SEHS terms in Motor learning

A stable, enduring and largely inherited trait, such as balance, coordination or reaction time, that underlies the performance of a range of skills.

An opportunity for action that the environment offers a particular performer, depending on both the environment and the performer's capabilities, for example a gap that affords a pass.

The second, practice phase of learning, in which subroutines are linked, errors become fewer and smaller, and the learner begins to use intrinsic feedback.

The process of focusing mental resources on selected information from the environment or from within the body, while ignoring other information.

The direction (internal or external) and width (broad or narrow) of a person's attention at a particular moment, meaning what they attend to and how much information they take in.

A reduction in the width of attention as arousal increases, so that fewer cues are processed and, at high arousal, relevant cues are missed.

A stable, preferred pattern of coordination, such as walking or running, that a movement system settles into because it is efficient under the current constraints.

The final phase of learning, in which the skill is performed automatically, consistently and efficiently with little conscious attention, and the performer corrects their own errors.

The transfer of learning from one side of the body to the other, for example from the dominant to the non-dominant foot or hand.

Practising one skill, or one version of a skill, repeatedly before moving on to the next, which improves performance quickly during practice.

Attention that takes in a wide range of cues at the same time, used to assess a changing situation or to plan.

A significant drop in the performance of a well-learned skill under pressure, caused by the perceived importance of the situation.

A skill performed in a stable, predictable environment that does not affect it, so the movement can be repeated the same way, for example a basketball free throw.

Control of a movement in which feedback received during the movement is compared with a reference of correctness, so that errors can be corrected while it continues.

The first phase of learning, in which the learner tries to understand the skill; performance is inconsistent with many large errors, and every movement needs conscious attention.

The ability to keep attention on the relevant cues of a task for as long as the task requires, resisting the movement of attention elsewhere.

A method of coaching, based on the ecological model, in which the coach manipulates individual, task and environmental constraints to guide learners towards functional movement solutions.

The interference that occurs when several skills or variations are practised in a random order, which makes practice harder and lowers performance during practice but usually improves retention and transfer.

A training method in which distractions likely in competition are deliberately introduced into practice so that the performer learns to maintain attention despite them.

Easterbrook's theory that attention narrows as arousal rises: at low arousal irrelevant cues are taken in, at optimal arousal only relevant cues are used, and at high arousal relevant cues are missed.

The use of a false movement or cue, such as a dummy or fake, to make an opponent respond to it, so their response to the real movement is delayed by the psychological refractory period.

The number of independent ways in which the parts of the body (joints, muscles, motor units) can move, which must be controlled and coordinated to produce a movement.

The movement of attention away from task-relevant cues to information irrelevant to the task, so that concentration is lost.

Practice with rest intervals or other activities between attempts or blocks, allowing recovery and mental rehearsal; suited to beginners and complex or demanding skills.

A theory treating the body as a complex system of many interacting parts whose coordinated movement patterns emerge through self-organisation under individual, task and environmental constraints.

A theory of motor learning combining ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory, explaining skilled movement as emerging from performer–environment interaction guided by directly perceived information.

A model of motor learning in which movement emerges from the interaction of performer, task and environment, and learning is the improving coupling of perception and action without stored programmes.

A theory of perception and action, developed from Gibson's work, proposing that performers perceive information in the environment directly and use it to guide action without stored representations.

Features of the surroundings that shape movement, either physical (surface, temperature, wind, light) or sociocultural (family, peers, culture, access to facilities).

A visual or auditory stimulus in the environment, such as crowd noise, cameras or an opponent's comments, that draws attention away from task-relevant cues.

Attention directed outside the body, to cues in the environment or to the intended effect of a movement, such as the flight of the ball or the target.

A skill whose timing and rate are controlled by the environment, such as an opponent, the ball or a starting signal, for example receiving a volleyball serve.

Feedback from an outside source, such as a coach, team-mate, video or timing system, added to what the performer senses for themselves.

Information received by a performer about a movement or its outcome, during or after the movement, which can be used to detect and correct errors.

A skill that uses small muscle groups and small, precise movements, often needing high hand–eye coordination, for example an archery release or a snooker shot.

A stored, abstract movement pattern for a class of actions, with fixed sequence and relative timing, adapted to each situation by setting parameters such as force, speed and direction.

A skill that uses large muscle groups and large movements, where precision is less important, for example a shot put or a tackle.

Information given to a learner to help them understand and perform a skill, in visual, verbal, manual or mechanical form.

A principle stating that choice reaction time increases as the number of possible stimulus–response alternatives increases, rising by a roughly constant amount each time the number of choices doubles.

Characteristics of the performer that shape movement, either structural (height, limb length, body mass) or functional (fitness, skill, motivation, emotions, fatigue).

A model of motor control and learning describing how information is received, interpreted, used to select a response from memory and sent to the muscles, with feedback adjusting later responses.

A thought, feeling or sensation within the performer, negative or unrelated to the task, that draws attention away from relevant cues, such as worry about the outcome.

Attention directed inside the body, to thoughts, feelings, mental images or the movements of one's own body parts.

Feedback that comes from within the performer through the senses, especially proprioceptors, during or after a movement, such as the feel of a well-struck ball.

Feedback about the quality or pattern of a movement (the technique) rather than its outcome, for example the position of the elbow at release.

