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I chose this loop of a snowboarder performing some quick cuts to demonstrate how balance in something like skateboarding could be transferred to snowboarding.

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Along with my infatuation with sports, there was a period in my life where I was obsessed with skateboarding. I only skateboarded consistently for about 2 years, and my passion for it fell off. But at this time of my skating interests, I would go to 4 Seasons skatepark every Saturday and Sunday for the entire day. Spending these weekends at the skate park became routine to me and I started to develop a lot of friendships with familiar faces. Along with building these connections with those who shared the same interests as me I also started to get pretty good at skateboarding. It seemed that almost weekly I was learning and landing new tricks and dropping in from higher ramps. I loved the feeling of improving so quickly that I amazed myself and became comfortable on those 4 wheels. Before this skateboarding phase, I had also developed a love for Skiing. For a Wisconsin kid, I was able to get a good amount of skiing in. I took a Ski trip to the UP every year, and took drives to the local slopes whenever it was manageable. Skiing was always my thing when I hit the slopes and I loved doing it. However, when my skateboarding phase rolled around, it made me want to switch things up when I got to the hill. This is when I decided to try Snowboarding, due to its similarity to skateboarding which had been a newfound love for me. This new attempt at snowboarding is when the works of positive transfer showed itself, as I embodied positive transfer into my learning of snowboarding myself. Positive transfer of learning occurs when the acquisition of a skill or knowledge in one domain enhances the performance of a related skill or knowledge in another domain. In other words, when prior learning in one area improves performance in another area, positive transfer has occurred. Which is exactly what happened to me when I strapped in for my first couple of snowboard runs. I immediately felt that I was at an advantage because of my experience skateboarding, and although snowboarding was not easy off the bat, I learned and improved extremely quickly. This exemplifies positive transfer because skateboarding and snowboarding share many similarities in terms of body position, balance, and the use of weight shifts to control movement. Another thing I can also attribute to my hasty development in snowboarding was my prior experience on snow with skiing. Similar to skateboarding, skiing and snowboarding both require the development of fundamental skills such as carving turns, controlling speed, reading the terrain, and terrain adaption. There are certainly some significant differences in the execution of these skills, my skiing and skateboaridng developed a solid foundation in these areas making it easier to transfer those skills to snowboarding.

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I chose this loop of Khris Middleton comfortably making movements and shooting a shot to demonstrate what it was like to reach the autonomous stage of learning.

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As you may know by now, I am a huge sports aficionado. I played a multitude of sports growing up, including basketball. I got into basketball a little bit later on in life as compared to baseball, but I was still playing it at a very early age. Growing up in inner-city Milwaukee, any local can attest that there is a sort of city wide culture surrounding the sport. Growing up attending MPS this sport was almost solely the only sport I was exposed to, whether that was sports talk, open-gym classes, and especially every recess. The act of playing basketball became a such common occurrence, yet it took a number years for me to label myself as exceeding the abilities of a basketball novice. I still remember all the stages I took as a developing basketball playing child. This development of my basketball skills can be directly paralleled to Fitts and Posner’s Three-Stage Model of learning. This model describes the cognitive processes involved in acquiring and refining motor skills. The model proposes that individuals progress through three stages of learning, each characterized by different cognitive and behavioral processes. The initial stage is the cognitive stage, when the learner is focused on understanding the task and developing a mental representation of the skill. Attention is primarily directed towards the different components of the skill, and the learner may rely on verbal and cognitive strategies to guide their performance. When I first stared playing at 6, I had to start by learning the most basic components of the game, dribbling, passing, and shooting. As a beginner I had to focus on each component individually, and use verbal and cognitive strategies to guide my performance. When Coach ordered me to perform one of those 3 basic manuevers, I had to cognitively process and map out how to properly perform the objective. I had to be looking down at the ball and my hand to dribble, and I could not smoothly flow from my dribble into a pass or a shot at all. Then, after some years passed and a lot more practice I was able to say I reached the associative stage. This stage is when a learner has developed a basic understanding of a skill, they begin to refine their movements and develop more consistent performance. Their focus shifts from conscious analysis to more automatic execution, and the learner begins to rely on proprioceptive feedback to refine their movements. At this stage the learner may also begin to experiment with different techniques and strategies to optimize their performance. At this point of my development of basketball I was able to dribble with automatic execution and I even became good at harder dribbling tricks such as between-the-legs and behind-the-back. The proprioceptive feedback allowed me to smoothly flow between dribbling into a shot or dribbling in to a pass, as I no longer had to consciously process each distinct movement on the floor. I now was able to automatically shoot the ball at the basket instead of thinking about my shooting technique for each shot and trying to calculate a trajectory of my attempts. I was stuck in this stage for a while and was pretty satisfied with my improvements as I was still in this stage. It wasn’t until around 8th grade that I could confidently say I had reached the last stage, the autonomous stage. In this final stage, the skill has become largely automatic and a learner can perform it with little conscious effort. Attentional demands decrease and the learner is able to simultaneously process other information while executing the skill. The learner is also able to adapt their performance to different contexts and make quick, accurate judgments. When I reached this stage in my basketball career I was unconsciously able to move freely with the ball and make movements on the floor that were immediate reactions to defensive efforts. I was now able to process other information while executing these basic game actions. With confidence in my basic abilities I was now able to focus and process things such as scanning the court for opportunities and anticipating the actions of other players. I became able to make quick and accurate decisions and adapt to different game situations, without ever doubting my abilities to shoot dribble or pass.

