Module 7 Flashcards
Experimental Method
Experiments
Differential Method
Focuses on the ways in which we are different from one another
Individual Differences
Study of abilities and the study of prediction
Studying Abilities
Someone is born with the capability of doing something better than someone else without practice/experience/exposure
Studying Prediction
Predicting something based on previously shown abilities
Measured Characteristic
Reveals a stable, during difference between two people
What do individual differences in skills have to have?
Stability from attempt to attempt
Endure it across time
More than one of the measurements of the difference to be considered sufficient to establish the two things as different
Ability
Genetically determined and largely unmodifiable by practice or experience
Basic equipment people inherit for real world tasks
Skill
One’s proficiency at a particular task
Can be modified by practice
Countless in the amount
Represents the person’s potential to perform
General Motor Ability Hypothesis
A single, inherited motor ability is assumed
Presumably underlies all movement or motor tasks
A person with strong general motor ability should be good at all motor tasks
Correlations computed among different skills are generally…
Low
Similar skills are…
Still correlated poorly
What does data claim?
That they are many abilities and not simply a general motor ability
Reaction Time
Type of motor ability
Tasks with a single stimulus and one’s response
Speed is critical
Response Orientation
Type of motor ability
Quick choices among a number of alternative movements
Choice reaction time
Speed of Movement
Type of motor ability
Arms must move quickly without a RT stimulus
Goal is to minimize MT
Finger Dexterity
Type of motor ability
Tasks in which small objects are manipulated by fingers and hands
Manual Dexterity
Type of motor ability
Tasks in which relatively large objects are manipulated with hands and arms
Response Integration
Type of motor ability
Many sources of sensory info must be integrated to make an effective response
Physical Proficiency Abilities
Type of motor ability
Abilities that do not have to do with skills but involve “physical proficiency”
Examples of physical proficiency abilities
Dynamic strength
Explosive strength
Gross body coordination
Stamina
What do attempts at prediction involve?
Understanding the abilities that underlie the criterion task
Estimating the strength of these abilities in applicants as indicators for their future capabilities in the task
Estimating/predicting the potential skill level on the criterion task based on present info about the applicants
Why isn’t prediction of success in movement skills not very effective in motor behavior?
The underlying abilities in motor performances have not been studied systematically and are not well understood
Too many abilities to be measured
Cannot predict because the pattern of relevant abilities shifts with practice and experience
Laymen’s Term for Abilities
All people have some of everything but different people have strengths in particular abilities
Correlation
Ability to measure the strength of a relationship between performance scores on two tasks
Similarities between two tasks
Specificity Hypothesis
Many specific, independent motor abilities are the basis for every motor performance
Groupings of Abilities
Balance between general motor ability and specificity hypothesis
What is the result of people repeating activities that they are successful at?
Often difficult to determine whether the person has strong abilities or good skills bc of their practicing
