Motor behavior primarily studies:
A) The chemistry of muscle fibers only
B) How movements are acquired, controlled, and refined across the lifespan
C) The sociology of sport only
D) The physics of equipment design only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Motor behavior integrates motor learning, motor control, and motor development.

​

Fitts and Posner’s three stages of learning are:
A) Cognitive, associative, autonomous
B) Novice, expert, master
C) Sensory, motor, premotor
D) Planning, execution, evaluation
Correct answer: A
Explanation: Their model describes early verbal-cognitive focus, then coordination tuning, then automaticity.

​

Gentile’s taxonomy organizes skills by:
A) Muscle fiber type
B) Environmental context and action function
C) Coaching style
D) Equipment brand
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Gentile classifies skills using regulatory conditions and body transport/object manipulation.

​

In open-loop control, movement is:
A) Fully corrected during execution by feedback
B) Preprogrammed and executed without online correction
C) Always slow and precise
D) Determined only by reflexes
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Open-loop relies on prestructured commands with minimal feedback use during the action.

​

Closed-loop control is best for:
A) Very rapid ballistic actions
B) Slow, continuous, accuracy-demanding tasks
C) Movements without goals
D) Reflex-only tasks
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Feedback can be used during slower actions to reduce error.

​

The speed–accuracy trade-off described by Fitts law states that:
A) Speed and accuracy always improve together
B) As speed increases, accuracy tends to decrease for aimed movements
C) Accuracy is independent of speed
D) Only novices show this trade-off
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Increasing movement speed for a given target width and distance raises variability and error.

​

Hick–Hyman law relates reaction time to:
A) Muscle strength
B) Number of stimulus–response alternatives
C) Body mass index
D) Age only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Choice reaction time increases logarithmically with more alternatives.

​

Stimulus–response compatibility refers to:
A) Matching limb to the largest muscle
B) How naturally a response maps to a stimulus
C) The size of the stimulus
D) The color of the equipment
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Compatible mappings reduce response selection time and errors.

​

The psychological refractory period demonstrates:
A) Parallel processing of two responses
B) A bottleneck in response selection to closely spaced stimuli
C) Only sensory adaptation
D) Purely muscular fatigue
Correct answer: B
Explanation: The second response is delayed when two decisions are required in rapid succession.

​

An external focus of attention typically:
A) Harms performance and learning
B) Enhances performance and learning compared with an internal focus
C) Has no effect
D) Only helps experts
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Focusing on movement effects rather than body parts often improves outcomes.

​

Practice variability tends to:
A) Reduce learning
B) Enhance schema formation and transfer
C) Only help during blocked practice
D) Prevent retention
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Varying parameters across practice supports flexible motor programs.

​

Contextual interference refers to:
A) Equipment noise
B) The learning benefit of practicing multiple skills in a mixed or random order
C) Distracting music
D) Wind conditions
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Random practice impairs performance during practice but enhances retention and transfer.

​

Knowledge of results is feedback about:
A) Joint angles
B) The outcome or goal success of the movement
C) Muscle activation pattern
D) Heart rate only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It reports whether the goal was achieved, not how the movement was performed.

​

Knowledge of performance is feedback about:
A) Outcome score only
B) The movement pattern or technique
C) Day of the week
D) Weather
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It provides kinematic or qualitative information about the movement.

​

Bandwidth feedback means:
A) Feedback after every trial
B) Feedback only when errors exceed a preset tolerance
C) No feedback at all
D) Feedback only at the end of the season
Correct answer: B
Explanation: This reduces dependency and highlights meaningful errors.

​

Faded feedback schedule is:
A) Increasing frequency of feedback over time
B) Decreasing feedback frequency as skill improves
C) Feedback only in retention tests
D) Feedback every trial
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Early guidance shifts toward learner autonomy later.

​

Guidance hypothesis suggests that too much augmented feedback can:
A) Always improve learning
B) Create dependency and harm retention
C) Have no effect
D) Only help advanced performers
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Excess frequent feedback may prevent development of internal error detection.

​

Blocked practice usually produces:
A) Strong practice performance and strong learning
B) Strong practice performance but weaker retention and transfer
C) Weak practice performance and weak learning
D) No effect
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Random practice often leads to better long-term learning.

