Motor Learning Flashcards
What is motor learning?
The permanent acquisition or modification of movement through processes associated with practice/experience
What is implicit motor learning?
- Motor learning (development of movement) that progresses without knowledge of how movement is done or awareness of learning (ex. learning to ride a bike)
- Types: non-associative learning, associative learning, procedural learning
What is explicit learning?
- Motor learning (development of movement) that progresses through cognitive stages in the learning process and depends on working memory function
- Uses factual knowledge that must be recalled (encoding, consolidation, storage, retrieval)
- Learning is optimized with motivation, attention to task, and ability to associate new information with familiar tasks in memory
- Mental imagery
What is non-associative learning?
- Type of implicit motor learning
- Reflex pathways
- Response to repeated stimulus
- Habituation
- Sensitization
What is habituation?
A decrease in responsiveness as a result of repeated exposure to a non-painful stimuli
What is sensitization?
An increase in responsiveness following noxious stimuli (chronic pain)
What is associative learning
- Type of implicit motor learning
- Amygdala, cerebellum, premotor cortex
- Predictions of relationships through classical conditioning and operant conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
Pair stimuli together over time to produce a conditioned response
What is operant conditioning?
Rewarded behaviors are typically repeated, while behaviors with negative consequences are typically avoided
What is procedural learning?
- Type of implicit motor learning
- Basal ganglia
- Repeating movement continually, under varying conditions, can automatically improve performance even without purposeful attention
- Automatically learn rules for movement through “movement schema” and apply the movement to new situations
- Develops slowly through repetition
Mirror learning therapy to improve function in a limb is what type of learning: implicit or explicit?
Implicit motor learning
Which type of motor learning is present early on in life: implicit or explicit?
Implicit because it requires minimal instruction and does not require extrinsic feedback
Which type of motor learning is not present until later on in life: implicit or explicit?
Explicit because it requires more instruction and relies on extrinsic feedback
How is motor performance different from motor learning?
Performance is observable behavior that varies between trials and results in temporary change in movement behavior while learning involves a permanent change in motor capacity
How do we measure motor learning?
- Performance
- Retention
- Ability to adapt or transfer learned skill
What are some characteristics about Schmidt’s Schema Theory?
- Coincides with motor programming theory
- Contains rules for creating spatial and temporal patterns of muscle activity needed to carryout a movement
- Development of recall and recognition schemas
- Variability improves learning
- Cannot explain where initial motor programs are formed, evidence more supportive in children than adults
What is a schema?
An abstract representation stored in memory following multiple or repeated exposure
What is a recall schema?
Storage of basic parameters of movement in short term memory after retrieval from long term memory, the motor system will then create the movement
What is recognition schema?
Evaluating the effectiveness of a movement based on information from sensory inputs
How could you apply Schmidt’s Schema Theory in the clinic?
Practicing task specific interventions under various different conditions
What are some characteristics of the Ecological Theory of motor learning?
- 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
- Search for optimal strategy in task performance
- Perceptual variables can impact movement (understanding of task, types of feedback provided, relevant vs irrelevant information)
- Newer theory, so limited research
How can you apply the Ecological Theory in the clinic?
Repeated practice of interventions under varying conditions while considering more variables to prepare for and modify movement
What are the three stages of Fitts and Posner’s Three Stage Model of motor learning skills?
- Cognitive
- Associative
- Autonomous
Describe the cognitive stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model
- Consciously consider goal of task
- Recognize conditions in environment
- Variety of strategies
- Guided practice
- focusing on “what to do”
What is the learner doing in the cognitive stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model?
- Gathering information
- Increasing focus
- Performing with high variability and inconsistency
- Improving greatly
What is the therapist doing in the cognitive stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model?
- Modeling, demonstrating, and providing physical guidance
- Provides trials
- Provides various types of feedback
Describe the associative stage of the Fitts and Posner’s Model
- Develop general movement patterns
- Ready to refine and improve performance
- Adapt skills to various environments
- Focusing on “how to do”
What is the learner doing in the associative stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model?
- Participating in multiple practice sessions
- Identifies and corrects errors
- Showing gradual improvement
- Shows consistency
What is the therapist doing in the associative stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model?
