The information processing model explains motor learning as receiving information, processing it and selecting a response. The ecological model explains learning as emerging from continuous interaction among the performer, task and environment.
How the Models Differ
In the information processing model, sensory information is the input. The performer identifies the stimulus, selects a response and organizes movement before producing an output. Feedback about results or performance helps adjust and retain effective movement patterns.
The ecological model places less emphasis on internal processing and stored motor programmes. Through perception-action coupling, the performer perceives relevant environmental information and acts in relation to it. Affordances are opportunities for action relative to the performer's capabilities, such as a gap wide enough to run through.
| Feature | Information processing model | Ecological model |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Internal processing and response selection | Performer-task-environment interaction |
| Learning | Refining responses through practice and feedback | Exploring and adapting movement solutions |
| Movement control | Decisions pass through processing stages | Movement self-organizes through perception-action coupling |
| Coaching | Demonstration, repetition, instructions and corrective feedback | Representative practice and manipulation of constraints |
| Example | A tennis player refines a serve using feedback | A player adapts the serve to wind, court position and the opponent |
In a constraints-led approach, the coach changes performer constraints such as fatigue, task constraints such as rules or equipment, or environmental constraints such as surface or weather. This encourages functional movement solutions rather than one prescribed technique.
A common misconception is that the ecological model means performers do not think. It instead argues that motor behaviour cannot be explained solely by internal processing because environmental information directly shapes action.
Exam Technique
For C.2.1, define both models and apply each to the same sporting example. For explain, show the mechanism; for compare, state linked similarities or differences rather than giving separate descriptions.