ES - Methods that Enhance Motor Learning and Skill Acquisition

Question 1

Methods that practice structure or practice schedule be manipulated to facilitate skill learning (4)

Answer 1

Whole v. part practice
Random practice
Variable practice
Observational practice

Question 2

Whole practice

Answer 2

Addresses the complex skill in its entirety.
Tends to be favored for a task w/ subcomponents that are highly interrelated, as part practice can inhibit the effective regrouping of the subcomponents.
Ex. lunge; it’d be ineffective to separate the movements of the front leg from the movements of the lead leg, b/c these two components are highly interrelated.

Question 3

Part practice

Answer 3

Separates the complex skill into subcomponents.
Tasks that are challenging but have low interrelatedness of the subcomponents relearned better w/ part practice.
The favored choice for skills that may be dangerous or costly to learn as a whole.
Ex. snatch; broken down into 4 subcomponents: first pull, transition, second pull, catch.

Question 4

Segmentation (part practice)

Answer 4

breaks down the task into a series of subcomponents that have clear breaks between them.
Ex. snatch; can be broken down into the first pull, transition, second pull, and catch.

Question 5

Fractionalization (part practice)

Answer 5

breaks the tasks into subcomponents that occur simultaneously.
Ex. push press; athlete practices the press motion of the arms and the push motion of the legs independently.

Question 6

Simplification

Answer 6

Adjusts the difficulty of the tasks by changing task characteristics such as the execution speed or the equipment used.
Characteristics of the task can be added gradually, increasing the difficulty of the task.
Ex. snatch; athlete first practices the subcomponents w/ a PVC pipe. In this instance, both fractionalization and simplification are used.

Question 7

Methods for integrating subcomponent parts back into a whole (3)

Answer 7

Pure-part training
Progressive-part training
Repetitive-part training

Question 8

Pure-part training

Answer 8

aka part-whole method.
Has the athlete practice each subcomponent of the skill multiple times independently.
After all components have been practiced, the skill is practiced in its entirety.
Ex. snatch; first pull is practiced, then transition, followed by second pull practice, ending w/ catch. After all components are practiced multiple, the whole snatch is performed.

Question 9

Progressive-part training

Answer 9

Has the athletes practice the first two parts in isolation before practicing these parts together.
The athlete then practices the third subcomponent before practicing all three parts together.
Ex. snatch; athlete first practices the first pull and then transition, then the first pull WITH transition. Then they practice the second pull before practicing the first pull, transition, and second combined. Progresses until the whole skill has been reintegrated.

Question 10

Repetitive-part training

Answer 10

has the athlete practice only the first part in isolation, then each subsequent part is added until the whole task is reintegrated.
Ex. snatch; athlete would first practice only the first pull. Then the first pull w/ the transition, then the first pull w/ transition and second pull, and so forth.

Question 11

Random practice

Answer 11

multiple skills are practiced in a random order during a given practice session.
Ex. depth jumps; during blocked practice (practices same skill multiple times before progressing tot another; i.e. just the depth jumps). In random practice, athlete may perform a squat depth jump, depth jump w/ lateral movement, split-squat jump, and a side-to-side push off in a random order.
Although performance of each skill declines during random practice, learning is facilitated by this program design.

Question 12

Blocked and random practice

Answer 12

as applied to a sport setting, an integration of blocked and random practice (a few repetitive attempts at each skill before proceeding) maximizes the benefits of both practice schedules.
Ex. jumps; the athlete would perform a few reps of the squat depth jump before moving on to another movement such as the side-to-side push off.

Question 13

Variable practice

Answer 13

Similar to random practice, includes variations of the same skill within a single practice session as opposed to specific practice in which a specific skill (i.e. depth jump to second box of specific height) is repeated multiple times.’
Ex. depth jump; athlete would practice stepping off and jumping onto boxes on varying heights.
A combo of specific and variable practice allows the athlete to develop sport-specific skill while also providing the athlete w/ the flexibility to perform in unfamiliar contexts.

Question 14

Observational practice

Answer 14

aka action observation.
Practice through observation of the task or skill to be performed.
Frequently uses prerecorded videos or line demonstrations.
When physical practice is combined w/ observational practice, learning is enhanced.
In S&C, partner work can facilitate learning. As one athlete completes a lift or a drill, the other athlete can observe during their rest period.

Question 15

Methods of feedback

Answer 15

Intrinsic feedback
Augmented feedback
Knowledge of results
Knowledge of performance

Question 16

Intrinsic feedback

Answer 16

provided to the athlete by the athlete from the senses.
Ex. sensory information about missing a box during a box jump.
Integration of sensory information allows the athlete to fine-tune and adjust the movement pattern to produce the desired movement and associated task goal.

Question 17

Augmented feedback

Answer 17

feedback provided to the athlete by either an observer (coach) or technology (video or lab equipment).
Ex. after the box jump, a coach can tell the athlete that the hips countermovement was too slow, resulting in missing the box.

Question 18

Subparts of augmented feedback (2)

Answer 18

Knowledge of results

Knowledge of performance

Question 19

Knowledge of results

Answer 19

provides the athlete w/ information about the execution of the task goal.
Ex. T-drill; the coach can tell the athlete how quickly they completed the drill. The athlete can also be given normative info about how their time compares to others.
Both positive normative feedback and feedback w.o comparison augment skill learning compared to negative normative feedback.

Question 20

Knowledge of performance

Answer 20

provides the athlete w. info about their movement pattern.
Can be delivered in the form of a video analysis or through the use of specialized lab equipment, such as a force plate.
Ex. T-drill; the coach gives the athlete specific info about the movement during the T-test such as body position during changes of direction.
When the task goal is movement outcome (ex. power clean), there is overlap between knowledge of results and knowledge of performance and thus they can become one and the same.

Question 21

Timing and frequency of feedback

Answer 21

Feedback offered concurrently w/ the task enhances performance while impairing learning; therefore, this feedback is beneficial in a competition setting.

Initially frequent feedback provided after task execution facilitates skill learning (can be provided after every trial or a series of trials). Decreasing frequency of feedback that was initially frequent as the athlete progresses will facilitate learning of complex movement patterns.

Question 22

Divisions of instructional styles (3)

Answer 22

Explicit instructions
Guided discovery
Discovery

Question 23

Explicit instructions

Answer 23

Include prescriptive info that gives the athlete the “rules” for effectively executing the given task.
Ex. learning a squat; the athlete receives detailed instructions about the specific body position throughout the movement as ell ads the type (e.g. flexion-extension) and amount of movement at each of the joints.

Question 24

Guided discovery

Answer 24

Provides the athlete w/ instructions about the overall movement goal and important prompts for task accomplishment w/o explicitly telling the athlete how to accomplish the task