LEARNING
Definition
 ‘A permanent or semi permanent change
in behaviour as a result of teaching,
coaching and practice’
 What drives us to acquire psycho-motor
skills?
 Definition of Motivation
 “the biological, emotional, cognitive or
social forces that activate and direct
behaviour”.
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MOTIVATION
Intrinsic: comes from within e.g.
 Personal satisfaction, sense of
mastery/accomplishment. Leads to self
worth. Supported by extrinsic motivation
but should not be replaced by.
 Extrinsic: from external sources e.g.
 The drive to perform to win
tangible/intangible rewards
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Which type is best?
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Intrinsic ……why?
Extrinsic rewards can lose their power-if you are
a multi-millionaire sports performer one more
prize pay packet will make little difference to
you.
If the focus is solely on external rewards then
the enjoyment of the activity may be lost and
intrinsic satisfaction will not be developed.
The extrinsic reward may not be valued by the
performer (another certificate!) and motivation
lost.
Cognitive theories of learning
Developed because of the perceived
weaknesses to the conditioning
theories….such as?
 3 theories: Adams closed Loop theory,
insight learning and schema theory.
 Cognitive theories require the learner to
understand where they are starting from
and their objective (what they are trying to
achieve).
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Adams’ closed loop theory
Early cognitive explanation of how we
learn motor skills.
 Movement is initiated by a memory trace.
This trace is stored in LTM and is
developed from experience and external
feedback.
 Once started, movements are controlled
by a perceptual trace. Skill learning
requires the development of this trace.
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Closed Loop cont…
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The perceptual trace acts as an ongoing
comparison and evaluation of the correctness of
the movement.
If there is a mismatch between what you are
supposed to be doing (memory trace) and what
you are actually doing (perceptual trace) the
performer attempts to eliminate the error by
changing the movement.
Learning therefore becomes a process of
eliminating errors.
Activity
Insight Learning
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Cognitive theories are also know as insight
learning.
When learner has a sudden leap of
understanding and experiences a rapid
improvement in learning.
Relate present experience to previous similar
experiences, thus involving memory.
Suddenly acquiring the “knack”
When everything “clicks”
Insight learning
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E.g. a beginner rider who has learned to
balance, understands steering and can keep
forward motion will suddenly be able to ride a
bike!
A learner suddenly discovers the relationship
between the many stimuli they have been faced
with and it ‘all comes together!’
Linked to Gestalt Theorists who state “whole is
greater than the sum of parts”. (Whilst a
movement can be broken down it must be done
as a whole for the learner to fully understand it).
Advantages of insight learning
Allows learners to develop own strategies
and routes of understanding alongside
general principles.
 This enables quicker learners to progress
at their own rate.
 Benefits for motivation and development of
individual’s full potential.
 Ownership of learning
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