Skill

The ability, which has been raised to the level of automatism, to solve a certain kind of problem (usually one that requires a motor response). Any new mode of action—performed originally as an independent, elaborate, and conscious operation— can, as a result of frequent repetition, eventually be performed automatically, thus becoming a skill in the proper sense of the word.
As a rule, a skill, in contrast to a simple habit, is not associated with a persistent tendency to be performed under given circumstances. The separate stages in the formation of motor skills have been studied in detail by the Soviet psychologist N. A. Bernshtein. Based on the concept of mental actions, the first attempts at programmed formation of skills have been made.
Such skills as passing through labyrinths, finding the way around an obstacle, and using equipment have been thoroughly studied in experiments with animals. An increase in the general organizational level of an animal means an increase in lability of skills and the capacity for applying accumulated experience to new situations. The training of animals, during which skills are developed under the purposeful direction of man, is of great practical importance.
===REFERENCES===
Bernshtein, N. A. O postroenii dvizhenii. Moscow, 1947.Khodzhava, Z. I. Problema navyka v psikhologii. Tbilisi, 1960.Sachko, N. N., and P. Ia. Gal’perin. “Formirovanie dvigatel’nykh navykov.” In Formirovanie znanii i umenii na osnove teorii poetapnogo usvoeniia umstvennykh deistvii. Moscow, 1968.