PDFE # 8

PDFE #8 is a reflection on a lab performed in class on Monday, October 25, 2010. The purpose of the lab was to demonstrate to us how a learner moves through both the verbal-cognitive and the motor stages of learning when learning a simple skill. The lab also gave us practice in observing performance characteristics associated with the stages of learning. The different stages are: verbal-cognitive stage, motor stage, and the autonomous stage. During the verbal-cognitive stage the learner is trying to understand the general idea of the skill, identifying a goal, is having to devote a lot of attention to the steps, and is deciding what and what not to do. While observing this a person would see jerky movements, self-talk, and relatively large gains in performance. During the motor stage the person learning is trying to organize more effective movement patterns, is beginning to monitor feedback from performance, and is developing capabilities to better anticipate events/time movements. During this stage a person can observe that movements are quicker, improvements are less dramatic, and performance stabalizes. The final stage is the Autonomous stage, in this stage the learners' movements are automatic, the person can devote time to secondary tasks, and improvements are subtle to undetectable. The person observing can see each of these things as well. My partner during this lab was Caitlin. When she first began to perform the skill she was slow and had to read the directions several times. During the first three trials she only made it to step three and she had trouble understanding directions. During the fourth trial she made it all the way to step five (the final step), but the quality was not adequate. The string slid back through. The previous steps were all in the verbal-cognitive stage. Around trial six, she began looking less at the directions, and became much faster. Indicating that she was had entered the motor stage. Around trials ten, eleven, and twelve she began to enter the autonomous stage, where she carried on conversations with me while producing an excellent knot. She no longer had to think about what she was doing. The information we were given in the textbook matched perfectly to what we observed during this lab. Many of the signs given for each stage were visible during Caitlin's learning process. The biggest challenges we faced when performing the lab was understanding the directions. It took Caitlin the longest time at the beginning to comprehend what the directions were asking in each step. When we tried to tie the knot upside down it was not longer in the autonomous stage, we went back to the verbal-cognitive stage, but it was a faster process that before once we figured out how to tie the knot. This lab increased our knowledge of the stages of learning and was overall very fun to perform!

PDFE #7

Personal Ability Inventory:
Multilimb Coordination 4
Control Precision 4
Response orientation 5
Reaction time 5
Rate control 5
Manual dexterity 3
Finger dexterity 4
Arm-hand steadiness 3
Wrist-finger speed 4
Aiming 5
Explosive strength 4
Static strength 4
Dynamic strength 2
Trunk strength 3
Extent flexibility 4
Dynamic flexibility 2
Gross body equilibrium 2
Balance with visual cues 2
Speed of limb movement 4
Gross body coordination 3
Stamina 4
Movement rate 3
Motor timing 4
Perceptual timing 5
Force control 3

Five skills that I can perform at a fairly high level of proficiency:
1. Throwing a softball.
2. Dribbling a basketball.
3. Kicking a soccer ball into the goal.
4. Hitting a tennis ball with a tennis racket.
5. Hitting a softball with a softball bat.

Ideal Ability Profile for Kicking a soccer ball into the goal
1. Aiming
2. Control Precision
3. Response orientation
4. Speed of limb movement
5. Stamina
6. Static Strength
7. Perceptual timing
8. Force Control

Lab 6.2 Discussion:
The skill that I chose to create an ideal ability profile for was kicking a soccer ball into the goal. A person who has a nonideal ability profile, for example a person who had a weak ability in Response orientation and contol precision would need to use areas that they excel in such as stamina and aiming. A person who does well in an area such as stamina, could be successful at taking a shot in soccer if he/she could out run the other team and be able to dribble the ball unopposed. This would allow the person to avoid his/her weak area response orientation. A person who has trouble with control precision would need to begin practicing taking soccer shots from different areas.Since they have trouble with positioning his/her hands and feet, practice would improve this and because the person has excellent aiming abilities judging where to kick the soccer ball would probably not be difficult for them. Despite the person not excelling in certain ability areas they could still perform the skill of kicking a soccer ball into the goal.

When I compare my personal ability inventory to the ideal ability profile, there are many similarities in the areas I have an ability in and the skill I chose. I ranked a five in aiming, four in control precision, five in response orientation, four for speed of movement, four for stamina, four for static strength, five for perceptual timing, and three for fource control. Most of the abilities are very highly ranked and help me score a goal in soccer. The only low rank is for force control, and I could have overcome this semi-low rank in ability because I have played sports my entire life. I played soccer in middle and high school and this could help me perform this skill well. I enjoyed performing this lab, it was very interesting and informative.

PDFE # 6

Participant Stork Diver Heel Side Bass Book
Bethani 6 6 2 5 3 4
Lindsay 1 3 4 1 1 3
Robert 4 5 3 3 1 1
Jeff 2 4 1 3 4 6
Amanda 5 2 5 5 6 5
Meredith 3 1 6 2 5 2

PDFE # 6 was concerned was performed in class on Monday, October 18, 2010 and was concerned with general and specific motor ability. Through the activity we determined that general motor ability was not present by the fact that no one person excelled in every area. There were certain people that did well in a few different tests; Lindsay performed well due to her previous ballet/dancing. The tests that we performed were prone to error because the activities were not judged by one person to make sure the tests were completed properly. Some people performed them quickly and with less precision, while others focused on each move and had great posture. Overall, the trials were efficient at revealing to us the main purpose of the lab and was fun to perform.