Behavioral Coaching in Classical Ballet

Abstract

A review of the literature indicates the usefulness of operant methods to develop or enhance sports skills. This study extended the use of this approach to the acquisition of correct ballet skills by four subjects in a ballet class. Using a single case design, behavioral coaching was compared to the ballet instructor's method. Four ballet barre exercises (degage, frappe, developpe, and grand battement) were selected as the dependent variables. Execution of all four ballet skills increased from an average of 13% under the ballet instructor's method to a performance of 88% under the behavioral coaching. These results indicate that behavioral procedures are applicable to modifying artistic and creative behaviors such as those found in the fine arts.

Video Modeling by Experts With Video Feedback to Enhance Gymnastics Skills

“…DESCRIPTORS: athletic performance, gymnastics, sport psychology, video feedback, video modeling _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Behavioral procedures have proven to be effective in improving athletic performance across a diverse array of sports, including ballet (Fitterling & Ayllon, 1983), basketball (Harle & Vickers, 2001), tennis (Rikli & Smith, 1980), swimming (McKenzie & Rushall, 1974), football (Smith & Ward, 2006), and gymnastics (Wolko, Hrycaiko, & Martin, 1993). Two behavioral procedures used for improving skill execution are video feedback and video modeling by experts (Hazen, Johnstone, Martin, & Srikameswaran, 1990).…”

Teaching and Technique in Dance Medicine and Science: A Descriptive Study with Implications for Dance Educators

“…An example of this is an experimental study that examines how behavioral coaching impacts teaching effectiveness. 14 The content covered under The Field of Dance Education considers educators' perspectives on broad concerns involving the quality of teaching in dance education. These studies appeared in analytical and descriptive research only, for example, the importance of understanding student perspectives when considering dance education reform.…”

“…In the Experimental research findings, 3 periods of publication become apparent: 1. 1983-1986 covers "what" is happening in dance classrooms (e.g., bilateral transfer , 51 the effects of behavioral coaching, 14 and augmented feedback on motor performance 6 ). 2.…”

Mixing Metaphors: Skinner, Chomsky, and the Analysis of Verbal Events

“…However behavior analysts are quite interested in the topography of behavior when shaping skilled repertoires on a practical level (Barlow, Reynolds, Agras, & Miss, 1973;Buzas & Ayllon, 1981;Fittering & Ayllon, 1983).…”

“…In developing programmed instruction, Englemann and Carnine (1981) and Tiemann and Markle (1978) ma)te great use of the hierarchical nature of the concepts with which they are establishing stimulus control. No doubt we could do more work in the area of hierarchical response structures in skill acquisition, just as we could do more work in hierarchical stimulus classes in t,he acquisition of conceptual stimulus control.…”