Learning that sticks – how analogies shape understanding

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LEARNING THAT STICKS HOW ANALOGIES SHAPE UNDERSTANDING

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How often do you repeat

the same cue over and over

or feel like you are not

being heard?

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How many times have you instructed your client on how to perform a movement only to be asked -

so what do you want me

to do?

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How many times have you given

your client a cue only to have them do exactly what you hoped to avoid?

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How many times have you achieved great results within a session only to

see those results disappear the next time the client shows up to train?

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Now…How many times have you also delivered a

cue or bit of instruction and have it instantly

work and continue to work as if you got 6 weeks of training out of one session?

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How do we optimize instruction and cueing to ensure learning?

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“CUTE AS A BABY”

9 DEVELOPMENT Learning Through Association | Sensory System

10 DEVELOPMENT Learning Through Association | Language System

APPLE!

DOG!

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“Symbols and words don’t have any intrinsic meaning except that which we assign them.” John Pollack

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“Hey honey this is a basketball”

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“Oh, kind of like a soccer ball”

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It would seem that new information is best understood through the lens of something we already know

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“IT’S KIND OF LIKE”

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“Much of humankind's remarkable mental aptitude can be attributed to analogical ability – the ability to perceive and use

relational similarity.” Gentner & Calhoun (2010)

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““In broad terms, an analogy is simply a

comparison that alerts a parallel

- explicit or implicit - between two distinct things, based on the

perception of a shared property or relation.”

-John Pollack

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Perth is in the grip of a heat wave with temperatures set to soar to 40 degrees Celsius by the end of the week. Australia is no stranger to extreme weather. Melbourne was pummeled with hailstones the size of golf balls on Saturday. Long term, droughts, bushfires, and floods have all plagued large swaths of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria

(excerpts from: James Geary in I IS AN OTHER)

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“War involves the organized, deliberate use of force to attain a goal, often the control of territory. So does football.” Offensive lineman “ battle in the trenches ” to give the quarterback, often called the “ field general, ” the time to throw “ bullet ” passes and “ march ” his team downfield. If he’s got a “ cannon for an arm, ” he might even “ throw a bomb. ”

(excerpts from: Michael Mandelbaum in THE MEANING OF SPORTS via John Pollack in SHORTCUT)

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Car : Human Body Computer : Human Brain

Jet : Broad Jump Rocket : Vertical Jump

Prius : Jogging Porsche : Sprinting

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What role does analogy play in influencing movement skill acquisition and learning?

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“PRACTICE LIKE YOU PLAY”

22 ANALOGY LEARNING Table Tennis

_ 3 Groups _ Explicit, Implicit and Analogy

_ Practice Performance (300 Trials) _ Explicit = Implicit = Analogy

_ Recall of Explicit Rules _ Explicit > Implicit = Analogy

_ Transfer Test (50 Trials-Backward Counting) _ Accuracy (Explicit < Implicit = Analogy)

_ Retention Test (50 Trials) _ Accuracy (Explicit = Implicit = Analogy)

(Liao et al., 2001 and Poolton et al., 2006)

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Liao et al., 2001 “draw a right-angled

triangle with the bat…strike the ball while

bringing the bat up the hypotenuse of the

triangle”

UK Poolton et al., 2007

“move the bat as if it is travelling up the side of a

mountain”

CHINA

THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE Analogy Learning

24 ANALOGY LEARNING Free Throws

_ 3 Groups _ Explicit, Analogy and Control

_ Practice Performance (3-days + 480 Trials) _ Explicit = Analogy = Control

_ Recall of Explicit Rules _ Explicit > Control > Analogy

_ Transfer Test (1 x 40 Trials-Backward Counting) _ Accuracy (Explicit = Control < Analogy)

_ Retention Test (2 x 40 Trials) _ Accuracy (Explicit = Control = Analogy)

(Lam et al., 2009/2009)

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“TEE IT UP”

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ANALOGY

Use the familiar to explain something less familiar

Familiar

Resonate emotionally | Emotionally charged

Emotional

Highlight similarities and obscure differences

Similarities

Tell a coherent story

Story

STRUCTURAL MAPPING Creating Effective Analogies

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Culture

How does their culture influence the way they see, understand and experience the world

Generation

How does their generation influence their identity, world perception

and social interests

Motivation

What is their ‘Why’ and their central driver for working towards a set

of goals

Habits/Hobbies

What are they interested in doing and ‘Why’ are they

interested in it

Personality

What makes them tick | What is their favorite

color, super hero, super power, etc.

FIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR ANALOGIES

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“It is not simply the case that the longer a piece of information stays in STM then the more likely it is to go into LTM. Instead, the more

significant a stimulus or event is then the greater likelihood it is retained in LTM” Williams et al. (2008)

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ANALOGY

Identify analogies that capture the same timing, speed or rhythm of the movement

Time | Speed

Identify analogies that capture the same force characteristics or strength demands

Force | Strength

Identify analogies that capture the same direction

or spatial qualities as the movement

Direction | Space

Identify analogies that capture the same shape, positions or geometry of

the movement

Geometry | Shape

STRUCTURAL MAPPING Creating Effective Analogies for Movement

30 ACCELERATION Structural Mapping

“Accelerate off the line like a jet taking-off from an aircraft carrier”

ACCELERATION | JET

31 VERTICAL JUMP Structural Mapping

“Explode of the ground like a rocket to the sky”

JUMP | ROCKET

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“RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD”

33 ANALOGY LEARNING Framework

3 Steps 1.  Identify movement of interest

2.  Prioritize top 3-5 common errors

3.  Generate 1-3 analogies for each error

_  Acceleration

_  Absolute Speed

34 ACCELERATION Analogy Learning Examples

POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS




POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS






POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS


POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS POSTURE | FRONT SIDE | BACKSIDE | ARMS



“Head to heel strong as steel”

“Drive your knee forward as if to shatter a pane of glass”

“Explode forward like you are sprinting upstairs”

“Sprint out like you are trying to catch a robber”

“Jet over helicopter when you drive out”

“Sprint out like you have a cheetah 2 steps behind you”

“Imagine your arms are hammers and your shins are the nails”

42 ABSOLUTE SPEED Analogy Learning Examples


















“Lead with your belt buckle”

“Lean into the wind or run like you are in a wind tunnel”

“Sprint through knee/shin high grass”

“Sprint through knee/shin high surf”

“Sprint as if the ground is on fire”

“Sprint as if to spin the earth back”

“Bounce off the ground like a ball”

“Open and close the door”

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“THE HAY IS IN THE BARN”

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“Analogies aren’t accidents, they’re arguments - arguments that, like icebergs, conceal most of their mass and power beneath the

surface.” – John Pollack

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“Analogies…often trigger emotions [and are a] practical way to sort a flood of incoming data, place it within the context of our

experience, and make decisions accordingly.” – John Pollack

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“If one never trusted a single analogy, how could one understand anything in this world? What, other than one’s past, can one rely on in

grounding decisions that one makes when facing a new situation.” – Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander

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“[Analogy] reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.” – Hannah Arendt

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Learning that sticks – how analogies shape understanding