Understanding Movement
Preparation
Chapter 2
Overview


In chapter one we talked about the abilities (or
‘hardware’) that people bring with them to
motor performance
In chapter two we address the processes (or
software) people use when attempting skilled
movements
–
If you will work with individuals with physical or
mental challenges, the performance problems are
often caused by impairments in one or more of the
processes
Information Processing Model
Input – Stim. ID - Resp. Select. – Resp. Program. - Output - Feedback
Stimulus Identification Stage

Stage 1: Has a stimulus been presented and
what is it?
–
–
Environmental information is analyzed through
senses
Performers categorize the information according to
patterns

Types of objects, pattern of movement, colors
Response Selection Stage

Stage 2: What response, if any, should be
made to the stimulus?
–
Based on the identification of the stimulus, the
performer translates the information to the possible
forms of movement output to be made

A decision is made
Response Programming Stage

Stage 3: Let’s get ready to do something!
–
The motor system is organized for the production of
the desired movement

Get the brain and spinal cord ready for movement, get a
plan of action to control the movement ready, send a plan
to the muscles to contract in the proper order and with the
proper amount of force and timing
The End Result

Output!
–
Execution of the movement determined to be
appropriate

–
The execution can be successful or unsuccessful
The next component of information processing is
important to the next attempt to be made
Feedback!



As movement is initiated, intrinsic feedback
can be used to make adjustments to the
movement (if time permits)
Intrinsic and extrinsic feedback that occurs
after the output occurs should influence the
next attempt
What differences in processing demands might
exist for open and closed skills?
Practical Application

Describe the information-processing activities
that might occur through the three stages for a
soccer goalie.

Describe the information-processing activities
that might occur through the three stages for
an individual who uses a walker and gets out of
bed in the middle of the night to answer the
phone in the kitchen.
Components of Response Time
Preparing a Response

Reaction Time (RT)
–
Interval of time between the moment that a stimulus is
presented to when a response is initiated.

Is a good indicator of the speed and effectiveness of decision
making

Indicative of the amount of time needed to prepare a
response.

Influenced by several factors.
–
Number of choices
–
Strategies to create or reduce uncertainty to response
Factors that influence RT

Number of stimulus response alternatives
–
Simple vs. choice RT

Hick’s Law
–
Relationship between the number of movement choices and the time
needed to prepare a response
–
The higher the degree of uncertainty in a given situation, the longer
the time needed to decide which response to make

In choice RT, RT is a measure of the time needed to detect the
stimulus, decide which response to make, and initiate the
movement
Relationship Between Number of
Stimulus-Response Alternatives and RT
An Important Strategy

An important strategy that athletes use to slow
down their opponent’s decision making is to
increase the number of SR choices
–
–
–
Increase the number of different pitches
Increase the variety of spiking positions from a
setter
Increase the variety of serves in racquetball or
tennis
Stimulus Response Compatibility

The extent to which a stimulus and its required
response are naturally related
–
–


Low SR compatibility = increased response time
High SR compatibility = decreased response time
Lo SR: showing a forehand stroke, but does forehand
drop shot
Hi SR: presentation of a red light, the foot puts on the
brake
Practice and SR Compatibility

Amount of practice
–
The greater the amount of practice, the shorter the
choice RT


Extreme amounts of practice, high level performers can
become almost automatic
Nature of practice
–
When the same SR combinations are practiced,
choice RT becomes faster
Dealing with decision-making
delays

Anticipation!
–

The more predictable a stimulus, the quicker and
more accurately a response can be made
Related to reducing the number of response
choices as possible options are narrowed
down
Types of Anticipation

Spatial event anticipation
–

Predicting what will happen in the environment
Temporal anticipation
–
Predicting when an event will happen
Effective anticipation

Regularity of events affects our capability to
predict
–
Precues: warning signal or action given by a person
to help us predict

