About this Research Topic

Background

Humans depend on learning and skill improvement, which is perhaps most evident in the field of sports. However, how we learn to move or how we improve our existing movement solutions can be explained and interpreted in several different ways. Two perspectives have often been contrasted in this context: approaches based on information processing on the one hand, and approaches based on ecological psychology (e.g., ecological dynamics) on the other. This has led to debate and sometimes hostile exchanges on various communication platforms. The field of skill acquisition could benefit from greater clarity when it comes to exactly what the opposing perspectives fundamentally agree or disagree on. The onto-epistemological assumptions that underpin each perspective, and their implications for research and practice, is also of interest. Additionally, there are other, relevant theories that do not necessarily identify with either information processing or ecological approaches that can make valuable contributions to this field.

The goal of the Research Topic is to promote clarity, and highlight unclarity, when it comes to theories of skill learning in sports. The following are examples (but by no means an exhaustive list) of issues that may be addressed:

• What are the different onto-epistemological assumptions underpinning different perspectives on skill learning in sport, and how do they affect research and practice?
• What exactly is a mental model or a mental representation in motor learning?
• Why do we need a mental model/representation, or why is it unnecessary?
• How/why do we choose certain affordances over others, and what separates ecological approaches from behaviorism or deterministic views of motor actions based on environmental influences?
• In general: which phenomena may the different perspectives struggle to explain? For example, is there a “representation-hungry problem” that fits information processing perspectives better than ecological views?
• Can or should (ideas from) approaches based on ecological dynamics be combined with (ideas from) approaches based on information processing or mental representations?

We invite contributors to submit theoretically informed articles on learning and skill acquisition in sports. Articles may be empirical investigations, as long as they have a theoretical foundation or make a clear contribution to the assessment of theory in the field. Theoretical papers or position papers should be of particular interest, for example in attempting to explain relevant phenomena (e.g., contextual interference, the attentional focus effect) through theoretical lenses. Review articles summarizing past research on specific topics (e.g., summarizing different mental model or representation theories, or different accounts of affordances) are highly encouraged. Methodological papers informing about challenges and how issues may be addressed in future empirical studies will also be fruitful.

Keywords: learning, skill acquisition, information processing, ecological dynamics, sports

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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