Fundamentals of Motor Behavior

Jeffrey T. Fairbrother is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on motor learning and control and a graduate course on expert performance in sports. His research focuses on the effects that factors related to the performance setting (such as practice schedules) have on the performance and learning of motor skills. He established a collaborative agreement with the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine to investigate the effectiveness of self-controlled feedback on marksmanship training. In addition to his laboratory-based research, his scholarly publications include an article on the forensic analysis of a collapsed portable playpen that killed a child and an article on the take-off maneuver in the sport of surfing. Dr. Fairbrother is an active member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, and he chaired the Motor Learning/Control Program Committee for their 2006 annual meeting. He also serves as a section editor in motor learning and control for Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. Dr. Fairbrother earned a PhD in movement science with a specialization in motor behavior from FloridaState University, an MS in physical education from CaliforniaPolytechnicStateUniversity, and a BA in English form the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Series Preface Preface Acknowledgments Part I. Welcome to Motor Behavior Chapter 1. What Is Motor Behavior? Research Practical Application Three Subdisciplines A Brief History of Motor Behavior Related Fields of Study The Short of It Chapter 2. What Can I Do With Motor Behavior? Academic Path Professional Paths A Side Path The Short of It Part II. Building Blocks of Motor Behavior Taking a Systematic Approach Accounting for the Person, the Task, and the Performance Setting Information Processing Chapter 3. Observing Behavior Closed and Open Skills Discrete, Serial, and Continuous Skills Observation: A Critical Key to Understanding Motor Behavior The Short of It Chapter 4. Understanding How We Control Movements Sources of Sensory Information Continuous Control No-Feedback Control Combining Continuous and No-Feedback Control The Short of It Chapter 5. Understanding How We Learn Motor Skills Theories of How We Learn Ways We Learn Motor Skills Transfer Feedback The Short of It Chapter 6. Capabilities and Limitations Information Processing Reacting Faster: Ways to Reduce the Time Spent on Information Processing How We Pay Attention What We Pay Attention to Makes a Difference Arousal and Performance Speed-Accuracy Trade-Offs Abilities and Skills The Short of It Chapter 7. Setting Practice Procedures Constant and Varied Practice Blocked and Random Practice Practice Distribution Deciding How to Design Practice The Short of It Chapter 8. Putting It All Together: The Motor Skill Learning Cycle Phase 1: Consider the Person, Task, and Performance Setting Phase 2: Plan for Practice Phase 3: Implement Practice Phase 4: Review the Overall Instructional Process The Short of It Epilogue: The Future of Motor Behavior Appendix A: Learn More About Motor Behavior Appendix B: Implementing Motor Behavior in the Real World References Bibliography Index About the Author