Skill acquisition: the classification of skills, the stages of learning, information processing and the role of memory, types of practice and guidance, and the role of feedback in developing skill.

What this dot point is asking

CCEA wants you to know how sporting skills are classified and learned, how a performer processes information to produce a movement, the role of memory, the types of practice and guidance a coach can use, and how feedback drives improvement. Skill acquisition explains how raw ability is turned into reliable performance.

Classifying skills and the stages of learning

Learning a motor skill passes through three stages. In the cognitive stage, the beginner thinks consciously about every action, makes many errors and is inconsistent. In the associative stage, practice makes performance more consistent and errors fewer. In the autonomous stage, the skill is performed almost automatically, freeing the mind for tactics.

Information processing and memory

Memory supports this process: the short-term memory briefly holds the information being attended to, while the long-term memory stores well-learned skills and experiences. With practice, movement patterns are stored in the long-term memory, which is why an autonomous performer can act quickly without conscious thought.

Practice, guidance and feedback

A coach develops skill through types of practice, including massed (continuous, with little rest, for simple or autonomous performers) and distributed (with rest periods, for beginners or complex skills), and whole (the skill practised as one) versus part (broken into sections). They use types of guidance: visual (demonstrations), verbal (instructions) and manual or mechanical (physically supporting the movement). Feedback is information about performance: it can be intrinsic (from the performer's own senses) or extrinsic (from a coach or video), and can give knowledge of results (the outcome) or knowledge of performance (how the movement was done).

Examples in context

Example 1. Open and closed skills in the same sport. In football, a penalty kick is a relatively closed skill: the environment is stable and predictable, so it can be grooved through massed practice. A pass during open play is a relatively open skill: it must be adjusted constantly to the positions of teammates and opponents, so it is best practised in varied, game-like conditions. This shows why a coach varies the type of practice according to where the skill sits on the open-to-closed continuum.

Example 2. Why the autonomous performer has spare attention. A novice basketball player must concentrate hard on dribbling, leaving little attention for anything else, whereas an autonomous player dribbles automatically and can scan the court, read the defence and plan a pass at the same time. This is because the well-learned skill is stored in the long-term memory and needs little conscious processing, illustrating how progress through the stages of learning frees up the information processing system for higher-level decisions.

Try this

Q1. Name the three stages of learning a motor skill. [3 marks]

• Cue. The cognitive, associative and autonomous stages.

Q2. Explain the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic feedback. [2 marks]

• Cue. Intrinsic feedback comes from the performer's own senses; extrinsic feedback comes from an external source such as a coach or video.