Information processing and skill acquisition 10

Skill

The learned ability to bring about predetermined results with the minimum outlay of time energy or both

Ace face

Aesthetically pleasing, consistent, efficient, fluent, accurate, controlled, economical

Open and closed skills

An open skill is performed when the sporting environment is unpredictable and changes frequently

A close skill is performed in a predictable environment

Gross and fine skills

A gross skill involves using large muscle groups

A fine skill involves using smaller more intricate muscle groups

Self paced or externally paced skills

During a self paced skill, the performer controls the speed at which the skill is performed

In an externally paced skill the performer has no control over when to start the skill or how fast it might be performed

Discreet continuous and serial skills

Discrete skills have a clear beginning and end

Continuous skills have no clear beginning and end

Serial skills are discrete skills linked together

High and low organisation skills

A skill that is easily broken down into sub routines is called a low organised skill

A highly organised skill is not easily broken down into parts

Simple and complex skills

Simple skill needs limited decisions to be processed while the skill is being performed

A complex skill is one in which there are many decisions to be made and a high amount of information to process

Transfer of learning

The effect of the learning and performance of one skill on the learning and performance of another

Positive transfer and negative transfer

Positive transfer is when the learning of one skill helps the learning of another

Negative transfer is when learning one skill hinders the learning of another

Bilateral transfer

This happens when the learning of one skill is transferred onto the other side of the body

Zero transfer

Zero transfer is when the learning of one skill has no impact on the learning of another

Learning plateau

Appeared during performance when there are no signs of improvement and the performer does not appear to be getting any better and doing the task

This can be represented by a learning curve

The learning curve

It is split up into four stages;

Stage one; The rate of learning is slow and the performance level is poor as performers are in the cognitive stage

Stage two: rapid acceleration in the rate of learning as the performer has begun to master the task gaining success

Stage three: there is no improvement in the rate of learning and a plateau is reached

Stage four: Towards the end of the task possibly caused by fatigue the performance deteriorates

The drop of improvement and performance is referred to as drive reduction

Causes of the learning plateau

Lack of motivation

Bored

Coach

Limit of the ability

Target set too low

Fatigue

Solutions to the learning plateau

The task could be extended

The player might need to find a new coach

The coach could offer more praise and positive reinforcement

Rest could reduce fatigue

Greater variety to avoid Boredom

Explain the concept of the plateau so they understand why they have reached it

The performer could be given feedback

Whole practice

The task can be presented in its entirety with subroutines intact

When to use whole practice

This can be used in fast closed discrete simple and highly organised skills

It is fluent. It understands the demands of the skill. It establishes links between sub routines increases consistency and build an image of the skill.

It may cause over process of information it may be too demanding and cause fatigue

Whole part whole practice

Assessing the skill identifying a weakness to practice and then putting the skill back together again

When to use whole part whole practice

Having attempted the whole skill to gain feel the skill is then broken down into fast discrete skills that are hard to break down

The coach must identify the specific area of weakness and work on this before re-introducing the skill

It is beneficial as the coach can give feedback and correct errors. It gives motivation because of this and maintains feel of the skill in the link between subroutines.

The sub routines may not always be part of the whole skill. It can be more time-consuming and may require greater patience and perseverance.

Progressive part practice

When each part of the skill is added gradually

When to use progressive part practice

Sometimes referred to as chaining it links routines together in chronological order

Can only happen when the skill can be easily broken down, usually cereal and complex. It is beneficial for learning complex skills as pressure can be removed from the athlete

It reduces demand and increases focus on certain aspects. Lower fatigue increase chance of success increase confidence reduce danger.

It is time-consuming. You may neglect the feel of the whole skill and potential negative transfer if not built properly.

Different types of practice

Massed, distributed, Varied, Mental

Massed practice

No rest intervals

The athlete is well developed and you are working on simple discreet skills in a closed environment

It is beneficial for fine skills enable formation of motor programs through repetition increases fitness and is an efficient use of time

Little time for feedback often lead to fatigue, beginners will not be able to cope with demands

Distributed practice

Includes rest intervals

Worked well with beginners focusing on cereal and complex skills. This can also suit continuous athletes but breaks are needed.

It has reduced pressure is less dangerous and enables more coaching and feedback rest recovery and allows mental rehearsal

It can’t be time-consuming potential negative transfer and prohibits overlearning

Varied practice

Changing the practice type and practice drills

Often using team sports going for a massed practice to progressive practice due to changes of environment

Increases ability to adapt increases motivation and enjoyment build sub routines and develop schema

Can be time-consuming and potential negative transfer

Mental practice

Going over the skill in the mind without movement

Becomes increasingly popular with elite athletes

Can improve confidence motivation and reaction time will lower anxiety develops cognitive ability adaptable to the environment can be used by all and is introduced to distributed practice

May potentially bog the mind down and an athlete would need a calm environment

Learning

A permanent change of behaviour that occurs as a result of practice

The three stages of learning

The cognitive stage

The associative stage

The autonomous stage

The cognitive stage

The performer has to think carefully about their reactions

They have to think about how to copy the demonstrations and instructions from the coach

The performer relies on feedback and adopt a trial and error approach to learning

The technique appears bad

The associative stage

Likely to take a longer than the cognitive stage

Moving from a competent beginner to an accomplished performer

Lots of practice needed elements of trial and error might still be used and feedback might still be used but this becomes more internal

The autonomous stage

Reached through effective practice, although this must be continued for an athlete to remain here

Skills are fluent efficient and automatically undertaken

An athlete can focus on the finer requirements of the skill as the basics are seemed to be performed without thinking

