practice

Practice is the repetition of performance or rehearsal of an activity with the aim of improving skill or knowledge. It includes formal training, self-directed exercises, and trial-and-error refinement, and it seeks to increase accuracy, speed, and consistency.

Deliberate practice is focused, goal-directed work that targets current limits, provides immediate feedback, and requires error correction. By contrast, simple repetition or massed practice may improve familiarity but offers less reliable improvement. Spaced (distributed) practice and retrieval practice (testing) aid long-term retention.

Practice involves setting specific goals, maintaining attention, and adjusting strategies based on feedback. Learners typically progress from cognitive to associative to autonomous stages as skills become automatic.

Applications span sports, music, arts, language learning, mathematics, and professional fields such as surgery, programming, and aviation. Examples include instrument practice with scales, solving varied problem sets, or debugging exercises.

Evidence shows that practice can produce substantial gains when the work is purposeful and guided. Quality, feedback, and consistency matter more than sheer duration; excessive practice without recovery or with poor strategies can hinder improvement.

Effective methods include distributed practice, varied contexts, mental rehearsal, and deliberate practice tailored to the learner, with regular feedback from teachers or peers.