Specific and general transfer of perceptual-motor skills and learning between sports: A systematic review

ObjectivesSport developmental models contend that participating in different sports promotes expertise development, implying positive skill transfer between sports. This study conceptualizes and examines how specific and general transfer occur and interact between sports in the short- (skill transfer) and long-term (learning transfer). Specific transfer is predicated on the perception and utilisation of specifying information in a transfer task, while general transfer relies on non-specifying, "general" information. Furthermore, the study examined how certain conditions (affordance similarity, perceptual-motor exploration and expertise) promote the transfer process.DesignSystematic literature review.MethodsAn electronic search was performed on SPORTDiscuss, Pubmed/MEDLINE, and Scopus. Studies were included if participants performed a transfer task in a sport different to the sport they learned a skill in.ResultsA total of 17 studies of low-to-moderate quality were included. Most studies showed specificity of transfer between sports with overlapping affordances and generality of transfer between sports with no overlapping affordances (for a given skill). Only 2 studies examined how perceptual-motor exploration supported specific transfer, and 2 examined transfer for (subsequent) learning with contrasting results. Six studies indicated an expertise effect, showing higher transfer in skilled vs less-skilled athletes.ConclusionsThis review provides a conceptualization of specificity and generality of transfer, and initial evidence on how transfer emerges between sports in the short-term. It provides little information on the general-specific interaction in the short-term, and does not provide any insights on how transfer emerges in mid- and long-term. As such, no inference regarding sport developmental models can be made. The low-to-moderate quality of the studies requires caution in interpreting these findings. We encourage future research to investigate general and specific transfer longitudinally, recruiting populations with different expertise levels to further advance our current understanding.     

Discrimination of methadone and cocaine by pigeons without explicit discrimination training.

Pigeons were trained to peck a key on a variable-interval 2-min schedule of food reinforcement. Prior to each session, either 2.0 mg/kg methadone (n = 3), 3.0 mg/kg cocaine (n = 4), or 5.6 mg/kg cocaine (n = 2) was administered. When each pigeon's rate of pecking was stable, a range of doses of the training drug and saline were administered prior to 20-min extinction sessions separated by at least four training sessions. Rate of pecking during these extinction tests was generally an increasing function of dose, with the lowest rates obtained following saline and low doses and the highest rates obtained following doses near the training doses. Dose functions from pigeons trained with 5.6 mg/kg cocaine were steeper than those from pigeons trained with 3.0 mg/kg cocaine. Pigeons trained with methadone or 3.0 mg/kg cocaine were then given discrimination training, in which food reinforcement followed drug administration and 20-min extinction sessions followed saline administration. Rates of pecking under these conditions quickly diverged until near-zero rates were obtained following saline and high rates were obtained following drug. Discrimination training steepened dose functions for the training drugs, and the effects of several other substituted drugs depended on the pharmacology of the training drug. The pigeons trained with 5.6 mg/kg cocaine were tested with d-amphetamine, methadone, and morphine prior to discrimination training. d-Amphetamine increased rates dose dependently, and methadone and morphine did not. The results suggest that discriminative control by methadone and cocaine was established without explicit discrimination training.     

Expressed Emotion In The Narrative Context of Family Photographs

This study aims to elucidate cognitive and contextual aspects of the EE (Expressed Emotion) concept. The EE levels of both parents of two first admission psychotic patients were rated from the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS), and the emotional responses were further analyzed in narratives of family photographs. The attribution model was found to provide an explanatory framework for understanding relatives' expressed emotions (EE) toward a family member suffering from psychotic disturbances. Four case reports indicated that family photographs induced parents to create narratives in which emotions, attributions, and strategies for coping with stressful aspects of the illness came forward as intertwined phenomena. The method can offer more comprehensive data for intervention strategies aiming to alter the prevailing atmosphere and interaction patterns within the high EE family.     

