Abstract
The ability to detect movement error is an essential cognitive ability underlying skilled motor performance. An identified gap in the literature is whether the error detection capabilities in a well-learned motor task transfer to a novel, but similar sensorimotor task. The purpose of this experiment was to examine whether previous athletic experience in a routine sport (i.e. Cheerleading) would affect the participant's error-detection accuracy during the acquisition of a novel motor skill. Twenty-four subjects (n = 12 routine athletes, n = 12 non-routine athletes) participated in an alternating isometric elbow flexion and extension task. All participants completed 15 acquisition trials alternating between 46% flexion and 38% extension of their maximal voluntary contraction. After each acquisition trial, participants self-reported their perceived overall flexion and extension force prior to receiving KR regarding their approximation of the flexion and extension isometric goals. Participants completed a 2-day retention test that replicated the acquisition protocol but without KR. The results from the two-day retention test showed the routine athletes' error detection improved from block one (M=8.08, SD= 5.78) to block two (M= 7.25, SD= 5.53). However, there were no between group differences. The Movement-Specific Reinvestment Scale revealed that the routine athletes (M= 4.45, SD= 0.24) scored significantly higher (p = 0.02) than the non-routine athletes (M= 3.54, SD= 0.24) suggesting they had greater movement self-consciousness. Thus, previous sensorimotor experience did not differentially impact the error-detection accuracy of routine athletes during the acquisition of a novel force production task.
