|
Preface
The learning and performance of
motor skills is an important part of the everyday lives of people of all ages.
Therefore the study of motor learning continues to be an integral part of the
preparation of professionals who will assist people as they learn and perform
motor skills. It is largely because of this role that this book is now in its
sixth edition. It is a privilege to be able to contribute to the preparation
of key professionals in this way. The experience of the previous five editions
has reinforced my original goal for the book as an introductory text for undergraduates
as they prepare for a variety of professional positions, including physical
education teachers, coaches, physical therapists, occupational therapists, instructors
in the military and industry, dance teachers, and community education personnel.
It is within this context that the sixth edition has been developed.
Although the general scope and
orientation of this edition remain consistent with those of previous editions,
it contains a few changes intended to enhance the quality and use of the book.
These improvements have resulted from suggestions of people who use this book
in their classes and from recommendations of reviewers of the previous edition.
Highlights of the Sixth Edition
New Organization
The most notable change is an organizational one. Rather than being organized
by chapter, with several concepts within one chapter, this edition presents
each concept as a separate chapter. What were previously chapters are now units.
It is important to note that this structural change does not eliminate the "concepts
approach" that has been so well received in previous editions. The concepts
approach continues. Each chapter begins with a concept statement that identifies
the primary topic or principle discussed in the chapter. An application section
follows that identifies the relevance of the concept to professional practice.
Then the discussion focuses on establishing the basis for the concept statement
and its application.
Return of the Chapter on Memory
A second alteration is the return of the chapter on memory, which I had
removed from the last edition. Several people who use this book expressed their
disappointment with such a change because they considered the topic essential
to their courses. Based on those comments and those of some reviewers, the decision
was made to reinstate the memory chapter (chapter 10).
Key Restructuring
Third, three concepts have been relocated. Two were previously placed at the
end of the book in a chapter focusing on abilities; the third was in the chapter
on motor control preparation and attention. The concept of the identification
of motor abilities, which is now chapter 2, is a part of the initial unit that
introduces certain concepts fundamental to the study of motor learning. The
second abilities concept, which addresses the prediction of future performance,
is now chapter 13 and is located in the unit that introduces issues specifically
related to the concept of learning. Finally, the concept related to the preparation
of action is now chapter 7, which has been relocated to unit II, Introduction
to Motor Control.
New Research
Other revisions include an extensive updating of research references cited.
In many chapters older references have been replaced by more recent research
investigations. This updating is reflected in both the reference lists and the
chapter discussions. However, care has been taken to ensure that classic research
studies and significant older studies are included. Such research references
are important in the study of motor learning because they establish a sense
of the history of the investigation of an issue and the development of knowledge
about it. These discussions are not intended to be exhaustive reviews of the
research literature. Instead, they are designed to present students with relevant
examples of research that form the basis of the concept being discussed.
More "A Closer Look"
boxes have also been included. As before, these pedagogical aids serve as enhancements
to the text rather than being essential parts of it. The information presented
in these boxes enhances the text by (1)providing more detail about a research
study cited in the text, (2)highlighting or summarizing key points made in a
discussion of complex issues, or (3)describing specific professional practice
applications that relate to the discussion of a concept.
In addition, the number and variety
of professional practice applications have been increased. This change was made
to further enhance the students’ awareness of the relationship between a specific
concept and the range of professional practice environments in which they work
to help people learn motor skills.
Finally, this edition continues
to present the study of motor learning from a behavioral point of view. This
perspective does not negate the importance or relevance of a physiological approach.
However, it does reflect my view that to attempt to present both orientations
adequately in the same text would require a volume that would be considerably
larger and more complex than would be appropriate for a one-semester undergraduate
introductory course in motor learning.