‘telegraphing’ a movement

“always” done in a particular way
Costs of Anticipation



Cost/benefit tradeoff: 80% probability =
decreased RT
If wrong prep, RT will be slower as you must
‘unprepare’ the movement
If wrong movement is initiated: even longer
response delay
–
Must inhibit incorrect response, prepare the correct
response, and execute in the correct fashion
Psychological Refractory Period
(PRP)
The Fake in Sports

For fakes to be effective they must:
–
–
–
Appear to be identical to the expected action
Precede the goal movement by 60-100ms
Be employed infrequently
Creating or reducing uncertainty




Having a large number of choices to perform will
increase uncertainty in opponent
Facilitate skill learning by decreasing the number of
alternate responses (start with a more closed skill
environment)
With increased practice, performers can begin to
approach automatic processing
When practice uses the same S-R combinations,
choice RT becomes faster
Reducing response time

Successful performance may not always come by
reducing movement prep time
–



Slow responses may be the result of prolonged movement
time
Increase movement speed
Reduce length of movement (shorten backswing)
Alternate view: give more time to respond by
increasing distance or changing to slower equipment
Attention: Processing Limitations

Limited attentional capacity
Sing a
song
Drive a car
Sing a song
Apply
Make up
Drive a car
Performance is hindered or
Task may be ignored
Attention: Processing Limitations

Bottleneck theory
–
Stimuli that need a response are processed
is serial fashion
–
A bottleneck can occur if too much
information must be processed; response
time slows down
Attention: Processing Limitations
- Sometimes people will focus on external sensory
events (another person’s movement),
– sometimes they focus on internal mental operations
(what they need to do next),
– sometimes they focus on internal sensory info (how
their body feels)
– Very difficult to focus on more than one of these
sources at a time (pat head and rub stomach?)
Limited Attentional Capacity



Stand with dominant side next to the desk.
Lift your non-dominant foot slightly off ground
and make a figure 8. Repeat continuously.
Keep making the figure 8 with foot. Trace a
numeral ‘6’ on the desktop with your dominant
hand index finger.

What happened when you attempted to
perform the two tasks simultaneously?
–
What does this say about attentional capacity?
Attention

Things to consider:
–
Environmental and task complexity: as complexity
increases, attentional space for additional tasks is
reduced
–
Skill level: Beginners have trouble focusing on more
than one thing at a time; give sufficient practice
before adding new tasks
–
Number of cues: focus on one cue at a time
Practical Application

For a skill of your choice, explain how you
might design the learning environment to
reduce the attentional demands on the learner.
Attention

Selective attention: being able to focus on one
specific stimuli even though there are lots of
stimuli in the environment
–

‘tailgate party phenomenon’
We are able to focus on relevant stimuli and
disregard irrelevant stimuli
–
Successful motor performance is dependent on
person’s ability to attend to meaningful information
Read the bold print

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Decision making and arousal

Arousal and anxiety are common aspects in
daily situations
–

If one thinks the demands exceed his/her capability
to meet them, the situation becomes more
threatening and anxiety is experienced
Level of arousal is an important determinant of
performance especially if the situation requires
fast and accurate decision-making
Arousal and nature of the task

A task requiring fine muscle control or
important decision-making, prefer lower
arousal level

Skills with large muscle actions or lower level
of cognitive complexity, better performed at
higher arousal level
Arousal: Inverted U Principle
As a task increases in
complexity, lower
arousal levels will be
optimal.
Higher arousal
levels are better for
tasks that require
little attention or
decision-making.
Cue Utilization Hypothesis
Perceptual narrowing
Under low
arousal, attention
focus is broad. Too
much competition
for attention resources
may result in slow
movement response and
hindered performance.
Over-arousal
can narrow the
focus too much, so
the performer
misses some
relevant stimuli.
Performance may
be hindered.
Practical Application

From your own experience, generate a list of
the following:
–
–
Irrelevant stimuli that might draw the attention of an
individual with low arousal and thereby affect overall
performance.
Professions that might find individuals susceptible to
poor decision-making when perceptual narrowing
occurs.