Product Description

Motor Control and Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis has proved itself to be a major text in the field. Now it has been completely revised, updated, and expanded in light of new concepts in motor behavior by two of the leading researchers in the field.

New features include the addition of

• more than 450 references to research published since the second edition;

• completely updated artwork, including 42 new figures;

• new, practical examples from areas such as human factors, sport, physical therapy, and music; and

• a chapter on coordination research objectively presented from two different theoretical perspectives: motor programming and dynamic pattern theories.

The text’s 14 chapters are organized into 3 parts.
Part I, “Introduction to Motor Behavior,” introduces the fields of motor control and learning, including a brief history, the tools of motor behavior research, the information-processing approach, and the role of attention.

Part II, “Motor Control,” considers various modes of control of the human motor system and presents findings on the laws of simple movements and on how multiple degrees of freedom are coordinated.

Part III, “Motor Learning,” addresses the learning of skills as a result of practice or experience. The focus shifts to the changes in skill, including experimental methods and design factors, topics related to conditions of practice, augmented feedback, retention, transfer, and theories of learning.

Motor Control and Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis includes extensive references, a glossary, both subject and author indexes, and comprehensive representation of the current state of knowledge in motor behavior. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the literature and do research in movement control and learning.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174592 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 381 pages

Book Info
Univ. of California, Los Angeles. Textbook on the fundamental principles of motor performance and learning. For students. Previous edition: c1991. Two-tone format. Includes a chapter outline, chapter objectives, overview, summary, and review exercises.

About the Author
Richard A. Schmidt, PhD, heads his own consulting firm, Human Performance Research, in Marina del Rey, California, where he researches issues in human performance, human factors, and ergonomics. He is also a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles. Known as one of the research leaders in motor behavior, Dr. Schmidt has 35 years of experience and has published widely in his field.

The originator of schema theory, Dr. Schmidt founded the Journal of Motor Behavior and was its editor for 11 years. He authored the first edition of Motor Control and Learning in 1982 and Motor Learning and Performance in 1991, and he has since followed up with new editions of both books.

Dr. Schmidt is a member of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA), the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Psychonomic Society. He has received honorary doctorates from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium and Université Joseph Fourier in France for contributions to his research field. Dr. Schmidt has served as president of NASPSPA, and he received the C.H. McCloy Research Lectureship from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Craig A. Wrisberg, PhD, is a professor of sport psychology at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he has taught since 1977. During the past 30 years Wrisberg has published more than 90 refereed research articles and book chapters on the topics of anticipation and timing in performance, knowledge of results and motor learning, and the role of cognitive strategies in sport performance. His book Skill Instruction for Coaches is one of the volumes included in the American Sport Education Program (ASEP) Silver Level sport science curriculum. He earned his PhD with a specialization in motor learning from the University of Michigan and has focused his teaching, research, mentoring, and consulting in the field of applied motor learning and sport psychology.

A former president of both the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, Wrisberg is a fellow of AASP as well as the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. In 1982 he received the Brady Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 1994 the Chancellor's Award for Research and Creative Achievement, both from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

In addition to his teaching and research, Wrisberg provides performance consulting for college and professional athletes in a variety of sports. In his work with athletes, he applies many of the concepts and principles covered in this edition of Motor Learning and Performance using the situation-based learning approach on a consistent basis.

Customer Reviews

User-friendly text on motor learning theory & applications
Having recently been assigned to teach a motor learning course this fall, I obtained, read, and have adopted this text for my course. The problem-based approach is helpful in making the connection between theory and application. The authors should try to put diagrams on the page which discusses them as it is sometimes confusing trying to examine them while reading the paragraphs related to the figures and tables being referenced. Ancillary materials for instructors should be expanded and I understand that the 4th edition is supposed to be ready for release in November with PowerPoints, test questions, etc. available for instructors who adopt the book. This will be GREATLY appreciated.

Kinesiology requirement
Heard from the instructor that this is a very user friendly textbook on how to teach motor performance.