New or Expanded Topics
Chapter 1: The Classification of Motor Skills
- Revised discussion of skills, actions, and movements
- Skills or actions in relation to goals and required
movements
- New presentation of Gentile’s taxonomy of motor
skills
Chapter 2: Motor Abilities
- Incorporation of motor abilities as introductory
material
- Updated discussions about scientific background
Chapter 3: The Measurement of Motor Performance
- Enhanced demonstration of simple, choice,
and discrimination reaction time
- Reaction time and movement time in assessing
performance problems in decision-making situations (e.g., sport and car driving)
Chapter 4: Motor Control Theories
- Relevance of motor control theory to the practitioner
- Dynamic pattern theory of Kelso
- Comparison of motor program and dynamic pattern
theories in relation to relative timing invariance
- Motor program and dynamic pattern theories in
relation to spontaneous walk-to-run gait change phenomenon
- Implications of the dynamic pattern view for
physical rehabilitation
- Updated discussion of control theory controversy
Chapter 5: Performance Characteristics of Complex
Skills
- Three prominent hypotheses concerning explanations
of Fitts’ law
- Updated discussion of prehension
- Use of functional objects to enhance reaching
performance in physical rehabilitation
- Updated section on bimanual coordination
Chapter 6: Proprioception and Vision
- Updated discussion of role of proprioception
in motor control, including section on tendon vibration technique
- Anatomy and function of key proprioceptors involved
in providing information to central nervous system
- Functions of tau in motor control
- New section on coordination of vision and hand
movement in manual aiming
- New section on amount of time needed to make
visual feedback-based movement corrections
- Monocular and binocular vision in reaching and
grasping, and roles of central and peripheral vision in prehension
- Updated information on visual cues as walking
aids in patients with Parkinson’s disease
- Revised section on vision and catching
Chapter 7: Action Preparation
- Task and performer characteristics in relation
to time required to perform an action
- Demonstration of use of fractionated visual
reaction time to understand developmental coordination disorder (DCD)
- Demonstration of how functional demand affects
action preparation
- Updated discussion of rhythmicity preparation
- New research throughout chapter
Chapter 8: Attention as a Limited Capacity Resource
- Summary of continuous and probe secondary-task
techniques
- Attention and automaticity
Chapter 9: Visual Selective Attention
- How we select visual cues
- Updated research on visual search and action
preparation
- Training visual search strategies
- Research study describing a visual search
training program to teach anticipation skills in squash
Chapter 10: Memory Components, Forgetting, and
Strategies
- Revised and updated chapter
- Most recent memory-related research
- Several new boxes
Chapter 11: Defining and Assessing Learning
- Key distinctions between terms performance
and learning
- Examples of performance situations for closed
and open skills that require "adaptability" by the performer
- Assessing learning from coordination dynamics
- New research demonstrating how practice
performance can misrepresent learning
Chapter 12: The Stages of Learning
- Study of performer and performance characteristics
during initial stage of learning
- Revised discussion of Gentile’s stages of
learning model
- Concept of "freezing the degrees of
freedom"
- Experiment demonstrating changes in conscious
attention as a function of practice
- Research findings comparing experts and
novices in use of vision in motor skill performance situations involving time
stress
- Updated research throughout chapter
Chapter 13: Predicting Performance for Later Learning
Stages
- Accounting for poor prediction from early
to later stage performance
- Recent work by Ackerman relating his model
of abilities and stages of learning model of Fitts and Posner
Chapter 14: Transfer of Learning
- Experiment demonstrating use of virtual
reality training before experiencing the real environment
- Transfer-appropriate processing view of
why transfer occurs
- Specificity of practice principle related
to examples of skill practice situations
- Revised discussion of negative transfer
- Study demonstrating bilateral transfer for
mirror writing
Chapter 15: Demonstration and Verbal Instructions
- Updated discussion of demonstration
- Verbal instructions and cues
- Experiment showing influence on learning
of where a beginner focuses attention during each practice swing in golf
Chapter 16: The Effect of Augmented Feedback on
Skill Learning
- Feedback family to better define terns and
to provide examples
- Examples of knowledge of results (KR) and
knowledge of performance (KP) for situations related to sport, everyday activities,
and physical rehabilitation
- Study concerning relationship between teacher
feedback in physical education classes and several different practice and
performance characteristics
- Updated research cited in discussion section
Chapter 17: The Content of Augmented Feedback
- Augmented feedback content issues
- Erroneous augmented feedback
- Recent study on basing knowledge of performance
on a skill analysis
- Recent research on videotape, movement kinematics,
and biofeedback as augmented feedback
- Case study involving use of biofeedback
for balance training for a stroke patient
Chapter 18: The Timing of Augmented Feedback
- Research investigations into skill learning
and rehabilitation
- Updated research throughout chapter
- Frequency of presenting augmented feedback
Chapter 19: Practice Variability
- Gentile taxonomy characteristics of intertrial
variability
- New figure illustrating continuum of amount
of contextual interference and its relationship to various practice schedule
organization options
- New research on limits of contextual interference
effect
- Practical implications of contextual interference
effect
- Experiment showing effectiveness of moderate
contextual interference practice schedule for basketball
Chapter 20: Practice Distribution
- Updated research on intertrial interval
and practice distribution
- Implications of massed and distributed practice
for scheduling practice or rehabilitation session
- Relation of practice distribution and contextual
interference to different skill learning contexts
Chapter 21: The Amount of Practice
- Overlearning strategy and procedural skills
- Overlearning strategy and poor test performance
- Updated research throughout chapter
Chapter 22: Whole and Part Practice
- Fractionization as a part practice strategy
for bimanual coordination skills
- Various whole and part practice conditions
that facilitate learning of bimanual coordination skills
- New idea for simplification of practice
strategy
- Research study on music accompaniment to
help patients with Parkinson’s disease improve their walking pace
Chapter 23: Mental Practice
- Updated research throughout chapter
- Mental practice aids performance preparation
- Examples of use of imagery in a variety
of sports
| 
