Chapters 17-19

Question 1

How much practice is best? How good do my students have to be? (What do these questions mean in sport?)

Answer 1

In sport, this can be an issue when important deadlines have to be met. (Ex. practice before a competition).

They have to have a certain level of competency to perform the duties.

the amount of practice has to be based on meeting the competency requirements for the task in a specific period of time.

Retention and how the brain store information is what this depends on.

Question 2

What is a procedural skill?

Answer 2

a skill that involves a series of discrete responses each of which must be performed at the appropriate time in the appropriate sequence. These types of skills are typically performed repetitively on an ongoing basis. These kinds of skills are common in occupational, industrial and military settings.

For example, typing, assembly line work, taking apart and re-assembling a machine gun, etc.

Question 3

One of the significant things about the learning of procedural skills is that they benefit from a process known as?

Answer 3

Over learning

Question 4

What is over learning?

Answer 4

continuing practice beyond the point at which a certain level of performance competency is achieved

Question 5

What overlearning does is ensure is?

Answer 5

that the skill is practiced to the point where sufficient retention occurs, so that the learner will be able to remember how to perform the skill no matter how much time has passed since they performed it last (recall Ch. 11 and retention as one of the performance characteristics of learning).

Question 6

Overlearning for a specific practice period produces better _____ than without overlearning? What is this particularly true for?

Answer 6

Retention.

(i.e., when practice is terminated as soon as the competency requirements are met).

This is particularly true for intermittent skills (i.e., skills that are performed infrequently after the training is complete). Because these skills are not practiced on a regular basis, there is a good chance the learner may forget much of what was learned during the training, thereby making the training an ineffective use of time.

Question 7

For most procedural skills, overlearning produces greater retention, but only to a certain point. Why is this?

Answer 7

If the skill is repetitive with little variability, practice performance may eventually suffer as a result of boredom and monotony.

For example assembly line workers may make mistakes due to a lack of variety in the task (think about vigilance from Ch. 9).

Question 8

Overlearning: When performing a dynamic balance task, research has shown that?

Answer 8

retention test performance for groups practicing 50% more than necessary was as good as groups who practiced 100-200% more.

Generally speaking, the amount of practice will increase the permanence of the learner’s capability for future skill performance.

Research indicates that the amount of practice (i.e., the quantity) is not the only critical variable for optimal motor skill acquisition; i.e., the “quality” of practice is also a significant factor.

Question 9

It is important for instructors to be aware of the relationship between practice and permanence. Specifically how?

Answer 9

Specifically, how and what you practice determines what you learn and what becomes permanent. So, if you start coaching an athlete who is 14 yrs. old with 6 years of experience, you may find it difficult to help that athlete improve their motor skills and/or to correct errors that have become “permanent” through 6 years of practice. Consequently, it is very important for beginners to learn motor skills properly from a knowledgeable and competent coach early on in their development. Unfortunately, in many cases this does not happen.

Question 10

Coaches and instructors should be aware that in terms of motor learning, what is only one of many important factors? Why is it one of many others?

Answer 10

the amount of practice is only one of a number of important factors.

The amount of practice will interact with “other variables” (e.g., the quality of instruction delivered through AF) for optimal learning.

An example of interaction is that as the amount of practice increases (i.e., the more you practice), the more “variety” of practice becomes important.

Question 11

What is the best way to make use of limited practice availability?

Answer 11

Practical Distribution

Question 12

What is Practical Distribution?

Answer 12

the fact that once you’ve decided exactly how much practice your learners need to have to reach a certain level of performance proficiency, you’ll need to decide how best to “distribute” that practice over the time period available to you.

Question 13

With respect to practice distribution, there are two general approaches that are typically used, which are?

Answer 13

1. to try to complete the practice in a limited number of sessions
2. to distribute the practice more evenly by scheduling a greater number of sessions.

Question 14

What is Massed practice approach?

Answer 14

having large chunks of practice time all in one session (or a small number of sessions), as opposed to distributing the practice time over a greater number of shorter sessions.