- Modeling, demonstrating and providing physical guidance
- Providing little to no feedback
- Allows learner to make mistakes in hopes they identify mistakes themselves
Describe the autonomous stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model
- Skill becomes more automatic
- Less focus is required to perform skill
- Able to focus on other components of the task for refinement
- Adapt to changes in the environment
What is the learner doing during the autonomous stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model?
- Performs skill automatically
- Experienced in task
- Not effected by distraction
- Able to multitask
- Pays less attention to details (because no need too)
What is the therapist doing during he autonomous stage of Fitts and Posner’s Model?
- Provide a variety of practice environments
- Provides secondary tasks for practice
- Provides summary and bandwidth feedback
What is Gentile’s Two Stage Model of motor learning?
A two stage model that focuses on the goal of the learner
Describe the first stage of Gentile’s Two Stage Model
- Developing understanding of task dynamics
- Focus on goal of task
- Looks at appropriate movement strategies
- Includes critical environmental features (regulatory vs nonregulatory)
Describe the second stage on Gentile’s Two Stage Model
- Refining the movement pattern
- Performing task consistently and efficiently
- Adapting to changing environmental demands
How can fixation occur in the second stage of Gentile’s Two Stage Model?
If movement pattern is refined in a consistent environment with minimal variation
How can diversification occur in the second stage of Gentile’s Two Stage Model?
If movement pattern is adapted to changing demands of the environment or the task itself
What are some requirements for motor learning?
- Arousal
- Memory
- Attention
- Motivation
What are some strategies that help to remember motor learning aspects of a task?
- Visual cues
- Home programs
- Review
How can instructions influence motivation of the learner?
- Encourage learner by telling them errors are crucial to learning
- Emphasize that the skill is “learnable” and is not a reflection of their inherent ability
- Can promote self-efficacy
What is massed practice vs distributed practice?
Massed: more practice than rest
Blocked: practice time is equal to rest time
What is blocked practice vs random practice?
Blocked: performing one task repeatedly
Random: performing tasks in random sequences
What is constant practice vs variable practice?
Constant: practicing one variation of a movement pattern several times in a row
Variable: practice several variations of a skill during a session
What is whole practice vs part practice?
Whole: practicing the complete action/task
Part: task broken up into component parts to practice
What is guided practice vs discovery practice?
Guided: practice with physical or verbal assistance to reduce errors
Discovery: practice without assistance, so learner must use trial and error
How can guidance influence in motor learning of a new task?
- Learner will perform well, but will slow actual learning of the task
- More helpful if used early on
- May increase safety, decrease risk of injury, and improve self-confidence for the patient
What occurs during mental practice?
- Activation of supplementary motor cortex
- Enhances learning, even though it is not as effective as physical learning
What types of learning are beneficial to an early learner?
- Blocked practice
- Distributed practice progressing to massed
- Part task practice then whole practice within the same session
- Closed environment
- Physical guidance
- Mental practice after physical
What types of learning are beneficial to a later learner?
- Variable practice
- Mental practice after physical
What is extrinsic feedback?
- Augmented feedback
- Information provided about the action that is supplemental
- May be auditory, verbal, manual, or visual
What is intrinsic feedback?
- Provided by the sensory systems
- Self-analyze task performance
- Can review video performance
- Proprioception during movement
What is terminal feedback vs concurrent feedback?
Terminal: feedback given at the end of the task
Concurrent: feedback provided during task performance
What is knowledge of results?
Terminal feedback that is goal oriented and lets learner know if task was successful or not
What is knowledge of performance?
Terminal feedback about the type or quality of movement that is helpful early on, but can impede learning later on in learning
What is faded feedback?
Decreasing frequency of feedback over time with increased number of trials
What is bandwidth feedback?
Feedback that corrects only if the learner goes outside therapist selected parameters
How can feedback impact motivation of the learner?
- Corrective feedback, especially given frequently, can have negative motivational consequences
- Feedback, when not requested, can undermine autonomy
What type of practice is better for a specific type of skill?
Blocked practice
What type of practice is better for a transition of skills to a complex situation such as sports?
Combined practice
When learning a new task, what type of feedback is best?
Constant feedback
For children and adults with cognitive deficits, how should you modify feedback?
- Limit amount and type of information
- Use concrete instructions
What type of practice/feedback is best for older adults?
- Random practice better than blocked
- Distributed practice can improve recall
- Knowledge of results better than performance
- Quantitative feedback is helpful
- Reliant on extrinsic feedback (sensory processing reduced with age)