Extrinsic feedback about the outcome of a movement, such as the score, time, distance or whether a shot was successful.

A relatively permanent change in behaviour, or in the capability to perform a skill, brought about by practice and experience.

A coach-centred approach to teaching motor skills, based on the information processing model, in which a correct technique is demonstrated, broken down and repeated in progressive drills with corrective feedback.

The memory store of well-learned information and motor programmes, with almost unlimited capacity and duration, from which past experiences are retrieved to select responses.

Practice with no rest intervals, or very short ones, between attempts or blocks, suited to simple skills and fit, motivated, experienced performers.

The cognitive rehearsal of a skill without physical movement, in which the performer imagines performing the skill in order to learn it or improve its performance.

A mental training practice of paying attention, on purpose and without judgement, to present-moment experience, repeatedly noticing when the mind wanders and returning attention to a chosen focus.

The process by which movement skills are acquired, refined and retained through practice and experience, producing relatively permanent changes in the capability to perform them.

The time taken from the start of a movement to its completion, which together with reaction time makes up response time.

Attention focused on one or two specific cues, used when a performer executes a skill or responds to a single target.

Transfer in which learning one skill hinders the learning or performance of another, usually because the situations are similar but need different responses.

A model describing attention on two dimensions, width (broad or narrow) and direction (internal or external), giving four styles: broad-external (assess), broad-internal (analyse), narrow-internal (rehearse) and narrow-external (act).

A learner-centred approach to teaching motor skills, based on the ecological model, in which the coach manipulates constraints in game-like practice so learners discover functional movement solutions.

A skill performed in a changing, unpredictable environment, so the performer must continually adapt the movement, for example a pass in hockey.

Control of a movement by a motor programme sent to the muscles as a whole, without using feedback during the movement; typical of fast, well-learned, discrete skills.

Breaking a skill into its subroutines and practising them separately before combining them, including progressive part (chaining) and whole–part–whole practice.

The close, continuous link between perceiving information in the environment and moving, in which perception guides action and action creates new information to perceive.

The observable execution of a skill at a particular time, which is temporary and fluctuates with factors such as fatigue, arousal, motivation and conditions.

A graph of performance against practice trials or time, used to track progress and infer learning; common shapes are linear, negatively accelerated, positively accelerated and plateau.

The natural variation in a performer's movement from one attempt to the next, which in the ecological view is often functional, helping adaptation to changing conditions.

The three stages a learner passes through when acquiring a motor skill, cognitive, associative and autonomous, described by Fitts and Posner.

A period during learning when performance stops improving despite continued practice, shown as a flat section on a performance curve.

Transfer in which learning one skill helps the learning or performance of another, usually because the skills share movement patterns, information or principles.

A consistent, practised sequence of thoughts and actions carried out before a skill, which directs attention to task-relevant cues and helps control arousal.

The influence of a skill learned earlier on the learning or performance of a skill learned later, which may be positive or negative.

The delay in responding to a second stimulus that arrives while a first stimulus is still being processed, which significantly slows the response to the second stimulus.

The final fixation or tracking gaze on a specific location or object before a movement begins, lasting at least about 100 ms; longer quiet-eye periods are associated with expert and successful performance.

Practising several skills or variations in a mixed, unpredictable order within a session, which lowers performance during practice but usually improves retention and transfer.

The part of a schema that relates initial conditions and past response specifications to their outcomes, used before a movement to select the parameters needed.

The part of a schema that relates initial conditions and past outcomes to the sensory consequences of movement, used during and after a movement to detect errors.

The total time from the onset of a stimulus to the completion of the movement in response to it, equal to reaction time plus movement time.

A test of a skill after a period without practice, used to show whether improvements made during practice have been retained and so reflect learning.

The influence of learning a new skill on the performance of a skill that was learned earlier, which may be positive or negative.

A theory of motor learning, proposed by Schmidt, in which performers store generalised motor programmes and rules (recall and recognition schemas) that adapt movements to new situations.

The process of filtering relevant information from the display and ignoring irrelevant information, so that only important cues are processed further.

The process by which a stable, coordinated movement pattern emerges spontaneously from the interaction of the body's parts with the task and environment, without central direction of each part.

A skill in which the performer decides when to start the movement and controls its rate, for example a javelin throw or a golf putt.

The working memory of the information processing system, holding about 7 ± 2 items for about 20–30 seconds while they are used, and passing rehearsed information to long-term memory.

The proposal that the brain can process only one stimulus and select only one response at a time, so a second stimulus must wait until the first is processed.

A learned, goal-directed action or movement performed efficiently and consistently, with maximum certainty and minimum outlay of time and energy.

One of the component parts of a motor programme (a subordinate motor pattern), performed in sequence with the others to produce the whole skill, for example the ball toss in a tennis serve.

Features of a task that shape movement, including its goal, rules, equipment, playing area and number of players.

The influence of previous experience of learning or performing a skill on the learning or performance of a new skill.

A test of a skill in a new situation or a variation of the practised task, used to show whether learning can be adapted beyond the conditions of practice.

Practice of a skill under a range of different conditions, such as distances, speeds and positions, intended to build a strong schema that adapts to new situations.

Practising a skill in its entirety without breaking it into parts, suited to simple or highly organised skills whose subroutines are hard to separate.

The absence of any influence of one skill on the learning of another, usually because the two skills have nothing in common.