Question 15

Individuals generally learn skills better with?

Answer 15

a greater number of (shorter) practice sessions compared to fewer (longer) sessions (for an equal amount of practice time); i.e., a distributed practice schedule is better.

This can be difficult in reality; availability of the facility dictates practice time.

For example, you may want your group of 10 yr. old swimmers to practice each day (Mon.-Fri.) for an hour and a half, for a total of 7.5 hrs. per week. In reality, the community pool may only be available on Mon., Wed. and Fri. Therefore, you will have to schedule 3 x 2.5 hr. practices instead. However, while it is generally accepted that distributed practice schedules result in better learning, the type of skill being taught can also be a factor.

Question 16

What is Massed practice?

Answer 16

generally has fewer, longer practice sessions than a distributed practice schedule (e.g., 1 x 4 hour practice vs. 4 x 1 hour practices).

Question 17

What is Distributed practice?

Answer 17

distributes the same amount of practice time over more sessions (each session is shorter). For example, 4 x 1 hr. practice sessions vs. 1 x 4 hour session.

Question 18

What is a Intertrial rest interval?

Answer 18

the amount of rest that is available during any given practice session (specifically, the amount of time between practice attempts).

Discrete skills like tennis have more rest time (built-in breaks) then continuous skills like swimming.

As such, “massed” practice approaches are often more feasible for discrete skills than they are for continuous skills.

Question 19

What is the optimal length for the interpractice (rest period) interval? (Discrete vs. massed)

Answer 19

The answer to the question of which practice distribution method is best also depends on the type of skill being taught (continuous vs. discrete).

Research suggests that distributed practice schedules (e.g., practice 1 day, rest the next) are better for continuous skills.

For example, run 10 km on day 1, rest on day 2, run 10 km on day 3, rest on day 4, etc.

For discrete skills, massed practice is often acceptable.

This is because rest is built in to the performance of the skill (since the skill naturally stops and starts).

Question 20

One of the most important decisions an instructor will have to make (along with all the other important decisions), is?

Answer 20

whether or not to teach a motor skill in its entirety or in separate parts.

The answer to this question will depend on the experience and learning stage of the participants as well as on several other factors.

It is important to point out that an accurate skill analysis (i.e., a biomechanical assessment) is needed to correctly identify the complexity and organization of a skill.

It is important to note that these two approaches (i.e., teaching the whole skill or teaching it in parts) are not mutually exclusive.

Depending on the situation and the objectives to be accomplished, they may be used interchangeably for different reasons at different times.

Question 21

What is Whole practice?

Answer 21

Teaching a skill in its entirety

Question 22

What is Part practice?

Answer 22

teaching a skill in parts

Question 23

Whole and Part Practice: To answer the question about which approach is best, one needs to look at?

Answer 23

the complexity and organization of the skill being taught.

Question 24

What is Complexity?

Answer 24

refers to the number of component parts and information processing demands (i.e., the attentional demands) of a skill. Skills that are low in complexity have a small number of skill/processing components, whereas skills that are high have a much greater number.

Question 25

What is Organization?

Answer 25

refers to how the various skill components are related. The different movement components of a skill can be either interdependent or independent.

Question 26

What is High complexity?

Answer 26

Refers to skills that have multiple component parts that require significant attention, particularly for beginners. For example, driving, a gymnastics routine, air traffic control, etc.

Question 27

What is Low complexity?

Answer 27

Refers to skills that have very few component parts; e.g., prehension (picking up a cup), walking, juggling, etc.

Question 28

It is also important to recognize that skill complexity is not synonymous with?

Answer 28

skill difficulty.

It is possible for a skill to have a low number of component parts, and therefore be low in complexity, and still be quite difficult to perform (e.g., juggling).

Question 29

What is Independent- low organization?

Answer 29

Parts of the skill do not depend (or are less dependent) on each other, hence it is possible to perform parts of the skill by themselves. For example, diving, dance, synchronized swimming, figure skating, playing musical instruments, etc.

