Measuring Learning S2W1 Flashcards
What is motor learning?
‘Motor learning is a set of processes associated with practice or experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled movement.’ (Schmidt and Lee, 2011)
Give 3 basic facts about motor learning.
- learning occurs as a direct result of practice or experience
- learning cannot be observed, only inferred from a change in behaviour
- learning is relatively permanent
Learning is not directly observable but inferred via . . . (4 things)
- improvement
- consistency
- persistency
- adaptability (can use newly acquired skills in different situations)
What are the two dimensions that show improvement?
- motor dimension (physically improving at skill)
- scoring dimension (outcome, results improving)
How can learning be inferred through consistency?
more consistent at reproducing patterns, moving through associative stage
How can learning be inferred through persistency?
change in consistency to be persistent
How does adaptability infer learning?
can you use newly acquired skills in different situations? e.g. take skill from training to competition environment
True or false: Linear relationship is likely to be seen on a performance/time graph (time/amount of practice on x-axis and performance/score on y-axis)
false
Negatively accelerated performance curve
- most common
- rapid progress in early stages then slows down as takes a long time to become an expert
Positively accelerated performance curve
- small improvements to start with followed by increasingly large improvement
Ogive performance curve
- takes time to get hang of it in the beginning, then see rapid improvement once you get the hang of it but then very difficult to become expert
Performance error
- as you improve your error decreases (negative correlation on performance error-time graph)
- as you improve consistency improves so graph gets flatter (SD gets smaller)
- consistency is the spread of your scores
- however if you have 10 goes and get 10 scores of 0 at first then your SD is very small so beginners may look consistent to start off with
ceiling effect
- all scores at high end
- task is too easy
- consistent scores but won’t be a true reflection of behaviour
floor effect
- everyone getting low scores
- task too difficult
- consistent scores but won’t be a true reflection of behaviour
Why is it important that we call them performance curves not learning curves?
because learning cannot be observed directly, it can only be inferred
performance curve limitations
- practice may misrepresent learning e.g. fatigue, loss of motivation
- averaging individual results masks actual trends
- age effects e.g. finger dexterity - younger people may find some tasks easier than older people
- floor and ceiling effects
performance curve plateaus
- could conclude that no learning occurred for that period - not always true could be due to other factors
- could be a period of reorganising or cognitive reconstruction
- curve shows performance not learning so could be learning and improving it’s just not been shown in performances yet
What do retention tests examine?
examines the permanence and persistence of performance
When are retention tests performed?
- performed after a period of no practice/rest
What do transfer tests examine?
examines the adaptability element of performance
When are transfer tests done?
once skill has been learned, learner must adapt the skill being practised to a novel situation e.g. can it be taken from training to competition
What are the results of retention tests usually?
- Ideally, they would still be at the same level after retesting –> learning is relatively permanent
- Commonly, there is a drop in performance after period of no practice
- Rarely, there is an improvement in performance –> if rest period is short, then it could be classed as just another practice
retention test study (Lee et al, 1995)
Method
- operate 2 out of sync levers
- goal is to draw circles
- lots of practice (blocks of 60 trials)
Results
- by end of 1st day, most participants could draw a circle - performance has improved
- day 2 - majority were back to drawing straight lines - lost coordination to draw circles showing poor retention and that the improvement was not relatively permanent
Implications
- shows why retention tests are needed because performance curves would suggest a change in behaviour
- performance curves show current level of performance - doesn’t tell us how permanent the improvement is
retention: quick gains vs long term gains
- 2 groups learning same skill
- got to different levels of performance
- at re-test, group who didn’t perform as well have retained their performance whereas group who did better have not retained performance
reasons for this:
- could have used 2 different training regimes
- how you practice may determine how you perform and how you retain information
- quick gains don’t always mean long term retention
designing learning experiments
- Groups - size, matched - ability/age/experience etc
- Sensitivity of measurements
- Practice - amount and type
- Retention/transfer tests - appropriate retention period
