Teacher versus peer models revisited: effects on motor performance and self-efficacy

This study reinvestigated and extended the findings of Landers and Landers (1973), which examined the influence of skilled and unskilled teacher and peer models on motor performance. Sixth grade females (N = 100) were randomly assigned to groups in a 2 x 2 (Model Type x Model Skill) factorial design or to a no-model group. In the treatment groups, subjects observed one of four unfamiliar models--(a) a skilled teacher, (b) an unskilled teacher, (c) a skilled peer, or (d) an unskilled peer--perform on the Bachman ladder task. Subjects performed 30 trials of the task and also completed self-efficacy questionnaires on three occasions. Results showed that subjects who watched a skilled model performed better than subjects who watched an unskilled model. Unlike the Landers and Landers study, no model type by model skill interaction was found. In addition, the skilled model group reported higher efficacy beliefs than the control group after performing and were more efficacious than the unskilled model subjects both after watching the model and after performing. These results suggest when students view unfamiliar models, the skill rather than the status of the model may be more salient.