Lecture 7 - Motor Learning Flashcards
What is Motor Learning?
- Changes in a set of internal Processes
- Leads to a relatively permanent change in performance
- Occurs with practice and experience
- Must be inferred
Compare Motor performance to Motor Learning
- MP is observable; ML is inferred
- MP may represent temporary change; ML is relatively permanent change
- MP may not be due to practice; ML is due to practice
- MP is influence by performance variables; ML is not
What is neural plasticity?
The ability to show modification
What is Short-term Functional Plasticity?
Changes is the strength of synaptic connections between nerve cells
What is Structural Plasticity?
Changes in the organization and number of connections between nerve cells.
What is Long Term Memory?
Your relatively permanent store of information.
What is Declarative Memory and what is the sub types of declarative memory? Define them.
Declarative memory - memory for facts(semantic) or events(episodic)
Semantic - knowing the Eiffel tower is in Paris
Episodic - going to the Eiffel Tower
Declarative Memory is knowing what to do in a particular movement situation.
What is Procedural Memory?
Memory for skills or behaviours
Knowing how to do a particular motor skill
Who is Patient HM?
Could learn new motor skills despite not being able to remember learning them
What is Motor Memory?
Name the 3 Stages within motor memory
Motor memory = representation in long term memory of the motor action that is acquired through practice or experience
3 Stages
- Encoding
- Consolidation
- Retrieval
Relate the 3 LTM systems to motor skills.
Declarative Episodic - what happened last time in this situation
Declarative semantic - retrieval of rules that you have learned to use in this situation(what to do)
Procedural - puts movement plan into motion(how to do it)
What is the encoding stage of Motor Memory?
Where motor memory is formed
What is the consolidation stage of motor memory?
Where motor memory becomes stable over time
What is the retrieval stage of motor memory?
Motor memory is accessed/recalled to be used
What are the 4 performance characteristics used to infer Motor learning?
When are they used?
- Improvement - during practice/acquisition
- Consistency - during practice/acquisition
- Persistence - during retention
- Adaptability - during transfer
What is the improvement characteristic?
performance improves over a period of time
look at performance curves - this will be the increase
need to define practice length
What is the consistency characteristic?
Performance more stable: can deal with internal or external perturbations
This will be the plateaus on performance curves
What do performance curves tell us?
The rate of improvement over the course of practice
individual differences
What are the different types of performance curves?
What do these represent?
Linear - direct relationship between improvement in performance and time
Negatively accelerating - large initial improvement in performance, which slows later in practice
Positively Accelerating - slow improvement early, then rapidly improve later in practice
S-Shaped - start slow, rapidly improve, plateau again
What do the Plateaus in performance curves represent?
Consistency (skill learned) or learning may still occur
What contributes to performance plateaus?
What do these variables mean?
- Motivation
- Attention
- Arousal
- Fatigue
- New Strategy
- Measurement Technique
Changes in these variable may influence performance and not allow you to see if improvement(learning) occurs
Does Performance Curve equal Learning Curve?
NO!
What is the Persistence Characteristic?
Performance lasts over increasing periods of time
What is a retention test?
Test of a practiced skill performed following an interval of time after practice has ceased
