In any sphere of life one cannot do without the necessary skills. In work, in the process of studying or in the family, a person often has to perform actions “on the machine”. A skill is opening a door, walking, and playing a complex musical instrument.
Definition of a concept
Often, students or just adults who are interested in this topic, the question arises: what is a skill. The definition of this concept is as follows: a skill is an action that has been brought to automatism and can now be performed to achieve a specific goal. However, there is a significant difference between skill and automatic action itself. The skill is distinguished by consciousness. For example, when a person bites his nails in a stressful situation - this is automatism. Riding a bicycle is, on the contrary, a skill (you can automatically bite your nails, you cannot ride a bicycle without learning this). By skill is meant a reinforced method of performing an action.
Skills are formed for a long time and, which is very important, only if a person pays attention to this process. Those who are interested in what a skill is and what its features are, will be curious to learn such a fact: a skill can develop indefinitely. There is always something that can be improved or corrected.
Features of mastering skills
It often happens that it’s easier for a person to acquire knowledge than to master one or another skill. To successfully develop a skill, it is necessary to know the basic laws of this process. Psychologists say that a new skill is much easier to acquire if you adhere to three rules.
- The first of them is that at a certain point in time you need to practice only one skill. Working simultaneously in several directions often gives the worst result. Psychologists recommend paying close attention to the improvement of a single skill. The development of the next skill should be approached only after this skill is mastered.
- It should be borne in mind that the process of acquiring a skill occurs spasmodically. Changes accumulate gradually, and reaching a new level, as a rule, occurs unexpectedly. Sometimes it also happens that deterioration occurs before improvement. It may be a sign that a qualitative leap will soon occur.
- Another property of gaining skills is that this does not happen in one day. Sometimes it takes several months of long and hard training to learn a new skill.
Types of skills
Conventionally, all types of skills can be divided into four main groups:
- Perceptual, or sensory. They are a sensual reflection of the properties of a well-known subject that has been studied previously. An example of such a skill can be reading instrument readings, recognizing the necessary signals from general noise.
- Mental (mental or cognitive). They are automated techniques aimed at solving a specific problem. Mental skills allow you to analyze the types of interactions between objects of the material world.
- Motor skills - associated with motor memory. It is especially important to develop this type of skills in a child. Distinguish skills of large and fine motor skills. The first type includes such movements as inclines, walking, running, etc. Usually, the development of this type of skills occurs in people according to one pattern. The first skill a child learns to control is eye movement. Fine motor skills are the ability to control objects, transfer them from hand to hand, and perform actions that are related to the coordination of the eyes and hands. Examples of skills related to this category include: buttoning, playing a musical instrument, drawing, writing.
- Complicated behavioral skills. This type is formed with the direct participation of society. Even in childhood, parents encourage the right behavior in the child and punish the wrong, which form their behavioral skills. This category includes the ability to speak in public, managerial and communication skills.
Skill formation process
As a result of changes in the structure of actions, the process of forming the necessary skill gradually takes place. Its essence boils down to the following:
- The methods of performing certain movements are changing. A number of private movements gradually merge into one general, and unnecessary movements are eliminated. The speed of execution of movements becomes higher.
- The methods of perceptual control over the execution of an action are changing. In some cases, visual control changes to kinesthetic, for example, when mastering playing a musical instrument.
- The methods of central control of regulation of action are also subject to change. Gradually, consciousness is freed from the need to control the methods of action and is transferred to the environment and control of the final result of the action.
These changes are a direct result of exercises - repeated repetition of certain types of actions, the purpose of which is the development of the skill. Each skill is formed and functions in that system of skills that a person possesses at this moment.
Interference and induction of skills
It’s not enough to know what a skill is, it is also necessary to have an idea about the development of new abilities, as well as how different abilities affect each other. Some of the existing skills can help the new, others can interfere with its use, and others can modify it. The interaction of skills is of the following types:
- Negative carry. There is another name for this phenomenon - the interference of skills. In this case, the two actions are perceived by the student as similar, while in reality they are different. In this case, the acquisition of a new skill slows down.
- Positive transference or induction of skills. In this case, although the two tasks are not similar, there is a coincidence of techniques, rules of execution, control and central regulation of the execution of these two skills. The formation of a new skill during induction is easier. The problem of transferring skills is one of the most relevant in modern pedagogy.
Quantity or quality? Recent research by scientists
Numerous experiments show that in the development of skills it is much more important not the quality of repetitions, but their quantity. This can be illustrated by the study of a foreign language. The student pronounces the phrase, but the teacher corrects it, as he mispronounced the ending. The student again speaks the sentence, this time with the correct ending in the word, but at the same time uses the wrong temporary form. The teacher corrects him, but now the unlucky student makes a mistake in pronunciation. The result of such classes, as a rule, is as follows: a person who once studied a foreign language can make several sentences correctly, but does so without confidence.
For comparison, we can consider more modern methods of teaching languages. A large number of experiments demonstrated that an approach focusing on a large amount of speech practice is much more effective than correcting sentences in sentences every minute. By the end of the first year of study, the results of those students who emphasize the number of repetitions are higher than those who study the language using the old method.
Build skills in safe conditions
Another important factor in the successful formation of skills is that new skills must be trained in safe conditions, at least at first. The human nature is such that we can’t wait to try out a new skill in practice as soon as possible: show off playing an unusual musical instrument or try out a new model of behavior, which was described at a psychological training. However, this is a serious mistake. It is only necessary to develop new skills in a safe and comfortable environment.
Skills that come in handy at work.
Often there is a need to be interested in what a skill is, not just out of idle curiosity. It is sometimes necessary to know the features of acquiring skills, as well as their application in a particular professional field, when looking for work. As a rule, information on such skills must be filled out already at the stage of compiling a resume. Of course, most applicants to one degree or another have the right set of professional skills. However, there are also such skills that not all applicants remember when filling out the questionnaire. These are the following skills:
- Ability to work in a team ;
- Time management skills;
- Creative thinking;
- Strategic thinking;
- The ability to learn quickly;
- Perseverance;
- Ability to work in multitasking mode.
Each post will have its own professional skills, which must be indicated to the applicant. Their instruction will allow the applicant to show himself in the best light and get the desired job. After all, employers select employees not only by the criterion of professional skills and education, but also by the advantages or disadvantages that each candidate has.
Communication skills
Separately, it is worth noting this type of ability, which belongs to the category of complex behavioral skills. They are important in almost any field of activity. Not to be embarrassed, speaking in front of a large audience, not to get lost in a new company, worthy of holding an interview - many of these skills are necessary for success. Communication skills develop at an early age. However, if the parents did not attend to this task, and their child grew into a notorious adult, then this situation may well be correctable. You can work on yourself, or you can turn to a professional psychologist. To develop this type of skills, you need to communicate with people as much as possible: call friends and acquaintances, ask colleagues for opinions on a particular problem.