motor skills learning and acquisition processes

7/30/2019 Motor Skills Learning and Acquisition Processes

1/49

Sport Books Publisher 1

Motor Skills: Learning

and Acquisition Processes

Chapter 18


2/49


Outline:

Developing Movement Intelligence

Stages of Learning a Skill

Feedback for Skill Learning

Transfer of Motor Learning


3/49


Developing Movement

Intelligence


4/49


Movement Intelligence

Following factors affect development ofmovement intelligence:

Starting at young age

Learning time

Instructor Equipment

Progression


5/49


Starting the Learning Process at a

Young Age As early as the preschool

years

Basic skills = basis for otheractivities Walking, throwing, catching

Skill should be taughtcorrectly the first time toavoid development of badhabits


6/49


Providing Sufficient Learning

Time Without physical experience,

skills cannot be effectively

learned and maintained

Sufficient time must be allotted

for participating in PAs thatenhance movement skills


7/49Sport Books Publisher 7

Being Taught By Qualified

Instructors Instructors, physical

educators, and coaches mustbe properly trained and have

experience with teaching PA

This means having trainedphysical educators fill such

positions, rather than math ormusic teachers who do nothave the necessarybackground



The Use of Quality Equipment

Safe, appropriate, and wellmaintained e.g., scaled down equipment for

children Lower basketball hoops

Smaller soccer nets

Lighter baseball bats

Effectiveness of teachingmovement skills is directlyrelated to the quality ofequipment



Following the Right Progression

Teaching skills in an organized manner thatmakes skills easier to grasp and learn



Stages of Learning a Skill



Three general stages of motor learning

have been identified

Each stage consists of:

Changes that occur as motor learning takes

place

Important features unique to each stage



Cognitive or Acquisition Stage

Begins when task first introduced

Learner cognitively determines:

What the particular skill involves

Performance goals required to perform theskill

Instructions:

Are verbally transmitted (verbal stage)

Serve to convey the general concept of the

skill

Self-talk and verbal reminders facilitate

learning

Performance: slow, jerky, and awkward



Associative or Stabilization Stage

Focused on performing andrefining the skill

Concentration is directedtowards smaller details (e.g.,timing)

Performance: controlled andconsistent

Rapid performanceimprovements (somewhatslower than fist stage)

Diminished self-talk



Autonomous or Application Stage

Performance: automatic and veryproficient

Attention demands:

Performance improvements:SlowLess obvious (e.g., reduced mentaleffort, improved style, reduced anxiety)



Feedback for Skill Learning



Information feedback: the information

that occurs as a result of a movement

Some information is received during the

movement and some is provided as aresult of the movement

Feedback is one of the strongest factorsthat controls the effectiveness oflearning



Feedback Classification

Information Feedback

Intrinsic Feedback Extrinsic Feedback

Knowledge of

Performance

Knowledge of

Results

Knowledge of

Performance

Knowledge of

Results

Vision

Audition

Touch

Muscle Feeling

.

Basketball

Golf

Tennis service ace

Darts

.

Instructor/CoachParent/Friend

Video replay

Photographs

Radar gun

Stopwatch

Lap times

Distance jumped

Height jumped

Judges score

.



Intrinsic Feedback

Information that is provided as a naturalconsequence of performing an action

Knowledge Knowledge

of performance of results

Arm extension Watching the

when hitting the tennis ball land

tennis ball in the opponents

court


19/49


Extrinsic Feedback

Information that is providedto the learner by somebodyelse or some artificial means following aperformance outcome

Provides information above and beyond

what is naturally available to the learner(augmented feedback)

Can be controlled; when, how, how often


20/49


Extrinsic Feedback contd

Knowledge of results Information about the degree of success

Not effective when outcome is obvious

Important when outcome is less obvious

Knowledge of performance Information about the execution of a completed

movement

Example: took your eye off the ball, swing wasa little late, etc.


21/49


Motivational Properties of

Feedback Extrinsic feedback serves to motivate the

learner

Error correction Therefore, a skilled instructor should be able

to reinforce correct actions as well as point

out errors


22/49


Feedback Can be a Crutch

Providing feedback continuously for a

long period of time can lead to

dependency Occasional feedback tends to enhance

learning

Various types of feedback that minimizedependency have been identified


23/49


Faded Feedback

Benefit: teacher can tailor feedback to respect

individual differences

Low Degree of skill High

High Gradual ly reduced (faded)

Feedback


24/49


Bandwidth Feedback

Benefits:1. Eventually faded feedback occurs

2. Lack of feedback = positive reinforcement

3. Movement consistency develops becauselearner is not encouraged to change movement

on each trial

Range of

correctness

Feedback

provided

No

feedback

provided


25/49


Summary Feedback

Benefits:1. Generates movement consistency

2. Avoids overloading the learner

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Trial 6 Trial 7 Trial 8 Trial 9

Feedback Feedback Feedback


26/49


When in the Learning Process is

Information Feedback Needed Most?

Cognitive Associative Autonomousstage stage stage

Feedback

is vital

Faded,

bandwidth,or summary

feedback

Feedback

withdrawal


27/49


How Much Feedback is Necessary?

Novel tasks

Processing capacity can be easily

overloaded Intense but selective instruction

One important piece of information

feedback at a time


28/49


How Precise Should Feedback Be?

