This post is an abstract taken from the October 2008 edition of PsychDigest:
Conventional wisdom says that practice makes perfect: research is now showing that practice that consists of watching alone, rather than doing, can also enhance skill.
Previous research has shown that both active and passive learning can improve performance, but in this study the researchers were surprised by the remarkable similarity in brain activation when participants observed dance sequences that were actively or passively experienced.
They used a video game where players have to move in a particular sequence to match the position of arrows on the screen. The researchers measured the skill level of participants for sequences that were actively rehearsed daily, and a different set of sequences that were passively observed for an equivalent amount of time.
Brain activity when watching both kinds of sequences (as well as a third set of sequences that were entirely unfamiliar) was captured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The study focused on the action observance network (AON) in the brain, a group of neural regions found mostly in the inferior parietal and pre-motor cortices of the brain (near the top of the head) responsible for motor skills and some memory functions.
After five days of both visual and physical training, the scans showed common AON activity when the participants were watching the practiced and observed dance sequences.
This research contributes to a growing body of study about how people learn and how best to help people with brain injuries. Future studies might consider how such overlap between physical and observational learning at the brain level can improve upon rehabilitation therapies for individuals affected by physical or neurological injury.
Sources
Cross, E.S., Kraemer, D.J.M., Hamilton, A.F.D., Kelley, W.M., & Grafton. (2008, May). Sensitivity of ther action observation network to physical and observational learning. Cerebral Cortex. [Advance online publication]. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn083. Retrieved September 22, 2008, from the journal Web site at http://cercor.oxford-journals.org/cgi/content/abstract/bhn083v1. The full text of the article can be viewed online for $36.
Dartmouth. (2008, July 14). Dartmouth research reveals passive learning imprints on the brain just like active learning. Retrieved September 22, 2008, from the liberal arts institution's News website at http://www.dartmouth.-edu/~news/releases/2008/07/14.html
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