practice

Press pause for a reality check: Imagining performing motor skills tempers overconfidence from just watching.

Submitted by nicolah on 5. May 2024 - 22:19

It shouldn’t be surprising that to learn a new motor skill (a golf swing, perhaps?), that watching someone perform it a few times is a good place to start. However, our research here suggests that it might be worth taking a moment to imagine yourself performing the golf swing too, after watching, to give yourself a realistic notion of your present abilities. This

Author: 
Avi Mehrotra
Reference: 
What we imagine learning from watching others: how motor imagery modulates competency perceptions resulting from the repeated observation of a juggling action
Further reading: 
Enhancing motor imagery practice using synchronous action observation
Tags: 
observational learning
juggling
skill acquisition
practice
motor imagery

Limits to learning by observing: when learning by doing leads to differences in brain activity and behaviours in comparison to observation only

Submitted by nicolah on 30. May 2018 - 11:33
Practitioners often use “learning by observation” when teaching new skills; however, there is limited research on how the brain - behavioural responses compare with “learning by doing”. We compared the brain responses when performing and watching a novel joystick-tracing task in three groups: a physical practice group, an observational practice group and a group that had no practice. We then compared their behavioural performance during retention. Following physical practice when all groups watched a video of the task, there was activation in motor regions bilaterally.
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Author: 
Nicola Hodges
Reference: 
Mu suppression is sensitive to observational practice but results in different patterns of activation in comparison with physical practice
Further reading: 
Action-skilled observation: Issues for the study of sport expertise and the brain
Tags: 
practice
observational learning
brain

Relations between skill assessments of youth players, practice & play, and success in men's soccer

Submitted by nicolah on 4. May 2018 - 9:45

Academy, male youth soccer players were evaluated at different time points by coaches and rated in terms of technical, tactical, physical and creative skill. These players also provided estimates of hours accumulated in soccer activities that were either coach-led (practice) or self-led (what we term play). Coaches assessment of players at ~14 years was related to whether they would be offered youth professional contracts (at age 16 yr), but not adult contracts at age 19 yr.

Author: 
Nicola Hodges
Reference: 
Coach ratings of skills and their relations to practice, play and successful transitions from youth-elite to adult-professional status in soccer
Further reading: 
Early majority engagement pathway best defines transitions from youth to adult elite men's soccer in the UK: A three time-point retrospective and prospective study
Tags: 
expertise
practice
self-directed practice
soccer
sport

How practice without vision aids later seeing and predicting in a throwing task

Submitted by nicolah on 7. November 2014 - 15:36

Do you think that blindfolded practice of a motor skill would allow you to more accurately predict the outcomes of that skill when viewing a video of someone else performing it?  Would you be able to improve in prediction ability as much as if you had full vision during practice?  In the present study we set out to see how the physical and visual experiences contribute to enhancing one's ability to predict action outcomes. We ask whether motor experience is sufficient to make visually-based decisions about the outcomes of another's action.

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Author: 
Shawn Hetherington
Reference: 
Throwing in the dark: improved prediction of action outcomes following motor training without vision of the action
Further reading: 
Evidence for dual mechanisms of action prediction dependent on acquired visual-motor experiences.
Tags: 
practice
motor learning
Observation
prediction

Describing changes in the brain with practice

Submitted by nicolah on 4. November 2014 - 12:18

Working with Katie Wadden and Lara Boyd (in the Brain and Behaviour Lab, UBC), we have recently assembled a data base of neuroimaging studies exploring motor learning. These studies involve a range of skill types, tasks (one-handed, two-handed), and (most importantly) different durations of training.

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Author: 
Dr Keith Lohse
Reference: 
Motor skill acquisition across short and long time scales: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging data
Tags: 
practice
motor learning