Motor Learning, Chapter 11 Objectives
Discuss two reasons performance during the practice of a motor skill may misrepresent the amount of learning that occurred during practice.
1.) Certain performance variables can artificially inflate or depress practice performance so that the observed performance during practice over- or underestimates the amount a person has learned during practice. Retention and transfer tests provide ways to determine the extent to which performance during practice represents learning. 2.)Performance plateaus, which appear on performance curves as periods of time during which performance does not improve, give the appearance that learning has stopped even though it has not. Providing additional practice trials can establish a means of determining whether learning continued during a performance plateau.
Identify five general performance characteristics typically observable as motor skill learning occurs.
Improvement, consistency, stability, persistance, adaptability, reduction of attention demand. -Performance of the skill shows improvement over a period of time. -Performance becomes increasingly more consistent. -an improving performance capability is marked by an increasing amount of persistence. -Improved performance is adaptable to a variety performance context characteristics -Stability -Reduction of attention demand
Describe several different methods to assess motor skill learning.
Performance curves, retention tests, transfer tests, movement coordination patterns, dual task procedures. -Performance Curves of performance outcome and kinematics provide a way to observe performance improvement and consistency over a period of time. -Retention tests assess persistence of an improved performance capability by requiring the performance of the practiced skill after a period of time during which the skill was not practiced. -Transfer Tests assess the acquired capability to adapt to performance situation and contexts that were not experienced during practice. -Graphical representations of movement coordination patterns during practice and tests provide a means of assessing the consistency and stability of coordination characteristics associated with performing a motor skill. -The dual-task procedure, which assesses the attention demands associated with performing a skill, can be used to assess the learning of a skill. Attention demands are expected to decrease as amount of learning increases.
Define and distinguish between the terms performance and learning.
Performance is the observable behavior. It is defined as the behavioral act of executing a skill at a specific time and in a specific situation. Learning cannot be directly observed; it is the change in the capability of a person to perform a skill; it must be inferred from a relatively permanent improvement in performance as a result of practice or experience.
