Motor Learning (Unit 2) Flashcards
How are neural networks are reorganised?
- Synaptic Pruning
- Long-term potentiation
- Myelination
- Selective inhibition
What does there is an abundance or redundancy of DoF mean?
There are more degrees of freedom than are strictly necessary to perform a given task
What is freezing the DoF?
Restrict joints RoM to relieve control problems –> this compromises fluidity of energy transfer
What is skilled movement?
generate internal energy & exploit the environmental energy
What is Fitt’s & Posner’s 3 stage model of learning?
- Cognitive: trail & error, inefficient
- Motor: coordinated, adaptable, less errors & more relaxed
- Skilled: automatic, fluid, accurate, consistent
What are Gentile’s learning stages?
- Getting the idea of the movement (understanding basic co-ordination & distinguishing regulatory & non-regulatory conditions)
- Fixation: closed skill; goal = consistency
- Diversification: open skills; goal = adaptable
Performance improvement is a better indicator if combined with ____, _____, _____ & _____.
Consistency, persistency, coordination & stability
what are the indicators of motor learning?
performance improvement
Consistency/ stability
persistence
effort (need to put more effort to perform at high standards)
Attention (quiet eye; gaze fixation changes)
Adaptability
Learning is a result of permanent change so we must observe over a ______ period?
Long
What are the 4 types of performance curves?
- Negative accelerating (most common: initial fast then plateau)
- Linear (rare -> gradual; incremental improvements)
- Positively accelerating (plateau followed by sudden acceleration)
- S-shaped (hard to improve; sudden improvement; plateau)
What are the 3 limitations of performance curves?
- . Performance does not always indicate that learning has occurred
- Performance curves may mask learning effects if there are no observable differences when learning improvements
- Performance provides a limited perspective due to averaging effect
Best way to measure if learning has occurred?
retention test:
Difference of score (Difference between end of learning & beginning of retention test)
Percentage test (amount of loss relative to amount of improvement in original
What are the 2 types of transfer?
- Horizontal: broad application to similiar tasks
2. Vertical: applied to more complex tasks
What is the identical elements theory?
More identical elements = greater positive transfer
What is transfer-appropriate processing theory?
Practice conditions require learners to engage in problem-solving processes similar to those experienced during the criterion task
What are the differences between motor abilities & skilfulness?
+ abilities = genetically determined & learned movement attributes
+ skills: learnt attributes (perception, decision making & action)
What are critical periods of development?
A period where we must be exposed to a favourable environment to learn skills , otherwise they are hard to learn as there are periods where neuroplasticity is much higher
Sensitive Period:
the effects of experience on the brain is particularly strong
What is intrinsic dynamics?
the preferred states of the system given its current architecture & previous history of activity
Why do we move differently?
Due tothe interaction between constraints (Intrinsic dynamics, task demands & the environment)
What is “Noise in the System”?
Movement variability
What are the causes of movement variability?
+ Firing rate of motor units
+ internal resistance of joints
+ interaction of agonist/ antagonist muscles
+ context conditioned variability (relationship between muscle excitation & task demand; changes context for following movements
+ task & environmental constraints
How is movement variability useful?
helps move around different environments in different ways evolved to exploit degeneracy
What are the implications of movement preferences?
+ work with individual differences
+ need to be aware of sensitive periods
+ help encourage informal play
+ can be used for talent identification & development
What is the information processing model?
Motor commands are represented & stores in CNS as a motor programme
Input -> perception -> decision making -> execution -> feedback
(cognitive approach & Schema theory)
What is the indirect perception/ Cognitive approach to information processing?
Need experience to construct meaning from senseless information, make a decision & act.
What is some evidence of indirect perception/ cognitive approach
Visual illusions
use background context to inform decision which fools the brain
What is Schema theory?
Key movement parameters (muscle selection, overall duration & overall force are modified for generalised motor programmes which have invariant features (sequence, relative timing & relative force)
What are Neurocomputational theories?
Specific Brain regions are linked to specific functions so more complex programming is required for messy environments
What is the ecological perspective of motor learning?
+ actions are determined by internal goals, capabilities & available energy
+ includes Direct perception & dynamical systems approach
What is the direct perception approach?
Perception = Action
Energy transformations specify environmental properties & events
(for example use expansion of an object to determine time-to-contact)
What is Dynamical Systems Theory?
Characterises movement as a self-organising process with an attractor, control parameter, rate limiter & phase shift
What is a constraints led approach?
Constraints interact to shape behaviour emergence
Cognitive Approaches are ___ ___, body is controlled by the brain, information is processes & the motor programme is selected.
Top Down
Ecological approaches are ______ ____, as the individual and environment are a dynamical, interacting system
Bottom Up
What are affordances?
Individual-specific Opportunities for action within the environment
What are some characteristics of skilled decision makers?
More efficient visual search
consider less options & use heuristics
What are the differences between direct & indirect perception?
- In direct perception higher order variables specify action
- In indirect perception complex decisions are needed
What is some evidence of coupling between perception & action?
- Practice influences eye movement & movement patterns
- Postural sway is closely linked to visual info
- Can calculate Tau from object size
- Variability diminishes with time in table tennos
What are practical implications of perception-action coupling?
Partial practice/ Task decomposition can cause poor perception of the environment
It provides reasons for using a representative learning design
How long does short term memory store information for?
20-30s
What is the role of working memory?
