MYTH 5 - Lecture 16 - Learning and Forgetting

Question 1

What is motor learning

Answer 1

the effects of practice or adaptation on motor control and the changes in neuro-motor mechanisms associated with memory and performance

Question 2

What is perceptual-motor behaviour

Answer 2

goal directed movement requires the uptake of visual information (e.g. about the target) and central command to activate muscles required for the desired movement

Question 3

What are the degrees of freedom problem

Answer 3

the many degrees of freedom of the motor system need to be reduced so that active control is possible –> brain cannot effectively produce fluid movement if we have to independent control

Question 4

What are the 3 stages of motor control

Answer 4

1. Verbal-cognitive [novel skill, have to think about every aspect, self talk, no spare attention]
2. Motor - [associative, focus on basic movement pattern, refined details progressively, slowly introduce variation, identify useful feedback, feedforward]
3. autonomous - [actions become automatic, low cognitive, spare attention, improved precision, accuracy]

Question 5

What is blocked practice

Answer 5

repetitive practice, producing the same movement. it is not reflective of harder skill i.e. match/game specific situation. there are no intervening activities, good for early learning

Question 6

What is random practice

Answer 6

skills are practiced in a random manner so that multiple tasks are learned together. Better stimulation of overall/task. it is difficult to establish basic movement patterns when switching between tasks and skills

Problem with random practice - can be frustrating for the athlete, performance during training will be worse.

Question 7

What is a schema

Answer 7

it is a rule that specifies the correct parameter values for the desired outcomes. the desired outcome may never have been predicted. Schema are more accurate if constructed from variable practice

there are 4 things required

1. initial conditions of movement; proprioception
2. response specifications; speed, force
3. sensory consequences of the movement
4. movement outcome, knowledge of results

Question 8

what are some forms of extrinsic feedback

Answer 8

• knowledge of performance

- knowledge of results