​

Whole practice is generally better than part practice when the skill has:
A) Low organization and high complexity
B) High organization and low complexity
C) High organization and high complexity
D) Low organization and low complexity
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Strong interdependence between parts favors practice of the whole pattern.

​

Segmentation, simplification, and fractionization are types of:
A) Equipment maintenance
B) Part practice strategies
C) Motivation techniques
D) Nutrition plans
Correct answer: B
Explanation: They structure practice of complex skills by parts or reduced difficulty.

​

Motor equivalence means:
A) Only one muscle can produce a movement
B) The same goal can be achieved by different effectors or movement patterns
C) The same movement is always produced
D) Variability is always error
Correct answer: B
Explanation: The system can flexibly use different joints or muscles to achieve the goal.

​

Degrees of freedom problem refers to:
A) Lack of joint motion
B) The challenge of coordinating many independent elements in movement
C) Too few muscles
D) Only psychological issues
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Control requires organizing many possible movement combinations.

​

Synergies or coordinative structures are:
A) Unrelated muscle groups
B) Functionally linked muscle groupings that act as a unit
C) Only reflexes
D) Psychological strategies
Correct answer: B
Explanation: They reduce the control burden by coupling elements.

​

Dynamical systems perspective emphasizes:
A) Only top-down commands
B) Self-organization of movement patterns through constraints and task demands
C) Randomness without structure
D) Anatomy only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Movement patterns emerge from interactions among organism, task, and environment.

​

An attractor state in coordination is:
A) A random pattern
B) A stable, preferred movement pattern
C) A psychological bias only
D) A laboratory artifact
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Systems tend to settle into stable patterns under given constraints.

​

Relative phase is used to describe:
A) Muscle fiber length
B) The timing relationship between oscillating limbs or segments
C) Cognitive workload
D) Vision sharpness
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It quantifies coordination in bimanual or rhythmic tasks.

​

Internal models in the nervous system refer to:
A) External coaching cues
B) Neural representations that predict and control movement outcomes
C) Muscle hypertrophy
D) Joint laxity
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Forward and inverse models help plan and correct actions.

​

Proprioception includes signals from:
A) Retina and cochlea only
B) Muscle spindles, Golgi tendon organs, joint and cutaneous receptors
C) Taste buds
D) Semicircular canals only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: These mechanoreceptors provide body position and movement information.

​

The vestibular system primarily senses:
A) Skin stretch
B) Head movement and orientation in space
C) Light intensity
D) Muscle tension only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Semicircular canals and otoliths detect rotation and linear acceleration.

​

Deafferentation experiments show that:
A) Feedback is never used
B) Some preprogrammed actions can be executed without peripheral feedback
C) Movement is impossible without vision
D) Reflexes vanish completely
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Evidence supports roles for both central commands and feedback.

​

Quiet eye refers to:
A) Closing eyes before action
B) A longer final fixation on a critical target before movement initiation
C) Eye blinks during movement
D) Random gaze behavior
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Longer final fixations often associate with better performance.

​

Observational learning is most effective when:
A) The demonstration is random and unclear
B) The demonstration emphasizes key invariant features and is viewed close to practice time
C) There is no demonstration
D) Only errors are shown
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Clear, timely models guide attention to critical movement features.

​

Mental practice (imagery) tends to:
A) Harm learning
B) Produce learning benefits smaller than physical practice but greater than no practice
C) Equal physical practice always
D) Only help experts
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Imagery can improve preparation, sequencing, and confidence.

​

Retention tests primarily assess:
A) Performance during practice
B) Long-term persistence of the capability after practice and after a delay
C) Motivation during practice
D) Warm-up effects only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Retention separates temporary performance effects from learning.

​

Transfer tests assess:
A) The same task under identical conditions
B) The adaptability of the learned capability to new variations or contexts
C) Only reaction time
D) Only strength
Correct answer: B
Explanation: They evaluate generalization of skill to different but related tasks.

​

A performance variable that can mask learning during practice is:
A) Temporary fatigue or arousal changes
B) Height
C) Sex
D) Eye color
Correct answer: A
Explanation: Temporary states influence practice scores without reflecting stable learning.

