How do we receive, process, store and recall information to perform motor skills?
Information processing models (Whiting's model), the multi-store memory model of short-term sensory store, short-term memory and long-term memory, reaction time and Hick's law, and strategies to improve retention and response time.
A focused answer to AQA A-Level PE skill acquisition on memory and information processing, covering Whiting's information processing model, the multi-store memory model, reaction time, Hick's law and the psychological refractory period.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to explain how performers process information using an information processing model, describe the multi-store memory model and how to improve retention, and explain reaction time, including Hick's law and the psychological refractory period, and how to improve response time.
Information processing
The decision-making stage uses perceptual mechanisms to interpret the display through DCR (detection, comparison, recognition) against information held in memory: the performer detects the relevant stimuli, compares them with experiences stored in memory, and recognises the situation so the correct motor programme can be selected. AQA expects you to label the parts of the model precisely: the input comes from the display (the total sporting environment) and is filtered by selective attention; the decision-making stage contains perception, the translatory mechanism (turning the decision into a plan) and the effector mechanism (sending impulses to the muscles); the output is the movement; and feedback (intrinsic and extrinsic) returns to refine future performance. A clearly labelled diagram of this loop is a common exam request.
The multi-store memory model
Retention is improved by rehearsal, chunking information into meaningful groups, making practice meaningful and associated with prior knowledge, keeping it simple and organised, and using positive reinforcement.
Reaction time and Hick's law
Reaction time is the time between the onset of a stimulus and the start of the movement. Movement time is the time to complete the movement, and response time is the sum of the two.
Hick's law states that reaction time increases as the number of stimulus-response choices increases, in a roughly linear relationship. A choice reaction time is longer than a simple reaction time (one stimulus, one response).
The psychological refractory period (PRP) is the delay in responding to a second stimulus that arrives while the performer is still processing the first. According to the single-channel hypothesis, the brain can only process one stimulus at a time, so the second stimulus must wait until the first has been dealt with, creating the delay. A dummy or fake exploits the PRP: it is the false first stimulus that the opponent begins to process, and the real movement (the second stimulus) then meets a delayed response.
Response time can be improved in several ways AQA expects you to list: practice of the stimulus-response link, mental rehearsal, anticipation (spatial anticipation of where, and temporal anticipation of when, a stimulus will occur), improving physical fitness and warming up, focusing selective attention on the relevant cues, and detecting an early warning cue. Anticipation effectively shortens reaction time but carries a risk: if the performer anticipates wrongly, they must wait out the PRP before responding to the actual stimulus, which is slower than a normal reaction.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20204 marksExplain, using the multi-store memory model, how a coach can help a netball player store a set play in long-term memory.Show worked answer →
AO1/AO2. Information first enters the short-term sensory store, so the coach must make the relevant cues stand out to gain the player's selective attention (for example a loud call or a clear demonstration). It then passes to short-term memory, which holds only about seven items for around 30 seconds, so the coach should chunk the play into a few meaningful groups rather than many separate instructions. Rehearsal (repetition and practice of the play) then transfers it to long-term memory, which has unlimited capacity, and making the practice meaningful and linking it to existing knowledge strengthens the storage. Reward naming the three stores, the limited capacity and duration of short-term memory, and the role of rehearsal and chunking.
AQA 20183 marksExplain how Hick's law and the psychological refractory period can be used by an attacker to beat a defender.Show worked answer →
AO2 application. Hick's law states that reaction time increases roughly linearly with the number of stimulus-response choices, so by disguising the intended move the attacker presents the defender with more possible options, lengthening the defender's reaction time. The psychological refractory period (PRP) is the delay in responding to a second stimulus that arrives while the first is still being processed: a fake or dummy is the first stimulus, the defender begins to respond to it, and the real move (second stimulus) then meets a delayed response. Reward linking more choices to a longer reaction time (Hick's law) and the dummy-then-real-move sequence to the PRP delay.
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Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Physical Education (7582) specification — AQA (2016)