Compare contextual interference effect and practice specificity in learning basketball free throw

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine contextual interference (CI) effect and compare it with practice specificity in learning basketball free throw. Acquisition, retention, and transfer performance were compared in a single-task control group (specific training schedule) and groups that performed 3 tasks in low, moderate, and high CI. Control group performed all 324 trials from the free throw line, but the other groups did just 108 trials in that to-be-learned task. Remaining 216 trials allocated to throw additional shots from different angles and distances. After a week, subjects participated in retention and transfer tests. Results showed that during the acquisition period random practice group have lower performance compared to control and blocked groups, and, serial group had lower performance compared to blocked group. In retention and transfer tests there was no difference between groups. Generally, according to the results of the current study, increase in contextual interference causes poorer performance during acquisition period but it is beneficial for learning single task.