Describe Fitts and Posners phases of learning and explain how you would structure practices to enhance performance

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Skill Acquisition Task 2

Describe Fitts and Posners phases of learning and explain how you would structure practices to enhance performance

Fitts and Posner’s phases of learning includes three stages of learning, these are the Cognitive Stage, Associative Stage and the Autonomous Stage.

 As learners begin to gain a new skill, they are confronted with some very specific, cognitvely leaning problems. To explain for this cognitive activity, Fitts and Posner called the first stage of learning the cognitive stage. This stage is noticeable by a large number of errors in the performance, and the nature of the errors being committed tends to be gross. For example, a beginning golf student gets the ball in the air sometimes, but also it dribbles on the ground at other times. These results are caused because of some very gross errors made by the student during the golf swing. The cognitive stage is also seen by performance that is highly inconsistent. Although beginners may know that they are doing something wrong, they are generally not conscious of exactly what should be done differently for the next time to improve. Learning occurs through trial and error and correct performances must be reinforced through feedback. Information is best given through demonstration – visual guidance – or through manual guidance, if appropriate. So overall, they need specific information that will let the beginners correct what they have done wrong.

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The second stage of learning in the Fitts and Posner model is called the associative stage. The quality of the cognitive activity that characterized the cognitive stage changes during the associative stage. A lot of the essential fundamentals or mechanics of the skill have to some level be learnt. The errors are fewer and less gross than in the cognitive stage. The learners are now concentrating on refining the skill. The learners have now developed an ability to notice some of their own errors when performing a task. This ability to locate their errors is still not perfect, but ...

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