​

Warm-up decrement refers to:
A) Heat loss in muscles
B) A short-term drop in performance after a period without practice, quickly recovered
C) Chronic overtraining
D) Dehydration
Correct answer: B
Explanation: A brief reattunement is often needed to regain pretest level.

​

Error-based learning can be enhanced by:
A) Eliminating all errors
B) Allowing manageable errors with timely feedback
C) Giving no goals
D) Ignoring results
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Detection and correction of errors drive adaptation.

​

Differential learning encourages:
A) Repeating a single pattern perfectly every time
B) Practicing with purposeful variability to expand the solution space
C) No goals
D) Only slow movements
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Variable practice can foster robust, adaptable control.

​

A constraints-led approach manipulates:
A) Only physiology
B) Task, environmental, and individual constraints to guide emergent solutions
C) Nutrition
D) Equipment color only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Constraint changes channel exploration toward functional patterns.

​

Intrinsic feedback is:
A) Augmented information from a coach
B) Sensory information the performer naturally receives during and after movement
C) A video replay
D) A scorecard
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Vision, proprioception, and audition provide inherent feedback.

​

Augmented feedback is:
A) Internal sensation
B) Externally provided information such as verbal cues, video, or biofeedback
C) Random feelings
D) Muscle fatigue
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It supplements intrinsic feedback.

​

Concurrent feedback is delivered:
A) Before practice
B) During the movement
C) Only in retention
D) Only in transfer
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It is provided while the action is happening.

​

Terminal feedback is delivered:
A) Before movement
B) After movement completion
C) During movement only
D) Never
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It summarizes outcome or performance after the attempt.

​

Knowledge of results is most helpful when:
A) The goal is unclear
B) The outcome is not easily detectable by the learner
C) The learner can feel the outcome perfectly
D) The task is purely cognitive
Correct answer: B
Explanation: When outcomes are invisible, augmented outcome feedback is valuable.

​

Implicit learning methods often:
A) Use explicit rules and frequent instructions
B) Minimize explicit verbal rules and rely on discovery and external focus
C) Require step-by-step checklists
D) Avoid practice variability
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Implicit approaches can reduce choking under pressure and promote robustness.

​

Choking under pressure is more likely when:
A) Focus is external on movement effects
B) There is reinvestment of attention into step-by-step control of well learned skills
C) Arousal is optimally matched to task difficulty
D) Feedback is faded appropriately
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Conscious control of automated skills can disrupt performance.

​

According to Yerkes–Dodson, performance and arousal have:
A) A monotonic positive relation for all tasks
B) An inverted U relation, with optimal arousal depending on task complexity
C) No relation
D) A monotonic negative relation
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Fine or complex tasks usually require lower optimal arousal than gross tasks.

​

Task specificity principle suggests that learning is greatest when:
A) Practice conditions differ from the target context
B) Practice matches sensory, cognitive, and motor demands of the target task
C) Practice is random without relevance
D) Only strength is trained
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Transfer-appropriate processing increases specificity gains.

​

Schema theory proposes that the learner stores:
A) Exact copies of every movement
B) Generalized rules linking parameters to outcomes across varied practice
C) Only visual images
D) Only strength measures
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Variable practice enriches rule formation for flexible parameterization.

​

A generalized motor program contains:
A) Fixed invariant features and adjustable parameters
B) Only parameters
C) No structure
D) Only reflexes
Correct answer: A
Explanation: Invariant timing or sequencing is scaled by parameters like force or speed.

​

Bimanual coordination difficulties at certain frequency ratios show that:
A) Limbs are independent at all times
B) Limbs tend to couple, favoring stable patterns like in-phase and anti-phase
C) Only one limb can move at a time
D) Coordination is random
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Coupling produces transitions and stability preferences.

​

Action–perception coupling means:
A) Vision is unnecessary
B) Perception guides action and action changes perception in a continuous loop
C) Perception and action are independent
D) Only cognition matters
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Information is picked up to regulate movement prospectively.

​

Affordances are:
A) Muscular properties only
B) Opportunities for action offered by the environment relative to the actor
C) Coaching styles
D) Rules of a sport only
Correct answer: B
Explanation: They depend on both environmental features and actor capabilities.

