Task difficulty promotes tactical learning but supresses the positive learning effects of autonomy and cognitive effort – DR PHIL KEARNEY

Learning conditions that provide individuals with some relevant choice over aspects of the practice task (autonomy), and those that attempt to optimise the challenge of the practice task, have been reported to enhance skill development. This study directly compared these two manipulations to establish their relative contribution to enhancing motor learning. The task difficult prompted participants to engage with the task in an unintended manner; researchers need to consider that the task they set may not be the task learners practice, and that task difficulty and learner tactics may suppress the effects of autonomy and experimenter challenge manipulations.

Bright, D., Smith, J., Kearney, P., & Runswick, O. (2025). Task difficulty promotes tactical learning but supresses the positive learning effects of autonomy and cognitive effort. Human Movement Science, 101, 103354. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167945725000363

Phil is a Lecturer in Motor Skill Acquisition, Coaching and Performance and Tutor on the MSc. Applied Sports Coaching. Phil’s research interests include maturation and youth sport, coaches’ knowledge and practices and enhancing practice quality.

You can contact Phil via email at philip.kearney@ul.ie or view his research profile: https://pure.ul.ie/en/persons/philip-kearney