Question 30

What is Interdependent- high organization?

Answer 30

Each component of the skill is highly related to (i.e., dependent on) the other components or the component that immediately precedes it, hence it may be difficult to perform one single “part” of the skill. e.g., swimming, rowing, throwing, cycling, etc. (note: most skills high in organization are continuous skills).

Question 31

Whole practice is better suited for?

Answer 31

skills that are low in complexity (i.e., have a small number of parts) and high in organization (the parts are highly interdependent).
Whole practice also tends to be more applicable at the later (more advanced) stages of learning.

Question 32

Part practice is better suited to skills that are?

Answer 32

high in complexity (i.e., have a large number of parts) and low in organization (the parts are fairly independent).

In most cases, part practice (where applicable) is generally the best approach at the beginning stages of learning.

Question 33

If the individual movement components (or parts) of a skill do not depend on each other, it will be easy to?

Answer 33

perform the different parts of the skill separately. For example, a gymnastics floor routine is low in organization because the individual components (e.g., a round-off, a back handspring, handstand, etc.) are quite independent of each other and can be practiced easily by themselves.

skills that are low in organization naturally favour a part practice approach.

skills that have movement components that are interdependent are high in organization, and are much more difficult to subdivide and practice separately (e.g., skating, throwing a javelin, the arm stroke in swimming, etc.).

Question 34

Part Practice Methods: In general, there are many advantages to using part practice to teach motor skills, particularly for beginners. Why?

Answer 34

it allows you to focus on one specific skill component at a time.

This is beneficial because it reduces the information processing demands of trying to learn the skill (i.e., beginners can focus their attention on one basic fundamental movement component at a time).

Question 35

There are four different part practice methods that can be used to teach motor skills, they are?

Answer 35

1. Fractionization
2. Segmentation (also known as the part progressive method or chaining.)
3. Simplification
4. Simulation

Question 36

What is Fractionization?

Answer 36

This method involves practicing separate components of the entire skill. Based on a biomechanical skill assessment, an attempt should be made to practice the “independent” parts of the skill separately.

Question 37

Advantage of fractionization?

Answer 37

The advantage of this method is that the learner is able to focus on learning one thing at a time. The approach should incorporate an appropriate learning progression in which the most important movement components are learned first.

For example, practicing a golf swing. Separate parts that can be practiced independently are the grip, the stance, the backswing, etc.

Question 38

What is Segmentation (also known as the part progressive method or chaining.)?

Answer 38

The skill is divided into parts with the parts practiced separately as in the fractionization method. The difference here is that the first two parts will be joined together and practiced, before practicing the next part in the sequence (i.e., practice parts 1 and 2 separately, then join them together and practice both before practicing part 3).

For example, to practice the “clean and jerk” lift in weightlifting, you might focus on practicing the “clean” and the “jerk” phases of the lift independently, and then “chain” them together to practice the linkage between the two phases. Similarly in playing the guitar or piano, you might organize several notes or chords into two groups, and then practice the groups independently. The next step would be to practice “linking” the two groups together, before learning the next group in the sequence.

Question 39

Some of the advantages of Segmentation (also known as the part progressive method or chaining.)?

Answer 39

That the independent parts (units), as well as the linkages between the parts, are practiced “progressively”.

The goal is to “progress” through the different independent units of the skill until the whole skill is practiced in its entirety.

Some examples include different parts of routines or sequences of moves (e.g., gymnastics, dance, wrestling, etc.); hockey (practice stick handling and skating separately, then practice them together).

This method is good for skills in which the timing of different movement sequences is important

Question 40

Some of the disadvantages of Segmentation (also known as the part progressive method or chaining.)?

Answer 40

A potential disadvantage is that parts at the end of the “chain” may be practiced less frequently than those at the beginning.

Question 41

Segmentation combines what?

Answer 41

Segmentation combines the benefits of part practice (reduces attentional demands) and whole practice (facilitates coordination/timing and the linking/organization of separate components)

Question 42

What is Simplification?

