PDFE #8

There are three basic stages of learning; the verbal-cognitive stage, the motor stage, and the autonomous stage. In lab 7.1, we discuss the stages of learning by practicing a new skill. We were required to learn how to tie a bowline knot and meet certain criteria while doing so. We also had someone observing us and rating how well we performed during each trial. From looking at the comments made by my partner, I went through each stage of learning.  The verbal-cognitive stage is the stage in which the person performing the task is still unfamiliar with the task that is at hand and are working their way to figuring it out. This was very true for me. I struggled at the beginning of activity because I did not understand how to make the knot. Eventually I had to have someone come over and show me how to actually make the knot. The second stage, the motor stage, is the stage when the person performing the task is trying to figure out how exactly to go about performing the task. They understand the task that is at hand they are just trying to figure it out and make sense of it. I went through this stage as well. After the teacher showed me how to form the knot, it took me a while to actually make the knot on my own, much less make it perfect. That led to the third stage, the autonomous stage. The autonomous stage is when the person can perform the task with little or no attention or skill. After trying to make the knot over and over, I eventually got the hang of it and could practically make it with my eyes closed. The biggest challenges I faced were understanding how to make the knot and then actually making the knot. However, once I learned how to make it and understood it, I could make it repeatedly.