Are you in Canada? Click here to proceed to the HK Canada website.

For all other locations, click here to continue to the HK US website.

Human Kinetics Logo

Purchase Courses or Access Digital Products

If you are looking to purchase online videos, online courses or to access previously purchased digital products please press continue.

Mare Nostrum Logo

Purchase Print Products or eBooks

Human Kinetics print books and eBooks are now distributed by Mare Nostrum, throughout the UK, Europe, Africa and Middle East, delivered to you from their warehouse. Please visit our new UK website to purchase Human Kinetics printed or eBooks.

Feedback Icon Feedback Get $15 Off

Motor Control in Everyday Actions

Author: Tim Lee

$56.00 USD

Request a Review Copy


Book
$56.00 USD

ISBN: 9780736083935

©2011

Page Count: 248


Motor Control in Everyday Actions presents 47 true stories that illustrate the phenomena of motor control, learning, perception, and attention in sport, physical activity, home, and work environments. At times humorous and sometimes sobering, this unique text provides an accessible application-to-research approach to spark critical thinking, class discussion, and new ideas for research. The stories in Motor Control in Everyday Actions illustrate the diversity and complexity of research in perception and action and motor skill acquisition. More than interesting anecdotes, these stories offer concrete examples of how motor behavior, motor control, and perception and action errors affect the lives of both well-known and ordinary individuals in various situations and environments.

Readers will be entertained with real-life stories that illustrate how research in motor control is applicable to real life:

•Choking Under Pressure examines information processing and how it changes under pressure.

•The Gimme Putt shows how Schmidt’s law can be used to predict the accuracy of golf putts.

•Turn Right at the Next Gorilla examines inattention blindness and its role in traffic accidents.

•The Farmers’ Market describes reasons why a man drives his car through a crowded open-air market, killing and injuring dozens of shoppers in the process.

•Craps and Weighted Bats describes the curious role of myths and superstition in how we play games.

•And 42 other examples of motor control in everyday actions will both entertain and inform.

Each story is followed by a set of self-directed activities that are progressively more complex. These activities, plus the additional notes and suggested readings and websites at the conclusion of each story, provide a starting point for critical thinking about the reasons why human actions sometimes go awry. A reader-friendly writing style and easy-to-follow analysis and conclusions assist students in gaining mastery of the issues presented, conceptualizing new research projects, and applying the content to current research.

The stories are grouped into three parts, beginning with situations involving errors and mistakes in perception, action, or decision making. Next, stories investigating varied techniques for studying perception and action are presented. The remaining scenarios provide readers with a look at research focusing on the motor learning process as well as some of the unexpected discoveries resulting from those investigations.

Motor Control in Everyday Actions will engage its readers—not only through the central topic of the story but also in the fundamental concepts involving perception, action, and learning. Used as a springboard for new research or as a catalyst for engaging discussion, Motor Control in Everyday Actions offers perspectives that will enhance understanding of how human beings interact with their world.

Audience

A supplemental text for undergraduate and graduate motor behavior, motor learning, and motor control courses. Also a reference for academic libraries and researchers.

Part I. Stories About Perception and Action Gone Wrong

Chapter 1. Perceptual Errors

The Magnetic Hill

How do visual illusions distort perception and influence action?

The Farmers' Market

What are the roles of motor error and hypervigilance in unintended acceleration accidents?

The Grocery Store

How do population stereotypes shape our interactions with manufactured environments?

Push or Pull?

How do product designs influence people to perform specific actions?

Chapter 2. Decision Errors

Friendly Fire

What role did decision errors play in the death of Patrick Tillman?

Method to His Bratness

Did John McEnroe's verbal abuse of line judges influence their decisions?

Choking Under Pressure

What changes in information processing cause athletes such as Jean Van de Velde to fail under pressure?

Turn Right at the Next Gorilla

What is inattention blindness, and what role does it play in common traffic accidents?

Chapter 3. Action Errors

The Calculator

How can product designs accommodate Fitts' law?

The Gimme Putt

Can Schmidt's law be used to predict the accuracy of golf putts?

Pouring Coffee

How does the information-processing rate create a speed–accuracy trade-off?

Is the Bean Dizzy?

What do Spoonerisms reveal about motor control?

Part II. Adventures in Perception and Action

Chapter 4. Fun With Numbers

Public Opinion Polls

What do central tendency, variability, and statistical significance mean in the context of motor research?

Cutting Wood and Missing Putts

How are constant error, variable error, and absolute error useful for understanding motor control?

The Hot Hand

Do statistics support the existence of hot streaks in sports?

Chapter 5. Perception in Action

Red Light, Green Light

What factors influence reaction time and its measurement?

Jumping the Gun

How can a reaction be distinguished from an anticipation?

Antilock Brakes

How does the complexity of a motor program influence reaction time?

Preventing Penalties and Batting Baseballs

How do athletes use temporal and spatial anticipation?

Craps and Weighted Bats

What role do perceptual illusions play in sport performance?

