Theories related to the learning of skills - Use examples from Team, racquet and individual activities to support your answers.

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Theories related to the learning of skills.

Use examples from Team, racquet and individual activities to support your answers.

Task 1.1

Learning theories are trying to explain the various different ways performers acquire skills. There are two main types Associative/Connectivist and Cognitivist. These learning theories are there to help a performer get the best out of the skill that they are trying to improve in a game or individual situation.

Associative learning theories

This learning theory is concerned with the connection/association of the stimulus-response bond, This is done through conditioning. Conditioning is a form of training which attempts to make certain behaviours habitual. (Habitual means habit. A professional footballer will produce skills without conscious thought (habitual) while someone like me will have to because I’m not as habitual as they are). If this was to happen then this would require a change of behaviour from the performer and so therefore learning occurs when connections are made between the stimulus-response bond. There are two main types in the associative theories. They are Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning is when stimulus adaptation takes place. This is when something is added into the performers environment to achieve a desired response. This statement can be put into an equation to make it simpler to understand

Unconditioned Stimulus + Conditioned Stimulus = Desired Response.

A basketball coach may have problems with a few of his players not being able to perform a lay up or drive successfully. So what the coach should do, if he is using this theory, is to change the environment to suit the performer/s. Hopefully this will produce the right skill needed for the lay up or drive shot to be successful all the time. What the coach should do is, is to make it easier, first he could give an example of what the finished product will look like and then show them in stages. First, the coach should get the performers to stand underneath the basket and aim first of all for the right spot on the backboard, till all the shots or the majority go in. Then he should work on the footwork so that they will not be brought up for a travelling offence. He could lay some hoops down to show them where roughly were their feet should be stepping, this should be done with the ball in the hand but no dribbling as to correct the feet first. Once the feet are right and the performer feels confident they can begin to dribble with the basketball and hopefully get the ball in the basket. To make it a bit more difficult the coach can put a passive defender in the way just to add a little pressure. Once the skill is well learnt they will play a full conditioned game, the condition is you are only allowed to score with a drive or lay up. So to sum up classical conditioning you could say that the performer takes no decision about a stimulus. The response is automatic. The stimulus-response bond is strengthened by reinforcement and the behaviour has not been modified.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Operant conditioning is naturally occurring, learned behaviour. If this behaviour is rewarded in some way, then there is an increased likelihood of it occurring again. This means that we seem to be programmed to seek reward or satisfaction. A young goalkeeper is learning how to do a ground kick. The first attempts at the strike of the football (this is the operant behaviour, already learned) are not that successful but sooner or later, perhaps the performers feet were in the right position and he was leaning back correctly and the kick is effective. This will give the performer a good feeling, even more if the coach gives praise and encouragement. This satisfaction acts as a positive reinforcer. It strengths the link between the stimulus-response bond. Negative reinforcement will strengthen the link between the stimulus-response bond but is a little harder to understand. An example of this is if a swimming coach is trying to set up a training programme about how to correctly dive off the blocks, but the swimmers around are anticipating the excitement of the following task and not paying attention. Then the coach will ask them to be quite (desired response). He will stop talking or demonstrating, and will say “Until you stand still and listen to what we are going to do we will not proceed. This is your diving time you’re wasting” This is the negative reinforcement, not allowing the coaching session to continue. If they pay attention to the coach the session will continue (required response). Once the swimmers do so then the negative reinforcement is removed and the session can continue. This hopefully will teach the swimmers, if they want a lot of diving time then they must learn to listen to the coach. Thorndike came up with three laws of learning and they were:

Law of effect

Positive reinforcement will strengthen the stimulus-response bond and increase the chances of a desired behaviour being repeated. So this means that a teacher or coach must give positive feedback so that it can reinforce the correct actions/attempts.

Law of Exercise

Repeating the stimulus-response bond connections and applying reinforcement to desired patterns of behaviour will cause the bond to strengthen.

Law of Readiness

The performer must be physically and mentally capable of performing the task. You must have the ability and maturation to perform the task.

Hull’s drive reduction theory suggests that the stimulus-response bond would weaken if the performer became bored with the practise. Motivation would decrease if the objective had bee reached and reactive inhibition would be a problem if the practise were too repetitive. The coach and teachers will have this problem because if they would want to structure there practise they will have to watch out for all of these factors, to insure that the performers will not lose concentration or get bored as easily because they can either do it really easily or they can hardly do it at all.

Cognitive learning theory

Cognitive theory does not involve connecting the stimulus-response bond but instead it involves a period of purposeful experimentation in which the learner uses experience knowledge and the perception to solve the whole problem. The learners will as well as knowing the how of the skill they will also need to know the when, where and why as well. This can be seen in an interception in football, by recognising the cues, using past experience and forming what Toleman referred to as a cognitive map of the activity. This will become more complex and stylish as the learner becomes more skilful. A group of psychologists (Koehler, Koffka and Lewin) known as the Gestaltists proposed two principles of learning, they are:

“Learning can be accelerated by using `insight` or `intuition` to solve a problem. E.g. a gymnast and her coach might want to link two moves together in a floor sequences but are not sure how to do it. The gymnast may experiment with several ideas, which help to clarify the problems and possibilities and might then suddenly say `I know how about…` and produce the movement solution, a movement of insight.
Learning is the most effective when a problem is seen as a whole or when the whole pattern of a movement can be practised. This enables the learner to understand all issues and relationships, which need to be considered. Gestaltists therefore advocate that learners practise a tennis serve as a whole, without breaking it down into parts” Davis et al “Physical Education and the study of sport” Forth Edition.

A coach can use this then next time it comes to a training session , this is because it will help the performer become better experienced from game situations and passed experiences. This will also help the performer understand the coach a little better in future training sessions, and also this will make them more aware of the why, what and when instead of just how.

The references I have used are: Davis et al “Physical Education and the study of sport” Forth Edition and class notes.