Penny McCullagh

Observational Learning and the Fearful Child: Influence of Peer Models on Swimming Skill Performance and Psychological Responses

This study examined the role of peer mastery and coping models on childrens swimming skills, fear, and self-efficacy. Children (N = 24; M age = 6.2 years), who were identified as fearful of the water, were matched to control, peer-mastery, or peer-coping model conditions. Day 1 included a preintervention assessment. Days 2-4 included exposure to model conditions followed by a 20-min swimming lesson, Day 5 consisted of postintervention assessments, and a follow-up test was conducted 4 days later. Data were analyzed in a series of 3 x 3 (Model Type x Assessment Period) repeated measures analyses of variance on the dependent variables. Results revealed differences between modeling and control groups at postintervention and follow-up, but the small sample size and large within-group variability compromised many statistically significant findings. Calculation of effect sizes indicated moderate-to-large pre- to posintervention differences between control and modeling groups on skill, self-efficacy, and fear of swimming. These findings suggest that a modeling intervention combined with swimming lessons is a more effective behavior change agent for fearful children than swimming lessons alone.

Learning versus Correct Models: Influence of Model Type on the Learning of a Free-Weight Squat Lift

It has been assumed that demonstrating the correct movement is the best way to impart task-relevant information. However, empirical verification with simple laboratory skills has shown that using a learning model (showing an individual in the process of acquiring the skill to be learned) may accelerate skill acquisition and increase retention more than using a correct model. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of viewing correct versus learning models on the acquisition of a sport skill (free-weight squat lift). Forty female participants were assigned to four learning conditions: physical practice receiving feedback, learning model with model feedback, correct model with model feedback, and learning model without model feedback. Results indicated that viewing either a correct or learning model was equally effective in learning correct form in the squat lift.

Observation interventions for motor skill learning and performance: an applied model for the use of observation

Using the 5 Ws and 1 H journalistic approach of Beveridge Mackie (2011), we reviewed the observation intervention research that targeted sport skills or daily movement tasks. Through this review, it became apparent that while there is much research that examines observation of a live or video (what), skilled model (who) for enhanced skill learning (why) in laboratory settings (where), there is a need for not only a wider scope of research, but also a deeper one. Following the review of literature, an applied model for the use of observation is advanced. Through this applied model, we propose that practitioners should first assess the observers characteristics and the task characteristics for which any observation intervention is being created. The practitioner should then gain an understanding of the context and the desired outcomes of the learner and use this advance information to vary the characteristics of: (1) who is observed; (2) what is observed and what instructional features will accompany the intervention; (3) when it is observed; and (4) how the observed information should be delivered. Future research directions are also forwarded with regard to identified gaps in the literature.

A comparison of modelling and imagery in the acquisition and retention of motor skills

Abstract Although many researchers have examined the effects of imagery and/or modelling interventions, it is unclear which of the two interventions is more effective. In two experiments, novice learners assessed over multiple trials of a free weight squat lifting or a stabilometer balancing task were given modelling, imagery, a combination of modelling and imagery, or control interventions. Group differences indicated, in general, that groups receiving modelling (modelling, combination) evidenced a more appropriate form than groups that did not receive modelling (imagery, control). When apparent, these differences were already in place after the first of several interventions. Practical implications are that even a single bout of modelling can have immediate beneficial effects on movement form (Experiments 1 and 2) and outcome (Experiment 1).

Preselection and response biasing in short-term motor memory

Two experiments were performed comparing preselected (subject defined) and constrained (experimenter defined) movements. In the first experiment, subjects made reproduction responses immediately or under unfilled and filled 15-sec retention intervals. Results indicated that recall of preselected movements was clearly superior until the interpolation of information processing activity. In addition, preselected movements demonstrated no forgetting over a 15-sec retention interval while constrained movements evidenced spontaneous memory lass, suggesting that preselected movements possess a stronger representation in memory. The second experiment examined this interpretation in a response biasing paradigm. Subjects made criterion responses under preselected or constrained conditions, while the interpolated movement was always in the constrained mode and ± 40 deg from the criterion. The subjects’ task was to attend to both movements and recall each when instructed. While preselected recall was clearly superior’ to constrained recall, response biasing was clearly evident in both. The failure to find differential biasing effects was discussed in terms of the relative trace strength hypothesis (Stelmach & Welsh, 1972).

Demonstrations and Knowledge of Results in Motor Skill Acquisition

In learning motor skills, different types of information can be utilized to reinforce correct execution of the skill. Over the years, augmented information after the movement (i.e., knowledge of results) has been the most widely studied and has received attention as the most important variable for learning. Recently, however, researchers have begun to focus on modeling or providing information prior to movement as another important aspect of skill learning. The present experiment compared a KR 100% condition with a KR 33% condition, with a final modeling plus KR condition on the acquisition and immediate transfer retention of a timing task. The results showed that all groups reached the same performance level by the end of acquisition. However, over the immediate transfer phase, subjects who had received modeling plus KR during acquisition, increased their errors. Delayed retention produced no significant group effects.

Size of Audience and Social Facilitation

Based on the summation principle (Weiss & Miller, 1971), the strength of audience-induced drive was manipulated by varying the size of an audience from 1 to 6 members. Male college subjects performed on two motor tasks, ball rolling and reaction time. Nervousness and activation levels were rated by subjects as well as members of an audience. Tests of linearity indicated that activation and nervousness increased as size of audience increased. Tests of linearity for both performance measures were nonsignificant and were therefore not in the direction predicted by drive summation.

Psychology of Physical Activity: What Should Students Know?.

The assignment for the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education was to define the psychology subdiscipline of kinesiology. Ten undergraduate sport and exercise psychology textbooks, 27 undergraduate course syllabi, and three articles which examined the most popular contents of prominent journals were analyzed. Similar topics were found across all avenues of research, and are deemed important. Throughout our investigation we noted a lack of cross-disciplinary integration. We review the issue of separatism across subdisciplines of kinesiology, and suggest a cross-disciplinary focus in the texts, research, and the classroom. Finally, we discuss the issue of choosing appropriate names to represent our field, and propose that the name physical activity should be adopted.

Modality and Perceptual-Motor Experience Influence the Detection of Temporal Deviations in Tap Dance Sequences

Accurate temporal information processing is critically important in many motor activities within disciplines such as dance, music, and sport. However, it is still unclear how temporal information related to biological motion is processed by expert and non-expert performers. It is well-known that the auditory modality dominates the visual modality in processing temporal information of simple stimuli, and that experts outperform non-experts in biological motion perception. In the present study, we combined these two areas of research; we investigated how experts and non-experts detected temporal deviations in tap dance sequences, in the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. We found that temporal deviations were better detected in the auditory modality compared to the visual modality, and by experts compared to non-experts. However, post hoc analyses indicated that these effects were mainly due to performances obtained by experts in the auditory modality. The results suggest that the experience advantage is not equally distributed across the modalities, and that tap dance experience enhances the effectiveness of the auditory modality but not the visual modality when processing temporal information. The present results and their potential implications are discussed in both temporal information processing and biological motion perception frameworks.