LECTURE 2 Flashcards
Motor Control
The study of neural, physical and behaviour aspects of human movement
Motor Learning
The study of the processes involved in the acquisition of a motor skill and the factors that enhance or inhibit an individuals capability to perform a motor skill
Motor development
The study of the products and underlying processes of motor behaviour changes across the life span
Skills
The adaptation of one’s coordination patterns to produce functional and beneficial outcomes in contexts that require them.
Elements of skills
Voluntary, Goal-directed, need to be learned/re-learned, requires activation/control of the limbs by perceptual motor system
Posture
Relative arrangement of the body parts
Postural Control
Build up posture against gravity and ensure balance is maintained
Abilities
Generally, genetically predetermined general trait or capacity of the individual that effects performance
Examples of abilities
Agility, strength, flexibility
Technique
Any coordination pattern applied to the performance of a specific motor action
Example of technique
The way the nervous system organises the different elements of the body together to move
Environmental predictability
Open skills (eg. football pass) = unpredictable, variable
Closed skills (eg. bowling) = predictable, stable
Movement precision
Fine motor skills (eg. playing piano)
Gross motor skills (eg. kicking)
Categories of nature of a skill
Continuous, Discrete, Serial
Continuous skill
Running or swimming - a skill which has no clear beginning or end in the movement
Discrete skill
Throwing or catching - a single unit of activity that has a defined beginning and end
Serial
Wrestling takedown or basketball layup - a group of discrete skills that make a new and complex movement
Time constraint taxonomy
Self-paced skills - golf swing
Externally paced skills - hockey shot
The field of motor control considers…
Nature of movement,
Motor system structures,
Processes/mechanisms
–> Anticipatory Postural Adjustments (APA’s)
–> Compensatory/ Integrative postural adjustments
–> Reaction time
–> Perceptual motor integration
Anticipatory Postural Adjustments
The activation of postural muscles in anticipation BEFORE a movement
Degrees of Freedom problem
How the nervous system constrains the very large number of degrees of freedom to produce coordinated movement - redundancy/abundancy
Serial Order Problem
Sequencing and timing movements appropriately - eg. coach says to pick up ‘stickey hocks’ instead of saying pick up ‘hockey sticks’.
Perceptual Motor Integration
Influence of perception on behaviour - for example moving rooms.
Action slip
Movement error in sequencing due to inattention
Coarticulation
Accurate sequence and timing of simultaneous movements in sequential tasks
How can control be measured?
Electromyography (EMG)
6 Issues in motor learning
Performance
Transfer
Feedback
Retention
Practice
Stages of Learning
Phylogeny
Evolutionary development of a species
Ontogeny
Development across a lifespan
Developmental readiness
Changes throughout the lifetime which all have a flow on effect for ability to control posture.
