Research Projects

Humans have a remarkable capacity for learning and improving actions based on error, with errors driving learning being sensory prediction errors and task performance errors. The mechanisms that trigger these errors remain controversial. A series of psychophysical experiments were conducted to test the idea that task performance errors trigger deliberative aiming strategies, leading to rapid error reduction. The study also aimed to determine if cognitive strategies, rather than implicit learning, promote longer-term retention of learning. The study also aimed to determine if interlimb generalization patterns differ between implicit and strategy-driven learning. The researchers predicted that strategic processes driven by task performance errors would yield symmetric, bidirectional generalization across the arMs. The study also investigated the neural basis of strategy use by delivering high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation over frontal brain areas premotor and primary motor cortices. The goal is to show that the rate, retention, and generalization of learning can be enhanced by promoting cognitive strategies during learning.