From zero age we develop all our skills through practice. The formula is simple - learn the action you want to buy and repeat it over and over again until you have refined it to your satisfaction. This way we are taught to go, write new words, play, engage in sports, and so on. Needless to say, it has been proven beyond a doubt that repeated practice is indeed an effective method for assimilating new skills. But what if there was a way to improve and streamline the process?
While in many cases it is customary to practice exactly the action we want to learn or improve, new research has found that breaking routine and changes in the form of practice can double our speed of perception. Let's say you want to learn the basics of abseiling, an activity that involves unique motor skills such as tying, docking, using special equipment, and so forth. You want to learn the art of tying the ropes by closing your eyes and for that, you practice on a real rappelling rope because that is what will be on the ground. Well, according to the study, you can optimize the agility by tying up if you introduce subtle changes in the training routine. For example, practice the same connections on a rope with a different voltage or try replacing the right hand with your left hand for the purpose of tying.
Learn new skills at double speed
It turns out that these variations help the brain absorb the new skill at twice the speed required during regular, regular repetition. Professor Pablo Ariel Selnik, of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, led a research team that compared two practice methods: one fixed and one small. In the course of the experiment, the subjects were divided into three groups - all of them received the same task and had to complete it under different conditions. The task was to study and use a means of navigation on the computer - instead of scrolling with the mouse we all know, subjects were asked to activate a facility that responds to clicks. In other words, subjects had to move the mouse cursor on the screen by manually squeezing an electronic device.
The first group performed the task three times. For the first time, it was the initial encounter with the new facility. After six hours - the amount of time it takes to establish learning memory according to studies - they did exactly the same thing, and a day later they tried the pressure facility for the third time. All three times the pressure required to operate the facility was the same. The second group underwent the same set of tests, but only in the second exercise, six hours after the initial experiment, did the researchers change the sensitivity of the device to pressure. "In this way, subjects should constantly adjust their performance without being aware of the minor changes," the press release said. In the third test the next day, the researchers directed the sensitivity of the facility according to the original values. The third group, the control group, performed only two identical exercises and skipped the practice of the middle after six hours.
In the second day exercise, the researchers compared the level of performance of each group relative to the first practice in order to obtain an improvement pattern. They found that, not surprisingly, the control group showed the lowest improvement. The first team, which practiced exactly the same conditions three times, showed a significant improvement, but the surprise came from the second group, which practiced two different situations. "The improvement in performance, in terms of speed and accuracy in completing the task, was almost doubled among members of the second group," Selnik reported.
What is the result of the leap in achievements? According to the publication, "the greatest improvement was observed among subjects who could quickly adapt to changing conditions." "To improve skills, we need to update our existing memory with new knowledge," the Washington Post article said. "If you practice the same thing exactly the same way, you do not add too much new knowledge to what's already there." One of the answers provided by neurologists is that the element of novelty that exists in a meeting with different places and cultures puts the brain into vigorous activity and increases the work of the neural connections.For survival reasons, the brain is built to minimize the unknown or the uncertainty, Therefore, when you practice an Alpine bow tie three times in an abseiling rope and a fourth time in a laundry rope, the brain receives a new stimulus and enters an increased process of learning.
The brain asks: Surprise me
You have probably noticed that the changes made in the exercises were easy and always remain in the same motor framework. Professor Selnik explains that "if you make the alternative practice too different, people do not get the profit ... The changes between the exercises should be subtle." And it makes sense - the brain has to understand that it remains in the same field of skills, as opposed to moving to a completely different field. If instead of practicing different rope connections you will try, for example, to practice lasso casting, the neuron system will not necessarily add the new knowledge to existing knowledge but will open a new folder.
The beauty of the experiment is that its conclusions can be applied in almost any field we want to learn or improve. According to the neurological picture, cutting vegetables with different knives is enough to refine the cooking skills. It is enough to paint with different brushes to improve the creative ability, and typing with different keyboards will be great for speeding the writing. Apart from the practical aspect, there is an interesting symbolism in the research findings. On the one hand, we learn to achieve. On the other hand, the brain encourages us to challenge it - the novelty, the change, and the breaking of routine are the basis of its action. It signals to us that growth is not necessarily a type of one defined deterministic goal, but rather a complex process of small adjustments and changes while constantly in motion.
