Motor Learning 1

Question 1

in unit 1 we described 3 related concepts within the discipline of motor behaviour:

Answer 1

• motor learning
• motor development
• motor control

Question 2

in the rotating arrow circle of motor control, development and learning -what’s in the middle?

Answer 2

skill and performance

Question 3

list the important differences

Answer 3

• abilities vs capabilities
• performance vs learning
• skill acquisition vs. skill retention vs. skill transfer

Question 4

define abilities

Answer 4

• stable and enduring
• genetically determined (inherited)
• unmodified by practice or experience
• the “hardware” that supports skills

Question 5

define capabilities

Answer 5

-skills
- developed and modified with practice
- depend on the presence of different subsets of abilities

Question 6

use the word ability/capability in this sentence: Dr. Tuckey has the _ to reach items on the top shelf because she is tall

Answer 6

ability

Question 7

use the word ability/capability in this sentence: I do not have the _ to breathe under water

Answer 7

abiltiy

Question 8

use the word ability/capability in this sentence: I have run a half marathon before, but that was over a decade ago, I don’t know if I have the _ to run one again

Answer 8

capability

Question 9

use the word ability/capability in this sentence: I am nervous and don’t have the _ to be an effective team captain one day

Answer 9

capability

Question 10

motor skill capability is a person’s _

Answer 10

potential for skilled motor performance under favorable conditions
- within your control (to an extent)
*not synonymous with ‘ability’

Question 11

define ability

Answer 11

an innate, underlying trait that doesn’t change as a function of practice

Question 12

how do abilities interact with capabilities?

Answer 12

• abilities are the foundation of capabilities
• different abilites may underlie certain motor skill capabilties (which explains why some people may pick up a new skill more easily than others), but the capability to perform a specific skill comes through effective practice

Question 13

recall, motor learning is defined as the

Answer 13

relatively permanent gains in motor skill capability associated with practice or experience

Question 14

improved performance does not by itself, define

Answer 14

learning
- improved performance is an indication that learning may have occured

Question 15

what happens when we add the word developmental in front of motor learning?

Answer 15

by adding the word developmental, we acknowledge that individuals learn differently at different points across the life span

Question 16

what’s the difference between performance and learning?

Answer 16

they are not the same thing
- performance is immediate

Question 17

describe performance (performance vs learning)

Answer 17

performance is how you are doing in the moment
- can vary from moment to moment, trial to trial
- unstable
- can be affected by situational variables (functional and/or environmental constraints)

Question 18

describe learning (how it is different from performance)

Answer 18

improved performance does not, by itself, define learning
- learning involves a set of processes occuring within the CNS
- learning produces an acquired capability for skilled performance
- learning changes are relatively permanent
- learning is not directly observable
- learning changes are inferred from certain performance changes
- learning results from practice or experience

Question 19

practice refers to_

Answer 19

a deliberate attempt to achieve motor learning although experience (eg. play) can also result in learning

Question 20

learning reflects an ongoing _

Answer 20

reorganization of the central nervous system
*this, immediate performance does not always accurately reflect the underlying capability

Question 21

although learning is relatively permanent, performance can _

Answer 21

fluctuate day to day

Question 22

how can we tell if someone has learned a task or if they just performed well? aka what things must be considered/how to study motor learning effectiveness

Answer 22

1) practice is critical for learning
2) performance curves can be misleading
3) the learning-performance distinction
3) retention and transfer are true “tests” for learning

Question 23

describe performance curves

Answer 23

these curves simply plot performance as a function of time (they can take on several shapes)

Question 24

describe the negatively accelerated curve

Answer 24

rapid initial improvements followed by decreasing gains in improvement from practice

Question 25

describe the positively accerated curve

Answer 25

little improvement initially, followed by rapid improvement over time

Question 26

performance can acheive _ effects that mask further improvements in skill

Answer 26

ceiling and floor

Question 27

define the ceiling effect

Answer 27

when performance variable can go no higher (eg. percentage correct)d

Question 28

describe the floor effect

Answer 28

when performance variable can go no lower (eg. reaction time; error scores)

Question 29

performance curves provide an indication of the changes that occur during the acquisition of skull, but they say nothing about the _

Answer 29

relative permanence of learning

Question 30

what provides a better indication of the amount that has been learned during acquisition trials? (performance curves)

Answer 30

retention tests

Question 31

describe acquisition, and practice

Answer 31

- the learning or developing of a skill - repeated attempts to perform a motor skill as a means of skill acquisition

Question 32

define retention test

Answer 32

is used to see if participants retain the capability to produce a specific motor skill after practice has been removed for a period of time

Question 33

describe transfer test

Answer 33

used to see if participants can generalize aspects of a motor skill learned through practice to a new skill

Question 34

there are 3 different outcomes:

Answer 34

performance improves, stable or degrades

Question 35

in retention tests, it is preferable to base decisions based on _ effects rather than effects seen during _

Answer 35

retention , practice

Question 36

there are 2 major theories for how learning actually occurs, these are based on _

Answer 36

information processing dynamical systems

Question 37

describe the fitts and posner information processing

Answer 37

learning progresses across 3 stages: 1) cognitive 2) associative 3) autonomous

Question 38

describe the cognitive stage of learning

Answer 38

- understanding the nature of the task - reallization of the movements goal(s) - understanding of mechanics

Question 39

describe the associative stage

Answer 39

- associate responses with relevant stimuli - reduction in number and type of errors - forming of associations between each of individual tasks formation of subroutines

Question 40

describe the autonomous stage

Answer 40

- task becomes automatic - high consistency, few errors - level of attention required is greatly reduced

Question 41

in Bernstein's stages of learning (dynamical) stgaes were identified, not from a cognitive processing perspective but rather from a combined _

Answer 41

motor control and biomechanical perspective

Question 42

what is stage 1 of bernstein's stage of learning

Answer 42

reduce degrees of freedom

Question 43

name the intial problem and bernstein's solution to reduce degrees of freedom

Answer 43

initial problem: what to do with all the possible degrees of freedom of movement that are available for the body (referred to as the "degrees of freedom problem") bernstein's solution: reduce the movement of nonessential or redundant body parts in the initial stage of learning (freezing them)

Question 44

because the number of degrees of freedom that need to be controlled is reduced, there are fewer _ - this frees up _

Answer 44

body motions that need conscious control - attentional resources for the few degrees of freedom used for rudimentary aspects of the action

Question 45

name stage 2 and stage 3 of bernstein's stages of learning

Answer 45

2: release degrees of freedom 3: exploit passive dynamics

Question 46

describe stage 2 of bernstein's stages of learning

Answer 46

once a learner experiences some success in stage 1, the typical learner releases some of the frozen degrees of freedom - this is especially useful in tasks that require power or speed -allows for faster and greater accumulation of forces

Question 47

describe stage 3 of bernstein's stages of learning

Answer 47

learn to exploit the energy and motion that "comes for free" with physics - gravity - spring-like characteristics of muscle - momentum movement becomes maximally skilled in term of effectiveness and efficiency

Question 48

compare fitts and bernstein's by summarizing fitts

Answer 48

specifically designed to consider perceptual motor learning - heavy emphasis on how the cognitive processes invested in motor performance change as a function of practice

Question 49

compare fitts and bernstein's by summarizing bernstein's

Answer 49

bernstein identified stages of learning from a combined motor control and biomechanical perspective