Gentile’s Perspectives
on Skill Acquisition
Revised 2004
Levels of Movement Analysis
 Action
 Movement
 Neuromotor processes
Action
“Action is the change in state from
these initial to final conditions” (Gentile,
1987, 95).
“Action is the observable outcome
resulting from the performer’s purposeful
interaction with the environment”
(Gentile, 2000, 113).
 “Action is defined by the end-state or
outcome resulting from performerenvironment interaction and does not
implicate how that end is achieved”
(Gentile, 2000, 114).
Movement
“Movement, the means by which
action is realized, is the second level on
which adaptive behavior can be
analyzed” (Gentile, 1987, 96).
Neuromotor processes
“These are the organizational
mechanisms within the central nervous
system (CNS) that constrain and
sequence movement” (Gentile, 1987,
96).
 Poulton (1957) created a dichotomy of
motor tasks with open and closed skill
categories. In Poulton’s categories the
classification of skills into categories was
based on prediction.
OPEN
//
Temporal and Spatial
Environment is not predictable
CLOSED
Spatial Only
Environment is predictable
 Knapp viewed open and closed skills on
a continuum, where the perceptual and
habitual nature of tasks determine open
and closed skills respectively.
Knapp’s Continuum
Closed
Habitual
Open
Perceptual
Think about??????
 Why does Gentile refer to closed skills
as self-paced?
 Why does Gentile refer to open skills as
externally paced?
 What happens to movement patterns
late in practice in open and closed skills?
 What might some of the implications be
for feedback in open and closed skills?
 How does this apply to what you do?
Environmental Constraints
No Intertrial
Variability
Closed
Open
Shooting a foul
shot
Intertrial
Variability
Putting in golf
Hitting off a
Fielding a ground
pitching machine
ball
From:
Gentile, A.M. (2000).
Anatomical Constraints
Body Stability
No LTM
LTM
Body Transport
No LTM
LTM
From: Gentile, A.M. (2000).
Gentile’s (1987) Taxonomy
Body Stability
CLOSED
No Intertrial
Variability
No LTM
LTM
Body Transport
No LTM
LTM
Easy
Intertrial Variability
OPEN
No Intertrial
Variability
Intertrial Variability
Complex
 What does Gentile mean by “…we live in the
immediate past” (Gentile, 2000, p. 120)?
 What is meant by movement equivalence and
motor equivalence?
 What is meant by movement typology?
 Describe the time delays inherent in motor
behavior.
 Describe what Gentile means by predictive
processes.
 “…predictive
processes provide the bridge to
future events enabling skilled performance”
(Gentile, 2000, p. 121).
 How do these predictive processes relate to
the “dead space”? How does the dead space
relate to information processing?
 How would you use the taxonomy in your
practice?
References
Brady, F. (1996). Anticipation of coincidence, gender, and sports
classification. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 82, 227-239.
Cooper, L. K., & Rothstein, A. L. (1982). Video replay and the
learning skills in open and closed environments. Research Quarterly
for Exercise and Sport, 52, 191-199.
Darling, W. G., & Cooke, J. D. (1987). Changes in the variability
of movement trajectories with practice. Journal of Motor Behavior, 19,
3.
Eidson, T. A., & Stadulis, R. E. (1991). Effects of variability of
practice on the transfer and performance of open and closed skills.
Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 8, 342-356.
Gentile, A. M. (1972). A working model of skill acquisition with
application to teaching. Quest, 17, 3-23.
References
Gentile, A.M. (1987) Skill acquisition: Action, movement, and
neuromotor processes. In J.H. Carr, R.B. Shepherd, J. Gordon, A.M.
Gentile, & J.M. Held, Movement Science. Foundations for Physical
Therapy in Rehabilitation. MD: Aspen Publishers.
Hautala, R. M., Conn, J. H. (1993). A test of Magill’s closed to
open continuum for skill development. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 77,
219-226.
Highlen, P., & Bennett, B. (1983). Elite divers and wrestlers: A
comparison between open- and closed-skill athletes. Journal of Sport
Psychology, 5, 390-409.
Jarus, T., Wughalter, E. H., & Gianutsos, J. (1997). Effects of
contextual interference and conditions of movement task on acquisition,
retention, and transfer of motor skills by women. Perceptual and Motor
Skills, 84, 179-183.
References
Mc Loed, B. (1983). Field dependence as a factor in sports
withpreponderance of open or closed skills. Perceptual and Motor
Skills, 60, 369-370.
Mount, J. (1996). Effect of practice of a throwing skill in one
body position on performance of the skill in an alternate
position.
Perceptual and Motor Skills,
, 723-732.
Poulton, E. G. (1957). Range effects in experiments on people.
American Journal of Psychology, 88, 3-32.
Riach, C. L., & Hayes, K. C. (1990). Anticipatory postural control
in children. Journal of Motor Behavior, 22, 250-266.
References
Rothstein, A., & Wughalter, E. H. (1987). Basic stuff series 1:
Motor Learning. Reston, VA: AAHPERD.
Sherwood, D. E., & Weeks, D. L. (1994). A comparison of
knowledge of results scheduling methods for promoting motor skill
acquisition and retention. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport,
65, 136-142.
Wrisberg, C. A., & Anshel, M. H. (1993). A field test of the activity
set hypothesis for warm-up decrement in an open skill. Research
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, ,
Yazdy. O. (1998). Speed of information in sport: closed vs open
skills. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 19, 281-295.