Midterm I

Question 1

Define skill

Answer 1

the ability to bring about some end result with maximum certainty and minimum outlay of energy, or of time and energy

Question 2

All skills involve

Answer 2

Perceiving the environment, deciding what, how and when to move, producing the movement

Question 3

Open skill

Answer 3

the environment is variable and unpredictable during the action

Question 4

Closed skill

Answer 4

the environment is stable and predictable

Question 5

Discrete skill

Answer 5

have an easily defined beginning and end (brief duration)

Question 6

Serial skill

Answer 6

a group of discrete skills strung together to make up a new, more complicated skilled action

Question 7

Continuous skill

Answer 7

continuous skills have arbitrary beginning and end points, the behaviour flowing for minutes or hours

Question 8

Constant error

Answer 8

the signed difference of a score on a given trial from a target value; a measure of bias for that trial

Question 9

Absolute error

Answer 9

the average absolute deviation of each of a set of scores from a target value; a measure of overall error

Question 10

Variable error

Answer 10

the standard deviation of a set of scores about the subject’s own average (CE) score; a measure of movement consistency

Question 11

Root mean square error (continuous task)

Answer 11

Root of the average of squared deviations of a set of values from a target value

Question 12

Stimulus ID (perception)

Answer 12

sensory input is detected and identified, representation of important info is created

Question 13

Response selection (decision)

Answer 13

response alternatives are evaluated and one (if any) selected

Question 14

Response programming (action)

Answer 14

motor system is organized to produce movement, also known as movement planning

Question 15

Reaction time

Answer 15

a measure of information processing, elapsed time between sensory stimulation (stimulus) and motor behaviour

Question 16

Donders stages of processing

Answer 16

Simple RT, Go/no-go task, Choice RT, Go/No-go – Simple = stimulus ID, `Choice RT – Go/no-go = response selection

Question 17

Hicks law

Answer 17

choice RT increases by the same amount every time the SR pairs double, RT ~ LOG2(#SR pairs)

Question 18

SR compatibility

Answer 18

the extent to which the stimulus response it evokes are connected in a natural way

Question 19

Practice

Answer 19

experience with a task can reduce RT delays caused by an increase in SR pairs and by SR incompatibility

Question 20

Spatial/event anticipation

Answer 20

knowing what/where something is going to happen

Question 21

Temporal anticipation

Answer 21

knowing when something is going to happen

Question 22

Major benefit of anticipation

Answer 22

can reduce “RT” to almost zero (or negative, think false start)

Question 23

Major risk of anticipation

Answer 23

plan/program the wrong movement and as a result, end up in a disastrously wrong position

Question 24

Short term sensory store

Answer 24

very brief (<1s) for vast amounts of sensory information, only some which gets processed further

Question 25

Short term memory

Answer 25

also called working memory – smaller capacity for information for a few minutes, requires attention/rehearsal to retain (most effortful form of memory)

Question 26

Long term memory

Answer 26

well learned information collected over a lifetime – practically limitless (everything you know), with practice information moves from STM to LTM

Question 27

Attention

Answer 27

An ability, intention, limited

Question 28

Parallel processing

Answer 28

handling two or more streams of information at the same time

Question 29

Stroop effect (PP)

Answer 29

competition between the response to the color word and ink colour

Question 30

Cocktail party effect (PP)

Answer 30

when you are engrossed in one conversation in a noisy environment but automatically hear when someone somewhere else says your name - shows there is parallel processing and that streams of information are being processed without explicit attention

Question 31

Inattentional blindness

Answer 31

when our attention is absorbed by one stimulus stream and as a result we are “blind” to other information

Question 32

Sustained attention

Answer 32

after a period of time the task of concentrating on a single target of our attention becomes a progressively more difficult chore

Question 33

Controlled response selection

Answer 33

IP is voluntary, slow, sequential, attentionally demanding

Question 34

Automatic response selection

Answer 34

IP is non-conscious, fast, parallel, low attentional load

Question 35

Psychological refractory period

Answer 35

the delay in responding to the second of two closely spaced stimuli

Question 36

Double simulation paradigm (PRR)

Answer 36

Grouping: both stimuli detected as a single event and organize a single, more complicated action in which both limbs respond simultaneously

Question 37

Perceptual narrowing

Answer 37

the narrowing of attentional focus as arousal goes up

Question 38

Cue-utilization hypothesis

Answer 38

explanation of low/high arousal effects on performance

During high arousal – narrow perceptual field

Question 39

Exteroception

Answer 39

provides sensory information about the environment that comes primarily from outside the body (big five)

Question 40

Proprioception

Answer 40

provides sensory information about the state of the body that comes primarily from muscles, joints and movements

Question 41

Vestibular apparatus

Answer 41

sense organs in inner ear – balance, posture and head movement

Question 42

Joint receptors

Answer 42

receptors around joint – extreme positions of the joints

Question 43

Muscle spindle

Answer 43

sense receptors in muscles that provide information about changes in muscle length (driving force of reflex)

Question 44

GTO

Answer 44

sense receptors located at muscle/joint junction that provide information about muscle force

Question 45

Cutaneous receptors

Answer 45

sense receptors located in the skin that provide information about pressure and T