Discrete, Serial and Continuous Skills - to what extent is the movement an ongoing stream of behavior, as opposed to a brief, well-defined action with clearly defined beginning and end points. ?
Discrete: skills which are one unit long, with a fixed beginning, and ending--hitting a baseball, shooting a gun, throwing a ball (most sport skills), striking a typewriter key.
Serial: contains a series of discrete movements--a gymnastics or a diving routine, changing an automobile tire, playing the piano.
Continuous: tasks with no recognizable beginning and end - flows on for several minutes - - (cycling, swimming, running, steering a car, pursuit rotor) -
- pursuit tracking (both track and Ss movements are available to S as in steering a car),
- compensatory tracking (track variation and subject's movement's are shown only on a single display as in a glide slope indicator). Arbitrary beginning and end points.