Deliberate control or tacit control?

Deliberate control or tacit control?Explicit/implicit, procedural/declarative, effortful/effortless, etc1Another study to consider...Focus of attentionWulf, McNevin, & Shea (2001)A study designed to examine the different performance styles promoted through different verbal cues.

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And a quote:It would seem indeed that we fail of accuracy and certainty in our attainment of the end whenever we are preoccupied with much ideal consciousness of the means. We walk a beam the better the less we think of the position of our feet upon it. We pitch or catch, we shoot or chop the better the less tactile and muscular (the less resident), and the more exclusively optical, (the more remote) our consciousness is. Keep your eye on the place aimed at, and your hand will fetch it; think of your hand, and you will very likely miss your aim. (James, 1890: 520) 4And what about the feedback conundrum?Wulf & Shea (1999) (ski sim.)Concurrent feedbackThe more often feedback was presented, the better people performedWhy? Performance improvementSmith, Taylor, & Withers (1997) (golf chip)Terminal feedbackBW (10%) better than BW (0%), for transitional feedbackPerformance improvement1

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5Maybe it depends on what you are told to think aboutRetention data from a soccer kicking studyPay attention to:Feedback frequencyAttentional focusInteraction between the two1

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6Maybe it depends on what you are told to think aboutAnother way of looking at that data1

The feedback statements...Internal Focus FeedbackPosition your foot below the balls midline to lift the ballPosition your bodyweight and the non-kicking foot behind the ballLock your ankle down and use the instep to strike the ballKeep your knee bent as you swing your leg back and straighten your knee before contactTo strike the ball, the swing of the leg should be as long as possibleExternal Focus FeedbackStrike the ball below its midline to lift it, that is, kick underneath itBe behind the ball, not over it, and lean backStroke the ball toward the target as though passing to another playerUse a long-lever action like the swing of a golf club before contact with the ballTo strike the ball, create a pendulum-like motion with as long a duration as possible

7Study 1 (Becker & Smith, 2015)Coaches cues, teachers cues:Duba, Kraemer, and Martin (2007):curl your wrists under the bar & bring your shoulders to your ears (for power clean)Physical education literature (Fronske & Wilson (2001)arm close to body, brush shorts (volleyball serve).Study 1Specificity of internal focus cues:Bernsteins (1967) endpoint controlRussell (2007) and Oudejans, Koedijker, and Beek (2007)Outcome invariant, joint movements giving rise to outcome variableBlacksmiths hammer example Focusing on one aspect of a movement (as with an internal focus) may introduce a type of control counter-productive to this endpoint control Moreover, the more specific the internal focus is to the role of one joint within the overall organization of the movement, the more potentially disruptive to the overall organization of the movement it may be.Study 1Standing long jump

Groups and Focus Cues:Narrow Internal Focus- Focus your attention on extending your knees to jump as far as possible

Broad Internal Focus- Focus your attention on using your legs to jump as far as possible

External Focus- Focus you attention on jumping as far as possible past the start line

Control (no assigned focus)

Dependent Measures:Jump Distance (cm)

Data Analysis:An ANCOVA on jump distance was conducted with participant height as the covariate.Study 15 jumps in each conditionResultsNo effect of specificity

Study 2Related to the task complexity effect againPerformance only examined this timeWulf, McNevin, Shea (2001)No effects in practice, only in retention (balance task)

Study 2Related to the task complexity effect againDifficulty of maintaining any focus when making errorsPoolton et al. (2006), Wulf et al. (2001): Attention switches commonWhy no effects during practice?Wulf and others findings due to subjects inability to maintain focus early in practice?Study 2Balance task, one trial (after warm up)39 students4 conditions (45s each)ControlInternalExternalDigit spanCounterbalanced

Study 2ResultsDigit span better than all conditions

Study 2ImplicationAttentional requires complexity to emerge (Wulf et al. 2007) But beyond that level they may disappear again, at least temporarilyThe difficulty of maintaining focus of attention becomes challenging, & performance differences do not emerge as a result.Then other methods of manipulating attention (Nafati & Vuillerme, 2011) may prove more effective.

Study 3PedaloWarm-up, 20 trials practice4 trials retention (24 hrs later)3 groupsInternalExternalDistraction

Study 4BalanceWarm-up, 14 trials practice (2 days)3 trials retention (24 hrs later)3 groupsInternalExternalDistraction