​

Self-controlled practice schedules typically:
A) Reduce motivation
B) Improve motivation and learning when learners can request feedback or choose trials
C) Harm learning
D) Eliminate structure
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Autonomy can enhance engagement and processing.

​

Error amplification during practice can:
A) Always harm learning
B) Help learners detect and correct movement patterns
C) Make outcomes meaningless
D) Remove variability
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Amplified errors can highlight the information necessary for correction.

​

The guidance technique (for example, physical assistance) should be used:
A) All the time
B) Sparingly to reduce risk and demonstrate feel, then withdrawn
C) Only in retention
D) Never
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Overuse can cause dependency; minimal effective use is preferred.

​

Attentional capacity during dual-tasking is:
A) Unlimited
B) Limited, leading to performance costs when tasks compete for resources
C) Increased by fatigue
D) Unaffected by task similarity
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Shared resources create interference in selection and execution.

​

Short-term performance boosts from loud encouragement often:
A) Guarantee long-term learning
B) Do not necessarily translate to retention or transfer
C) Replace practice
D) Eliminate errors
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Learning must be verified after delays and in new contexts.

​

A novice typically benefits most from feedback that is:
A) Highly frequent early, then faded
B) Very sparse from the start
C) Only in retention tests
D) Always terminal summary only
Correct answer: A
Explanation: Early guidance helps establish a reference, then independence is fostered.

​

Experienced performers often benefit from feedback that is:
A) Constant after every trial
B) Summary, bandwidth, or self-controlled
C) Absent entirely
D) Only outcome-based
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Less frequent, targeted feedback supports autonomy and error detection.

​

Random practice benefits are often explained by:
A) Elaboration and reconstruction processes
B) Muscle fatigue
C) Heart rate changes
D) Temperature
Correct answer: A
Explanation: Mixing tasks promotes comparative processing and more effortful retrieval.

​

Blocked practice benefits are:
A) Stronger retention
B) Better immediate performance and lower cognitive load
C) Better transfer
D) Always optimal
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Predictability reduces interference during practice but may not endure.

​

Short answer: Define motor learning and distinguish it from performance.
Correct answer: Motor learning is a relatively permanent change in capability for skilled movement due to practice or experience; performance is the temporary expression of that capability influenced by factors like fatigue or motivation.
Explanation: Learning is inferred from retention and transfer, not just practice scores.

 

Short answer: Describe one situation where part practice would be recommended and one where whole practice is preferable.
Correct answer: Part practice for complex, low-organization tasks like a long gymnastics routine; whole practice for high-organization tasks like a golf swing.
Explanation: Organization determines interdependence of parts.

 

Short answer: Provide two strategies to reduce choking under pressure in skilled performers.
Correct answer: Train with an external focus of attention and use pre-performance routines or implicit learning methods; simulate pressure and practice self-talk or breathing for arousal regulation.
Explanation: These limit reinvestment and optimize arousal.

 

Short answer: Give two ways to increase contextual interference in a practice plan.
Correct answer: Use random order of different skills or parameter variations; interleave tasks rather than block them.
Explanation: Mixing increases processing demands and long-term learning.

 

Short answer: List two benefits and one drawback of observational learning.
Correct answer: Benefits—directs attention to key features and provides a reference of correctness; Drawback—can induce imitation of errors if the model is poor.
Explanation: Model quality and timing matter.

 

Short answer: Explain why variability in practice can support transfer.
Correct answer: Varying parameters exposes learners to a range of conditions, building rules for scaling actions to new contexts.
Explanation: Rich sampling promotes generalization.

 

Short answer: What is the purpose of a retention interval in experiments on motor learning?
Correct answer: To allow temporary performance effects to dissipate so that persistent change in capability can be assessed.
Explanation: It separates learning from transient influences.

 

Short answer: Describe bandwidth feedback with a practical example.
Correct answer: Provide no comment if a basketball free throw error is within two degrees of target, but give corrective cues when errors exceed that tolerance.
Explanation: Feedback is contingent on error size.

 

Short answer: Why might self-controlled feedback improve learning?
Correct answer: It increases autonomy, motivation, and timing of feedback to moments when learners feel they need it, promoting deeper processing.
Explanation: Perceived control enhances engagement and retention.

