What is the correct order of the 3 stages in the model?

What is the correct order of the 3 stages in the model?

• A. Cognitive -> Associative -> Autonomous
• B. Autonomous -> Cognitive -> Associative
• C. Associative -> Cognitive -> Autonomous
• D. Cognitive -> Autonomous -> Associative

Answer: (A)

The stages show how a skill becomes more automatic with practice. At the start you think a lot about what to do—the movements feel deliberate, errors are common, and you rely on instructions and cues. This is the cognitive stage. With practice, you begin to link the cues to the movements, errors fall away, and the technique becomes smoother; you’re refining how you perform—this is the associative stage. After ongoing practice, the movement becomes automatic, so you can perform with little conscious thought and still adapt to different situations; this is the autonomous stage. Since skill development moves from thinking a lot, to refining, to automatic performance, the correct order is cognitive, then associative, then autonomous.

The stages show how a skill becomes more automatic with practice. At the start you think a lot about what to do—the movements feel deliberate, errors are common, and you rely on instructions and cues. This is the cognitive stage. With practice, you begin to link the cues to the movements, errors fall away, and the technique becomes smoother; you’re refining how you perform—this is the associative stage. After ongoing practice, the movement becomes automatic, so you can perform with little conscious thought and still adapt to different situations; this is the autonomous stage. Since skill development moves from thinking a lot, to refining, to automatic performance, the correct order is cognitive, then associative, then autonomous.