Lab 6 Stages of Learning

Statement of the Problem

The purpose  of this lab experiment is to practice using performance indicators to infer an individual’s stage of learning for a motor  skill.

Reference

Chapter 6; Figure 1

Materials Needed

•   Athletic tape

•   Tape adherent

•   Prewrap

•   Table or 2 chairs

•   Taping Rubric and instructions provided  in Figure 1

•   Video demonstration:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk7xN_cCm88

•   Individual  Observation Sheet

•   Partner  Results Sheet

Procedure

The objective of this task is to learn to tape an arch.

You will take turns in the roles of participant, “patient,” and experimenter. First watch the instructional video for taping an arch. Next,  the participant will complete five taping  trials. During the trials, the participant may refer to the Taping Rubric and corresponding illustrations provided  in Figure 1.

The experimenter will record observations about  the quality of the taping job using the performance indicators on the  Individual  Observation Sheet. For each attempt, the experimenter will also assess the participant’s performance using the Taping Rubric.

Following the completion of the five trials, the experimenter, patient, and participant will switch roles so that everyone takes part in each role.

Results

1.  Review the data and observations collected for you and your partners.

2.  Using the  Partner  Results Sheet, list the characteristics of a learner in the cognitive stage of Fitts and Posner’s stages of learning model. Note one characteristic has been provided  as a model. Next,  for you and your partners, put a check mark  by those that you experienced  and an X by those that you did not.

a.   Repeat the activity in (b) for the associative stage of learning. b.  What trends,  if any, do you see across the   ve trials?

Discussion

1.  Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Based on your and your partners’ individual  data,  it appears  that everyone experiences learning pretty much the same way.

2.  Based on the information in (a) and (b) in the results section, which stage of learning would you suggest that you and your partners are currently  in for the task of taping an arch? Explain  why you think  so.

3.  By the end of the experiment, did you learn how to tape an arch? Explain.

4.  Describe one method  that could be used to test whether  or not learning did indeed occur.