Practice makes perfect?

tovo
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Wed Aug 15, 2012 4:33 pm

I read this article this morning in an Australian newspaper. (The Age) The article was written by Nicky Phillips (Just to acknowledge the author and make it clear it is not my work). I thought the article was very interesting in relation to the learning of guitar. Here it is:


FORGET what your teachers said, practice doesn't make perfect.

At least it doesn't when you practice over and over again without a break.

Sydney scientists have found learning improves when students take a rest from continuous study or training.

''It seems intuitive that every minute of study should make you better, but, actually, if you do too much it might backfire and you end up wasting time,'' said the study's lead researcher, Joel Pearson.
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To measure this effect, Dr Pearson, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of NSW, had 31 students complete a computer screen test where they had to pick the direction of hundreds of moving dots.

''It looks a bit like a snow storm so it can be hard to see what direction they're moving at first, but it is a skill that can be learnt,'' he said.

On the first day of the experiment, one group of participants watched the moving dots for two hours without a break, while another group had one hour of down time between their study sessions.

When both groups repeated the task for an hour the next day, the researchers found the students who took time out between training improved, while the performance of the non-break participants remained the same.

''If you keep on learning for multiple hours in a row without a break you don't get the [learning] benefit any more,'' said Dr Pearson.

When learning something new the brain must convert a short-term memory into a long term memory for the skill to persist.

While scientists have known this process of memory consolidation occurs during sleep, Dr Pearson and his colleagues are the first to show it can also happen when awake.

Many scientists believe the brain consolidates a new skill by making new connections between neurons, a re-wiring process known as neural plasticity.

Continued practice appeared to disrupt this consolidation process, he said.

While the study reviewed a particular type of learning known as perceptual learning, which occurred when reading or learning to interpret an X-ray, the same processes arose when a person learnt to ride a bike or tried to grasp a new concept, said Dr Pearson, whose findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.


dtaylor
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Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:29 pm

Interesting Tony,
I've certainly noticed the effect when learning complex pieces, I've taken to breaking things down to a bar or two and spending as much time as necessary to 'memorise' ie know in my head the correct order and practice for a minute or two then leave it for 5 minutes and go back and practice again and repeat the 'practice/break' process before moving on to the next section.
It makes memorisation easier and seems to make becoming fluent and swifter process.
I've also noticed the opposite effect where practicing a piece for an extended period and seeming to make no progress or even be worse at the end of practice.


Chasplaya
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Thu Aug 16, 2012 2:49 am

Very interesting Tony. This confirms something that those directly involved in training delivery have been stating for ages, (note delivery not design) I have always advocated short periods of instruction, furthermore cognitive skills before motor skills i.e. cognitive learning rarely occurs immediately after lunch!

I was always in arguments during my Airforce career with training developers and designers and practitioners who liked to load everything into large one of session; whereas I advocated breaking it up over a couple of days in small bites.


snipe
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Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:09 am

Taking breaks works for me. Pooring it on for too long can be counterproductive.


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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:16 pm

Thanks for that Tony. Its a really important part of learning to take breaks and come back to it rather than hammering remorselessly away for hours on end and its great that they have been able come up with some experimental proof to show the effect. As mentioned the effect of sleep on learning is well know too. I guess the explanation is that the "Undermind" (Guy Claxton, "Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind") gets a chance to do some processing and ordering of the memory. Any emotional attachment (and even smells) that you can add on to these learning moments will also strengthen the effects.
If the smells comment elicits the expected remarks I will stick my fingers in my ears and go la, la, la la! :-)


BigBear
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Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:50 pm

Tony- very interesting. I don't subscribe to the "practice makes perfect" mantra. Perfect practice makes perfect is closer. If you practice incorrectly all you do is create muscle memory of bad playing. Slow and steady wins this race and taking breaks, even long ones, is crucial to success.

Just my 2 cents or whatever that is in Aussie money!!

Cheers!


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