 

Short answer: Identify two organismic constraints, two environmental constraints, and two task constraints for learning to ride a bicycle.
Correct answer: Organismic—leg length, balance ability; Environmental—surface friction, wind; Task—bicycle size, required speed.
Explanation: Constraints interact to shape coordination solutions.

 

True or false: Reaction time generally increases as the number of response alternatives increases.
Correct answer: True
Explanation: Choice complexity slows selection as described by Hick–Hyman law.

 

True or false: An external focus of attention often produces better learning than an internal focus for many skills.
Correct answer: True
Explanation: Focusing on effects reduces interference with automatic control.

​

True or false: High practice performance guarantees high retention.
Correct answer: False
Explanation: Temporary factors can inflate practice scores without durable change.

​

True or false: Random practice typically harms retention compared with blocked practice.
Correct answer: False
Explanation: Despite lower practice performance, random practice commonly improves retention and transfer.

​

True or false: Knowledge of results and knowledge of performance are identical.
Correct answer: False
Explanation: One is about outcome, the other about movement pattern.

​

True or false: Too frequent augmented feedback can create learner dependency.
Correct answer: True
Explanation: It may suppress development of intrinsic error detection.

​

True or false: Whole practice is always better than part practice.
Correct answer: False
Explanation: Choice depends on task complexity and organization.

​

True or false: Quiet eye duration tends to be longer in experts than novices in aiming tasks.
Correct answer: True
Explanation: Longer final fixation supports information coupling and planning.

​

True or false: The vestibular system contributes to balance and orientation during movement.
Correct answer: True
Explanation: It senses head motion and position relative to gravity.

​

True or false: In a constraints-led approach, the coach prescribes exact joint angles to solve the task.
Correct answer: False
Explanation: The coach designs conditions so solutions emerge rather than dictating specifics.

​

Fill in the blank: In Fitts and Posner’s model, the ____________________________ stage is marked by heavy cognitive effort and verbalization.
Correct answer: cognitive
Explanation: Learners rely on instructions and feedback to understand the task.

 

Fill in the blank: Practicing multiple skills in a mixed order creates ____________________________ interference that often benefits learning.
Correct answer: contextual
Explanation: Interleaving elevates processing and memory retrieval.

 

Fill in the blank: A stable, preferred coordination pattern in dynamical systems theory is called an ____________________________.
Correct answer: attractor
Explanation: The system tends to settle into this state under constraints.

 

Fill in the blank: Feedback supplied by a coach, device, or video is called ____________________________ feedback.
Correct answer: augmented
Explanation: It supplements intrinsic sensory information.

 

Fill in the blank: Focusing attention on the movement’s effect on the environment is called an ____________________________ focus.
Correct answer: external
Explanation: It often enhances learning and performance.

 

Fill in the blank: The relation between speed and accuracy in aimed movements is formally captured by ____________________________ law.
Correct answer: Fitts
Explanation: Index of difficulty scales with amplitude and target width.

 

Fill in the blank: A relatively permanent change in capability for skilled performance is called motor ____________________________.
Correct answer: learning
Explanation: It is inferred from retention and transfer.

 

Fill in the blank: The practice principle that best learning occurs when practice matches the target context is called ____________________________ of practice.
Correct answer: specificity
Explanation: Transfer-appropriate processing underlies this idea.

 

Fill in the blank: The difference between maximum and minimum limb angles over a cycle is a measure of movement ____________________________.
Correct answer: amplitude
Explanation: It quantifies excursion or range of motion during action.

 

Fill in the blank: The challenge of coordinating many independent joints and muscles is known as the degrees of ____________________________ problem.
Correct answer: freedom
Explanation: Control must reduce dimensionality through synergies and constraints.

 

Fill in the blank: The final steady gaze on a relevant target before movement initiation is called ____________________________ eye.
Correct answer: quiet
Explanation: Longer duration relates to better outcomes.

Fill in the blank: The internal neural prediction of movement consequences is produced by a ____________________________ model.
Correct answer: forward
Explanation: It estimates expected sensory outcomes for comparison and correction.

