Motor Learning Flashcards
what is implicit motor learning?
- learning which progresses with no or minimal increase in verbal knowledge of movement performance (e.g. facts and rules) and without awareness
- *automatic, unconscious; ex riding a bike as an adult
what is explicit motor learning?
- learning which generate verbal knowledge of movement performance (e.g. facts and rules), involved cognitive stages within the learning process and is dependent on working memory and involvement
- *newly learning how to ride a bike
what are the three forms of learning in nondeclaritive (implicit) memory/learning?
- non-associative learning: habituation and sensitization
- associative learning: classical and operant conditioning
- procedural learning: tasks and habits
what is non-associative learning?
- reflex pathways; response to repeated stimulus is more reflexive
- involves habituation and sensitization
what is habituation?
decrease in responsiveness as a result of repeated exposure to a non-painful stimuli (children with tactile defensive behavior)
what is sensitization?
increased responsiveness following noxious stimuli (chronic pain)
what is associative learning?
- amygdala, cerebellum, premotor cortex
- prediction of relationships
- classical vs operant conditioning
what is classical conditioning?
pair stimuli to produce a conditioned response
what is operant conditioning?
rewarded behaviors are typically repeated (trial and error) where those with negative consequences are not (fear of falling in older adults)
what is procedural learning?
- basal ganglia
- repeating movement continually under varying conditions can automatically (without attention) improve performance
- automatically learn rules for movement (movement schema) and apply to new situations
- develops slowly through repetition
what is explicit/declarative learning?
- factual knowledge that is consciously recalled
- involves encoding, consolidation, storage, and retrieval (results in structural changes in neurons)
how can explicit/declarative learning be optimized?
- motivation, attention to task, and ability to associate new information with familiar tasks already in memory
- can also practice through mental imagery
is motor learning the same as performance?
- no
- no true brain change
what is performance?
- observable behavior
- varies between trials
– temporary change in movement behavior - does not equal capacity
- *ex freezing water to ice –> could go back to water
what is learning? is it observable? is it permanent or not?
- acquiring (re-acquiring) capacity to perform motor skills
- internal mental process
- rarely observable, inferred from carefully designed observation of motor behavior
- relatively permanent change (retained after a period of time)
what is retention?
able to demonstrate a skill after a period of time of not practicing it (learned skill)
what is adaptation of motor skills/transfer of skill?
- able to modify or adapt a movement pattern to a different environment or task
- depends on whether the neural processing demands are similar between the 2 tasks or 2 environments
- important for therapist to mimic home and community settings, otherwise likely won’t transfer
what is Schmidts schema theory?
- coincides with motor programming theory
– motor programs contain rules for specific patterns of movements
– apply these rules to different contexts - generalized motor program contained the rules for creating the spatial and temporal patterns of muscle activity needed to carry out a given movement
what is a schema?
abstract representation stored in memory following multiple exposure
what is a recall schema?
- store basic parameters of the movement in short term memory
- motor system creates the movement
what is a recognition schema?
evaluate the effectiveness of the movement based on sensory inputs
what does Schmidts schema theory say about learning and variability?
- learning is ongoing process of updating recall and recognition schemas
- variability of practice improves motor learning and the schema becomes stronger
what are the clinical implications and limitations of Schmidts schema theory?
- clinically tasks should be practiced under different conditions
- limitations:
– lacks specificity - doesn’t describe how schemas interact with other systems
– cannot account for how the motor program is initially formed when there is no schema yet
– evidence more supportive in children than adults as it relates to variability
what is ecological theory?
motor learning is a process that increases the coordination between perception and action in a way that is consistent with the task and environmental constraints
according to ecological theory, what happens during practice?
- there is a search for the optimal strategy to complete a task
- also includes finding the most appropriate perceptual cues
according to ecological theory, what perceptual variables can impact movement?
- understanding goal of task (provide demonstrations)
- augmented feedback provided
- distinguishing between relevant vs irrelevant cues
what are the clinical implications and limitations of ecological theory?
- CI:
– repeated practice under varying conditions is important
– considers more variables in motor learning (interactions between the task, individual, and environment) - limitation is that this is a newer theory with limited research
what are the two theories of motor learning?
schmidts schema and ecological
what are the two theories related to stages of learning motor skills
fitts and posners three stage model and gentiles two stage model
what are the stages in fitts and posners three stage model?
cognitive, associative, autonomous
what are the aspects of the cognitive stage in fitts and posners three stage model?
- consciously consider goal of task
- recognize features of the environment
- try a variety of strategies
- effective strategies are built upon, ineffective ones are discarded
- focus is on “what to do”
what is the role of the learner in the cognitive stage of fitts and posners three stage model?
- gathers info
- requires increased focus
- performs with high variability and inconsistency
- will see most improvement
what is the role of the therapist in the cognitive stage of fitts and posners three stage model?
- uses modeling, demonstration, physical guidance
- provides many trials
- provides increased feedback and variety in type of feedback
what are the aspects of the associative stage in fitts and posners three stage model?
- developed general movement patterns
- ready to start refining and improve performance
- begins to adapt skill to varying environments
- focus shifts to “how to do”
what is the role of the learner in the associative stage in fitts and posners three stage model?
