key: cord-1043895-k7wi9mh6
authors: Cabral, Daniel A.R.; Daou, Marcos; Bacelar, Mariane F.B.; Parma, Juliana O.; Miller, Matthew W.
title: Does learning a skill with the expectation of teaching it impair the skill’s execution under psychological pressure if the skill is learned with analogy instructions?
date: 2020-09-03
journal: Psychol Sport Exerc
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101757
sha: 244ef339acc7296a1f265ed4a9ba2c337fceaeea
doc_id: 1043895
cord_uid: k7wi9mh6

OBJECTIVE: Having learners practice a motor skill with the expectation of teaching it (versus an expectation of being tested on it) has been revealed to enhance skill learning. However, this improvement in skill performance is lost when the skill must be performed under psychological pressure due to ‘choking under pressure.’ The present study will investigate whether this choking effect is caused by an accrual of declarative knowledge during skill practice and could be prevented if a technique (analogy instructions) to minimize the accrual of declarative knowledge during practice is employed. DESIGN: We will use a 2 (Expectation: teach/test) x 2 (Instruction: analogy/explicit) x 2 (Posttest: high-pressure/low-pressure) mixed-factor design, with repeated measures on the last factor. METHODS: A minimum of 148 participants will be quasi-randomly assigned (based on sex) to one of four groups. Participants in the teach/analogy and teach/explicit groups will practice golf putting with the expectation of teaching putting to another participant, and analogy instructions or explicit instructions, respectively. Participants in the test/analogy and test/explicit groups will practice golf putting with the expectation of being tested on their putting, and analogy instructions or explicit instructions, respectively. The next day all participants will complete low- and high-pressure putting posttests, with their putting accuracy serving as the dependent variable.

may receive course credit for participation. This demographic is convenient to the investigators 136 and has been used in similar past studies (e.g., Daou, Hutchison et al., 2019). Participants must 137 have putted (anything from playing miniature golf to playing 18 holes on a standard golf course) 138 between one and thirty times in their lifetime and not more than twenty times in the past year. 139 Participants with this amount of experience were most sensitive to the expecting to teach and them an opportunity to improve their skill by internalizing the analogy/explicit rules rather than 143 guiding them through a completely novel movement, and participants who expect to teach may 144 especially take advantage of this opportunity in preparation for their teaching episode. 145 Participants must be free from physical illness, injury, or disability that could make putting 146 difficult. Participants will be asked to refrain from alcohol/drug consumption within 24 h of both 147 days of the study, caffeine consumption within 3 h of both days of the study, and to get a good 148 amount of sleep the night before each day of the study while also trying to get the same amount 149 of sleep each night. with repeated-measures testing for a within-between interaction. The required sample size was 163 determined to be 148, but we will collect data from 164 participants to account for data loss (e.g.,

participant dropout, problems with data entry). The final sample submitted to statistical analysis 165 will include at least 148 participants, and we will ensure equal n in each group (by recruiting 166 additional participants, if necessary). In terms of data exclusion, we will only exclude 167 participants if there is a technical error in recording their putts at the posttest or if one of their 168 average low-or high-pressure posttest radial error values has a z-score > 3.00. In the latter case, 169 we will report the primary statistical results with and without the inclusion of the participant. block. Radial error and bivariate variable error will be calculated over pretest (10 putts) and may 287 be used as covariates in exploratory analyses. Crucially, we are not using either as an a priori 288 covariate. Radial error and bivariate variable error will be calculated for the first, third, and sixth 289 blocks of the practice phase to get a glimpse into improvement during performance without 290 overly slowing data processing. To assess motor learning and choking under pressure, radial 291 error and bivariate variable error will be calculated for the low-and high-pressure posttests.

Self-reported anxiety. Chronbach's α will be calculated to determine the reliability of 293 the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 cognitive and somatic anxiety subscales for the low-294 and high-pressure posttests. If reliability is good (αs ≥ .700), then items will be averaged within and somatic anxiety subscales for each posttest, and if r ≥ .500, the subscales will be averaged 297 together for each posttest. Otherwise, the subscales will not be combined for statistical analysis.

If the subscales do not exhibit good reliability, then physiological data will serve as the 299 primary measure of anxiety. Specifically, Bioharness data will be extracted and analyzed using 300

Omnisense software (Zephyr Technology, Annapolis, MD). Heart rate will be averaged from the 301 time participants were read test instructions until they completed the test for the low-and high-302 pressure posttest. Heart rate variability (root mean square of successive differences and high 303 frequency [0.150 -0.400 Hz]) will also be assessed for these same periods.

Free recall. Two indices of declarative knowledge use will be extracted from 305 participants' responses on the free recall test. First, 'all concepts' will refer to the number of 306 statements about a concept (rule) (e.g., "I held my left hand over above my right"), ignoring 307 statements irrelevant to technical performance (e.g., "I was told to putt ten times to the target").

Second, hypothesis testing will refer to statements indicating that the participant had tested 

Directions: A number of statements that athletes have used to describe their feelings before 12. I feel my stomach sinking

I'm confident because I mentally (0…………………………………………….100)

I'm confident of coming through (0…………………………………………….100)_____ body feels tight