Temporarily stores recently presented material & retrieves information from the long term memory to influence problem solving, decision making & movement production
What is the information processing model of memory?
c
What is the information processing model of memory?
- Sensory input –> sensory memory (in no recollection – unattended info lost)
- Attended info is sent to short term memory (audio/ visual info memory processed through phonological loop & visual spatial sketchpad)
- this interacts w central executive to see if info needs to be rehearsed (if not it is lost)
- Short term memory transferred to long term memory (Procedural memory (how we perform movements); semantic memory; episodic memory )
What are the advantageous of chunking?
- helps overcome limitations of working memory & helps humans memorise sequences
What are some mechanical constraints on action?
1. Anatomical limb position \+Level of relaxation \+velocity \+Context-dependant variability \+ torque moment 2. Mechanical properties \+ DoF \+ viscoelasticity 3. Joint planes of motion
Ecologicaal dynamics portrays skills as ______ _____
Functional relationships
What is representative learning design?
Where the practice environment mimics the performance context
What is repetition without repetition?
Practicing adapting to subtle constraint changes
What is traditional PE dominated by?
Technique ->
Correct demonstration, skill isolation, no context, task decomposition, repetition
What are the disadvantageous of skill/ task isolation?
doesn’t encourage when & why to use skills
= poorer motor skills; poorer transfer; less understanding; limited motivation
Why is a technique dominated approach used in PE?
+ teaching a large group of children 20-30 children (hard to control group)
+ safety (discovery learning in large groups increase injury risk)
+ ensures everyone’s engaged
What are the 4 types of constraint Influences?
- Direct
- Indirect
- Emergent
- Decaying
What is Teaching Games for Understanding?
Learn via modified games (this teaches tactics before technique & puts the learner at the model’s centre)
What are the main advantageous of TGfU
+Encourages questioning & problem solving
+Promotes Active Learning
+No ‘correct’ way to move/ fixed method
+Children engage better
+ better skill transfer
+ games help develop social skills & cooperation
What are the similarities between TGFU & CLA?
+ both holistic
+ both embrace individual differences
+ Encourage “Hand-off” teaching
+ Practitioner designs learning environment
What are the differences between TGFU & CLA?
TGfU promotes understanding, questioning &emphasises tactical principles
CLA focuses on skills progressions
What are the challenged of TGFU?
\+ more time consuming \+ Better children get more benefits \+ Challenging to control \+ need to know the constraints WELL \+ needs effective questioning
What factors influence practice effectiveness?
+ Frequency & duration (quantity)
+ Content?
+ Organisations of skills
+ consolidation techniques
Is sampling or specialising first recommended?
Sampling first is recommended
What changes occur with amount of practice?
- early improvement is rapid & improvements slows with time
2. Practice eventually plateaus (hard to improve further)
What should we practice?
Practice should reflect performance environment as transfer can occur (identical elements theory)
How do we determine the task difficulty?
Use Challenge point framework:
- start with easy (plenty of information, instruction & assistive devices)
- when becomes easy (remove instruction & assistive devices)
- use gaph to decide difficulty of task & how much information to provide
What is the issue with task decomposition?
May break perception-action couplings
What type of practice increases retention & skill transfer?
Variable (younger have greater effect)
What is contextual Interference?
Practice Organisation
High contextual interference is _______; Low contextual interference is __________
Randomised; Repetitive
What are the two types of practice distribution?
Massed practice: longer & high frequency
Distributed practice: shorter and lower frequency
Massed practice accelerates performance however it causes _____?
Fatigue
reduced cognitive effort
Less time for memory consolidation
Distributed practice facilitates _____ _____
Skill relearning
What is the most effective post-practice consolidation strategy?
Sleep 5-7h consolidates neural pathways
Types of attention focus?
Wide, Narrow, external, Internal
What are the 2 theories of attentional Capacity?
- Single-channel filter theories: tasks are accomplished in serial order (System can only process one task at a time)
- Multiple-resource theories: only tasks that require a common mechanism will be difficult to perform simultaneously
What are the implications of selective attention?
filter out less relevant information & prioritise the most relevant
What is attentional capacity critical to understanding?
Automaticity (allows attention to be allocated to other things)
4 Types of attention?
- Internal broad (team game plan)
- Internal narrow (My Job)
- External broad (Phase of play)
- External narrow (The opposition)
What characterises expert-like gaze behaviour?
- Efficient Visual Search: attention guided to target immediately
- Extended visual Span: process scene before using selective attention
- Selective attention: guided by long-term memory
Is it more beneficial to focus internally or externally while practicing a skill?
Externally
External focus becomes more beneficial with _____ ______.
Task difficulty
What is in-attentional blindness?
selective attention causes players to miss key info in perceptual tasks with high cognitive demands
Define emotion?
a mental state that arises spontaneously & is often accompanied by physiological changes (arousal)
How is movement emotional?
+ movements are altered by emotion & allow expression
What is the ‘Inconvenient truth” of emotions?
emotions have been viewed as irrational, instinctive, transient & negative detrimental constraints on behaviour so ignored
What are the 2 research methods in movement science
Mechanistic:
+ humans compared to machines
+ deterministic modelling in biomechanics
+ individual differences downplayed
Reductionist:
+ naturally integrated processes separated
+ simplified laboratory movement tasks
+ emotions are too complex too account for
How do we monitor emotions in motor learning?
Self report scales
