|
| Behavioral Motor Skill Training |
| Saturday, May 24, 2008 |
| 1:00 PM–1:50 PM |
| 4D |
| Area: DEV |
| Chair: Claire L. Poulson (Queens College, City University of New York) |
| |
| A Behavioral Motor-Skill-Training Model. |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| PARSLA VINTERE (Queens College, The City University of New York) |
| |
| Abstract: One of the hallmarks of expert performance of athletes, dancers, and musicians is their ability to exhibit a superior skill level under various environmental conditions. Research findings of the past three decades indicate that, in addition to physical attributes, expert performance in motor skills involves movement planning, analysis, and anticipatory control. These findings challenge conventional motor skill training, which often is characterized by the instructor-lead approach and an overwhelming emphasis on physical aspects of performance. In the instructor-lead approach, the overarching concepts of movement are not sufficiently explained and movement is taught through imitation and repetition. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the limitation of conventional motor skill training and to propose a number of complementary strategies: (a) fostering concept formation (b) education in functional and biomechanical demands of a skill and (c) development of anticipatory control of functionally successful movement components. A behavioral motor-skill-training model is proposed which combines the above-mentioned complementary strategies and conventional training. Findings are discussed in terms of possible application of the behavioral motor-skill-training model in sports, physical education, dance, fitness training, and physical therapy. |
| |
| The Effects of a Behavioral Motor-Skill-Training Package on Dance Performance. |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| PARSLA VINTERE (Queens College, The City University of New York), Liliane DeAguiar-Rocha (Queens College and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York), Claire L. Poulson (Queens College, The City University of New York) |
| |
| Abstract: The conventional motor skill training is characterized by the instructor-lead approach in which the main focus is on the way movement looks. The present study examined the effects of a behavioral motor-skill-training package on the performance of six classical ballet movements. Three female college dance students participated in the study. The behavioral motor-skill-training package contained: (a) a lecture on a given movement (b) the student experiencing both the correct and incorrect performance (c) the student classifying her own performance (d) the student describing her own performance errors and (e) the student receiving feedback on her movement performance and verbal responding. A multiple baseline experimental design across classical ballet movements was used. Three of the six movements were directly trained using the behavioral motor-skill-training package and the other three movements were used as generalization probes and they were not directly trained. The data indicate that during baseline, participants performed below the chance level on all six movements. For all participants, a systematic increase in the percentage of trials with correct classical movements was observed following the behavioral motor-skill-training procedure on all six movements. The findings suggest that the behavioral motor-skill-training package may provide complementary strategies to conventional movement training. |
| |
|
| |