Swinging virtual lightsabers and punching improve pattern-based learning in VR tests

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies .

The short version

• Deciding whether a road is slippery, recognizing a potentially dangerous lesion on a medical scan or determining whether a piece of fruit is ripe may seem like tasks of the mind alone.
• But in everyday life, categorizing what we see is often closely tied to how we move and interact with the world around us.
• Despite this connection, decades of research have largely treated category learning as a cognitive process, with physical movement serving only to express a decision after it has been made.

What happened

Surprisingly, little research has examined whether the physical actions people make while categorizing information can actually influence how well they learn. Now, Florida Atlantic and Brown University researchers have found that larger movements can significantly improve learning.

Why it matters

However, the benefit depends on the type of category being learned.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Phys.org via the links above and below.