2.1.2 - Skill Acquisition Flashcards
(complete)
Define skill
A learned ability to bring about pre-determined results with the minimum outlay of time, energy or both.
What are the characteristics of skill? (and revision tip)
A - Aesthetically pleasing
C - Consistent
E - Efficient
F - Fluent
A - Accurate
C - Controlled
E - Economical
Define continuum
A set of criteria on a scale which have particular characteristics to different degrees
What is an open skill?
A skill performed within an unpredictable environment - needs to be practiced in a variety of situations (decisions need to adapt)
What is a closed skill?
A skill performed within a predictable environment - repeated actions (fewer decisions to make)
What is a gross skill?
A skill performed using large muscle groups e.g. tackling, dribbling
What is a fine skill?
A skill performed using smaller, more intricate muscle groups e.g. archery, snooker, shooting (fine motor skills)
What is a self-paced skill?
A skill where the performer controls the speed at which the skill is performed - often have some control over when to start it e.g. dance, serve in tennis, penalty.
What is an externally-paced skill?
A skill where the performer has no control over when to start the skill or how fast it may be performed e.g. 100m sprint
What is a discrete skill?
Where the skill has a clear beginning and end and is in one short, sharp action e.g. rugby tackle
What is a continuous skill?
A skill with no clear beginning and end - often the end of one part of the skill is the start of the next part e.g. running
What is a serial skill?
A skill with several discrete skills linked together in a specific order to form a completed task e.g. gymnastics routine
What is a low organised skill?
A skill that is easily broken down into subroutines e.g. serve, 100m sprint
What is a high organised skill?
A skill that is not easily broken down into parts e.g. dance routine
What is a simple skill?
A skill that needs limited decisions to be processed during it’s execution - there is not a lot to think about as the skill is being completed
What is a complex skill?
A skill where there may be many decisions to make - an amount of information is needed before the performer can attempt the skill
Define transfer
The effect of the learning and performance of one skill on the learning and performance of another
What are the 4 types of transfer?
Positive
Negative
Zero
Bilateral
What is positive transfer?
When the learning of one skill helps the learning of another e.g. passing in netball and basketball
What is negative transfer?
When the learning of one skill hinders the learning of another e.g. tennis and badminton serves
What is zero transfer?
When the learning of one skill has no impact on the learning of another - therefore, no transfer between skills
e.g. a leap in dance has no impact on a chest pass in netball
What is bilateral transfer?
When the learning of one skill is passed across the body from limb to limb e.g. footballers who are right footed learning the same skills on the left foot so they are balanced.
How can a coach promote positive transfer?
- stop bad habits
- make sure first task is well learned before making progress (planned progression)
- point out similarities and transfer possibilities
- provide motivation
- realism (is it realistic)
What is whole practice?
Where the task can be presented in it’s entirety with sub-routines intact
e.g. golf swing, tennis serve, kick in football
When should whole practice be used?
When the skill is:
- fast/ballistic
- closed
- discrete
-simple
-highly organised
good for beginners for them to get a feel for the movement before breaking it down (promotes understanding)
What is whole-part- whole practice?
Practised in it’s entirety , then isolate a part or weakness to work on, then put it back into the whole skill
e.g. triple jump, routine, javelin
- Gives feedback and error correction, gives motivation, maintains feel of the skill
When should whole-part-whole practice be used?
use when:
- fast
-discrete
-hard to break down
- performer has weakness
Evaluation of whole practice?
:) - skill is more fluent
- may take shorter amount of time to perfect skill
- develops kinaesthesis
- keeps links between sub-routines
:( - unnecessary demand on performer
- performer can’t cope with all aspects at once
- fatigue
- too much information so not for beginners
Evaluation of whole-part-whole practice?
:) - provides motivation
- weakness can be corrected
- provides immediate feedback
- fluency + integration of sub-routines maintained whilst errors are corrected
- maintains feel for whole skill
:( - could produce negative transfer if not put back into whole practice
- needs to be put back into skill straight away to be effective
- time consuming
- some skills cannot be broken down
What is progressive-part-practice?
- when parts of the skill are practised individually, in order, before being linked together and expanded
- sometimes called chaining
When should progressive-part-whole practice be used?
use when:
- dangerous
- when order is important
- complex and serial
- low organised and externally paced
e.g. routine
Evaluation of progressive-part-practice?
:) - performer can focus on one particular aspect
- chance of fatigue is reduced
- success in stages = motivation
- may improve confidence
- allows coach and performer to focus on specific aspect or weakness
- reduces danger
:( - time consuming
- neglect of the whole skill/tasks
- ignores links between sub-routines
- chance of negative transfer if the first part of the skill is not properly learned before moving onto the next
What are the methods of presenting practice?
- whole practice
- whole-part-whole practice
- progressive-part practice
What are the types of practice?
- massed practice
- distributed practice
- variable practice
- mental practice
What is massed practice?
It is continuous practice without rest periods
When should massed practice be used?
use when:
- skill is discrete
- skill is simple
- skill is closed
- performers are autonomous
Evaluation of massed practice?
:) - enhances overlearning of skills so they become habitual
- motor programmes formed and recalled more easily in future
- improves fitness
- efficient use of coach and player time
:( - causes fatigue
- performer may not be physically capable of undertaking the practice
- no time for feedback
- could lead to negative transfer if conditions aren’t similar to a real game
What is distributed practice?
It is practice with rest periods included
When should distributed practice be used?
use when:
- used when skill is open and unpredictable
- when skill is complex
- when skill is externally paced
- when performer is a beginner
Evaluation of distributed practice?
