Motor Learning Flashcards
What is recovery of function?
Reacquisition of movement skills lost through injury - involves the reorganization of both perception and action systems in relation to specific tasks and environments
What is motor learning?
The study of the acquisition and/or modification of movement
What does motor learning lead to?
Permanent changes in the capability for producing skilled action and behavior
Can changes be measured regarding motor learning?
Cannot be measured directly - changes may not be readily observable but inferred from performance improvement as a result of practice
Where does motor learning emerge from?
A complex system of perception, cognition, and action processes
What does motor learning involve?
Motor processes and learning new strategies for sensing as well as moving
What are task solutions?
New strategies for perceiving and acting
Does initial improvement in performance reflect changes in learning?
Not necessarily - retention of those performance improvements reflects learning
What is learning?
Relatively permanent change
What is performance?
Temporary change in motor behavior seen during practice sessions
Is performance solely a measure of absolute learning?
No
What is the basis for the acquisition of skilled behavior?
Simple forms of learning
What are the two basic forms of long term memory?
- Declarative memory (explicit)
2. Nondeclarative memory (implicit)
What is declarative memory?
Association of information related to people or things, places, and meaning of these bits of information
What type of memory is the most common type of motor learning?
Nondeclarative
What comprises declarative learning?
Facts and events
What comprises nondeclarative learning?
- Nonassociative learning - habituation and sensitization
- Associative learning - classical and operant conditioning
- Procedural learning - skills and habits
What type of nondeclarative learning involves reflex pathways?
Nonassociative learning
What is habituation?
Decreased responsiveness that occurs as a result of repeated exposure to a nonpainful stimulus
What is sensitization?
Increased responsiveness following a threatening or noxious stimulus
How does a person learn to predict relationships?
Through associative learning
What is classical conditioning?
Consists of learning to pair two stimuli
What is operant/instrumental conditioning?
Trial and error learning
What is an example of a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus regarding classical conditioning?
Conditioned stimulus - ringing a bell
Unconditioned stimulus - food
–> repeated pairing the two stimuli produces a conditioned response to conditioned stimulus
What is the relationship between classical conditioning and therapy?
- Give verbal cue with physical assistance
- Overtime reduce physical assistance keeping verbal cue
- Overtime reduce verbal cue until patient has learned skill
What is the “law of effect”?
Behaviors that are rewarded ten to be repeated at cost of other behaviors - behaviors followed by aversive results are usually not repeated
What type of conditioning is associated with the “law of effects”?
Operant conditioning
What is an example of the law of effect?
Old elderly person who falls in a grocery store
What are therapeutic implications?
- Desensitization - reduce anxiety and fear
2. Use of praise to reinforce good performance
What is procedural learning?
Learning tasks that can be performed automatically without attention or conscious thought (habits) - develops slowly through repetition of an act over many trials
Where does procedural learning occur?
Striatum of the basal ganglia
Where does declarative learning occur?
Medial temporal lobe areas and hippocampus
What are the four different types of processing for declarative learning?
- Encoding
- Consolidation
- Storage
- Retrieval
What are different types of theories of learning?
- Adam’s closed-loop theory
- Schmidt’s schema theory
- Ecological theory
What does Adam’s closed-loop theory involve?
Sensory feedback
What is sensory feedback?
Used for the ongoing production of skilled movement - comparing the stored memory of intended movement
What are the two types of memory important in the Adam’s closed-loop theory model?
- Memory trace
2. Perceptual trace
When is memory trace used?
In the selection and initiation of the movement (initiates movement)
When is perceptual trace used?
Built up over a period of practice and becomes the internal reference of correctness (carries out the movement)
What is important about patient practice regarding the Adam’s closed-loop theory?
Have the patient practice the same exact movement repeatedly
Can variability in movement practice improve motor performance of the task?
Yes
What is Schmidt’s schema theory?
Generalized motor program contains the rules for creating the spatial and temporal patterns of muscle activity needed to carry out a given movement
What are the two types of schema?
- Recall schema
2. Recognition schema
What is recall schema?
Used to select a specific response - same movements performed many times with varied force output - developing the memory to choose the correct response
What is recognition schema?
Used to evaluate the response
What is important regarding Schmidt’s schema theory and practice?
Optimal learning will occur if a task is practiced under many different conditions
What are limitations with Schmidt’s schema theory?
Lack of specificity of interaction with other systems during motor learning and the inability to account for the immediate acquisition of new types of coordination
What is the ecological theory?
Motor learning is a process that increases coordination between perception and action consistent with the task and environmental constraints - theory emphasizes dynamic exploration activity of the perceptual/motor workspace to create optimal strategies for performing a task
What are the clinical implications regarding the ecological theory?
The patient learns to distinguish the relevant perceptual cues important to organizing action
What are the limitations with the ecological theory?
Still a very new theory and has not been applied to specific examples of motor skill acquisition in an systematic way
What are the three components of Fitts and Posner’s Three-Stage Model?
