Practice In Skill Acquisition Part 1

Question 1

Specificity of learning hypothesis

Cues are key!

Answer 1

Skilled performance characterised by an increasing dependence on specific cues
Therefore…
It is bad to remove cues during learning (e.g blindfolding, stroboscopic glasses) to force athletes to use auditory or proprioceptive cues

Very specific strategy- not transferred well to new situations

Question 2

Koch (1923)

Part vs whole learning

Answer 2

Taught to type on two typewriters at the same time.

One group immediately practicing with 2 hands (one on each type writer)
Second group practiced one hand at a time

Group that learned in parts performed better when trying to do both at once

Which method superior really depends on the nature of the skill…
If the parts are independent of each other, it is better to break practice into parts. If not then it is better to practice as a whole. Eg swimming break down, but golf swing whole

Part learning better if you are able to do it

Question 3

Massed or distributed practice?

Answer 3

Research has consistently shown that learning and performance are better with distributed practice

A lot of previous research uses continuous tasks (might of made difference)

But look at Panchuk lecture

Question 4

Panchuk et al (2013)

Massed vs distributed practice

Answer 4

Aussie rules performed handball pass 50 times (5 blocks of 10 reps) in either…

Massed (1 sec between reps)
Distributed (30 secs between reps)

Tested before, during and 10 mins after (retention 1) and 2 weeks after (retention 2)

Big difference in immediate retention (distributed higher)
Delayed retention distributed sig lower

However 1 sec and 30 secs are not that different, 30 seconds more like massed conditions

Question 5

Blocked vs random practice
When learning two tasks at the same time (eg putting and chipping) is it better to do several repeats of one task before switching to the other (blocked) or is it better to just randomly switch back and forth between the two?

Answer 5

Research has consistently shown that blocked groups perform better during the learning phase but do not learn as much

I.e they have trouble transferring their skills to new situations and performing in the random condition

Question 6

Shea and Morgan (1979)

Blocked vs random practice

Answer 6

Acquisition random or blocked and then retention 10 mins and 10 days after with BB, RR, BR or RB

when you come to performance it will not be blocked it will be random

Want to look at random conditions (better with random?) BR and RR?
Also care about the retention?

Results likely occur because context is switching unpredictably in the random condition so the athlete must develop more elaborate and adaptable strategies (need to keep creating new things to solve it)

Also may be due to previous executions of the movement are forgotten in the random condition so you must reconstruct a new action plan each time

Question 7

Hall et al (1994)

Blocked vs random practice

Answer 7

39 college baseball players assigned to either blocked batting training or random or no additional training

Blocked: 15 fastballs, 15 curveball and 15 change up
Random: received the same amount but in random order
Pre tests and two post tests six weeks later: one random and one blocked

No sig in acquisition phase
Transfer tests sig better if random practice

Question 8

Why is random practice superior?

Answer 8

Increased engagement
Meaningful and distinguished memories (caused by IE)
Forgetting of short term solutions

Lage et al (2015)
More distinctive memory representation
Increased opportunities for comparison between the tasks being learned

Planning and guidance of movement increases with random practice
Level of activation high for random in acquisition and cortical excitability high in both acquisition and retention

Question 9

Intrinsic feedback

Answer 9

Natural sensory information resulting from movement (e.g vision, proprioception)

With increased practice athletes rely on less visual intrinsic feedback
However this is dependent on how you practice

Example
Practice with full vision and then it’s taken away, athlete will do much worse (evidence that they are still making some use of it)

Question 10

Extrinsic Feedback

Answer 10

Comes from an external source, sometimes after a response has been completed

Motor programme theory- predicted that the more extrinsic feedback that is given, the better learning will be

Open loop- put in feedback and adjust as they are doing the movement

But learning of a skill is as good when knowledge of the results is provided 33% of the time as it is when the knowledge of the results is provided 100% of the time

Providing summary at the end is often better than feedback on every trial

Question 11

Winstein and Schmidt (1989)

Frequency of extrinsic feedback

Answer 11

100% feedback or 50% after every single trial

Delayed retention test error score: 35% fewer errors by 50% group

Without feedback you need to come up with your own internal mechanism for evaluating performance

This intrinsic mechanism may have greater learning benefits
If extrinsic is provided too soon after performance and too frequently it may interfere with the intrinsic mechanism

Question 12

Swinnen et al (1990)

Timing of extrinsic feedback

Answer 12

Estimation, instantaneous knowledge of results and delayed knowledge of results

10 mins instantaneous sig worse
2 days retention estimation was sig better

Estimation forcing them to implement extrinsic mechanism

But.. Too long a delay is linked to over confidence and a greater chance of making mistakes (really delayed feedback 8 months)
Likely to ignore it or distort it

Question 13

Why do we need knowledge of performance feedback?

Answer 13

For difficult or rapid tasks
Where results knowledge alone is not good enough, as doesn’t provide aspects of the movement contributing to successful performance

Especially for multiple degrees of freedom tasks (can be performed successfully via multiple methods eg penalty kick)

Question 14

Types of knowledge of performance feedback

Answer 14

Kinetic: feedback about the forces generated (eg club head speed)

Kinematic: feedback about the temporal and spatial properties of the movement (eg timing, duration)

Question 15

What is the ageing curve?

Answer 15

Our skill sets are not constant from year to year.
They are affected by numerous factor including practice quality, physical maturity, luck etc

Ageing curves used to estimate the peak performance of athletes. All peak at different points

But as with between sports, individuals are not the same within the same sport either…
Position played shifts the curve

Question 16

Attention and memory: Expertise induced amnesia

Answer 16

When we devote more attention to something we remember it better because the encoding of the information is stronger

Because experts do not seem to attend to skill execution they should have less memory/ knowledge about how to execute a particular skill than novices.

= expertise induced amnesia

Question 17

Beilock et al (2002)

Athlete knowledge

Answer 17

How knowledgeable experienced and novice golfers were on the steps involved in the execution of a golf putt using regular and funny putter

Generic- knowledge about how a skill is typically performed (what steps involved)

Episodic- an autobiographical record of a particular performance (tell me about the time you had a good putt)

Results: experts have more generic knowledge whilst novices have more episodic (results as expected)

Question 18

“Paralysis by analysis”

Answer 18

After an action becomes automatic directing attention to it can actually hurt performance.

The best example of this is ‘Steve Sax disease’

• Baseball players lose ability to make simple place even though they can still make really difficult ones
• this occurs because you use a different part of your brain when you attend to something than when you execute a skill automatically

Question 19

What are The “Yips” and why do they occur?

Answer 19

Unexplained loss of fine motor skills most common in golf and baseball.
Starts with a missed shot which is shaken off but it can progress. Quickly lose confidence and ability to perform.

Most common in men 40-50

Caused by abnormal tightness in the muscles (focal dystonia). Often experienced as jerks, freezing or tremors when putting

Usually worse in high pressure (like a prolonged period of choking)
Does end careers

Not clear why it occurs, could be both physiological and psychological.
Possibly result of conscious thought interfering with an automatic process

Helped by relaxation techniques

Question 20

Bawden and Maynard (2001)

Cricket and the Yips

Answer 20

8 cricket bowlers interviewed about their thoughts, emotions and feelings before, during and after their initial experience of the yips

15 general dimensions described... 
Inappropriate focus 
Current form 
Conscious control 
Mental and physicals readiness concerns 
Anxiety 
Self presentational concerns 
Negative perceptions of future performances