Differential or differencial learning (DL) is a model
for (motor) learning that considers learning (of a movement
or action) as being dependent on the amount of
noise that accompanies the acquisition process. DL in
the narrow sense suggests no repetition and no augmented
feedback. DL in a broader sense comprises
other motor learning approaches and pedagogical concepts
including those based on repetitions, different
instructional forms of part and whole methods, variability
of practice, and contextual interference that are
characterized by increasingly growing noise and unified
under the umbrella term of stochastic resonance with an
optimum noise for the individual and situation. An
increase of noise beyond the optimal induces detrimental
effects for learning rate. In more detail, the individuality
of movement patterns and their dependence on
emotions, music or fatigue (Janssen et al., 2008) as
well as their constant changes over time (Horst,
Eekhoff, Newell, & Scho¨llhorn, 2017) suggest individual
adaptation of the optimum noise situatively.
The foundations for DL were derived from dynamic
system principles (Kelso, 1995) for dissipative systems
where fluctuations are considered as constructive elements
that increase before transitioning to another
stable state according to ‘order from noise,’ (Fo¨rster,
1960). DL takes advantage of such an instability by providing
unstructured energy in the form of enhancing the
observed movement fluctuations stochastically in order
to allow the system to self-organize to a new structure
(Scho¨llhorn, Mayer-Kress, Newell, & Michelbrink,
2008). For an optimal self-organized learning process,
the external influence in the form of augmented feedback
and key variables was omitted from the learning
protocol.
DL-experiments have been focused on one to three
sport movement techniques and have led to enhanced
acquisition and learning rates in comparison to repetitive
and blocked training conditions (Savelsbergh,
Kamper, Rabius, De Koning, & Scho¨llhorn, 2010).
Neurophysiological evidence for the effectivity of the
DL approach has been provided by acute EEG measurements
after DL (Henz & Scho¨llhorn, 2016). It has been
shown that 10 minutes of DL activity causes brain
states in which certain regions produce EEGfrequencies
in the alpha- and theta-bands that are
known to be advantageous for short-term memory and
learning. Meanwhile DL has also been applied in rehabilitation
for stroke patients (Repˇsait
e
et al., 2015) and
posture equilibrium (James, 2014).
