiology and the E.J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
      su:
        Motor ability
        Task performance
        Problem solving
        Memory
        Ability
        Training
        Cognition
        Finger physiology
        Dyslexia
        Descriptive statistics
        Delayed diagnosis
        Learning strategies
        Comparative studies
      sug:
        subj:
          Motor ability
          Task performance
          Problem solving
          Memory
          Ability
          Training
          Cognition
          Finger physiology
          Dyslexia
          Descriptive statistics
          Delayed diagnosis
          Learning strategies
          Comparative studies
      keyword:
        Finger tapping sequence
        Plateau phase
        Skill learning
        Tower of Hanoi puzzle
        Finger tapping sequence
        Plateau phase
        Skill learning
        Tower of Hanoi puzzle
      ab: In practicing a new task, the initial performance gains, across consecutive trials, decrease; in the following phase, performance tends to plateau. However, after a long delay additional performance improvements may emerge (delayed/ "offline" gains). It has been suggested that the attainment of the plateau phase is a necessary condition for the triggering of skill consolidation processes that lead to the expression of delayed gains. Here we compared the effect of a long-delay (24–48 h) interval following each of the two within-session phases, on performance in a simple motor task, the finger-tapping sequence learning (FTSL), and in a conceptually complex task, the Tower of Hanoi puzzle (TOHP). In Experiment 1 we determined the amount of practice leading to the plateau phase within a single practice session (long practice), in each task. Experiment 2 consisted of three consecutive sessions with long-delay intervals in between; in the first session, participants underwent a short practice without attaining the plateau phase, but in the next two sessions, participants received long practice, attaining the plateau phase. In the FTSL, short practice resulted in no delayed gains after the long delay, but after 24–48 h following long practice, task performance was further improved. In contrast, no delayed gains evolved in the TOHP during the 24- to 48-h delay following long practice. We propose that the attainment of a plateau phase can indicate either the attainment of a comprehensive task solution routine (achievable for simple tasks) or a preservation of work-in-progress task solution routine (complex tasks); performance after a long post-practice interval can differentiate these two states.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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