Describe ‘Fitts and Posner’s’ phases of learning and explain how you would structure practices to enhance performance.

2)The associative stage

This is the intermediate stage, and can take much longer than the Cognitive stage. During this stage the performer learns through many hours of practising in open and closed conditions as they try to refine their skill. The performer has learned the fundamentals of a skill and can performing it adequately and quite consistently under varying conditions. The cognitive feedback has been learned so that the different parts of the skill can be performed and co-ordinated together giving an outcome more in line with the performers expectation. Significant errors are detected and corrected with and without the help of exterior sources such as coaches and videos of their performance. The performer aims to refine the skill In this stage there is quite a lot of difference between a sports person at the top of this stage and one that has just entered it. Some performers never overcome this stage

3)The autonomous stage

This is the stage that high level performers participate at. This is only ever achieved after much practice and experience, often taking years. In this stage the performer is so elite that the skill is like nothing to them they perform it almost automatically or habitual leaving there mind free to think about other things and not thinking about the motor skill itself. Fitts and Posner like this to a kind of reflex. So, in this stage performers only make small errors but are now able to detect and correct them and produce optimal performance.

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A performer doesn't leap from one stage to another it is more of a gradual transitional movement as they develop their control and understanding through practice. This is best illustrated on a continuum

)Cognitive 2)Associative 3) Autonomous

phase stage stage

Beginner Highly skilled

Performers at different levels in this motor learning continuum would obviously need different training methods and procedures in order for them to get the most from a practise. Obviously you wouldn't put performers at autonomous, associative and cognitive levels together you would have to separate them.

To structure practices for people at a Cognitive phase of learning the performer should observe another performer doing the correct skill. The person learning the skill should then try to mimic the skill. Whist they are doing this the performer should have feedback from an external source like a teacher or a coach. The emphasis should be on understanding what has to be done and the vital parts of the skill should be achieved. To aid in the learning of the skill things like colourful equipment may be used so that the performer pays more attention to them e.g. bigger and brighter cricket bats and balls. The performer must be praised when god things are achieved to boost their confidence and notify that that part was accomplished well. These sessions should be quite short about 20-30 min.

To structure practices for people at Associative stage of learning you would need to have a long training period

To structure practices for people at a Autonomous stage of learning in this stage coaching should me in small groups in order to gain the most benefit as there will only be small errors in the skill which may otherwise be missed and wont be highlighted and improved upon. In this stage the emphasis is on what they are doing wrong with out the need for praise