Practice Design Factors

1. Practice Design Factors Chapter 8

2. INTRODUCTION • What is better practice—the skill in parts or in its entirety? • Should one teach and practice the tennis serve in parts? Or in entirety? • Should the patient be taught how to get out of bed in parts? Or in entirety? • Should the student trainer be taught a shin splint taping procedure in parts? Or in entirety?

3. Ask the following questions: • Would practicing a simplified version of the target skill transfer positively to performance of the whole skill? • Would the learner’s time be more effectively spent practicing the whole skill? • How much (if any) practice time should be devoted to part practice?

4. Whole vs. Part Practice • Nature of the skill • Task organization • Degree to which sub-components of the skill are interdependent and can or cannot be separated • Task complexity • Number of sub-components • Information processing demands

5. Whole vs. Part Practice • Nature of skill (Task Organization) • Part practice works best for tasks where the actions involved in one part do not impact the actions involved in the next part • E.g. passing a baton in a relay is independent of the running phase of the race

6. Whole vs. Part Practice • Nature of Skill (Task Complexity) • Use part practice when tasks are high in complexity, low in organization (can be separated) • Front crawl, transfer from bed to standing • Use whole practice when tasks are low in complexity, high in organization (can’t easily be separated) • Throwing a ball; transporting self in wheelchair

7. Whole vs. Part Practice • Task Complexity (Information processing) • Breaking the skill into component parts can reduce the amount of information processing • Reduces the attentional demands • Reduces the stimulus ID, response selection, response programming = reduced RT • Prevents frustrating and overwhelming the learner • Enhances more successful performance during the early learning stages (cognitive/early associative)

8. Whole vs. Part Practice • Capability of the Learner • Part practice when: • Learners have limited movement experiences • Learners are overwhelmed by the task • Cognitive or attentional requirements of task exceed learner’s capacity • Whole practice when: • Learners are highly motivated and have had a variety of movement experiences

9. Part Practice: Segmentation • Separates skill into parts according to spatial or temporal elements and practice is separated until the segment is learned • Part-whole method: A to proficiency - B to proficiency - AB • Progressive part method: A - B - AB - AB + C • Repetitive part method: A - AB- ABC • Forward chaining: A + B + C = ABC • Backward chaining: C + B + A = ABC

10. Part Practice: Fractionization • Skill components normally performed simultaneously are partitioned and practiced independently • Complex skill of two or more parts

11. Fractionization approach • Related to bimanual skills in which one practices each arm separately before performing with the arms together • Playing an instrument • Sidestroke in swimming • Tennis serve • Practice should begin with the hand that has the more difficult task

12. Part Practice: Simplification • Reduces level of difficulty of the task or some aspect of the task for the learner • Modify equipment; use assistive devices • Reduce the coordination requirements of the task • Simple to complex progressions • Reduce complexity of environment • Lead-up games • Provide a rhythmic pattern

13. Whole vs. Part Practice: Attention Cueing • Learner attention is directed towards a specific aspect of the skill during its performance as a whole • Allows learner to concentrate on one particular task component or movement problem without disrupting the underlying temporal and spatial characteristics inherent to the skill

14. Breaking down Skills: Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff • A tradeoff exists between speed and accuracy • An emphasis on speed negatively impacts accuracy and vice versa

15. Breaking down Skills: Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff • Implications for movement practitioners: • Emphasis on accuracy in initial stages of learning may impede the acquisition of efficient movement • A focus on accuracy in initial stages gives evidence to an incorrect movement • But, focus on speed facilitated efficient movements • In initial stages of learning, de-emphasize accuracy tasks and focus on real-time movement speed • Focus on the process of the skill, rather than a product

16. Bilateral Transfer • When practice with one limb enhances the rate of skill acquisition with the opposite limb on the same task • Greater degree of transfer occurs from the preferred to the non-preferred limb • Transfer seems to be asymmetric • Skill should first be practiced with the dominant limb • Once proficient, introduce to the non-preferred limb

17. Theoretical Explanations • Cognitive • Motor control

18. Cognitive Explanation • Identical elements of the task performed by both limbs • Learner knows ‘what to do’ • Cognitive components which take up a learner’s attention have been learned before practice with opposite limb occurs • Begin at a higher level of proficiency

19. Motor Control Explanation • The GMP is an abstract representation responsible for control of a class of actions • Muscles to do a task are parameters added to the program to achieve a goal of the action • The GMP specifies time and space features of a movement which can be adapted for a muscle group that has not practiced a movement • The GMP develops for a skill as a result of practice • Practice with one limb should transfer with a reasonable level of performance to another limb

20. Mental Rehearsal Techniques • Involves the visualization or cognitive rehearsal of a movement in the absence of any physical execution • Used as a preparatory strategy to enhance performance • Can reduce or control pre-competition anxiety • Increases self-confidence • Enhances motivation

21. Mental Rehearsal Techniques • Can mental rehearsal contribute to skill learning? • Physical rehearsal is superior to mental rehearsal when a skill is learned • Mental rehearsal is superior to NO rehearsal • Effective for patients whose physical activity is restricted or for those whose injury prevents physical rehearsal • Consider how mental rehearsal could be used in therapy settings

22. Types of Mental Rehearsal • Mental Practice • Procedure through which learners think through the cognitive or procedural aspects of a motor skill in absence of overt movement • Strategies • Cues • General instructional information ‘how to’s’ presented • Mental practice requires no equipment and can be done individually in a large group

23. Types of Mental Rehearsal • Mental Imagery • Procedure in which people imagine themselves performing a motor skill from either a first person or a third person perspective • Internal perspective: they experience the movement and environment in which the skill is performed • External perspective: experience the skill through a videotape replay of their performance

24. Internal vs. External • Which is best? • When a closed skill that relies on form is to be practiced, external mental imagery may be better • When a skill that connects the action to a product or desired outcome is to be practiced, internal mental imagery may be better • Effective imagery stimulates both the look and feel of the actual movement

25. Imagery Guidelines • Practice • Distraction free setting • Start with familiar situations and skills • Generate positive, vivid and controllable images • Incorporate all senses

26. Fractionization Mental imagery Segmentation Simplification Mental practice Slow motion practice Gradual addition of parts of a complex skill Helps learners remember the procedural aspects of a skill The practice of a single part of a complex skill A springboard diver attempting to see and feel the dive before performing it Review: match the terms

27. Review • Discuss the concept of part practice, and then describe how an instructor might use this type of practice in assisting a person who is learning to drive a stick-shift car • Explain the differences between mental practice and mental imagery. Give an example of how a person who is learning to ballroom dance might use each type of mental rehearsal