Attention and Motor Skill Learning

Abstract

Attention and Motor Skill Learning explores how a person's focus of attention affects motor performance and, in particular, the learning of motor skills. It synthesizes the knowledge coming from recent research examining the effects of attentional focus on motor performance and learning, and it provides practical implications for both instructional and rehabilitative settings. Attention and Motor Skill Learning challenges traditional views that the method of learning a motor skill involves focusing attention on each part of the skill and internalizing proper execution. Instead, author Gabriele Wulf argues that the learning of new motor skills suffers when attentional focus is on the coordination of movements. When attention is directed to the desired movement effect, however, performance levels rise. Not only is a higher level of performance often achieved faster with an external rather than an internal attention focus, but the skill is retained better. The advantages of external focus apply to a variety of skills and skill levels and may be used while instructing athletes, children, and those with physical impairments as well as in any setting in which effective and efficient training of motor skills is a concern. Attention and Motor Skill Learning not only presents the latest research on attentional focus, but it also offers practical solutions for bypassing or at least shortening the first “conscious” stage of learning. Instructors may then use these suggestions to provide their students or patients with a faster and more effective way to develop and perform motor skills.to develop and perform motor skills. This text turns research into application by - detailing how a person's attentional focus changes with age and type of task and in later stages of learning, allowing readers to apply the information to a variety of ages and settings; - providing specific instructional examples and challenges in “Practical Applications” sections that may be used in everyday teaching scenarios; and - including comparison tables and offering suggestions for differentiating instructions regarding internal and external foci of attention. To help teachers understand how the wording of their instruction can facilitate the learning process, Attention and Motor Skill Learning shares insights from athletes, musicians, and speech therapists on their thinking as they perform or teach selected skills in each chapter's “Attentional Insights” section. The “Future Directions” sections at the end of each chapter highlight potential research studies that challenge readers to use and further develop the methods and practices in the book. Other useful features include case studies and chapter-opening scenarios that present motor-learning problems and demonstrate the role of attentional focus in solving them.

The Effect of Different Attentional Strategies on Physiological and Psychological States During Running

“…These considerations highlight the importance of using manipulations that are defined in relation to both the internal/external dimension and the association/dissociation dimension (Stevinson & Biddle, 1998). Wulf (2007a) offers one potential source for researchers in which she has provided an example of instructional manipulations for various sports and exercises that will induce an internal association and external association focus of attention. Schücker et al (2009) did not find any significant difference in oxygen consumption between a focus on running movement and a focus on breathing.…”

Motor skill learning and performance: a review of influential factors

“…an implement)inducing an 'external focus' -generally results in more effective performance and learning. 27 Many studies examining attentional focus effects have used complex motor skills. They have shown that a simple change in the wording of instructions can have a significant impact on performance and learning.…”

“…32 The advantages of an external focus have been shown for different levels of expertise and populations (including children and persons with motor impairments), 33 as well as for performance under pressure. 27 An external focus of attention appears to speed up the learning process -or shorten the first stages of learning -by facilitating movement automaticity ('constrained action hypothesis'). 34 More specifically, a focus on the movement effect promotes the utilisation of unconscious or automatic processes, whereas an internal focus on one's own movements results in a more conscious type of control that .…”

“…To date, however, the fact that the external focus advantage has been found so consistently suggests that investigators have identified reasonable external foci for their various laboratory and real-world tasks. 27…”

Thinking in the Zone: The Expert Mind in Action

“…Numerous studies (such as Beilock et al 2004, 2007, Ford et al 2005, Baumeister 1984, Masters 1992, Wulf & Prinz 2001, Beilock & DeCaro, 2007 might be seen as supporting an affirmative answer to this question. As the psychologists Sian Beilock (2010) explains it, "highly practiced skills become automatic, so performance may actually be damaged by introspection, which is characteristic of an earlier, consciously-mediated stage."…”