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