Answer 42

Take part of the skill and simplify it in some way so that the skill is easier to learn.

Simplification is an important practice technique for beginners who frequently have difficulty learning certain skill components, makes it easier so the participant has an opportunity to learn.

Simplification is often achieved by changing either the rules or the equipment with which the skill is performed.

An example of a skill that is difficult for small children to learn is to hit a baseball/softball with a bat when it is thrown by a pitcher.

Question 43

What are several additional ways to implement simplification in a motor learning context (Simplification)

Answer 43

The most common strategy for simplification is to reduce the skill difficulty (e.g., lowering the baskets in kids basketball, putting up bumpers in bowling to prevent gutter balls, etc.).

Skills can also be simplified by reducing the coordination demands of the task; e.g., in drumming, practice only with your hands (i.e., with the sticks) or only with the foot pedals.

Another way to simplify is to reduce the rhythmic difficulty of the skill by providing auditory accompaniment; e.g., perform routines to music in synchronized swimming and dance, use a metronome to keep time (i.e., set the rhythm) when playing music or walking, drum to the beat produced by an electronic drum kit, etc.

You can also simplify by reducing the speed (i.e., the tempo) of the skill performance (especially for skills that demand speed and accuracy/precision); e.g., turns in figure skating, parts of a dance routine, changing chords when playing the guitar, etc.

Question 44

What is Simulation?

Answer 44

Practicing the skill in its entirety (whole practice), while focusing on specific parts.

This technique is useful in situations where it is either difficult or inadvisable to practice the skill in separate parts.

Question 45

Simulation is beneficial for?

Answer 45

Simulation is beneficial for skills in which there is a lack of “naturally” occurring independent units.

These kinds of skills have components that are highly interdependent (i.e., the skill is high in organization), such as performing the snatch in Olympic weightlifting.

Question 46

Simulation is advantageous because?

Answer 46

The learner can direct their attentional resources to one specific skill component (e.g., a key, weak or critical component) during whole skill practice. For example, during the clean and jerk in Olympic weightlifting, focusing on keeping the body weight on the back of the heels during the clean, and using the legs and not the arms to lift the barbell overhead during the jerk.

Simulation is generally more effective for experienced performers who already know how to perform the skill proficiently.

Question 47

Examples of mental practice?

Answer 47

Mental practice is also used synonymously with the terms mental training, mental preparation and mental rehearsal (and sometimes mental imagery

mental practice applies to both skill acquisition (learning) and performance preparation

Mental practice frequently involves mental imagery , which is defined as using your imagination to re-create and/or invent sensory experiences inside your head.

Mental imagery can be either internal or external.

Question 48

What is internal imagery?

Answer 48

involves re-creating the “sensations” (feeling, hearing, etc.) associated with movement and/or skill performance.

Question 49

What is External imagery ?

Answer 49

involves viewing your own (or someone else’s) performance from a physically detached perspective (for e.g., like watching yourself on a video). Because of its external perspective, external imagery is typically visual.

Question 50

Visual mental imagery is known as?

Answer 50

visualization.

Question 51

Visualization can be?

Answer 51

either internal or external, depending on what you want to imagine.

Question 52

The most common application of mental practice is to enhance skill performance through a variety of techniques that include?

Answer 52

enhance skill performance through a variety of techniques that include focusing, arousal control and relaxation.

Question 53

What is Sports Psychology? When is it introduced?

Answer 53

elite athletes use mental skills training to optimize peak performance at important competitions.

mental practice is a key component of an athlete’s psychological skills training and is typically introduced during the autonomous stage of learning

Question 54

High performance athletes typically make use?

Answer 54

of a variety of different kinds of mental practice techniques including carefully prepared self-talk/verbal cue routines and internal/external imagery.

Question 55

With respect to skill acquisition, mental practice is particularly helpful to beginners how and when?

