Phases of Skill Acquisition

Skill learning passes through several qualitatively different phases. With each successive attempt at learning a skill, one's performance becomes smoother and less effort demanding; in other words, it becomes more spontaneous or automatic. It has also been shown that in each phase the performance improves. In the transition from one phase to the next, when the level of performance stands still, it is called a performance plateau. Once the next phase begins, performance starts improving and its level starts going up.

One of the most influential accounts of the phases of skill acquisition was presented by Fitts, according to whom skill learning passes through three phases: cognitive, associative, and autonomous. Each phase or stage of skill learning involves different types of mental processes. In the cognitive phase of skill learning, the learner has to understand and memorise the instructions, and also understand how the task has to be performed. In this phase, every outside cue, instructional demand, and one's own response outcome have to be kept alive in consciousness.

The second phase is associative. In this phase, different sensory inputs or stimuli are linked with appropriate responses. As the practice increases, errors decrease, performance improves and time taken is also reduced. With continued practice, errorless performance begins, though the learner still has to be attentive to all the sensory inputs and maintain concentration on the task. Then the third phase, i.e. the autonomous phase, begins. In this phase, two important changes take place in performance: the attentional demands of the associative phase decrease, and interference created by external factors reduces. Finally, skilled performance attains automaticity with minimal demands on conscious effort. …