 

Fill in the blank: The timing relation between two rhythmic limbs is termed relative ____________________________.
Correct answer: phase
Explanation: It quantifies coordination patterns like in-phase or anti-phase.

 

Fill in the blank: When feedback is given only if the error exceeds a preset tolerance, it is called ____________________________ feedback.
Correct answer: bandwidth
Explanation: It reduces unnecessary guidance and fosters self-regulation.

 

Fill in the blank: The short-term drop in performance after a break that quickly recovers is called warm-up ____________________________.
Correct answer: decrement
Explanation: Reattunement restores prior level quickly.

 

Fill in the blank: Autonomy-supportive practice where learners choose when to receive feedback is called ____________________________-controlled practice.
Correct answer: self
Explanation: Choice can enhance motivation and learning.

 

Fill in the blank: The mapping quality between stimulus and response that speeds choices is called stimulus–response ____________________________.
Correct answer: compatibility
Explanation: Natural mappings reduce selection time and errors.

 

Multiple choice: A parameter of a generalized motor program is most likely:
A) Relative timing pattern
B) Sequence of actions
C) Overall movement duration
D) Order of muscle activations
Correct answer: C
Explanation: Parameters scale invariants like relative timing and sequence.

​

Multiple choice: A learner who benefits from simplifying equipment (for example, larger ball, lower net) is using which strategy?
A) Fractionization
B) Simplification
C) Segmentation
D) Obfuscation
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Task difficulty is reduced while preserving coordination pattern.

​

Multiple choice: Which practice order would produce the highest contextual interference for three serves?
A) Serve A × 10, then Serve B × 10, then Serve C × 10
B) A, B, C, B, A, C, A, C, B in random sequence
C) A × 5, B × 5, C × 5
D) A × 15
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Random interleaving elevates interference.

​

Multiple choice: Which feedback schedule is most likely to reduce dependency while maintaining information flow?
A) Every-trial feedback
B) Faded feedback starting high and decreasing
C) No feedback ever
D) Randomly timed feedback unrelated to performance
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Early guidance, later autonomy balances needs across stages.

​

Multiple choice: Which is an example of knowledge of performance?
A) “You hit the target.”
B) “Your elbow lifted too early during the swing.”
C) “Score was nine out of ten.”
D) “You reached the finish line.”
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It describes the movement pattern, not just outcome.

​

Multiple choice: Which manipulation best promotes an external focus?
A) “Extend your knees faster.”
B) “Push the ground away quickly.”
C) “Contract your quadriceps harder.”
D) “Think about your joints.”
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It directs attention to movement effect on the environment.

​

Multiple choice: Which condition is most likely to promote implicit learning?
A) Giving detailed step-by-step rules
B) Errorless learning with minimal explicit instructions and analogies
C) Constant prescriptive feedback
D) Counting segments aloud
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Reducing rule-based control can embed skills without heavy verbal knowledge.

​

Multiple choice: Which variable best distinguishes performance from learning in experiments?
A) Practice score at end of day
B) Retention score after a delay without feedback
C) Number of trials completed
D) Heart rate during practice
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Retention after washout reveals persistent change.

​

Multiple choice: When juggling balls, keeping them the same size across practice reduces:
A) Specificity of practice
B) Practice variability
C) Motivation
D) Attentional focus
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Varying size would increase parameter variability and schema building.

​

Multiple choice: The most stable coordinative patterns in rhythmic bimanual movement are:
A) In-phase and anti-phase
B) Quarter-phase and third-phase
C) Random-phase only
D) None are stable
Correct answer: A
Explanation: These attractors are preferred and more stable than others.

​

Multiple choice: A learner shows rapid improvement early, then slow gains. This most closely reflects:
A) Only fatigue
B) Typical negatively accelerated learning curve
C) Lack of motivation
D) Data error
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Large early gains are common as basic coordination forms.

​

Multiple choice: Which is most likely to enhance transfer to a noisy competition venue?
A) Practice only in silence
B) Add realistic crowd noise during some practice
C) Change to a different sport
D) Avoid distractions entirely
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Contextual similarity supports transfer-appropriate processing.

