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Skill Acquisition and Habit Formation as Distinct Effects of Practice

View ORCID ProfileRobert M Hardwick, Alexander D Forrence, View ORCID ProfileJohn W Krakauer, View ORCID ProfileAdrian M Haith
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/201095
Robert M Hardwick
1Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
2Current Affiliation: Movement Control & Neuroplasticity Research Group, KU Leuven, Belgium
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  • For correspondence: robert.hardwick@kuleuven.be
Alexander D Forrence
1Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
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John W Krakauer
1Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
3Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
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Adrian M Haith
1Departments of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
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Abstract

Practice improves the speed at which we can perform a task, but also leads to habitual behavior. Behavioral, computational, and neurobiological evidence has suggested that these two effects of practice might be related; however, it remains unclear whether skill improvement and habit formation are two aspects of the same learning process, or are separate processes that occur in parallel. Using a visuomotor association task in human participants, we directly assessed the effects of practice on both the speed of response selection, and whether or not response selection became habitual. We found that response selection could become fully habitual within four days of practice. In contrast, the speed of response selection improved continuously with practice over twenty days. We conclude that skill learning occurs largely independently of habit formation, suggesting a distinct neural basis.

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Posted October 14, 2017.
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Skill Acquisition and Habit Formation as Distinct Effects of Practice
Robert M Hardwick, Alexander D Forrence, John W Krakauer, Adrian M Haith
bioRxiv 201095; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/201095
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Skill Acquisition and Habit Formation as Distinct Effects of Practice
Robert M Hardwick, Alexander D Forrence, John W Krakauer, Adrian M Haith
bioRxiv 201095; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/201095

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