Abstract
Humans have a remarkable ability to learn by watching others, whether learning to tie an elaborate knot or play the piano. However, the mechanisms that translate visual input into motor skill execution remain unclear. It has been proposed that common cognitive and neural mechanisms underpin learning motor skills by physical and observational practice. Here we provide a novel test of the common mechanism hypothesis by testing the extent to which certain individual differences predict observational as well as physical learning. Participants (N = 92 per group) either physically practiced a five-element key-press sequence or watched videos of similar sequences before physically performing trained and untrained sequences in a test phase. We also measured cognitive abilities across participants that have previously been associated with rates of learning, including working memory and fluid intelligence. Our findings show that individual differences in working memory and fluid intelligence predict improvements in dissociable aspects of motor learning following physical practice, but not observational practice. Working memory predicts general learning gains from pre- to post-test that generalise to untrained sequences, whereas fluid intelligence predicts sequence-specific gains that are tied to trained sequences. However, neither working memory nor fluid intelligence predict training gains following observational learning. Therefore, these results suggest limits to the shared mechanism hypothesis of physical and observational learning. Indeed, models of observational learning need updating to reflect the extent to which such learning is based on shared as well as distinct processes compared to physical learning. We suggest that such differences could reflect the more intentional nature of learning during physical compared to observational practice, which relies to a greater extent on higher-order cognitive resources such as working memory and fluid intelligence.
Highlights
A remarkable feature of human cognition is the ability to acquire skills through passive observation
By taking an individual differences approach to study skill acquisition, we provide a novel test of the extent to which common cognitive systems underpin learning following observational and physical practice
We show that individual differences in working memory and fluid intelligence predict improvements in dissociable aspects of motor learning following physical practice, but not observational practice
Summary
A remarkable feature of human cognition is the ability to acquire skills through passive observation. Whether learning to tie shoelaces or dance “the robot”, one can acquire complex skills by physically practicing them or by watching others perform them. Recent proposals have suggested that learning by physical and observational practice relies on a common set of cognitive and neural mechanisms. Research is only beginning to elucidate the ways in which both types of learning draw upon on shared mechanisms. One way to deepen understanding of shared mechanisms between physical and visual learning, which has not been used previously, is through demonstration of common individual differences that influence both kinds of learning. The current study tested the extent to which individual differences in cognitive abilities predict learning following physical and observational practice
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