​

Multiple choice: Which statement about variability is most accurate?
A) All variability is error
B) Some variability is functional exploration aiding learning
C) Variability must be eliminated
D) Variability determines personality
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Exploration helps discover stable, adaptable solutions.

​

Multiple choice: Reducing reliance on visual feedback in balance tasks by closing eyes briefly during safe practice targets:
A) Proprioceptive reweighting
B) Strength gain
C) Flexibility only
D) Metabolism
Correct answer: A
Explanation: It encourages use of vestibular and somatosensory information.

​

Multiple choice: A coach alternates fast and slow swings around the target tempo. This primarily trains:
A) Only strength
B) Error detection of timing and parameterization
C) Flexibility
D) Endurance
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Contrast sharpens perception of correct timing and force scaling.

​

Multiple choice: A learner who requests feedback only when trials feel uncertain is using:
A) Instructor-controlled feedback
B) Self-controlled feedback
C) Summary feedback
D) No feedback
Correct answer: B
Explanation: Autonomy in timing feedback can enhance learning.

​

Multiple choice: Summary feedback given after five trials rather than after each trial tends to:
A) Reduce learning
B) Support learning by encouraging processing of intrinsic feedback
C) Eliminate motivation
D) Replace practice
Correct answer: B
Explanation: It prevents dependence and supports error estimation.

​

Short answer: Provide two reasons why demonstrations by a skilled model should be used early in learning.
Correct answer: They direct attention to invariant features and provide a reference of correctness for initial attempts.
Explanation: Early visual templates guide planning before intrinsic feedback is calibrated.

​

Short answer: Describe a simple way to scale a striking task for children to preserve coordination while reducing difficulty.
Correct answer: Use a larger, lighter ball and shorter bat so timing and spatial demands match their strength and speed.
Explanation: Simplification maintains essential action while lowering demands.

​

Short answer: Give one practical example of the constraints-led approach in a passing drill.
Correct answer: Reduce passing lane width or increase defender pressure to invite quicker, more accurate passing solutions.
Explanation: Task and environmental constraints guide exploration.

​

Short answer: Explain the role of error estimation in internal model updating.
Correct answer: The nervous system compares predicted and actual sensory outcomes; the difference adjusts future commands.
Explanation: Prediction error drives adaptation of internal models.

​

Short answer: Why can too much conscious monitoring of well learned skills impair execution?
Correct answer: It disrupts automatic control by occupying limited attentional resources and reintroducing step-by-step control.
Explanation: Reinvestment increases variability and slows processing.

​

Fill in the blank: The law describing increased reaction time with increased choice complexity is the – law.
Correct answer: Hick–Hyman
Explanation: It formalizes the relation between information and choice time.

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Fill in the blank: The principle that practicing in the presence of realistic distractors improves performance in those conditions is called context ____________________________.
Correct answer: specificity
Explanation: Matching conditions supports retrieval and execution.

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Fill in the blank: When learners switch tasks often within a session, they experience ____________________________ practice.
Correct answer: random
Explanation: Interleaving tasks elevates processing demands.

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Fill in the blank: Stable coordination patterns that systems settle into are called movement ____________________________.
Correct answer: attractors
Explanation: They represent preferred states under constraints.

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Fill in the blank: The capability to produce the same outcome with different effectors or joint combinations is motor ____________________________.
Correct answer: equivalence
Explanation: Flexibility supports robust goal achievement.

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Fill in the blank: Information from muscle spindles about muscle length and velocity is part of ____________________________.
Correct answer: proprioception
Explanation: It informs the central nervous system about limb state.

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Fill in the blank: The practice method that intentionally varies parameters to strengthen generalized rules is called ____________________________ practice.
Correct answer: variable
Explanation: It enriches the mapping between parameters and outcomes.

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Fill in the blank: A rapid, involuntary response to a stimulus mediated at the spinal level is a ____________________________.
Correct answer: reflex
Explanation: Reflexes contribute to postural control and protection.

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Fill in the blank: The typical curve showing large early gains then smaller later gains is ____________________________ accelerated.
Correct answer: negatively
Explanation: The function rises quickly then levels off.

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Fill in the blank: The mapping between a stimulus and a naturally matching response is called – compatibility.
Correct answer: stimulus–response
Explanation: Natural mappings speed response selection.