Chapter 11- Defining & Assessing Learning Flashcards
What is performance?
- Execution of a skill at a specific time & in a specific location
- Observable behaviour
What is learning?
- Not directly observable
- Must be inferred from observable behaviour
General performance characteristics of skill learning
1) Improvement
- Skills show some level of improvement over time
2) Consistency
- How variable are scores or of performance of person performing task
- Ex. Consistency of score of task
3) Stability
- How well you can do something, regardless of new circumstances you’re put in to do task
4) Persistence
- Improve performance capability which is marked by increase of persistence
- As someone progresses in learning, improved performance capability should last over increasingly longer periods of time
5) Adaptability
- When your performance can be done under many diff. conditions
- Can adapt no matter what the situation
6) Reduced Attention Demands
- Related to automaticity
- If something becomes well learned, can assume can do it w/ little concentration (becomes automatic)
What are some learning assessment techniques?
1) Observing Practice Performance
- Watch practice performance
2) Retention Tests
- Give a given time-period of break/rest & ask person to return (see if can still do same performance)
3) Transfer Tests
- Transferring to a new situation
- See if adaptable
4) Coordination Dynamics
- Angle- angle diagrams
- Look at relations of body part together
5) Dual-Task Procedure
- If something becoming more automatic, should be able to do another task on top of original
What is a performance curve?
Line graph that plots performance measures across practice trials or periods off time
- Provide evidence of improvement & consistency
What are the 4 general trends in performance curves?
1) Linear
- Proportional increases over trials or time
2) Negatively Accelerated
- Early improvement but slows later
3) Positively Accelerated
- Slight improvement early but substantial improvement later
4) Ogive or S-Shaped
- Combo of A, B & C curves
Mateniuk & Romanow (1983)
- Figure 11.3
Task - Tracking
- See line on screen, as line moves up & down, person manipulates joystick to create a similar pattern
- Look for improvement = compare to original figure & see how alike
- Look for consistency = look at standard deviation
What is a retention test + its purpose?
- Tests practice skill that a learner performs following an interval of time after practice has ceased
Purpose:
- Assess permanence of performance level achieved during practice
What is a transfer test + what can it involve?
- Assess adaptability of what was learned during practice
Involve:
- Performing skill in context or situation diff from practice (e.g., physical enviro)
How might you assess how well a tennis serve is learned?
Retention Test
- Person practices Mon, Wed, Fri
- Give person week off, then see serve on following Mon
Transfer Test
- Original = serve on right side to left
- Change serve left to right
- Change racket
- Go to a diff. court
What is coordination dynamics?
- Involves measurement & observation of mov’t coordination characteristics
- Allows observation of pattern stability & transition from one pattern to another
Lee, Swimmen & Verscheuren (1995)
- 90 degrees of relative phase
- Look at practice of how to do pattern
- Beginning - all over the place
- Overlap is getting tight/close = little deviation
- 3 Day post-test = very well retained
Two reasons why practice performance may misinterpret learning?
1) Practice may involve a performance variable that artificially inflates or depresses performance
2) May involve performance plateaus
- E.g., Franks & Wilberg (1982)
- Plateau misleads you into thinking there’s no room for improvement
Winstein et al. (1996) Experiment
Concurrent Feedback
- Put weight on scale & will tell you your performance right away
KR-1: Knowledge of Results
- After first block of trying to balance 40% of weight - given avg. of how well you did during those 10 trials
KR-5: Knowledge of results after 5 blocks
- Should give feedback right away, so can see how you’re doing
- Understood more about how to do task
