PML L3 Flashcards
Control based learning theory (Cobalt)
motor learning grows out of motor control, i.e., the increasingly
efficient operation of motor control processes.
In simpler terms: The better you control your movements, the better you learn new ones.
COBALT: Motor control
processes that support planning and execution of movements
COBALT: Motor learning
increasing spatial and temporal accuracy of movements with practice
COBALT: 4 control processes
- Strategic: identifying and selecting environmental
goals - Perceptual-motor integration: translates environmental goal into spatial
target (on which motor response is based) - Sequencing: ordering spatial targets
- Dynamic: transforming spatial targets into muscle
activity patterns
Imagine learning to play the piano:
✅ Strategic Control: Choosing which song to play.
✅ Perceptual-Motor Integration: Reading notes and translating them into finger movements.
✅ Sequencing Control: Pressing keys in the right order and rhythm.
✅ Dynamic Control: Adjusting pressure on keys to control volume and expression.
COBALT: 3 control principles
describe how the brain organizes and executes motor control and learning.
- Neural separability
- Ventral stream = perception
- Dorsal stream = movement control (action) - Disparate representations
- Dual mode
Neural Separability
Definition: Different aspects of motor control (such as planning, sequencing, and execution) are handled by distinct neural systems in the brain. This means motor learning does not rely on a single brain region but on a network of specialized areas (ventral and dorsal streams).
Example: When learning to play the guitar, different brain regions separately control finger placement (motor execution) and chord progression planning (strategic control).
Disparate Representations
Allocentric space (strategic & perception): relative to surroundings
- Ventral stream
Example: When reaching for a coffee cup on a table, you consider its position relative to the table, not just to your body.
Egocentric space (perceptual-motor integration): relative to body
- Dorsal stream
Example: When picking up a glass of water, you plan your hand movement relative to your own arm and hand position.
Dual Mode
Conscious mode of control: Strategic process, operate consciously
– slow, verbal, recall, explicit
Unconscious mode of control: Perceptual-motor integration, sequencing and dynamic processes, operate outside awareness
– fast, unconscious, short-lived (no memory), implicit
Conscious mode of control
Explicit learning, it is controlled by strategic processes and uses allocentric representations
strategic control is always conscious, but also perceptual-motor integration and sequencing can (initially) be consciously learned
Unconscious mode of control
Implicit learning, it uses egocentric representations. It is restricted to perceptual-motor integration and sequencing (so NO strategic processes)
Explicit learning
declarative conscious knowledge (transforms into procedural unconscious knowledge)
it is (verbal) working memory dependent
- retains diferrent types of information
- processes step-by-step instructions
Implicit learning
no accumulation declarative knowledge, direct build-up of
procedural knowledge
- more durable, less prone to forget
– more robust against psychological pressure, fatigue & dual tasking
Methods for implicit learning
- dual tasking
- analogy learning (using a metaphor that combines separate rules in one global image)
- errorless learning (gradualy increase difficulty to prevent errors & hypothesis testing)
- (external focus of attention?)
Reinvestment hypothesis
performance decrements caused by renewed use of
previously accrued declarative knowledge, which de-automatizes performance
- Shift from unconscious to conscious control mode