Descriptive (general) feedback

Indicates something you did, right or wrong

e.g., there was no follow through Prescriptive (precise) feedback

Provides you with precise correction statements

about how to improve your movements

e.g., snap your wrist more on the follow through

Precise feedback generates far better results


29/49


Performa

nce

Blocks of Learning Trials

Precise Feedback

General Encouragement

High

Low

Early Late


30/49


What is the Best Timing for Information

Feedback?

Short-term memory is very

susceptible to loss

Generally, the greater the delay of

information provision the less effect the

given information has

Therefore, immediate feedback is morebeneficial


31/49


Transfer of Motor Learning


32/49


Transfer of learning between two tasks

generally increases as the similarity

between them increases

Types of Transfer:Positive vs. negative

Near vs. far


33/49


Positive Transfer

e.g., Practicing drills and lead-up gameswith strong (positive) transfer to the

actual game

Learning can be positively transferredfrom practice to game situation whendrills are similar in nature to the criteriontask


34/49


Negative Transfer

Not common

Activities that may negatively transfer tothe criterion task need to be avoidedwhen performance is critical

e.g., playing mini-golf before golftournament

Factors Affecting Positive Transfer Negative Transfer


35/49


Factors Affecting

Transfer

Positive Transfer

Example

Negative Transfer

Example

Movement

Response/Patterns

e.g., tennis & badminton

Racquets

Net

Similar shot variations

Ball vs. birdie

Psychomotor Demands

e.g., rowing, kayaking, &

canoeing

Water

Dynamic balance

Coordination

Boat size and level of

balance

Cognitive Demands

e.g., basketball & handball

Game purpose Travel on the court

Biomotor Demands

e.g., sprint & long jump

Explosive power No take off and jump in

sprinting

Psychological Demands Narrow focus of attention

in archery and darts

Shifting attention in

hockey vs. judo and karate


36/49


Near Transfer

Desired when the learning goal is a taskthat is relatively similar to the training

task Transfer of learning is specific and

closely approximates the ultimatesituation

e.g., practicing various plays before avolleyball tournament


37/49


Far Transfer

Desired when interested in developing moregeneral capabilities for a variety of skills

Occurs from one task to another very differenttask

Best applies when beginning to learn a skill

e.g.,

overhand throw baseball throw, football throw,tennis serve, volleyball spike


38/49


Transfer Strategies

Training machines and stimulators

Whole vs. part practice

Lead-up activities and drills Mental rehearsal


39/49


Training Machines and Simulators

Closely mimic features of real-world task

Goal = positive transfer of learning from

simulator to the target skill

Effectiveness depends on the ability to

simulate motor as well as perceptual,

conceptual, and biomotor elements


40/49


Whole vs. part practice

Part practice Practicing independent

components of motor skill

Eventually, units of a task shouldtransfer to the task as a whole

e.g., gymnastics routine

Whole practice Practicing skill as a whole

e.g., golf swing


41/49


Part Practice

Effective for tasks serial in

nature and relatively long

duration

Effective as long as the

actions of one part do not

interact strongly with theactions of the next part (i.e.,

independent)


42/49


Whole Practice

Used with discrete tasks

of short duration where

components interactintensely

Practicing individual

components wouldchange the essence of

the skill


43/49


Progressive Part Practice

Used to avoid transfer problems due to high

levels of interaction among task components

Effective for any sequential action; e.g.,

tennis serve


44/49


Lead-up Activities and Drills

1. Transfer to another target sporting activity

e.g., passing, shooting, dribbling, and faking

drills for soccer

2. Improvement of basic abilities

Quickening, balancing, perceptual exercises,

etc.

e.g., perceptual motor training


45/49


Mental Rehearsal

The process associated with mentally

rehearsing the performance of a skill in

the absence of any overt physical

movement

Evidence has demonstrated that mentalrehearsal generates positively

transferable motor learning

Involves constructing model situations

and going through the motions of what

you will do later

Especially beneficial for injured athletes

It is a supplement to physical practice


46/49


Designing Effective Practice

Conditions of Practice:

a) Blocked Practice- a given task is practiced on many consecutive trials before

setting about the next task- enables the learners to correct specific problems and refinetheir skills one at a time

- important early in practice when correct habits should belearned

b) Random Practice- ordering of tasks is randomized in a way that tasks fromdifferent classes are mixed throughout the practice period

- random practice is very effective once a skill has becomemore developed


47/49


Massed Versus Distributed Practice

a)Massed Practice-a schedule in which the amount of rest between practice trials is short

relative to the trial length

-eg. 5 sec of rest for a practice trial lasting 60 secs.

b)Distributed Practice-practice that allows for more rest between trials relative to the trial length

-the rest period may last as long as the trial itself

Reducing the amount of rest between trials will also reduce the amount of

time the body and central nervous system have to recover from physical

and mental fatigue

There is no single optimal practice-rest ratio for all learning tasks


48/49


Grouping for Practice

Designed to make learning suitable foreveryone involved

Should be based on the learners skilllevels, rather than a subjectivedetermination of their underlyingabilities

Other factors, such as maturity level,previous experience, and level ofphysical fitness need to be considered


49/49

Effects of Motivation on Learning

Until the learner has been motivated, effectivelearning is not likely to occur

An instructor plays an important role in motivating hisstudents (encouraging learners to set goals,providing excellent demonstrations, or using visual

aids)

Its a Fact !: She who is motivated makes more of aneffort during practice, can practice for longer periods

of time, and learns more in the end The Law of Effect: Organisms tend to repeat

responses that are rewarded and to avoid responsesthat are not rewarded or punished

motor skills learning and acquisition processes

Documents