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I chose this photo of a Canadian baseball player taking a deep breath to demonstrate how the different dimensions of attention all play a role in baseball.

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Baseball has always been my favorite sport across the board, although the game seems to be moving very slowly, there is never a time in baseball where you are not in play. There videos of me in my living room fielding ground balls before I could walk, and as soon as I could stand up my dad put a baseball bat in my hand. As I matured in the sport of baseball and started to understand the game more and more as the summers went by, I realized the focus and attention to detail that this sport takes. I believe that the sport of baseball is the closest thing that you can get to a chess match in the spectrum of physical sports. Growing up as a baseball player you quickly understand that there is no down time and you are to maintain focus the entire span of a game, especially when it comes to defense. A baseball player is always paying attention in a game, whether they are physically performing or in the dugout trying to pick up on the pitchers habits for their next at bat. This is why I tie my experiences in the sport of baseball to the dimensions of attention that we discussed in this course. The two dimensions that describe the width and direction of attention are commonly referred to as external/internal, and broad/narrow. External attention refers to focusing on stimuli outside of oneself, such as visual or auditory information in the environment. Internal attention, on the other hand, refers to focusing on one's own thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. The broad/narrow dimension refers to the scope of attention, with narrow attention focusing on a small, specific area of stimuli and broad attention encompassing a larger area of stimuli. These two dimensions are often combined and overlapped to create 4 quadrants. The first quadrant, external broad attention, involves focusing on a wide range of stimuli in the environment. As a baseball player employing external broad attention between pitches I must pay attention of the entire playing field, including the positions of my teammates and opponents either on base or on defense, as well who is batting and where and what pitch will be thrown. Next, external narrow attention involves focusing on a specific, limited area of stimuli in the environment. For me as an outfielder this is needed when the ball is hit toward my position and I need to catch or field the ball, as a batter on the other hand I am using my visual and spatial attention to track the balls movement and predict its trajectory. This narrow focus is what allows me to make contact with the ball and hit it accurately. Thirdly, internal broad attention involves being aware of a range of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. I employ this attention as a baseball player to be aware of my own mental and emotional state during the game, noticing when I am feeling anxious, frustrated, or confident. This broad awareness helps me regulate my emotions and stay focused on the game. It can also be helpful in allowing me to read the emotions and energy floating in the dugout to help pickup my teammates. Lastly, internal narrow attention involves focusing on a specific, limited area of internal stimuli. I utilize this between every pitch of my every at-bat as I focus of my deep breathing to calm me down for the next pitch. Also as a baseball player I may be visualizing myself hitting the ball or repeating a positive affirmation to build my confidence. This narrow focus helps me stay mentally prepared and focused.

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I have chosen this Gif of this boy who seems to be in a rush because he looks exactly like me in the morning after a second snooze.

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Last year, being a freshman here at UW, I was able to construct and enroll in two of the most ideal schedules imaginable for my opening semesters. I was undecided and needed to take my Gen Ed requirements for the school anyways, which allowed for my schedule construction to be very flexible. I had absolutely no classes before 11 in my entire first year of school and fell in love with the act of sleeping in. I was able to get a pretty nice schedule last semester since I was finishing up some general requirements, however, this semester things changed for the worse. I went from never having a class before 9:30 ever in my college career to not having a day where I am not already in a class by that time. This caused a drastic change in my morning routine I wasn’t prepared for, even though I felt confident in myself when I made my schedule. The first week of this semester hit me like a truck, and I still haven’t been able to habituate a consistent schedule for my mornings due to the inconsistency of the number of responsibilities that vary day by day. My alarm times fluctuate each day and the activation of the snooze button is always in the air as a possibility. For these reasons, I feel I have lived through some of the most rushed morning routines of all time, sometimes leading me to leave my apartment for class forgetting a key item or step to start my day. This relates to the concept of the temporal speed-accuracy trade-off of Fitts law. The speed-accuracy trade-off in Fitts' Law refers to the fact that there is a trade-off between movement speed and movement accuracy. As movement speed increases, the level of movement accuracy typically decreases. Conversely, as movement accuracy increases, the level of movement speed typically decreases. In my morning scenarios where I am running late and need to get ready as fast as possible, Fitts' law explains why these rushed mornings often lead me to forget something, such as applying shampoo or packing my computer charger. As I must balance the need to move quickly with the need to maintain accuracy and avoid mistakes. On these days I now consider Fitts’ law in my rush, to find the optimal balance between speed and accuracy in my morning requirements. This often involves quickening certain tasks, such as getting dressed and packing my bag, while allowing more time for tasks that require greater accuracy, such as brushing my teeth.