what is motor learning
The acquisition of motor skills.
The performance enhancement of learned motor skills.
The reacquisition of skills following injury, disease
what is performance
- Observable behavior.
- Execution of a skill at a specific time and in a specific location.
what is learning
A change in the capability to perform a skill that must be inferred from a relatively permanent improvement in performance as a result of practice or experience
what is a Retention Tests
Tests of a practiced skill performed following an interval of time after practice has ceased.
what is the purpose of a Retention Tests
Assess permanence or persistence of the performance level achieved during practice.
why can Practice Performance May
Misrepresent Learning
*Practice may involve a performance variable that artificially inflates or
depresses performance
*Practice may involve performance
plateaus
General Performance Characteristics of Skill Learning
- Improvement.
- Consistency.
- Stability.
- Persistence.
- Adaptability
Fitts and Posner
Three Stage Model- what are the stages
Cognitive stage
Associative stage
Autonomous stage
cognitive stage
Learner is working out what to do and how to do it
* The learner will make many errors
* The learner may be aware they are doing
something wrong but may not be sure what to do to improve performance
Associative stage
- Person has learned to associate cues from the environment with required movements
- Learner works to refine performance to be more consistent
- Errors diminish
Autonomous stage
- skill is “automatic”
- Speed and efficiency of performance improve
- Less affected by interference
- Learner can detect and make proper
adjustments to correct own performance errors
- Gentile’s Two-Stage Model
- Initial stage: develop understanding of task dynamics
- Later stage: fixation/diversification; refine the movement
Initial stage goals
(Gentile’s Two Stage Model) goals
- Learn to discriminate between regulatory and nonregulatory conditions environmental context
- Movement coordination pattern to enable some degree of success achieving action goal
later stage goals
(Gentile’s Two Stage Model)
- Adapting movement pattern acquired in
Initial stage to demands of any performance situation - Increase consistency of action goal
achievement - Perform with an economy of effort
rate of performance improvements
large amounts of improvements in initial stages followed by lesser in later stage
- work more intensely with patients
during periods of rapid progress
Performer and performance changes
across the stages of learning (characteristics)
- Rate of performance improvement
- Movement coordination characteristics
- Altering preferred coordination patterns
- Muscles used to perform the skill
- Energy cost
- Visual selective attention
- Conscious attention demands
- Error detection and correction capability
- Brain activity
Changes in rate of performance improvement
Large amounts of improvement occur during early practice
* Smaller improvement rates characterize further practice
Changes in movement coordination characteristics
Managing degrees of
freedom required by a
skill
* beginner learner
freezes certain joints
* later stage learner
allows functional
synergy of limb
segments
- Altering preferred
coordination patterns
- We may use movement
characteristics similar to those of a skill we already know
Changes in muscles used
to perform the skill
- Early in practice muscles are used inappropriately
- More muscles than are needed & Incorrect timing of muscle activation
- With practice Number of muscles activated decreases & Timing pattern of muscle activation improves
- Changes in energy cost
- Beginners increase
- Skilled performers ↓
Changes in visual selective attention
Beginners typically look at too many things
With practice, visual attention is directed to appropriate sources of information faster
Changes in conscious attention demands
- Beginners consciously think about almost every part of performing the task
- With practice ↓ conscious attention automaticity
Changes in error detection and correction capability
increases with practice
