Self-Controlled Observational Practice Enhances Learning

Learning through observation, or modeling, is a commonly used technique in teaching motor skills. It has also intrigued researchers interested in understanding the principles underlying the phenomenon of observational learning and has resulted in many studies examining the effectiveness of this practice method (for a review, see McCullagh & Weiss, 2001). In general, although observational practice is not as effective as physical practice, it is a viable training method (e.g., Landers & Landers, 1973; Martens, Burwitz, & Zuckerman, 1976; Sidaway & Hand, 1993). This seems to be the case particularly for relatively complex motor skills (Wulf & Shea, 2002). Wulf and Shea argued that there might be fundamentally more to “see” and, therefore, more to be extracted as the result of observing relatively complex tasks compared to simple tasks. Furthermore, observational practice enables the observer to engage in processing that would perhaps not be possible early in practicing a complex skill, when most of the performer’s cognitive resources are required to perform the new task (e.g., Shea, Wright, Wulf, & Whitacre, 2000). That is, the observer may be able to extract information concerning appropriate coordination patterns, subtle task requirements, and/or evaluate effective or ineffective strategies that would be difficult, if not impossible, to do while attempting the new task. Because of the unique contributions of observational and physical practice, alternations of observational and physical practice have been particularly beneficial and more effective than either observational or physical practice alone (e.g., Shea et al., 2000; Shea, Wulf, & Whitacre, 1999). A recent study examined whether giving the learner control over the model presentation schedule could enhance learning, if observational and physical practice are combined (Wrisberg & Pein, 2002). In fact, several studies demonstrated that self-controlled practice can benefit the effectiveness of motor skill learning. For example, giving learners the opportunity to self-select their feedback schedule has been found to be more effective for learning than a prescribed feedback schedule (yoked condition; Chiviacowsky & Wulf, 2002; Janelle, Barba, Frehlich, Tennant, & Cauraugh, 1997; Janelle, Kim, & Singer, 1995). Furthermore, the selfcontrolled use of physical assistance devices (ski poles on a ski simulator) led to the development of a more effective and efficient movement pattern than practice without self-control (Wulf, Clauss, Shea & Whitacre, 2001; Wulf & Toole, 1999). Wrisberg and Pein (2002) examined the effectiveness of a self-controlled observational practice condition by comparing it to a condition in which the model was shown before each trial (100%), and a group that never saw the model (control). The task was a badminton long serve, and an expert model was presented as a video. In a retention test, the self-control and the 100% groups had similar movement form scores, and both were more effective than the control group. This was seen as preliminary support for the effectiveness of giving learners the opportunity to decide when they wanted to view a model. However, the authors also acknowledged the confound of self-control and the frequency of the model presentations in their study. The self-control group viewed the model on 9.8% of the practice trials, as compared to Self-Controlled Observational Practice Enhances Learning