Answer 55

With respect to skill acquisition, mental practice is particularly helpful to beginners during the cognitive stage of learning (refer to Ch. 12). Recall that at this stage the learner is typically preoccupied with remembering what to do to perform the skill correctly. Research shows that mental practice helps with the acquisition of cognitive skill elements in the early stages of learning. For example, helping to remember what shot to make in a given situation when playing tennis or golf; helping youth soccer (or hockey) players remember where they need to be on the field (or ice) to play their position (e.g., defense), etc.

Question 56

While mental practice can be used to facilitate skill acquisition, instructors must remember that?

Answer 56

it is only an aid and not a substitute for physical practice.

Question 57

Mental practice can be used to?

Answer 57

• rehearse the sequential features of skill performance (e.g., mentally rehearsing parts of a routine or rehearsing the sequences of turns in a downhill ski race, etc.).
• used to build confidence (e.g., to visualize the perfect performance) and reduce performance anxiety through relaxation and positive self-talk.
• used to direct attention to critical skill components or strategies during the performance of a skill (i.e., focus attention).
• used to gain control of emotional states so that arousal levels will be optimal.

Question 58

What is arousal?

Answer 58

refers to the level of excitement or activation generated by the CNS.

Question 59

What is Low arousal?

Answer 59

includes sleep, deep relaxation, mental fatigue/tiredness, etc.

Question 60

What is High arousal?

Answer 60

e.g., life-threatening situations (“fight or flight” response), elevated heart rate, mental alertness, rapid breathing etc.

causes the CNS to release hormones to prepare the body for action (mentally and physically).

This survival/stress response is known as the “fight or flight” response

it prepares the body for physical action against an imminent threat, by either defending one’s self (fighting) or trying to remove one’s self from harm (flight).

Question 61

High levels of arousal are associated with?

Answer 61

increased heart rate, blood pressure, vasodilation, pupil dilation, breathing frequency, mental alertness (increased attention), etc.

Question 62

Low levels of arousal are associated with?

Answer 62

opposite physiological response (e.g., a reduction in heart rate, blood pressure, etc.).

Question 63

There are two key points that need to be made to understand the relationship between mental practice and arousal, which are?

Answer 63

1. physical (i.e., motor skill) performance increases with increased arousal, but only to a point
2. high levels of arousal can still be triggered in the absence of a real physical threat (i.e., an imagined threat, such as being afraid you might lose an important game, is sufficient to initiate the “figqht or flight” response).

Question 64

The relationship between arousal level and physical/skill performance is known as?

Answer 64

the Inverted-U Principle (“Peak Performance” is associated with intermediate levels of physiological arousal).

Arousal levels that are too high or too low result in suboptimal performance.

Question 65

What is Inverted-U Principle?

Answer 65

refers to the fact that when plotted on a graph, the relationship between arousal level (x-axis) and performance (y-axis) resembles an upside-down letter “U”, such that the highest level of performance occurs at a medium level of arousal.

Question 66

Performance will improve with increased levels of?

Answer 66

arousal, but only to a certain point. Beyond this point, performance will decrease.

Question 67

The optimal level of arousal also depends on?

Answer 67

the type of skill being performed.

Question 68

Lower levels of arousal are needed for?

Answer 68

skills that involve precision and accuracy, and therefore rely on fine motor control.

For example, archery, performing brain surgery, etc.

Question 69

Low levels of arousal (which are associated with calm, cool, relaxed mental states) are also beneficial for?

Answer 69

situations that have high information processing demands and require complex decisions (e.g., a quarterback being “blitzed”).

On the other hand, skills that require the full involvement of large muscle groups (no fine motor control and little to no decision making), typically require higher arousal levels

(i. .e, getting “psyched up”)
e. g., throwing the shot put or discus, weightlifting, etc.

Question 70

T or F: An individual’s emotional state and feelings of physical well-being can also have an effect on arousal level?

Answer 70

True.

Question 71

Despite the prevalence of the inverted-U relationship, individual differences exist. Name an example?

Answer 71

(i.e, some people perform better when they are highly aroused, some people perform better when they are very relaxed).

Question 72

Optimal arousal level is very difficult to consistently achieve, how can it become possible?

