Ch16: Application of Motor Control and Motor Learning

Question 1

Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy

Answer 1

• Therapeutic treatment approach used for children with unilateral motor weakness
• Requires restraint of the unaffected upper limb combined with three or more hours a day of intensive task practice using the affected upper limb

Question 2

Essential Elements of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy

Answer 2

• Restraint of the stronger unaffected upper extremity (UE)
• The task-oriented mass practice of specific motor activities
• Shaping of more mature motor movement.

Question 3

Goals of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy

Answer 3

To reverse developmental disregard or learned nonuse of the affected extremity in children with unilateral motor weakness.

Question 4

Degrees of Freedom

Answer 4

• Possible planes of motion in the joints controlled by the musculoskeletal and CNS
• When multiple systems interact, there are many options (degrees of freedom) available to perform the given action

Question 5

Dynamic Systems

Answer 5

• Movement derives from a variety of sources and takes place within natural and meaningful contexts
• Suggests that motor control is dependent on nonlinear and transactive person factors, tasks characteristics, and environmental systems

Question 6

Attractor state

Answer 6

• The tendency to stay in the patterns of the status quo, preferred state, or state requiring the fewest degrees of freedom to maintain
• OT must identify this state and when it limits function, facilitate movement away from this state to promote engagement in occupation
• Movement away from the attractor state is often referred to as perturbation

Question 7

Perturbation

Answer 7

-A force that alters the movement pattern
Can be used to help children move in different ways: May be psychological (motivating the child to move to change the task environment) or physical (body feels misaligned so child must right themselves)

Question 8

Intrinsic Feedback

Answer 8

Allows the child to self-correct, is most effective for sustaining motor performance, and should be the goal of intervention sessions; May be elicited through discovery

Question 9

Extrinsic Feedback

Answer 9

• May be required in the early stages of motor skill development
• Consists of providing verbal cueing or physical guidance

Question 10

Demonstrative Feedback

Answer 10

• Modeling or imitating movements (without verbal commentary)
• Best if provided before the child actually practices movement and throughout early stages of skill acquisition

Question 11

Positive Feedback

Answer 11

Results in better motor learning and perceived competence and serves to motivate children to continue to engage in the activity

Question 12

Intensive Bimanual Therapy

Answer 12

• Focus is improving the ability to perform bimanual activities
• Uses carefully planned, repeated practice or 2-handed or bimanual games and activities to improve ability to use hands together in daily activities

Question 13

Mental Rehearsal

Answer 13

• Performing the skill in one’s imagination, without any action involved.
• Consists of role-playing, watching a video, or imagining
• Effective in teaching motor skills and retraining the timing and coordination of muscle group activity

Question 14

Motor Control

Answer 14

• How the body directs movement and how the musculoskeletal system interacts to carry out movements
• Addresses how the CNS organizes movement, how we quantify movement, and the nature of the movement, including the quality and timing of movement

Question 15

Motor Learning

Answer 15

• The strategies and techniques used to teach others how to move
• The process, conditions, and rate in which one learns motor skills

Question 16

Postural control

Answer 16

• Ability to maintain the center of mass over BOS
• Required for functional movement and involves interplay between sensory, motor, and musculoskeletal system
• Should be examined in stationary (e.g., sitting, standing) and dynamic movement tasks (e.g., sitting and reaching for an object, walking).

Question 17

Skill Acquisition

Answer 17

Focuses on the child’s ability, characteristics of the task, skills required, environment, and regulatory conditions.

Question 18

Transfer of Learning

Answer 18

Refers to applying learning to new situations

• Skill experiences are presented in logical progression.
• Simple, foundational skills are practiced before more complex skills
• Skill practice includes ‘real’ life and simulated settings
• Skills with similar components are more likely to show transfer effect.
• Practice in natural context with actual objects is most effective.