Construction of scientific knowledge in motor learning: history and perspectives

Abstract

The present work aims to inquire the construction of scientific knowledge in the motor learning area. A necessary historical retrospective on this study field considers the epistemology of Francis Bacon, Karl Popper, Paul Feyerabend and Thomas Kuhn. Bacon and Popper’s conceptions show to be inadequate to explain the scientific progress of motor learning. Feyerabend’s ideas are also inadequate as they lack coherency, even though in some aspects they are adequate. The Kuhnian approach, however, seems more satisfactory, particularly with regard to the notion of “crisis of paradigm” between the ecological approach and the information-processing approach. A critique is offered from human and social sciences perspective. This leads us to reflect on the possible growth of a new paradigm and consider scientific practice as a social practice.