Motor Learning and Performance

Timothy D. Lee, PhD, is a professor emeritus in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has published extensively in motor behavior and psychology journals since 1980, has served as an editor for the Journal of Motor Behavior and Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, and has been an editorial board member for Psychological Review. Before his retirement, his research was supported primarily by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.Lee has been a member, secretary-treasurer, and president of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) and a member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), the Psychonomic Society, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. In 1980, he received the inaugural Young Scientist Award from SCAPPS, and in 2011 he was named a fellow of the society-its highest honor. He was named an international fellow by the National Academy of Kinesiology in 1999 and awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award by NASPSPA in 2017. His leisure-time passions include golf and music.Richard A. Schmidt, PhD (1941-2015) was a professor emeritus in the department of psychology at UCLA. At the time of his death, Schmidt ran his own business, Human Performance Research, conducting research and consulting in the area of human factors and human performance. Widely acknowledged as one of the leaders in research on motor behavior, he had more than 40 years of experience in motor learning and performance.The originator of both schema theory and impulse-variability theory (also called Schmidt’s law), he founded the Journal of Motor Behavior in 1969 and was editor for 11 years. He authored the first edition of Motor Control and Learning in 1982 and the first edition of this book, Motor Learning and Performance, in 1991.Schmidt was highly recognized for his contribution of a lifetime of research and writing. He received honorary doctorates from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium in 1992 and the UniversitÉ Joseph Fourier in France in 1998. He was a longtime member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), where he served as president in 1982 and received the organization’s two highest honors: the Distinguished Scholar Award (for lifetime contributions to research in motor control and learning) in 1992 and the President’s Award (for significant contributions to the development and growth of NASPSPA) in 2013. He was also a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Psychonomic Society and received the C.H. McCloy Research Lectureship from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. His leisure-time passions included sailboat and Porsche racing.

• Chapter 1. Introduction to Motor Learning and PerformanceHow Skills Are StudiedWhy Study Motor Skills?The Science of Motor Learning and PerformanceFocus on Research 1.1 Paul M. FittsFocus on Research 1.2 Franklin M. HenryDefining SkillsComponents of SkillsClassifying SkillsMeasuring Skilled PerformanceUnderstanding Performance and LearningSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesPart I. Principles of Skilled PerformanceChapter 2. Processing Information and Making DecisionsThe Mental Side of Human PerformanceThe Information-Processing ApproachFocus on Application 2.1 Intent to Blow Whistle Rule in the NHLReaction Time and Decision-MakingFocus on Research 2.1 Hick’s LawFocus on Application 2.2 Population StereotypesFocus on Research 2.2 Studying the Expert AdvantageFocus on Application 2.3 Cost–Benefit of Anticipating in Sprint StartingErrors in Decision-MakingMemorySummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 3. Attention and PerformanceInformation-Processing LimitationsFocus on Application 3.1 William James on AttentionWhat Is Attention?Attentional Limitations in Stimulus IdentificationFocus on Research 3.1 A Stroop-Like Effect in BasketballAttentional Limitations in Response SelectionFocus on Research 3.2 Distracted-Driving ResearchAttentional Limitations in Movement ProgrammingFocus on Research 3.3 The Double-Stimulation ParadigmAttentional Focus During ActionDecision-Making Under StressFocus on Application 3.2 Driver Panic and Unintended AccelerationSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 4. Sensory Contributions to Skilled PerformanceFeedback Processing in Motor ControlSources of Sensory InformationFocus on Application 4.1 When Vision Distorts PerformanceProcessing Sensory InformationFocus on Application 4.2 Force Escalation Between SiblingsVision and Motor ControlFocus on Research 4.1 Blindsight Reveals Dorsal and Ventral Stream ProcessingFocus on Research 4.2 Gaze Control and the Quiet EyeAudition and Motor ControlSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 5. Motor ProgramsMotor Control of Brief ActionsMotor Program TheoryEvidence for Motor ProgramsFocus on Research 5.1 The Henry–Rogers ExperimentFocus on Application 5.1 Checked Swings in BaseballFocus on Research 5.2 Initiating a Motor ProgramMotor Programs and the Conceptual ModelProblems in Motor Program Theory: Novelty and StorageGeneralized Motor Program TheoryFocus on Research 5.3 Invariances and ParametersFocus on Application 5.2 Relative-Timing BiometricsFocus on Application 5.3 The Stereo System AnalogySummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 6. Principles of Speed, Accuracy, and TimingControlling Simple MovementsFitts’ LawFocus on Research 6.1 Fitts’ TasksFocus on Application 6.1 Trading Off Speed and AccuracyFocus on Application 6.2 Fitts’ Law in Daily ActivitiesSchmidt’s LawExceptions to Fitts’ and Schmidt’s LawsApplying the Principles: Baseball BattingSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 7. Performance of Complex MovementsDiffering Approaches to Understanding CoordinationThe Differential ApproachFocus on Application 7.1 The Relative-Age EffectThe Ecological ApproachFocus on Research 7.1 Head–Arm Coordination in Golf PuttingFocus on Application 7.2 Usain Bolt Versus Tyson GayFocus on Research 7.2 Relative Phase: An Index of CoordinationSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesPart II. Principles of Skill LearningChapter 8. Introduction to Motor LearningConcepts and Methods in Research and ApplicationMotor Learning DefinedHow Is Motor Learning Measured?Focus on Research 8.1 Learning Curves: Facts or Artifacts?Distinguishing Learning From PerformanceFocus on Application 8.1 Self-Assessments of LearningTransfer of LearningSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 9. The Motor Learning ProcessPractice, Retention, and TransferTwo Principles of PracticeFocus on Research 9.1 The 10,000-Hour Rule MythFocus on Application 9.1 Learning Versus Performance During PracticeBenefits of PracticeRetention of SkillTransfer of SkillFocus on Application 9.2 From Esport to Real SportSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 10. Organizing and Scheduling PracticeHow the Structure of Practice Influences LearningDistribution of PracticeVariability in PracticeFocus on Research 10.1 Especial Skills: An Exception to Variable Practice?Focus on Research 10.2 Impact of Shea and MorganMotivation for LearningObservational Learning and Mental PracticeFocus on Application 10.1 Mental Practice in Stroke RehabilitationFocus on Application 10.2 Practice Distribution RevisitedSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 11. Augmented FeedbackHow Supplemental Feedback Influences LearningFeedback ClassificationsFunctions of Augmented FeedbackFocus on Research 11.1 Early Views on How Augmented Feedback WorksWhat Feedback to GiveHow Much Feedback to GiveFeedback TimingFocus on Application 11.1 Physical Guidance in Stroke RehabilitationFocus on Application 11.2 Physical Guidance in Learning to SwimSummaryHKPropel ActivitiesChapter 12. Theoretical Perspectives on Motor LearningUnderstanding How Learning OccursStage TheoriesAdams’ Closed-Loop TheorySchema TheoryChallenge Point FrameworkDynamic Pattern TheoryConstraints-Based FrameworkOPTIMAL TheorySummaryHKPropel Activities