skill acquisition glossary

• Skill


  The ability to carry out a task with pre-determined results often within a given amount of time, energy or both
• Open skill


  Those that have variables that change constantly and are performed in an unpredictable environment
• Gross skill


  Involve large muscle groups
• Fine skill


  Coordination of small muscles
• Self paced skill


  The performer determines the time and pace of the skill execution
• Externally paced skill


  The timing and form are determined by the factors outside the control of the performer
• Discrete skill


  Distinct beginning and end
• Serial skill


  Consisting of several discrete skills with distinct parts, the order of which is very important
• Low organised skill


  Uncomplicated and have little organisational structure and whose subroutines tend to be discrete and may be practised separately
• High organised skill


  Complex organisational structure with subroutines which are closely linked and cannot be practised separately
• Simple skill


  Straight forward, requires little concentration and cognitive ability
• Complex skill


  Complicated skills requiring a lot of attention or practice
• Transfer


  The capacity to apply acquired knowledge and skills to new situations
• Positive transfer


  When the learning or training carried out in one situation proves helpful to learning in another situation
• Negative transfer


  When having learnt one skill, makes learning the second skill more difficult
• Zero transfer


  When learning one skill has no effect on the performance of another skill
• Bilateral transfer


  Acquired in a particular task by practice on one limb can often be carried over to the other limb
• Retroactive transfer


  The effect that learning a new skill has on a previously learnt one. Can be both positive or negative
• Whole practice


  A skill is taught without breaking it down into parts or sub-routines
• Whole-part-whole


  Parts os the skill containing errors are practiced in isolation before attempting the whole skill again
• Progressive part


  Where the parts are progressively built upon until the whole skill is performed
• Chaining


  Same as progressive part
• Massed


  The skill to be mastered is repeated over an extended period of time
• Distributed


  The skill to be mastered is interspersed with other training or rest
• Mental


  Athlete visualises themselves performing a skill. There is no actual physical movement involved
• varied


  Changing the practice type and drills
• Learning plateau


  Were the learning of a skill starts to flatten out after an initial period of success
• Behaviourism / operant conditioning

  Where learning takes place due to reward or punishment
• Feedback


  Information given to a performer either during or event an event
• Concurrent


  At the same time as
• Terminal


  At the end
• Cognitive


  When you have to think
• Autonomous


  Doing something on your own without having to think
• Associative


  When you can nearly do something on your own but still need to think and have some feedback