Chapter 7 Individual Differences

1. Chapter 7 Individual Differences C H A P T E R 7 Individual Differences

2. Objectives • This chapter will help you to understand the following: • Scientific approach to the study of individual differences • Nature of abilities and how they are distinguished from skills • Two approaches to conceptualizing the all-around athlete • Difficulty in predicting future successes in motor performance

3. Experimental and Differential Methods • Experimental approach is a method of understanding behavior emphasizing common principles among people and through the use of experiments. • Differential approach is a method of understanding behavior by focusing on individual differences and abilities.

4. Defining Ability and Prediction • An ability is a fundamental characteristic that tends to underlie particular skills; ability is largely inherited genetically and is not modifiable by practice. • Prediction is the process of using people's abilities to estimate their probable success in various occupations or sports.

5. Defining Individual Differences • Individual differences in skills have these characteristics: • Differences tend to be stable from attempt to attempt. • Differences endure across time. • Differences on a single measurement are often not sufficient for establishing individual differences.

6. Table 7.1

7. General Motor Ability Hypothesis • An outdated view, popular in the first half of the 20th century, held that all motor performances are based on a single ability called general motor ability. • A person with strong general motor ability should be good at all motor tasks. • Henry’s and others’ research tells us that the concept of a general motor ability is simply incorrect.

8. Correlations Among Various Skills • Generally, the relationships (measured by correlations) between various skills are low, suggesting that there are many abilities, which are very specific to particular tasks. • Even skills that appear to be quite similar usually correlate poorly. • Two skills with only minor differences (e.g., throwing 10 m for accuracy and throwing 15 m for accuracy) can correlate strongly.

9. Abilities and Production of Skills • Scientists have argued that there are many abilities, each with a relatively narrow group of tasks that it supports. • There appear to be many motor abilities—perhaps 50 or so, when they are all discovered—that should be able to account for motor performances.

10. Figure 7.2

11. Abilities as a Basis for Skill Classification • Effective classification allows the instructor to do the following: • Ensure that the learning principles he or she is using are appropriate for the skill being taught • Give the learner more assistance with underlying features of the skill important for movement control • Choose an individual for advanced training based on the match of abilities of the person involved in the task

12. Prediction • Attempts at prediction involve these components: • Understanding the abilities that underlie the criterion task • Estimating the strength of these abilities in applicants as indications of their future capabilities in the criterion task • Estimating the potential skill on the criterion task based on present information about the applicants

13. Patterns of Abilities Change With Practice • Although an individual might have the proper abilities for novice performance, this often is not the proper pattern of abilities required for expert performance. • Selecting people because they are good as novices will capture only a part of the job of prediction. (continued)

14. Patterns of Abilities Change With Practice (continued) • Most knowledge about abilities is based on relatively novice-level performances. • Unfortunately, little is known about the abilities that underlie very high-level performances, making the task of predicting them particularly difficult.

15. Figure 7.3

16. Patterns of Abilities Change With Practice: Reference Tests • Researchers entered scores on reference tests, along with the results of a discrimination RT test, into a factor analysis • Allowed them to measure how much of the performance on the discrimination RT test could be explained by each of the abilities measured by the reference tests • Allowed them to determine how the relationship between task and the reference tests changed as a function of practice on the discrimination task

17. Figure 7.4

18. Performances in Early Practice • This shift of abilities with practice and experience can be a problem if you attempt to select performers on the basis of their performance in early practice. • Inviting a large group of youngsters to try out for a particular team or activity and after a relatively brief practice period, those performers most skilled at these activities are invited to remain on the team, and the others are told that they will not be retained.

19. Two Difficulties • Assuming that the people who have succeeded at an early stage of practice are strong in abilities required for novice performance. These people, after extensive practice, may not be very well suited for high-level proficiency because they may not be strong in abilities needed for expert performance. • An individual who has the proper abilities for expert performance but not for novice performance faces the likelihood that he will not even be selected to remain with the team after the brief initial practice period.

20. How Effective Is Skill Prediction? • Generally, not very effective in motor behavior for the following reasons: • Underlying abilities in motor performances have not been studied systematically and are not well understood. • The number of underlying abilities is probably large, requiring that many abilities be measured. • Pattern of relevant abilities shifts with practice and experience, making prediction of expert performances difficult.