- Cognitive stage (early phase) - what to do
- Associative stage (intermediate phase) - how to do
- Autonomous stage (final phase) - how to succeed
What occurs during the cognitive stage?
Learners develops understanding of the task - relies on visually guided movement
Who does the learner benefit most from in the cognitive stage?
Facilitator
What is the role of the facilitator in the cognitive stage?
Precise and frequent feedback to the learning
What is the role of the learner in the associative stage?
Determines and practices the strategy - refinement of skills
What is the role of the facilitators in the associative stage?
Precise feedback and decreased frequency needed
What is the role of the learner in the autonomous stage?
Practices and refines movement - highly organized autonomy and decreased cognitive monitoring of task
Which stage is the stage of D/C?
Autonomous stage
What is the relationship with level of attention and the three stages?
Attention decreased because you know how to do the task and you are working on refining it
What are the three stages of the systems three-stage model?
- Novice stage - reduce DOF
- Advanced stage
- Expert stage - use all DOF
What occurs in the two stages of Gentile’s two-stage model?
- First stage - learner develops an understanding of the task dynamics
- Second stage - learner refines the movement
What may occur in movement control as motor programs are assembled during the learning of a new task?
Hierarchical changes
What is the most important factor in retraining motor skills?
Practice levels
How is the rate of improvement during any part of practice related to the amount left to improve?
Linearly related
What are two types of feedback?
- Intrinsic (inherent)
2. Extrinsic (augmented)
What is intrinsic feedback?
Information from sensory systems received during or after a movement
What is extrinsic feedback?
Supplemental information from an external source
What are two types of extrinsic feedback?
- Concurrent - given during the task
2. Terminal - given at the completion of the task
What are another two types of feedback?
- Knowledge of results (KR) - focuses on outcome of the task
- Knowledge of performance (KP) - focuses on errors, key task elements, and the nature and quality of the movement
What does KR focus on?
Outcome
What does KP focus on?
Movement pattern
What are three types of feedback provision methods?
- Transitional
- Manual guidance
- Observation
What is the transitional feedback provision method?
Information provided to improve subsequent performance
What is the manual guidance feedback provision method?
Provided during a task or movement while providing intervention…
- increases performance
- decreases learning
- decreases retention
What is the observation feedback provision method?
Observe others through modeling, peers, videos (self-assessment)…
- increases performance
- increases learning
- decreases erros
What are the five types of feedback timing?
- Bandwidth
- Summary
- Faded
- Delayed
- Concurrent
What is bandwidth feedback timing?
Feedback is provided only when the performance of the task falls outside of set parameters - small errors are not corrected
What is summary feedback timing?
Feedback provided at the end of a set number of trials
What type of feedback timing is the best form of long term retentions?
Summary feedback timing
What is faded feedback timing?
Giving more feedback early then fading out
What type of feedback timing provides the most retention over time?
Faded feedback timing
What is delayed feedback timing?
Feedback given after a period of time has elapsed following completion of trials
What is concurrent feedback timing?
Feedback provided as tasks are being performed
What are the four types of practice schedules?
- Session length
- Practice type
- Task order
- Type of task
What are different types of practice conditions?
- Masses vs distributed practice - session length
- Constant vs variable practice - session type
- Random vs blocked practice
What is massed practice?
Time spent in practice greater than time resting between - may lead to fatigue
What is distributed practice?
Rest periods scheduled throughout session - may be better in cases of:
- decreased motivation
- decreased attention span
- patient with motor planning deficit
What is constant practice?
One task performed repeatedly over and over again
What is variable practice?
Practice of several variations of the same task or category of movements
What is blocked practice?
Predictable pattern - repeat same task
What is serial practice?
Predictable order of repetition of sequence of tasks
What is random practice?
Non-repeating, non-predictable sequence of tasks
What is the importance of transfer?
Amount of transfer depends on similarity between two tasks or two environments - if a person is able to do the same task in two different places then they have conquered the task
What is mental practice?
An effective way to enhance learning during times when physical practice is not possible
What is triggered during mental practice?
Neural circuits underlying the motor programs
What is the difference between guided and discovery learning?
Guided - learner is physically guided through the task to be learned
What are the five concepts related to recovery of function?
- Function
- Recovery
- Recovery vs compensation
- Sparing of function
- Stages of recovery
What is true recovery?
Learning the skill the right way
What are four factors affecting recovery of function?
- Endogenous factors
- Exogenous factors
- Preinjury factors
- Postinjury
What are endogenous factors?
Factors within the client - ex: age, weight, gender, etc
What are exogenous factors?
Factors not based on the client
What are the effects of age?
Brain reacts differently to injury at different stages of development
What are pre-injury neuroprotective factors?
- Exercise
- Environmental enrichment
- Dietary restrictions
What are post-injury neuroprotective factors?
- Effect of pharmacology
- Neurotropic factors
- Effect of exercise and training
