Skill Acquisition

Skill Acquisition

1. Classification of skills

   • Skill
     • Learned ability to bring about predetermined results with maximum certainty often with the minimum outlay of time or energy or both
   • Difficulty
     • Simple
       • Not affected by environment, few sub routines, little information to process, time to evaluate, feedback is not essential
       • Sprint start in 100m
     • Complex
       • Affected by the environment, numerous of sub routines,, large amount of information to process, little time to evaluate, feedback aids performance
       • Lay-up in basketball
   • Motor/movement skill
     • An action or task that has a goal and that requires voluntary body and/or limb movement to achieve the goal and is learnt rather than being innate
   • Environment
     • Open
       • Affected by an unstable and changing environment, externally paced, requires fast and rapid adjustments
         • Rugby tackle
     • Closed
       • Not affected by the environment, stable and fixed environment, self-paced, habitual movements
         • Diving
   • Pacing
     • Self-paced
       • Performer controls the rate at which the activity is carried out, performer decides when to initiate the movement
         • Gymnastics
     • Externally paced
       • Action is determined by external sources, involves a reaction
         • Sprint start in 100m
   • Muscular movement
     • Fine motor
       • Involve small muscle movements and groups, associate with speed, efficiency and accuracy
       • Shooting
     • Gross motor
       • Involves large muscle movements and groups, associate with strength and power
       • Javelin
   • Organisation
     • High
       • Sub routines are difficult to identify and isolate from overall movement, practiced as a whole
         • Trampolining
     • Low
       • Sub routines are easily identified, isolated from overall movement
         • Swimming start
   • Continuity
     • Discrete
       • Well defined beginning and end, usual brief in nature, if repeated the skill requires to be started again
         • Diving
     • Serial
       • A number of discrete skills together, order is essential, stimulus and response
         • Triple jump
     • Continuous
       • Poorly defined beginning and end, continuous for unlimited time, end of one is start of another
         • Cycling

2. Types and methods of practice

   • Whole part whole
     • The activity or skill is presented and practiced as a full/entire movement. Activity or skill is broken down into sub routines and each practiced in isolation. The activity or skill is presented and practiced as a full/entire movement
   • Progressive part
     • Complex skills by gradually building up the sub routines and phases of the skill
   • Part approach
     • Activity or skill is broken down into sub routines and each practiced in isolation
   • Whole approach
     • The activity or skill is presented and practiced as a full/entire movement
   • Attentional wasteage
     • Performers concentration can misdirect irrelevant cues (damage the effectiveness of how beginners learn the skills)
   • Kinaesthetic sense
     • The sense or feelings we get from the movements
   • Massed
     • Practice that involves very short, or no, rest intervals within the practice session
       • Continuous practice period
   • Distributed
     • Practice involves relatively long rests between trials. The 'rest' intervals could involve tasks that are unrelated to the main practice activity
   • Fixed
     • Involves a stable and predictable practice environment, with practice conditions remaining unchanging or 'fixed'
   • Varied
     • Practice needs to be varied so that he performer can come into contact with a range of experiences

3. Transfer of skills

   • Proactive transfer
     • The influence of one skill on a skill yet to be performed
   • Retroactive transfer
     • The influence of one skill on the learning or performance of a skill that has previously been learned
   • Positive transfer
     • When the learning and performance of one skill helps the learning and performance of another skill
   • Negative transfer
     • When the learning and performance of one skill hinders the learning and performance of another skill
   • Bilateral transfer
     • The transfer of learning from one limb to another

4. Learning theories

   • Associationist
     • A group of theories related to connecting stimulus and response. These theories are often refered to as S-R theories. An individual is conditioned by stimuli which are 'connected' or 'bonded' to appropriate responses
   • Reinforcement
     • The process that increases the probability of a behaviour occurring. Reinforcement strengthens the S-R bond. Can be positive or negative
   • Positive reinforcement
     • The stimulus is given when the desired response occurs
   • Negative reinforcement
     • The stimulus is withdrawn when the desire response occurs
   • Punishment
     • Giving a stimulus to prevent a response occurring
   • Operant conditioning
     • Skinnerconducted a study on rats to show that conditioning is more effective through manipulation of behaviour towards a stimulus rather than through modification of the stimulus. Trial and error. Reinforcement
     • Thorndike's laws
       • Law of exercise: Rpeating or rehearsing the S-R connections is more likely to strengthen them. If the desired response occurs, reinforcement is necessary
       • Law of readiness: The performer must be physically and mentally able to complete the task effectively
       • Law of effect: If the response is followed by a 'satisfier,' then the stimulus-response bond is strengthened. If the response is followed by an 'annoyer,' then the stimulus-response bond is weakened. This means that pleasant outcomes are likely to motivate the performer to repeat the action
   • Cognitive theory
     • insight learning: problem-solving involving memory. Previous experiences are used to help solve new problems
   • Social learning theory
     • Suggests that personality and associated behaviour are determined by the situation or social nevironment
       • Significant others
         • Bandura
           • Attention: pay attention to demonstration and focus on important cues. Attractiveness of model, competence of the model, status of the model
             • Retention: must be able to remember the model that is presented. Create a mental pictre. Mental rehearsal
               • Motor reproduction: observer must be physically able to imitate the skill. Feedback is important
                 • Motivation: level of motivation is crucial. External reinforcement

5. Stages of learning, guidance and feedback

   • Stages of learning
     • Cognitive: earliest stage of learning, performer understands what needs to be done, trial and error, successful movements are reinforced,
     • Associative: practices, compares and associates the movements produced with the mental image, gradually becomes more aware of increasingly subtle and complex cues, improvement usually occurs, motor programmes are formed
     • Autonomous: final stage, movements are almost automatic, very little conscious thought needed, distractions are largely ignored, motor programmes are completely formed in LTM,
   • Performance
     • A temporary measurement which can alter from time to time. It differs from the term learning in that learning is relatively more permanent
   • Guidance
     • Verbal: used to describe the action and explain how to perform the activity
       • Do not talk for too long, some movements simply cannot be explained, direct verbal guidance is better in the early stages, questioning techniques can encourage personal development and confidence
         • + Can be in the form of feedback therefore used to reinforce good movements and identify errors, can hold attention of performer if used appropriately and can be used to motivate the performer to learn and develop
           • - Can lead to information overload, distraction or confusion, could be inaccurate
     • Visual: demonstrations, videos, charts to create mental images
       • + Easy to create a mental image from demonstrations, skill can be seen in different stages to make it easier to learn and develop, encourages observational learning
         • - Demo could be incorrect leading to bad habits therefore hinders skill development, coach may be unable to show an accurate demonstration, may be unclear or too quick
     • Manual: physical manipulation to help the learning and performance of skills
       • Mechanical: The use of machinery to help the learning and performance of skills
         • + Gives performer a greater sense of safety and helps with their confidence, used to isolate an important aspect of the skill to practice as a sub routine
           • - Can be over-restrictive, may feel a lack of control, can lead to a false sense of kinaesthesis
   • Feedback
     • Intrinsic: continuous feedback which comes from proprioceptors
       • + Readily available, movements can be corrected and altered immediately, performers do not have to rely on others
         • - May not lead to accurate interpretation if in the cognitive stage