Chapter 1 Laboratory Experiences

1. Working within a group of 3-5 students, choose three human movements or motor skills with which you are all familiar. (A vertical jump is an example.) For each movement, make a list of at least three general questions and at least three specific questions that an analyst might choose to answer.

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2. Working within a group of 3-5 students, choose a human movement or motor skill with which you are all familiar and have two members of the group simultaneously perform the movement several times as the group observes. Based on your comparative observations, make a list of differences and similarities that you can detect. Which of these are of potential importance and which are more a matter of personal style?

3. Working within a group of 3-5 students, view a previously taken videotape or film of a human movement or motor skill performance. After viewing the movement several times, make a list of at least three general questions and at least three specific questions that an analyst might choose to answer regarding the movement.

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4. Having completed laboratory exercises 1-3, discuss within your group the relative advantages and disadvantages of each of the three exercises above in terms of your ability to formulate meaningful questions.

5. Have one member of your group perform several trials of walking as the group observes from front, side, and rear views. The subject may walk either on a treadmill or across the floor. What observations can be made about the subject’s gait from each view that are not visible or apparent from the other views?