Chapter 6. Attention

The Toad and the Centipede

Is an internal or external attentional focus better for improving performance?

The Preshot Routine

Why does a consistent mental preparation ritual benefit performance?

Gumbo

What are the limits of attentional capacity?

Fakes

What role does the psychological refractory period play in sport?

Chapter 7. Motor Control

Websites and Silly Walks

How do redundancies help us solve motor problems?

The Curling Draw

What sport skills use open- and closed-loop systems of motor control?

Cool Papa Bell

When vision is interrupted, how does iconic memory guide motor tasks?

Moving Sidewalks and Beer Glasses

How does the end-state comfort effect influence movement planning?

The Tickle

How do motor commands influence sensory feedback during motor control?

The Point of No Return

Is there a point in time after which an initiated motor program cannot be stopped?

Forensic Motor Control

What are generalized motor programs and what do keystroke dynamics reveal about them?

Party Tricks

How does our nervous system use functional linkages to coordinate movements?

Disappearing Act

What makes some coordination patterns more automatic than others?

Part III. Stories About Learning Motor Skills

Chapter 8. Measuring Motor Learning

How You Get to Carnegie Hall

What is the best way to measure progress in motor learning?

The Babe

Can a general motor ability be defined and measured?

Learning to Win From Losing

Why is the learning-performance distinction important?

Zero-Sum Training

What is the practical impact of ineffective training methods?

Chapter 9. Organizing Practice

But I Was Great on the Practice Range!

How does practice repetition influence performance and learning?

The Coach as a Dictionary

What roles does augmented feedback play in motor learning?

The Golfer’s Little Helper

What elements of motor learning are neglected when we use mechanical training aids?

Chapter 10. Skill Development

Bend It Like Becker

What types of models are best to observe when learning a skill?

Sport Snake Oils

Can visual training programs improve sport performance?

The Keypad

How do explicit and implicit memories influence skilled performance?

Wayne Gretzky

What role does skilled perception play in sport performance?

Chapter 11. Skill Retention

Shooting Two From the Line

How does the warm-up decrement affect repeated performances?

Like Riding a Bicycle

How are motor skills stored in memory?

H.M.

What does the amnesia suffered by Henry Gustav Molaison reveal about memory and motor skills?

Timothy D. Lee, PhD, is a professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Lee, whose research on practice and motor learning has been frequently cited, is the author of more than 80 research papers in peer-reviewed publications in the area of motor control and learning. He is also the coauthor, along with Richard Schmidt, of the seminal text Motor Control and Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis, now in its fifth edition.

Lee is the former president of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and also a former editor of both Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and Journal of Motor Behavior. As an amateur golfer, Lee was ranked 22nd among senior golfers in Ontario in 2010. He also enjoys playing right wing for the Dundas Oldtimer ice hockey team and is a blues music enthusiast. Tim and his wife, Laurie Wishart, reside in Ancaster, Ontario.

Tim Lee

Motor Control in Everyday Actions

$56.00 USD

Motor Control in Everyday Actions presents 47 true stories that illustrate the phenomena of motor control, learning, perception, and attention in sport, physical activity, home, and work environments. At times humorous and sometimes sobering, this unique text provides an accessible application-to-research approach to spark critical thinking, class discussion, and new ideas for research. The stories in Motor Control in Everyday Actions illustrate the diversity and complexity of research in perception and action and motor skill acquisition. More than interesting anecdotes, these stories offer concrete examples of how motor behavior, motor control, and perception and action errors affect the lives of both well-known and ordinary individuals in various situations and environments.

Readers will be entertained with real-life stories that illustrate how research in motor control is applicable to real life:

•Choking Under Pressure examines information processing and how it changes under pressure.

•The Gimme Putt shows how Schmidt’s law can be used to predict the accuracy of golf putts.

•Turn Right at the Next Gorilla examines inattention blindness and its role in traffic accidents.

•The Farmers’ Market describes reasons why a man drives his car through a crowded open-air market, killing and injuring dozens of shoppers in the process.

•Craps and Weighted Bats describes the curious role of myths and superstition in how we play games.

•And 42 other examples of motor control in everyday actions will both entertain and inform.

Each story is followed by a set of self-directed activities that are progressively more complex. These activities, plus the additional notes and suggested readings and websites at the conclusion of each story, provide a starting point for critical thinking about the reasons why human actions sometimes go awry. A reader-friendly writing style and easy-to-follow analysis and conclusions assist students in gaining mastery of the issues presented, conceptualizing new research projects, and applying the content to current research.

The stories are grouped into three parts, beginning with situations involving errors and mistakes in perception, action, or decision making. Next, stories investigating varied techniques for studying perception and action are presented. The remaining scenarios provide readers with a look at research focusing on the motor learning process as well as some of the unexpected discoveries resulting from those investigations.

Motor Control in Everyday Actions will engage its readers—not only through the central topic of the story but also in the fundamental concepts involving perception, action, and learning. Used as a springboard for new research or as a catalyst for engaging discussion, Motor Control in Everyday Actions offers perspectives that will enhance understanding of how human beings interact with their world.

