Exploring the mechanism of analogy and explicit instructions on self-efficacy, performance, and learning of golf putting task: Analysis of mental representation

Previous research has shown the structure of mental representation of learners modifies and develops during motor learning. However, few studies have examined the development of mental representation during various organization of practice. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of analogy and explicit instructions on learning of golf-putting task, along with self-efficacy and examined the structure of mental representation through the practice schedules. Thirty-six novice golfers were randomly divided into analogy instruction, explicit instruction and control group for learning golf putting tasks. They participated in five phases included pre-test, acquisition, retention, transfer 1 and transfer 2 (dual-task). The results of 3 × 5 (group x phase) mixed-design ANOVA, with repeated measures on the second factor revealed that the analogy group had higher self-efficacy in comparison to the explicit and control groups in all phases (P_s <.05). Furthermore, the putting accuracy results showed that the analogy group outperformed the explicit and control during the acquisition, retention, and both transfer tests (Ps <.05). Moreover, the participants' structure of mental representation showed the progress was observed in the explicit and analogy groups, which had a more organized mental representation structure than the control group. Furthermore, comparison of the mental representation structures with those of skilled golfers revealed that the analogy instruction group exhibited the greatest similarity to skilled peers across all testing phases, with the exception of the pre-test. Our findings implicate that implicit learning (i.e., analogy instruction) leads to enhanced learning and more organized mental representation than explicit learning. Therefore, these results confirm the reinvestment theory and underlying mechanism of implicit learning.