This sounds very much like differential learning (see Wolfgang Schollhorn) to me. In my personal experience it is a very potent training method when it comes to learning motor skills, and having observed two children learn to crawl and walk it also seems to be a "natural way" to learn for us.
I also observed myself learning non-motor skills better when applying this method in some form. I think most people here know about the yearly Advent of Code challenge. Often people use it to try out a new language and have fun. I believe one of the key reasons for its success (besides the fun) are the frequently similar, but slightly different, problems. Forcing people to approach it from slightly different viewpoints and trying out small variations, thus resulting in a deep understanding and learning effect.
I also observed myself learning non-motor skills better when applying this method in some form. I think most people here know about the yearly Advent of Code challenge. Often people use it to try out a new language and have fun. I believe one of the key reasons for its success (besides the fun) are the frequently similar, but slightly different, problems. Forcing people to approach it from slightly different viewpoints and trying out small variations, thus resulting in a deep understanding and learning effect.