Audience

A supplemental text for undergraduate and graduate motor behavior, motor learning, and motor control courses. Also a reference for academic libraries and researchers.

Part I. Stories About Perception and Action Gone Wrong

Chapter 1. Perceptual Errors

The Magnetic Hill

How do visual illusions distort perception and influence action?

The Farmers' Market

What are the roles of motor error and hypervigilance in unintended acceleration accidents?

The Grocery Store

How do population stereotypes shape our interactions with manufactured environments?

Push or Pull?

How do product designs influence people to perform specific actions?

Chapter 2. Decision Errors

Friendly Fire

What role did decision errors play in the death of Patrick Tillman?

Method to His Bratness

Did John McEnroe's verbal abuse of line judges influence their decisions?

Choking Under Pressure

What changes in information processing cause athletes such as Jean Van de Velde to fail under pressure?

Turn Right at the Next Gorilla

What is inattention blindness, and what role does it play in common traffic accidents?

Chapter 3. Action Errors

The Calculator

How can product designs accommodate Fitts' law?

The Gimme Putt

Can Schmidt's law be used to predict the accuracy of golf putts?

Pouring Coffee

How does the information-processing rate create a speed–accuracy trade-off?

Is the Bean Dizzy?

What do Spoonerisms reveal about motor control?

Part II. Adventures in Perception and Action

Chapter 4. Fun With Numbers

Public Opinion Polls

What do central tendency, variability, and statistical significance mean in the context of motor research?

Cutting Wood and Missing Putts

How are constant error, variable error, and absolute error useful for understanding motor control?

The Hot Hand

Do statistics support the existence of hot streaks in sports?

Chapter 5. Perception in Action

Red Light, Green Light

What factors influence reaction time and its measurement?

Jumping the Gun

How can a reaction be distinguished from an anticipation?

Antilock Brakes

How does the complexity of a motor program influence reaction time?

Preventing Penalties and Batting Baseballs

How do athletes use temporal and spatial anticipation?

Craps and Weighted Bats

What role do perceptual illusions play in sport performance?

Chapter 6. Attention

The Toad and the Centipede

Is an internal or external attentional focus better for improving performance?

The Preshot Routine

Why does a consistent mental preparation ritual benefit performance?

Gumbo

What are the limits of attentional capacity?

Fakes

What role does the psychological refractory period play in sport?

Chapter 7. Motor Control

Websites and Silly Walks

How do redundancies help us solve motor problems?

The Curling Draw

What sport skills use open- and closed-loop systems of motor control?

Cool Papa Bell

When vision is interrupted, how does iconic memory guide motor tasks?

Moving Sidewalks and Beer Glasses

How does the end-state comfort effect influence movement planning?

The Tickle

How do motor commands influence sensory feedback during motor control?

The Point of No Return

Is there a point in time after which an initiated motor program cannot be stopped?

Forensic Motor Control

What are generalized motor programs and what do keystroke dynamics reveal about them?

Party Tricks

How does our nervous system use functional linkages to coordinate movements?

Disappearing Act

What makes some coordination patterns more automatic than others?

Part III. Stories About Learning Motor Skills

Chapter 8. Measuring Motor Learning

How You Get to Carnegie Hall

What is the best way to measure progress in motor learning?

The Babe

Can a general motor ability be defined and measured?

Learning to Win From Losing

Why is the learning-performance distinction important?

Zero-Sum Training

What is the practical impact of ineffective training methods?

Chapter 9. Organizing Practice

But I Was Great on the Practice Range!

How does practice repetition influence performance and learning?

The Coach as a Dictionary

What roles does augmented feedback play in motor learning?

The Golfer’s Little Helper

What elements of motor learning are neglected when we use mechanical training aids?

Chapter 10. Skill Development

Bend It Like Becker

What types of models are best to observe when learning a skill?

Sport Snake Oils

Can visual training programs improve sport performance?

The Keypad

How do explicit and implicit memories influence skilled performance?

Wayne Gretzky

What role does skilled perception play in sport performance?

Chapter 11. Skill Retention

Shooting Two From the Line

How does the warm-up decrement affect repeated performances?

Like Riding a Bicycle

How are motor skills stored in memory?

H.M.

What does the amnesia suffered by Henry Gustav Molaison reveal about memory and motor skills?

Timothy D. Lee, PhD, is a professor in the department of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Lee, whose research on practice and motor learning has been frequently cited, is the author of more than 80 research papers in peer-reviewed publications in the area of motor control and learning. He is also the coauthor, along with Richard Schmidt, of the seminal text Motor Control and Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis, now in its fifth edition.

Lee is the former president of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and also a former editor of both Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport and Journal of Motor Behavior. As an amateur golfer, Lee was ranked 22nd among senior golfers in Ontario in 2010. He also enjoys playing right wing for the Dundas Oldtimer ice hockey team and is a blues music enthusiast. Tim and his wife, Laurie Wishart, reside in Ancaster, Ontario.

Title

  • Book
View product