- has many practice sessions
- identifies and corrects errors
- shows gradual improvement
- more consistent
what is the role of the therapist in the associative stage in fitts and posners three stage model?
- provides no modeling, demo, or physical guidance
- provides little to no feedback
- allow patients to make mistakes
what are the aspects of the autonomous stage of fitts and posners three stage model?
- skill becomes more autonomic
- learner does not need to focus all of their attention on the task
- able to focus on other components as the task –> refinement
- adapt to changes in the environment
what is the role of the learner in the autonomous stage of fitts and posners three stage model?
- more automatic
- has experience with the task
- distractions do not affect performance
- can do a secondary task
- requires decreased attention to details
what is the role of the therapist in the autonomous stage of fitts and posners three stage model?
- provide practice in different types of environments
- have patient practice secondary tasks
- give summary or bandwidth feedback
what is the first stage in gentiles two stage model?
- develop understanding of tasks dynamics
– goal of task
– appropriate movement strategies
– critical environmental features (regulatory vs non regulatory)
what is the second stage for a closed skill in gentiles two stage model?
- fixation
- refinement of movement pattern in a consistent environment with minimal variation
- performing consistently and efficiently
what is the second stage for an open skill in gentiles two stage model?
- diversification
- adaptation of movement to changing demands of task or environment
what are the requirements for learning?
- arousal
– readiness to accept challenge - memory
– remember necessary movements
– limited immediate memory to 3-4 facts at a time
– memory strategies: visual cues, home programs, review - attention
– ability to give mental effort
– implies some level of cognition - motivation
– inner urge to do something - associated with improved performance and learning
– PT gives external motivation, especially children
– instruction matters (emphasize skill is learnable, errors are apart of the process, promoting self-efficacy) - stage of motor learning of the learner
what is massed vs distributed practice?
massed practice: more practice time than rest time
distributed practice: practice and rest are equal
what is blocked vs random practice?
blocked practice: performing one task repeatedly
random practice: performing tasks in random sequences
what is constant vs variable practice?
constant: practice one variation of a movement several times in a row
variable: practice several variations of a skill during a session
what is whole vs part practice?
whole: the complete action or task (whole task practice)
part: broken up into component parts (part practice)
what is guided vs discovery practice?
guided: physical moving a learner through a movement sequence, preventing incorrect movements, verbally talking through a new situation, aim to prevent learner from making errors in the task (usually early on)
discovery: inc performance but can dec learning, better used early, early on may inc safety, dec risk of injury, and inc self confidence
what is mental vs physical practice?
mental: activation of supplementary motor cortex, physical>mental practice, effective way to enhance learning especially in times where physical practice is not possible
what are the impacts of practice conditions for the early learner?
- blocked practice to improve performance
- distributed practice progressing to massed
- part task practice into whole task within same session
- closed environment
- physical guidance
what are the impacts of practice conditions for the later learner?
- variable practice
– helps to generalize a motor skill in different environments
– enhances learning
what is extrinsic feedback?
- augmented
- information provided about an action that is supplemental to inherent feedback
- may be auditory, verbal, manual, or visual
what is intrinsic feedback?
- provided by sensory systems
- self-analyze task performance
- review video of performance
- sense where limbs are while moving
what is terminal feedback?
info given at the end of the task
what is knowledge of results (KR)?
- extrinsic feedback
- terminal feedback
- successful or not
- goal oriented
- good for children and those with impaired cognition
what is knowledge of performance (KP)?
- extrinsic feedback
- terminal feedback
- type or quality of movement
- commonly used by PTs about the pattern of movement
- helpful early on but patients become reliant and do less self-correction
what is concurrent feedback?
- information provided during task performance
- avoid overuse; pt will depend on feedback for performance
what are the other types of extrinsic feedback?
- immediate vs delayed
- constant vs intermittent
- distinct vs summary (accumulated feedback after set # of trials)
what is fading the feedback?
- modifying feedback
- decreased frequency of feedback over time with increased number of trials
what is bandwidth feedback?
- modifying feedback
- correct only if they go outside certain therapist selected error-parameters
how can the amount of feedback impact the learner?
- concurrent, immediate, and constant feedback increases performance but decreased learning
- the amount of feedback provided depends on the stage of the learner
– early learner = inc feedback
– late learner = dec feedback
how do feedback schedules impact the learner?
- delayed and summed feedback dec performance but inc learning
- faded feedback more valuable
- bandwidth feedback
– inc performance and learning
– decreasing the error message over time gives feedback on improvement
– larger bandwidths better results - self controlled*
what is the motivational function of feedback?
- corrective feedback, especially given frequently, can have negative motivational consequences
- augmented feedback, if given when not requested, can undermine autonomy
- can be addressed with self controlled feedback
what are the special considerations in children?
- repetition is key
- blocked practice is more effective for a specific skill
- combined practice is better for transition of skills to more complex situations like sports
- learn best from constant feedback
- benefit from feedback addressing internal requirements of a task
- decreased IP and decreased selective attention
- goal directed movement
- lots of practice
what are some special considerations in older adults?
- able to re-learn and learn motor skills with practice
- random practice better than blocked
- distributed practice results in improved recall
- KR better than KP feedback
- quantitative feedback is helpful
- more reliant on extrinsic info (ie visual feedback)