The motor program is now fully developed helping in the fine control of the action

Types of feedback a coach can give

Positive

Negative

Extrinsic

Intrinsic

Knowledge of results

Knowledge of performance

Four types of guidance

Visual

Verbal

Manual

Mechanical

Visual guidance

Guidance that can be seen a demonstration for example would be visual guidance

The intention is to create a mental image for the athlete to use as a reference point

Can be given by a coach player or video and must be within the capabilities of the former

Verbal guidance

An explanation of the task

Nearly always used in conjunction with visual guidance during a demonstration

This should help the performer develop the correct mental image

Experienced players off of verbal guidance to teammates during practice and matches on technique tactics

Manual guidance

Manual guidance involves physical support

A coach supporting a gymnast during a vote or handstand, for example

Can be used to false response

This would occur because the coach is forcing the athlete into a correct position to help them learn the move

Mechanical guidance

A device or artificial aid that is used to help performance

This type of guidance is similar to manual guidance as it has many of the same advantages and disadvantages

Advantages and disadvantages of visual guidance

Can highlight a specific weakness

Tries to show how the skill should be performed

Create a mental image

Demonstrations can be difficult to execute correct

Too much information can cause confusion

Incorrect demonstration can impact negatively on learning

Advantages and disadvantages of verbal guidance

The coach can differentiate the language they used to suit the ability and knowledge level

This is a form of feedback. The coach can select which type is best suited.

Can lead to confusion due to language used

The performer may like concentration if feedback isn’t brief relevant and meaningful

Coaches can overload the performer with new instructions

Advantages and disadvantages of manual guidance

Can eliminate or reduce danger

Build confidence of the performer as they gain a better feel from the task

Reduced fear and anxiety

Performer can become reliant on this and therefore develop bad habits

The performer might feel they can’t do the task without support reducing confidence

It’s not always appropriate as some performers might find it uncomfortable

Advantages and disadvantages of mechanical guidance

Can build confidence even with the help they realise they can do it

Eliminate or reduces danger

Gives the performer a feel for the movement required

The mechanical guidance can interfere and disrupt the feel of the task

The performer depends on the guidance too much leading to a loss of confidence

Motivation can decrease

Operant conditioning

The use of reinforcement to ensure that correct responses are repeated

Fundamentally, it is based on people learning through trial and error

Positive and negative reinforcement

A pleasant stimulus after the correct response

Taking away an unpleasant stimulus after the correct response

Punishment

An unpleasant stimulus to prevent actions reoccurring

Observational learning

Attention

Retention

Motor production

Motivation

Attention

Make sure that athlete takes notice of the relevant cues

Make model loud bright and attractive there should be more memorable

Retention

Remembering the demonstration and being able to recall it

They must remember the key points to develop a memory system

Motor production

Having the mental and physical ability to do the task

The need for an athlete to be given a skill and task within their capabilities

Motivation

Having the drive to do the task

Athletes must want to copy the demonstration

Social development theory

Building up learning in stages based on the current level of performance

Performers learn by working with coaches known as more knowledgeable others

This is referred to as inter psychological learning

Once the external device has been learned, the performer may tweak it and this is called intra psychological learning

Intra psychological stage

He believed that the athlete uses the zone of proximal development (The next stage of learning based on the performers needs expectations and current level of performance)

Insight learning

Using experience and understanding to solve problems relating to the whole skill

The athletes are encouraged to think for themselves using existing sporting knowledge

This develops a greater sense of self satisfaction, Improved cognitive abilities, Increased confidence and improved understanding of the skill

Basic information processing model

Input, Decision-making, output

The method by which data from the environment are collected and utilised

Input stage

Information is detected from the display/environment

The five senses

Touch, Auditory sense, sight, Kinaesthesis, balance

External and internal senses

External sensors are sight and auditory sense

Internal senses are touch balance and kinaesthesis

Selective attention and developing it

Filtering the relevant information from the irrelevant information to ensure correct decisions are made

To develop selective attention, you could make the stimulus brighter more intense and loud

Add distractions

Single out and the correct stimulus

Whitings model

Split into five sections

Input, Perceptual mechanisms, Translator mechanism, Effector mechanisms, Output and feedback.

The sections all occur within the brain and without movement

DCR

Detection comparison and recognition.

This happens during the perceptual mechanisms of whitings model

Detection is the information picked up from the display, Comparison is matching the important information to something in the stored memory, Recognition as identifying the appropriate response

Translatory mechanisms

Adapting and comparing coded information to memory so that decisions can be made

Filtering the information you are receiving and then converting it to an image which is sent to the memory

Effector mechanisms

The network of nerves that sends coded impulses to the muscles

Deliver the decision made during the perceptual stage

The working memory sections

Episodic buffer, Central executive, Phonological loop, Visuo- spatial sketchpad

The episodic buffer

Coordinates the senses detected from the information into a sequence sent to the long-term memory

They begins to produce patterns for the whole skill

Long-term memory and the working memory working together

Working memory initiates the action by sending the memory trace

Working memory has a limited capacity of seven items

Too much information can lead to wastage

Selective attention limits the amount of information sent to the working memory

Working memory is thought to have a limited timescale of 30 seconds

Important information can be stored in the long-term memory

The long-term memory has an infinite storage

Ways of storing information

Mental practice, Association, Focus, Chunking, Chaining, Reward, Repetition.

Schema theory and key terms

This theory suggested rather than use a structured set of movement call principles can be adapted to a specific situation

Initial conditions, Response specifications are part of the recall schema

Sensory consequences and response outcomes are part of the recognition schema