Motor Learning Part 2: Attention

As we learn a new task, the demand on our attention by that task shifts from high demand to low demand. Only once we master a task can we successfully divide our attention.

If you haven’t read “Motor Learning Part 1” yet, go read part 1 first Here.

Fitts and Posner Three-Stage Model of Motor Learning

The Fitts and Posner Three stage model of motor learning describes learning as starting in a “cognitive stage”, then progressing to an “associative stage” before finally reaching an “autonomous stage”.

The cognitive stage of motor learning is described as being the beginning of learning a new task where the learner is focused on understanding the nature of the task, develops strategies to execute the task, and discovers how to assess the performance. Remember the first time you tried to play an F# major scale and just jumped in without knowing what note was going to come next, but then proceeded to work through the correct notes using your knowledge of a what a major scale should sound like as feedback? That’s the cognitive stage.

Once the learner begins to refine their performance, the associative stage has begun. This stage takes up the bulk of our practice time. Imagine learning a new piece of music and you conceptually know what you want the work to sound like on stage, but you do not yet have the ability to execute that vision from beginning to end in one go. That’s the associative stage.

Concert day is coming nearer and you are feeling ready. Hopefully at this point you have reached the autonomous stage. In this stage, there is some automaticity of movement and you can switch your attention to various different things without making mistakes in performance.

(Shumway-Cook & Woollacott, 2017)

Attention and learning

As we progress through the three stages, the demand on our attention by the learned task shifts. Learning during the cognitive stage creates the highest demand on our attention whereas learning during the autonomous stage demands the least (Shumway-Cook & Woollacott, 2017). Taking the attention burden of the cognitive and associative stages into account when structuring practice time makes going through these stages more efficient. Do not stack too many tasks at once in the early stages of learning.

When I structure my practice time, I shift my focus between things in earlier and later stages of learning. For example, on my music stand is the piece “Black” by Marc Mellits. I have some parts of this piece in a late associative stage (most of the beginning and end) and one spot in the middle of the piece solidly in the associative stage which I practice in smaller chunks to reduce the demand on my attention. I always want to make sure that I am setting myself up for success- that means not playing more in a single pass than I can hold in my consciousness. If my attention starts wandering to technique or elsewhere, then it is time to break down the passage so that technique and music can be performed as one.

One of the most common mistakes I see students make is to do two or more attention demanding tasks simultaneously resulting in capacity interference (a reduction in performance due to limitation in attention). For example, playing Weber’s “Concertino” at performance tempo while trying to focus on learning notes, coordinating tongue and fingers, and focusing tone with each of these things in a cognitive/ early associative stage. Slowing down the tempo and playing smaller subsections are two ways to reduce the attention burden 95% of the time.

What kinds of strategies do you use to manage your attention in practice? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

References

Shumway-Cook, A., & Woollacott, M. (2017). Motor Control, Translating Research into Clinical Practice (5th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.