Impact of instruction on the acquisition of sequence knowledge in a sensorimotor task

We examined whether and to what extent a sequence of finger movements can be learned and transferred to the untrained hand according to the muscle homology depending on the relative salience of response locations and effectors. Participants performed a discrete sequence production task, in which they were asked to learn a sequence of either key locations or of finger movements. Each training block was followed by a transfer block in which responding with the opposite hand was required. Before the last transfer block participants received an unexpected instruction. They had to reproduce the sequence of key locations instead of the sequence of finger movements and conversely, the sequence of finger movements instead of the sequence of key locations. The results do not support the existence of a sequence representation for the order of finger movements irrespective of the hand used.

Research Highlights► A sequence of key presses was repeatedly produced by the left hand. ► Transfer to the right hand included either key locations or finger movements. ► Results indicate learning of key locations irrespective of the transfer instruction.