Skill, habit and expertise

Question 1

What is automatic processing?

Answer 1

we don’t need to use processing or attention to complete

Question 2

what is an example of a conflict task?

Answer 2

the stroop task - asking them to name the colour of the word and not what the word says
-hard because word reading is automatic so interferes

Question 3

what are some other tests of suppressing automacy?

Answer 3

• flanker task
• simon task
• go/no-go task

Question 4

describe the reverse stroop effect

Answer 4

-name the colour named by the word by moving cursor to correct colour h/e colour of the word interferes with colour choosing

Question 5

when is the stroop effect eliminated?

Answer 5

when only one letter of the word is coloured
-effect reduced/eliminated when one letter is coloured which is cued before fully coloured word is shown but only happens when attentional focus is broad enough to read the whole word

Question 6

stimulus onset asynchrony

Answer 6

• taking stimulus/bits of it and displaying them at different times (cueing)
• e.g. showing colour before the word, you should be able to reverse stroop effect but isn’t the case
• there is more to automacy than speed of processing

Question 7

what happens when ps are trained to name shapes with colour words?
what does this suggest?

Answer 7

• initially colours interfere with naming shapes
• colours interfere with shapes + vice versa
• after extensive training shapes interfere with naming colours
• suggests that there is an automaticity continuum

Question 8

do skills involve automatic processing?

Answer 8

yes

Question 9

what are habits?

Answer 9

• triggered by environment
• stereotyped (the same)
• inflexible (hard to interrupt)
• ballistic (once you’ve decided to do it, you can’t alter it)

Question 10

what are skills?

Answer 10

• highly practised
• fast
• low attention demands (more habit like)
• sequenced
• flexible
• intentional

Question 11

Logan + Crump 2010

Answer 11

• people didn’t notice when the word they typed was corrected
• took ownership of the error they didn’t produce
• ps slowed when made a real error but didn’t slow when told they errored

Question 12

Yerkes-Dodson law

Answer 12

-as arousal increases so does performance until a certain point where over-arousal causes decline in performance

Question 13

choking

Answer 13

-people are generally better at skill when not distracted

H/E when skill is highly automatic, they are best when slightly distracted

Question 14

misallocation of attention

Answer 14

can disrupt performance e.g. asking someone to focus on the exact movements involved in a serve if they are an expert player

Question 15

ironic processing

Answer 15

trying not to think about something involves thinking about it

Question 16

what is the pattern of skill improvement over time?

Answer 16

it slows but doesn’t stop

Question 17

deliberate practice

Answer 17

• effortful
• extensive practice
• breaks skill into components
• focus on reducing errors
• use of targets
• individually tailored training

Question 18

which is more important: practice or coaching?

Answer 18

practice

Question 19

true or false? figure skaters who made less errors in practice went on to win more medals

Answer 19

false, actually the opposite