chapter9 flashcards
How do Fitts and Posner’s theory and Bernstein’s motor learning theory differ?
1.Fitts and Posner’s theory: Focuses on how attention and thinking change as you learn a skill.
2.Bernstein’s theory: Focuses on solving complicated problems to learn and control movements.
what are the stages of Fitt’s theory?
Fitts’ Stage 1: Cognitive Stage
1.Focus: The learner is figuring out what to do and how to do it.
2.Key Features: Lots of thinking, verbal instructions, and trying to understand the task.
3.Performance: Jerky, uncertain, and not well-timed at first.
4.Learning: Gains are quick, as the learner discovers strategies for performing the task.
Example: When learning to drive, you might first focus on what each pedal does and what the gearshift is for.
Fitts’ Stage 2: Fixation Stage
1.Focus: The learner now focuses on making movements smoother and more efficient.
2.Key Features: Improvement continues, but performance becomes more consistent and automatic.
3.Performance: Less inconsistency and smoother movements. The learner becomes better at adapting to the environment.
4.Learning: The learner starts to fine-tune movements, becoming more efficient and less reliant on thinking.
Example: As you practice driving, you stop thinking about the basics like steering and shifting gears, and focus more on the road and timing.
Fitts’ Stage 3: Autonomous Stage
1.Focus: The learner can perform the task effortlessly and automatically.
2.Key Features: The learner has high skill and can focus on more complex aspects of the task.
3.Performance: The movements are almost effortless and automatic. The learner can multitask, like making decisions in a game while performing the skill.
4.Learning: Improvements are slower now because the learner is already very skilled.
Example: A seasoned driver can talk to someone or listen to music while driving without thinking too much about the mechanics of the car.
what are the stages for bernstiens theory
Bernstein’s Stage 1: Reduce Degrees of Freedom
1.Focus: The learner needs to figure out how to control all the possible movements of the body.
2.Key Features: The learner “freezes” unnecessary body parts to make it easier to focus on the most important movements.
3.Goal: Simplify the task by limiting the movement options, allowing the learner to concentrate on basic, essential actions.
Example: A beginner learning to ride a bike might stiffen their body and hold on to the handlebars tightly to reduce unnecessary movement.
Bernstein’s Stage 2: Release Degrees of Freedom
1.Focus: Once the learner gets the basic movements down, they start to add more flexibility and freedom in their actions.
2.Key Features: The learner “unfreezes” some of the body parts that were initially controlled, allowing for more natural, faster, or more powerful movement.
3.Goal: Increase movement efficiency and speed by engaging more muscles and joints.
Example: A beginner cyclist starts to relax their grip on the handlebars, allowing for smoother turns and faster pedaling.
Bernstein’s Stage 3: Exploit Passive Dynamics
1.Focus: The learner now uses the body’s natural movements and physical properties (like gravity, momentum, etc.) to improve performance.
2.Key Features: The learner makes the movement more efficient by taking advantage of physics, reducing unnecessary effort.
3.Goal: Achieve the task with maximum skill and minimal energy.
Example: An experienced cyclist uses the downhill momentum to coast more easily, conserving energy while maintaining speed.
!!Limitations of Fitts’ and Bernstein’s Stages
Both Fitts’ and Bernstein’s theories don’t present a rigid, linear progression. Learning doesn’t always move smoothly from one stage to another; rather, these stages describe tendencies or capabilities at different points in the learning process, which can change over time.
What is the Constraints-Led Approach to learning?
Suggests certain features act as boundaries on performance and that the interaction between the Organismic, Environmental and Task Constraints shapes the learning process. Therefor not just one of these constraints is responsible for the learning. Instead it is an interaction of all 3. the constraints-led approach considers the learner’s perception and action needs as the critical components of practice (instead of focusing on rigid drills to teach the learner)
Example of an environmental constraint
base they are learning on: in water, land, space, etc
Example of Task constraint
dimensions of tools used in a sport, ex: bat can only be so big or long, or must not use hands in soccer game
What is the time between the last time you practiced something and the time you are then tested on it?
The retention interval (the forgetting time)
Why is error-detection capability a goal of practice?
We want the learner to notice their mistakes and adjust on their own without relying on a coach - this way the learner will be able to be successful at a moments notice.
give an examples of why error-detection capability is important?
When we learn to do CPR we are practicing with a teacher but we need to know how to do it well without the teacher in an emergency situation.
A coach also cannot tell us exactly what to do while the game is in play all of the time. We need to be able to adjust during play on our own.
what is the difference between open and closed skills?
1.Open Skills: Performed in an unpredictable, changing environment. Requires constant adaptation.
Example: Playing soccer, driving in traffic.
2.Closed Skills: Performed in a stable, predictable environment. Little need to adjust to external changes.
Example: Shooting a free throw in basketball, hitting a golf ball.
What is the difference between discrete, serial, and continuos skills?
- Discrete Skills: Have a clear beginning and end; usually short in duration.
Example: Throwing a ball, flipping a light switch. - Serial Skills: A sequence of discrete skills performed in a specific order to complete a task.
Example: Gymnastics routine, shifting gears in a car. - Continuous Skills: No clear start or end; actions are repeated continuously.
Examples: Swimming, running, cycling.
What is the difference between self-paced and externally self paced skills?
- Self-Paced Skills: The performer controls the timing and pace of the skill execution.
Example: Serving in tennis, aiming in archery. - Externally Paced Skills: The timing and pace are determined by external factors or the environment.
Example: Returning a tennis serve, catching a thrown ball.
What are three important things for environmental goals?
Maximizing certainty
Minimizing energy
Minimizing time
What are key concepts in skill learning?
- Stages of Learning: Cognitive (understanding the skill), Associative (refining movement), Autonomous (automatic skill).
- Training Specificity: Practice should match the task or environment where the skill will be used.
- Generalizability: Skills transfer to new situations (e.g., adapting from driving automatic to manual cars).
- Developing “rules” through practice to adjust movements in different contexts.
- Performance Curves: Graphs showing improvement over time (linear, S-shaped, positive/negative acceleration).
- Law of Practice: Practice improves performance, but progress slows as skill level increases.
What are the key components of practice design and the Contextual Interference Effect?
- Block vs. Random: Blocked (repeated practice of one skill) vs. Random (mixing skills in practice).
- Constant vs. Variable: Practicing one variation vs. multiple variations of a skill.
- Whole vs. Part: Practicing the entire skill vs. breaking it into smaller parts.
- Simulation: Replicating real-world tasks to improve skill transfer.
- Mental Practice: Visualizing skills to enhance performance.
- Massed vs. Distributed: Short/no breaks between trials vs. longer rest periods.
- Feedback: Information to guide performance (e.g., augmented, intrinsic, immediate, delayed).
