Table 1 - uploaded by Robert W Christina
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... determine if this was indeed the case, a 3 × 3 (Groups × Tests) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor revealed that set-up angle remained the same for each group from pretest to posttest to retention test, and that there were no appreciable, set-up angle differences or interaction among groups (p > .05). Table 1 presents the actual swing path means (in degrees) along with their standard deviations and the swing path means that were adjusted by the pretest (covariate) along with their standard deviations on each test for each group. Posi- tive means indicate that the downswing angle was above the set-up angle reflecting more of an outside-in swing path relative to the target line, whereas negative means indicate that the downswing angle was below the setup angle reflecting more of an inside-out swing path. ...
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... If given alternative, comparable external focus suggestions, athletes will undoubtedly start to see the benefits. In one nice piece of evidence of how athletes benefit from a change in instructional cues, Christina and Alpenfels (2014) showed in two experiments that skilled golfers learned to change their swing path more effectively with external relative to internal focus instructions. Also, performers are not oblivious to their improvements. ...
Effective motor performance is important for surviving and thriving, and skilled movement is critical in many activities. Much theorizing over the last few decades has focused on how certain practice conditions affect the processing of task-related information to affect learning. Yet, existing theoretical perspectives do not accommodate significant recent lines of evidence demonstrating motivational and attentional effects on performance and learning. These include research on (a) conditions that enhance expectancies for future performance, (b) variables that influence learners’ autonomy, and (c) an external focus of attention on the intended movement effect. Here we propose the OPTIMAL (Optimizing Performance through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning) theory of motor learning. We suggest that motivational and attentional factors contribute to performance and learning by strengthening the coupling of goals to actions. We provide explanations for the performance and learning advantages of these variables on psychological and neuroscientific grounds. We describe a plausible mechanism for expectancy effects rooted in responses of dopamine to the anticipation of positive experience and temporally associated with skill practice. Learner autonomy acts perhaps largely through an enhanced expectancy pathway. Further, we consider the influence of an external focus for the establishment of efficient functional connections across brain networks that subserve skilled movement. We speculate that enhanced expectancies and an external focus propel performers’ cognitive and motor systems in productive “forward” directions and prevent “backsliding” into self- and non-task focused states. Expected success presumably breeds further success and helps consolidate memories. We discuss practical implications and future research directions.