TEACHING MULTIPLICATION FACTS TO STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Multiple baseline designs were used to examine the effects of an instructional package on accuracy of performance in solving multiplication facts by 3 students with learning disabilities. The instructional package included the following components: (a) a modified instructional sequence in which multiplication facts were grouped into the zeros, ones, doubles, fives, and nines categories, and those remaining; (b) identification of the category in which each fact belonged; (c) mnemonic strategies associated with solving facts in each category; and (d) steps to be completed for solving facts in each category. Results indicated that the instructional package produced substantial and immediate effects. After receiving instruction, a participant's accuracy was often 100%, and this was maintained throughout the evaluation even as other strategies were introduced. Comparable results occurred across students, demonstrating replication of the effects of the instructional package.     

时序信息提取机制的探索

对时序信息加工的经典研究是采用新近性判断范型,结果发现其提取机制是以新近性为基础的逆向串行搜索过程。本研究采用新近性判断范型和早远性判断范型对时序信息的提取机制进行了深入的考察,结果表明：（ｌ）提取时序信息既存在逆向串行搜索,又存在顺向串行搜索;（２）早远性判断和新近性判断任务对不同部分时序信息恢复的效应不同,其中早远性判断易化早远部分,新近性判断易化新近部分──表现为对相应部分辨别力的提高和正确反应潜伏期的缩短;（３）在不同的时序信息提取任务中,被试会根据具体条件进行反转反应。     

影响学习迁移的几个因素的实验研究

针对前人较多地从学习材料本身的特点或学习者的心理特点出发去孤立地考察对学习迁移的影响这一现象 ,本研究试采用代数运算材料 ,系统地探讨了学习材料的相同要素和学习者概括化认知过程两者之间的内在关系 ,并将相同要素进一步区分为表述形式相似和内在原理相似。旨在对较为复杂的认知学习中迁移的影响因素做更深入的考察。结果表明 :①概括化和相同要素对学习迁移的影响依然存在 ,但需作具体分析。其中 ,前者应成为影响学习迁移的更重要因素。②在学习材料的相同要素中 ,实质上对迁移起作用的是内在原理相似性 ;而表述形式相似性不起主要作用。③概括化因素和内在原理相似性因素之间的交互作用对学习迁移影响极大。     

Improving the spelling performance of students with disabilities

The present study examined the effects of an error correction strategy on the spelling accuracy of students with emotional and/or learning disabilities. The strategy, which asked students to spell a word, view a correct model, and then correct their errors, was compared to a traditional strategy that asked students to write words three times each while viewing a correct model. Results showed that students learned more words in the error correction condition than in the traditional condition. The error correction treatment was shown to be an effective strategy that reduced the number of repetitive spelling practice trials, and was preferred by students.     

母语句法结构对中国学生英语语句理解的影响

中国学生的英语学习受到汉语的影响,尽管这种影响随着学生英语提高而渐趋减小,但当学生的英语达到相当高水平时仍可较明显地观察到。通过实验证明：中国英语专业二年级学生在英语学习中仍受到汉语一定程度的影响,而且在词序方面尤为明显。这种影响的存在表明在中国的英语教学和学习中应给予母语因素以足够的重视。     

Organizational factors and work involvement

The aim of this paper is to describe a study which investigated the influence of organizational factors on job involvement and specialization involvement. It was hypothesized that rank, self-expression, participation in decision making, and career factors affect job and specialization involvement. The independent variables were chosen by considering an extension of Schein's (1971, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 7, 401–426) “career cone” concept. The hypotheses were tested using a sample of Australian Army officers (N = 384) in a questionnaire survey. The results showed that job involvement is associated primarily with self-expression, although the latter is influenced in turn by participation in decision making, and that specialization involvement is associated with both self-expression and career factors. Rank does not affect either involvement variable. It was concluded that Schein's concept is a useful guide to theory and research on career attitudes. The results support the proposition that job and specialization involvement are distinct constructs. Implications for organizations are discussed.