Contextual Interference in Learning Three Table Tennis Services

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine if contextual effect remained robust after more than 2400 trials in learning three table tennis services. Participants (n=38) performed three table tennis services tasks in blocked and random practice schedule. After completing 10 acquisition session participants were required to perform retention tests. The results showed that in acquisition, the blocked (low CI) group outperformed the random group (high CI) that is has contingency with CI effect, but in retention the random group was not better in the random retention and it was worse in the blocked retention. It is concluded that CI may be just beneficial in learning tasks that must be performed in random order in the retention and when there is some limitation in the number of acquisition trials.