This study examines the effect of the availability of a dynamic model on the acquisition of a complex cyclical action: slalom-type ski movements on a ski-simulator. A two-condition design was used, with N = 20 subjects per condition. In the experimental condition subjects had, during training trials, the benefit of the availability of a dynamic (video) model of an expert performer, while subjects in the control condition were left entirely to “discovery learning”. The dependent variables were the amplitude, frequency and fluency of the movement of the ski-simulator platform on which subjects were required to stand in operating the simulator. Movement characteristics of the platform were recorded by means of a microcomputer (Apple II+) coupled to a Selcom 403 camera (SELSPOT system). Subjects having the benefit of a dynamic model during training were shown, at the end of the five-day training period, to produce more fluent movements (of the platform) and to show greater consistency of fluency and of tempo than subjects left entirely to discovery learning. The results are discussed in the context of theories of perception and of motor learning.

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Seventy-five subjects, randomly assigned to one of five training conditions, were required to learn to make large-amplitude, high-tempo, fluent movements on a so-called ski-simulator over a period of four days. Subjects trained under different tempo conditions. In four of the conditions the tempo was prescribed ("preferred", high, low, or increasing), augmented feedback being provided to enable subjects to stay on "target". "Preferred" tempo was based on the weight of the subject and was derived from a regression equation based on previous empirical research. In a fifth condition, subjects trained on "discovery learning" principles, i.e. without the tempo being prescribed. The results obtained on the three parameters (amplitude, frequency, and fluency) during the daily test sessions (in which the tempo was not prescribed) formed the data for the analyses. A learning effect was apparent on all three parameters over the four-day training period. Subjects who trained under the high or the low prescribed tempos, however, were shown to produce significantly smaller amplitude movements than subjects who trained under the other three conditions. Training under the low-tempo condition was also shown to have disadvantageous effects on the parameters tempo and fluency. It was concluded that, for these kinds of action, training at a high or a low tempo--and particularly the latter--has undesirable effects. Such disadvantageous effects, however, were shown to be avoidable if training is begun with the "preferred" tempo of the subject and increased successively by 7% over days.

In a recent study published in Accident Analysis & Prevention, Vansteenkiste et al. (2013)--as one of the first in this field--investigated the visual control of bicycle steering. They undertook the interesting task of testing cyclists' eye fixation behaviour against Donges' two-level model of steering, i.e. the guidance level to anticipate alternations in the course of the road and the stabilization level for lane keeping. Although the laboratory experiment itself is well conducted, we believe that its results cannot be used to test the two-level model of steering as developed for driving. The test track was only 15m long, was completely straight and was known in advance. Accordingly, it did not provide adequate conditions for testing the guidance level. Furthermore, as the experimental lanes were much narrower than real-world cycling lanes, the stabilization level differed considerably from that in the real world. The study by Vansteenkiste et al. (2013) may provide valuable insight into the role of vision in 'precision steering', but, as we discuss in the paper, more elaborate research paradigms are needed to achieve more comprehensive knowledge of the role of vision in real-world cycling and cycling safety.

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