Probing the relationship between doing and watching to promote motor performance and learning

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Nature of work/research importance: In this age of online-learning & video apps, which has been acutely brought into focus with COVID, questions concerning how individuals effectively adapt and learn movement skills (or think they learn) from watching others are critically important. Through practice interventions, which involve imagery, observation or physical practice, I will test how these hidden and visible methods of practice impact explicit strategies as well as more unaware processes. These latter processes give an indication of adjustments to motor plans and can develop independently from those that are more explicit (with positive & negative consequences). I am interested in how well perceptions of ability match actual capabilities and how imagining acting might better tune these perceptions than just watching. Observing others make mistakes appears to activate processes involved in learning and performance differently to watching accurate performance. The conditions and effects associated with errorful and errorfree watching guide the current research, with this research informing as to the role of expectancies in adapting later movement. A framework based on "optimizing challenge" is promising for testing the practice conditions that best promote learning. I am interested in the specific processes which optimize challenge during practice and how individuals choose to moderate challenge. This research will add to knowledge concerning how people acquire, retain and transfer knowledge across various motor skill contexts, informing theoretical understanding but also providing guides for efficient and effective practice methods. Outcomes/Benefits: My research is situated at the nexus of basic and applied, with fundamental knowledge about motor learning and control mechanisms driving research with a practical, often sport/coaching-driven focus. I have made efforts to use tasks that have application to more real-to-world actions, in addition to more contrived laboratory tasks, which can afford more control and isolation of practice mechanisms. This research has clear implications for sports training, but acquisition of motor skills is critical to many environments. My work has impacted on coaching practice internationally and in Canada. I directly work with Coaching Ass. of Canada, Cdn. Sport Inst., as well as provincial, national and professional sport organizations. I also collaborate with researchers in clinical-fields (e.g., voice therapy, U. of Sydney). Through NSERC support I offer an enriched environment for scientific study and discovery for all levels of trainees, providing learning experiences for students which arm them with the knowledge and skills to succeed in kinesiology-related fields. Past HQP have gone onto academia, physical-therapy, medicine and sport coaching/conditioning. These professions significantly benefit from knowledge about how to practice and how to provide effective demonstrations.