People have been skiing-and no doubt teaching others to do the same-for thousands of years. The earliest evidence for it is a picture on the wall of a cave in Norway that was drawn sometime around 4500 BC. Skiing is something that we do. It is a behavior. Instructing others in skiing is also something that we do. It, too, is a behavior. Pavlov and his dog helped prove that behavior is lawful and orderly. Various forms of conditioning as well as reinforcement, generalization, discrimination, punishment, and extinction promote certain behaviors. But what prompts us to ski and to teach others? These behaviors can be accounted for, but no one has done it-until now. Develop a better understanding of what humanity gets out of skiing and become a better skier or ski instructor in the process. You'll gain a greater appreciation of the sport once you discover It's About Skiing and Not the Skis.

IT'S ABOUT SKIING AND NOT THE SKIS

Behavior Theory, Skiing, and Ski TeachingBy JAY EACKER

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Jay Eacker
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-6787-8

Contents

I. Preface...............................1II. Introduction.........................3III. Behavior Theory.....................5IV. Skiing...............................23V. Ski Teaching..........................59VI. Conclusion...........................85

Chapter One

Behavior Theory

Whatever else it may be, skiing is something that we do. It is a behavior. Indeed, the essence of skiing, if there is one, may be that it is simply something that we do with boards on our feet.

Some skiing is more effective, more efficient, more effortless, more elegant, more esthetic than other skiing. That's what makes it so endlessly fascinating. Some of us do it naturally. Others have to learn how. For that, we sometimes hire ski instructors.

Whatever else it may be, ski instructing or ski teaching is also something that we do. Indeed, the essence of ski teaching, if there is one, may be that it is simply something that we do to change skiing behavior. Some of it is more effective, more efficient, more effortless, more elegant, more esthetic than other ski teaching. That, too, makes it endlessly fascinating. Some of us do it naturally. Others have to learn how. For that, ski instructors hire clinicians.

Since skiing and ski teaching are both things that we do, we might expect that the same principles apply to both. Those principles are in effect when we ski as well as when we teach skiing, but they are not well known. Some of the major ones will be examined here. Collectively, they constitute a theory of skiing and ski teaching.

Principles of Behavior Or Principles of Skiing and Ski Teaching

There are a half dozen or so major principles of behavior that apply to skiing and ski teaching. They are based on an experimental analysis of behavior. Actually, there are many more than that but some of them are so obscure that only a behavior analyst could be interested in them. In addition, there are two major categories of behavior to which most of them apply and so, all told, there may be more than a dozen that help to explain skiing and ski teaching behavior.

The major categories of behavior are respondent behavior and operant behavior. Respondent behaviors are those elicited by stimuli in the environment such as those studied by Ivan Pavlov. Everyone knows about Pavlov and his dog. His interest was piqued by salivation but much of what he discovered applies to emotions and especially fear as well as, perhaps, excitement. Skiers as well as ski instructors know a lot about fear and excitement, or elation, first hand. More will be said about emotions as we go along.

Operant behaviors are those that have an effect on the environment. They "operate" on the environment and were studied extensively by B. F. Skinner. Among them are the edging, pressuring, and rotary movements that occur when we make a turn with our skis. They have an effect on the environment and, in turn, those effects affect what occurs next. More will also be said about them as we go along.

For the most part, the major principles of behavior apply to operants, but there are some that also apply to respondents. Those principles are: positive and negative reinforcement, response differentiation or shaping, punishment, extinction, generalization, discrimination, and schedules of reinforcement. Whoops! That makes eight. I miscounted. Actually, when you consider that there are eight schedules of reinforcement, the number increases still more.

Positive Reinforcement

Anything that increases the rate of some behavior is a positive reinforcer. It doesn't matter why it increases the behavior. It only matters that it does. A reinforcer is reinforcing because of its effects on behavior, not because of some property intrinsic to it. Thus, for example, simply making a turn with the skis may increase the rate of the behaviors that contributed to it. In addition, of course, a ski instructor saying "Good!" may work as well.

Response Differentiation Or Shaping

Behavior can be molded, or shaped, by reinforcing those that more and more closely approximate some final performance. Thus, for example, when a ski instructor says "Hey! That was pretty good, but now try to flex your knees a little more", she is using this principle. It is especially evident that the ski instructor is using the principle if she keeps raising the standard for praising her pupil until the student makes a perfect turn (which, of course, never happens so far as we know). Reinforcers may also occur naturally as when the skier makes the turn more efficiently, that is, with less effort or leaves parallel tracks in the snow.

Negative Reinforcement

While on the subject of effort, whenever some behavior reduces effort and increases in rate, we have a case of negative reinforcement. Thus, for example, when a skier stands more balanced over the skis and it reduces the strain on the back and thigh muscles, the behavior of balancing is negatively reinforced. Similarly, whenever we make a turn more efficiently, it reduces the difficulty of making the turn, and we are more likely to make the turn that way in the future. As a result, a behavior may be both positively and negatively reinforced at the same time. That is, if the turn reduces the difficulty in making it, it is negatively reinforced. And, if our tracks in the snow are more parallel to each other, it is positively reinforced provided, of course, that the rate of making that turn increases.

Punishment

Unfortunately, punishment is also effective in changing behavior and it, too, may occur along with negative and positive reinforcement. Thus, for example, when a skier "leans back" he may feel the strain on his thigh muscles. If "leaning back" then decreases in rate, we have a case of punishment.

Now, when he straightens up, or becomes more balanced over the skis, and balancing increases in rate, we have a case of negative reinforcement. And, when he is then more comfortable on his skis and comfort increases in rate, we have a case of positive reinforcement.

Punishment decreases the rate of some response when that response produces it. Negative reinforcement increases the rate of some response when that response removes it. And, positive reinforcement increases the rate of some response when that response produces it.

With all three principles occurring at, or about, the same time you would think that "leaning back" or being out of balance on the skis would get eliminated pretty quickly. As most experienced ski instructors know, it doesn't. There are probably other well established behaviors that interfere with it. They may be emotion or fear which are also things that we do. More will be said about them later.

Extinction

When a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced, it decreases in rate or extinguishes. However, the rate may not return to zero. There may be a lingering residual for the effects of reinforcement and that may be a part of why it takes so long to eliminate some behavior. In addition, of course, some features of the old behavior may still get reinforced and...