Answer 72

It takes considerable experience to know what works best, and to prepare oneself mentally to achieve the right level on a consistent basis across many different levels of competition

(e.g, regional vs provincial vs. national vs. international).

Question 73

For the majority of athletes and motor skill performers, the level of arousal for major competitions will usually be?

Answer 73

too high.

(i.e., the event takes care of itself, so that most people try to find ways to keep the arousal from getting too high and thus having a negative impact on performance).

Question 74

When arousal is too high, what helps?

Answer 74

This is where mental practice and mental imagery can have an important effect in helping to control one’s level of arousal. High levels of arousal in advance of an upcoming competition

(e.g., two days before) will typically lead to performance anxiety (excessive “worry” about the performance outcome), which can be physically fatiguing and may interfere with the regular sleep cycle.

Consequently, numerous stress management techniques are used to try to reduce performance anxiety.

These typically include mental imagery (e.g., imagining a nice, quiet relaxed environment) in combination with progressive muscle relaxation (PMR).

Question 75

While it is accepted that mental practice should not be used as a substitute for?

Answer 75

physical practice, a number of studies have shown that engaging in mental practice does have real physical benefits.

For example, a study in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy found that a group of 24 subjects who engaged in mental practice increased their quadriceps muscle strength by 12.6% compared to a control group who performed no practice.

Question 76

There is also research to show that mental practice is an effective technique for?

Answer 76

physical rehabilitation, particularly for individuals who have suffered some form of injury which makes it very difficult or impossible to move.

Recent studies are beginning to show that mental practice is an effective technique which can be used to promote motor recovery in patients with neurological disorders

Question 77

With respect to understanding how mental practice benefits motor skill performance, there are four general categories to be considered, which are?

Answer 77

1. Neuromuscular
2. Cognitive
3. Strategic Development
4. Confidence

Question 78

Mental Practice: What is Neuromuscular?

Answer 78

studies show that neuromotor (i.e., cerebral) pathways are activated during mental practice.

Consequently, in terms of brain activation, there may be little difference between “imagining” yourself performing a motor skill and actually performing it.

Recall the section on “mirror neurons” in Ch. 14, which demonstrated that the same cortical neurons responsible for movement fired when watching “someone else” move.

It may be that these same mirror neurons fire when we perform mental imagery and “imagine” ourselves moving.

Scientists are able to implant electrodes into specific regions of the motor

Question 79

Mental Practice: What is Cognitive?

Answer 79

engaging in mental practice assists with the cognitive demands (i.e., the “what to do” aspects of performance) when learning a new skill.

Studies show that skills high in cognitive task demands benefit more from mental practice.

For example, learning to be a baseball catcher, race car driver, quarterback, etc.

Question 80

Mental Practice: What is Strategic Development?

Answer 80

learners can use mental practice to rehearse possible actions and strategies, as well as estimate probable performance outcomes.

Question 81

Mental Practice: What is Confidence?

Answer 81

through visualization and positive self-talk, mental practice can be used to reinforce correct skill performance and positive performance outcomes, thereby building confidence for future performance situations.

Mental practice can also build confidence through the development of effective stress management techniques.

Question 82

There are several basic principles motor skill instructors should follow when attempting to implement mental practice routines in their training, which include?

Answer 82

Whenever possible, consult a professional (i.e., an individual who specializes in sports psychology). Just like physical practice, learners need proper instruction about how to engage in mental practice (e.g., internal and external imagery).

Mental practice should be performed in a relaxed, quiet environment so that the learners can focus/concentrate on the task at hand.

Instructors should maximize practice efficiency by employing a combination of both mental practice and physical practice.

However, in most situations mental practice time should not be used as a substitute for physical practice time

(e.g., you don’t want to cut out three workouts a week just so you can teach your athletes about mental practice).

Mental practice should be “integrated” as an important part of skills training and/or physical practice time.

When equipment is limited and/or group size is large, instructors can create different training stations as part of a circuit so different subgroups can alternate between mental and physical practice.