:) - more effective than massed
- rest intervals allow for recovery
- allows time for mental practice
- coach can give feedback
- motivational
- takes pressure off performer
- reduces danger if practicing dangerous skills
:( - time consuming
- not useful for expert players who want to overlearn skills
- can cause negative transfer if it isn’t integrated into practice
What sports would use massed practice?
- In basketball practising a free throw
- Doing a dance routine over and over
- Dives in diving
What sports may use distributed practice?
- Swimmer practising stroke technique in training
- Steeplechase athletics
What is variable practice?
It is practising skills and drills in a constantly changing environment
When should variable practice be used?
use when:
- skill is open
- skill is externally paced
- skill is complex
- when performers are beginners
Evaluation of variable practice?
:) - develops schema
- increases motivation and fun due to variety of practice
- performer experiences decision making similar to real situation
- helps build sub routines
- allows adaption
:( - time consuming
- can cause fatigue
- possibility of information overload
- can cause negative transfer
- can confuse performers to what their goal is
- too demanding
What sports may use variable practice?
- Netball
- Football (practising pass)
- Team sports
What is mental practice?
Going over the skill in your mind without moving
Can be:
Internal - seeing your performance from within through your own eyes
External - seeing your performance from outside as a spectator
When should mental practice be used?
Use when:
- skill is complex
- skill is serial
- when performers are cognitive or autonomous
Evaluation of mental practice?
:) - produces a clear mental image of the skill
- builds motor programmes
- can rehearse strategies and tactics
- increases motivation and confidence
- controls anxiety and arousal before performances
- prevents wear and tear as no movement actually takes place
- can be completed when injured to remain memory of skill
:( - difficult for cognitive performers to complete effectively
- must be accurate and correct
- difficult if environment is not quiet
- performers may overthink and start to doubt themselves
What sports may use mental practice?
- High jumpers
- Games players
- In Trampolining
What are the 3 stages of learning?
Cognitive
Associative
Autonomous
What is the cognitive stage of learning?
The first stage of learning used by a novice.
Understanding sub-routines of skills are explored by trail and error.
Characteristics of the cognitive stage of learning?
- slow movements
- un-coordinated and jerky movements (a lack of fluency)
- no motor programmes developed
- mental image is created
- demonstrations and verbal explanations necessary
- mental rehearsal required
- many mistakes made, inconsistent
- learns through observing (SLT)
- coach may use extrinsic feedback to help them
- need to think carefully about actions
What is the associative stage of learning?
The second stage of learning. Motor programmes are developed, and performance is smoother as they develop a better understanding of the task.
It is longer than the cognitive stage.
Largest changes occur in this stage of learning.
Characteristics of the associative stage of learning?
- performer moves from a competent beginner to an accomplished performer
- some never progress beyond this stage
- smoother movements
- subroutines are linked
- more coordinated movements and increased fluency
- motor programmes are developed
- fundamentals of skill improve
- practice to make progress
- improved selective attention
- develop kinaesthesis
- fewer mistakes + errors
- begin to focus on finer aspects of skill
- will use feedback
- may compare performance to top-class performer
- adjust practice
What is the autonomous stage of learning?
Final stage of learning, used by experts when movement is detailed and specific
Characteristics of the autonomous stage of learning?
- performer is classed as an expert
- improvements are slower as performer is fine tuning
- some performers never reach this stage
- fluent and efficient movement
- movement is automatically undertaken easily without conscious thought
- automatic control
- attention to detail
- learner is able to detect + correct areas
- increased self confidence
- high level of consistency
- quick processing time
- good selective attention
- concentrates on fine detail
- motor programmes fully developed
- only reached after effective practice
- feedback is intrinsic
What are motor programmes?
Components of the skill that are stored in the memory
What is positive feedback?
Providing information that was good/correct about the performance so it is repeated in the future.
-tells the player what is going well
-uses positive reinforcement
-gives motivation to maintain effort
-combined with praise to give a feel good factor
Advantages of positive feedback?
- Providing the feedback is given accurately, it gives reinforcement of correct or incorrect aspects of performance.
- Builds self-esteem and confidence in performance.
- Important for performers in cognitive stage to give positive reinforcement of the S-R bond.
Disadvantages of positive feedback?
- Performance can become over confident, and performance can fall (an incorrect S-R bond can be created).
- Some performers don’t respond well to too much praise, and hence ignore feedback.
What is negative feedback?
Providing information that was incorrect/wrong with the performance so it is corrected in the future.
-uses negative reinforcement or negative criticism about poor performances
-enables errors to be corrected
-enables bad habits to be removed
-gives clarity on which part of the task needs to be improved
-should be used sparingly on cognitive performers
Advantages of negative feedback?
- Could refine and improve the performance of autonomous performers
Disadvantages of negative feedback?
- Can demotivate a performer, especially in the cognitive stage
- Does not encourage a performer especially if the feedback is inaccurate or unfounded
What is extrinsic feedback?
Feedback from an outside source e.g. coach
-can be positive or negative
-used to reinforce correct actions and correct errors
-performer gains a view of what they need to improve in or what they need to maintain
Advantages of extrinsic feedback?
- Provided the feedback is given accurately, it gives reinforcement or correct/incorrect aspects of a performance
Disadvantages of extrinsic feedback?
- May demotivate a performer if they don’t understand the feedback
- Does not encourage as much kinesthesis awareness, and the performer can therefore become over-reliant on the coach
What is intrinsic feedback?
Internal feedback used to know if the skill has been completed correctly or not
-can be positive or negative
-with more experience the player can use intrinsic feedback
-kinesthesis is from within