Lecture 2.6 Flashcards
What was the Bryan and Harter (1899) model?
Studied motor / perceptual skill learning off of sending and receiving morse code (telegraphy)
Studied subject with many-to-zero years of experience
Found that: perceptual skill of receiving morse code became faster and more efficient with practice
- Not just quantitative aspects improved (speed, movement time, efficiency) but qualitative aspects improved as well (fluidity, ease in recognition, confidence)
These qualitative improvements happened through these 4 stages:
- Subjects improved/progressed by better perceiving individual letters
- Improvements in perceiving groupings of letters
- Improvements in whole word identification / perception
- FINAL STAGE: Common phrases and groupings of words identification / perception
Summarized: there was no evidence that improvements stopped or plateaued with continued practice - even at points of high proficiency, there was still improvements made only if a higher order of habit/practice was employed (sufficent and consistent stimuli provided to induce further adaptation)
Due to neuroplasticity - the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization
What was the Fitts & Posner (1967) model?
- Proposed that there are actually 3 stages of motor/perceptual learning
- Also focused on skill acquisition and not just the skill development process
- Emphasized the cognitive process of learning a skill involved in changes of motor performance due to practice
Stage 1: Cognitive Stage (trial & error)
- The problem-solving stage
- First problem lies in cognitition in order to learn a skill - the mental process
- Involves verbalization, goal identification, and performance evaluation
- If you have good verbal and cognitive abilities, this stage will not be as difficult compared to other people
- Can include instruction, videos, cues, and demonstration - very useful in this stage of learning
- Also integrates other skills to help with the learning process
Main idea behind Bryan and Harter 1899?
That practice will always cause improvement in performance. Plateau doesn’t exist if there is a higher order of habit/practice/stimulus even at mastery stages.
Neuroplasticity - the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization
Main idea behind Fitts and Posner 1967?
There are 3 stages of motor learning.
- Cognitive stage - thinking and verbalizing your way through the initial learning of a skill.
- This stage is the shortest in duration, as learning happens quick but the performance still looks kinda trashy
- Good verbal and cognitive abilities will make you flow through this stage quicker
- Integration of previous skills to aid in learning new skills i.e. standing throw - integrates the skill of bilateral balance and resistance to deviation will help a lot
- Associative or fixation stage (homing in)
- Performance starts to improve, inconsistency decreases
- Organizing a more effective way to perform the skill
- Able to better integrate environmental cues better and anticipate better
- In rapid movement: better motor programs are built
- In slow movements (like balancing): Feedback is introduced through closed loop control
- Closed skills look good, open skills become very adaptable to different environment
- Longer than the cognitive stage as improvement rate begins to slow getting closer to mastery - Autonomous stage (mastery)
- Master the skill, but improvements can still be made but come a lot slower
- More movement time which leads to better accuracy and lower error, due to less time to cognitvely process the skill and think your way through
- This causes the mastery/makes it look like mastery
- Allows to make even higher level cognitive processing, so while the beginner is stuck struggling in rolling the master is already one step ahead, predicted his next move.
- Greater emotional control
- Too much veralization will actually hinder this stage
Fitts and Posner Model
As you move from Cognitive –> Associative/Fixation –> Autonomous (mastery), what happens
Efficiency with environmental cues increases
Learning / milestone achievements slows - but still happens
Longer time spent in each stage
Verbalization decreases
Time efficiency increases - more movement time - less error
What is the main idea behind Adams Model (1971)?
Highlighted the importance of feedback through an ever-changing model of reference to perform a skill
2 stages:
- Verbal-motor
Talking your way through a skill - Motor
Less talking
Using motor feedback through closed loop control
Memory trace = the original reference model that is used as a reference point during learning the skill
Perceptual trace = builds on the memory trace with practice, becomes the main reference of correctness
Key feature is FEEDBACK:
- Analyze the reference model actions, the result of those actions, and the desired goals
- Then refine the reference model to produce the required actions through feedback to achieve the desired goals
Main idea behind Gentile’s Model (1972)?
Used in physio to reacquire skills or learn new skills for performance enhancement/safety
2 stages:
- Initial stage - learn the basics of the skill - acquire movement pattern
- Latter Stage - skill becomes adaptable to any performance situation, consistency increases, and less effort is need to perform the movement
- For closed skills, movement becomes refined to ensure consistency and efficiency
- For open skills, movement becomes adaptable to various environments
Main idea behind Newell’s Model (1985)?
3 stages:
1. Coordination - learn the patterns
2. Control - acquire the patterns
3. Skill mastery performance - optimization of the patterns - become a bimanual beast
Main idea behind Ericsson’s Model (1993)
In order to become an expert in anything, need 10 000 hours of DELIBERATE practice - not just fucking around playing in your backyard. FOCUSED, ALWAYS OVERLOADING
What is motor learning
- Changes in internal processes that determine an individual’s capability for producing a motor action
- Improves with practice
- Can infer if there is motor learning happening by observing stable levels of motor performance
- However, motor learning is not directly observable due to transient factors
- Relatively permanent changes in behaviour due to practice/expertise
- Leads to improvement in all 3 stages of processing
How can motor learning be inferred through qualitative and quantitative assessments of motor performance?
Qualitative Assessment = how it looks during the process
- More relaxed?
- More fluid?
- Less errors?
Quantitative Assessment = look at the end result - the final product
What are performance curves
Plot someone’s performance over time to infer motor learning has occurred. Multiple trials needed to reduce transient factors like if they were having a good day or they were injured.
If there is a consistent increase in their performance and that increase stays up there after multiple trials we can infer motor learning has occurred.
“Learning curve” is incorrect because we cannot plot data points of learning
What is the difference between motor learning and motor performance?
Motor learning = are permanent changes; not directly observable that it happened
Motor performance = can indicate that learning has occurred; can be affected by transient factors like if you were having a good day injured, time away from sport, fitness levels which affects performance
What is post-acquisition time used for?
To see if motor learning has occurred.
Take motor performance in trials and place the data points of performance.
Then let there be a large enough time interval for the temporary effects to dissipate.
Then let them perform the same skill (retention test) or let them perform a new variation of the skill which will test how adaptable their original skill was (transfer test).
If the new performance points measured through retention/transfer tests was in line with the plot of the points then motor learning likely happened.
If it was a bit lower then motor learning might have still happened just not to the degree that we thought
Does non-specific practice lead to learning?
Short answer: practice does not need to be specific but it depends on your goals
Long answer:
Specific practice is the best for learning where it closely approximates/is similar to that of the target skill and context
However, the transfer of learning still rings true where if have been doing specific skill training, you may lose proficiency with a previous skill or lack proficiency with another similar skill. So specificity may affect that transferability of that skill.
