The effect of manipulating knowledge of results on the learning of slalom-type ski movements

Abstract

Three groups (N = 27 per group) of subjects were required to learn to make slalom-type ski movements under different conditions of instruction and related feedback utilizing a so-called ski-simulator comprising a platform moving over bowed rails. Training and test trials were repeated on each of four successive days (22·5 min per day of which 15 min were actually spent on practice). Subjects (dependent upon the group to which they were assigned) were instructed, during training trials, to direct their attention primarily to the frequency (tempo), the amplitude, or the fluency of the platform movement. Augmented feedback was provided only on that parameter. From the test results at the end of the fourth day, it was shown that the group which directed their attention during training to the amplitude of the movement of the platform were not only successful with respect to that parameter but also with respect to frequency and fluency (the three criteria defining the task). In contrast, the group which directed its attention towards the frequency of the movement of the platform demonstrated a lower achievement on the amplitude measure than did the other two groups. Special attention to the fluency parameter did not appear justifiable since the group directing its attention to, and receiving feedback about, this parameter moved with a reduced frequency and, furthermore, was no more fluent at the end of its training than subjects in the other two groups.