The role of order of practice in learning to handle an upper-limb prosthesis

Objective: To determine which Order of presentation of practice tasks had the highest effect oil using an upper-limb prosthetic simulator. Design: A cohort analytic Study. Setting: University laboratory. Participants: Healthy, able-bodied participants (N=72) randomly assigned to I Of 8 groups, each composed of 9 men and 9 women. Interventions: Participants (n=36) used a myoelectric simulator, and participants (n=36) used a body-powered simulator. Oil day 1, participants performed 3 tasks in the acquisition phase. Oil day 2, participants performed a retention test and a transfer test. For each Simulator, there were 4 groups of participants: group I practiced random and was tested random, group 2 practiced random and was tested blocked, group 3 practiced blocked and was tested random, and group 4 practiced blocked and was tested blocked. Main Outcome Measures: Initiation time, the time front the starting signal until the beginning of the movement, and movement time, the time from the beginning until the end of the movement. Results: Movement times got faster during acquisition (P<.001). The blocked group had faster movement times (P=.009), and learning in this group extended over the complete acquisition phase (P<.001). However, this advantage disappeared in the retention and transfer tests. Compared with a myoelectric simulator, movements with the body-powered simulator were faster in acquisition (P=.004) and transfer test (P=.034). Conclusions: performance in daily life with a prosthesis is indifferent to the structure in which the training is Set Lip. However, practicing in a blocked fashion leads to faster performance; in novice. trainees, it might be suggested to practice part of the training tasks in blocks.