PRELIMS:Neuroscience in Physical Therapy Motor Learning: Theories and Practical Applications Flashcards
What is Motor Learning?
Motor learning is the understanding of acquisition and/or modification of movement. In patients, it involves the reacquisition of previously learned movement skills lost due to pathology or impairments, often referred to as recovery of function.
How does Learning differ from Motor Learning?
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to practice, whereas motor learning is a set of processes associated with practice leading to a relatively permanent change in the capacity for skilled actions.
Describe Adam’s Theory of Motor Learning.
Adam’s Theory posits that motor learning involves comparing sensory feedback from ongoing movements with a stored memory of the intended movement. Repeated practice strengthens the perceptual trace, which guides movement accuracy.
What is Schmidt’s Schema Theory?
Schmidt’s Schema Theory emphasizes open-loop control processes and generalized motor programs. Learning involves developing schemas—rules for producing movements—that can be adapted to various contexts.
Explain the Cognitive Stage in Fitts and Posner’s Three-Stage Model.
In the Cognitive Stage, learners focus on understanding what to do, requiring high attention. Performance is variable, with fast improvements as they develop a motor program.
What happens during the Associative Stage of motor learning?
During the Associative Stage, the learner refines skills, performance becomes more consistent, and cognitive monitoring decreases. The focus is on improving the organization of the motor program.
What are the benefits of Faded Feedback?
Faded feedback is tailored to individual differences, reduces dependency on feedback, and helps develop movement consistency by gradually decreasing feedback frequency.
What is the difference between Near Transfer and Far Transfer?
Near Transfer involves transferring skills between tasks that are similar, while Far Transfer involves applying learned skills to different tasks, developing general capabilities.
Why is precise feedback more effective than general feedback?
Precise feedback provides specific correction statements, such as “snap your wrist more on the follow-through,” which generates better results than general feedback like “there was no follow-through.”
The stage of motor learning where the learner is focused on understanding the task and making rapid improvements in performance, often requiring a high degree of attention.
Cognitive Stage (Fitts and Posner Three-Stage Model)
The stage of motor learning where the learner refines their movement strategies, resulting in more consistent and controlled performance with less cognitive effort.
Associative Stage (Fitts and Posner Three-Stage Model)
The stage of motor learning where movements become automatic, requiring minimal attention, and allowing the learner to perform multiple tasks simultaneously.
Autonomous Stage (Fitts and Posner Three-Stage Model)
Feedback method where the frequency of feedback is gradually reduced over time to prevent dependency and encourage independent learning.
Faded Feedback
Feedback that is provided only when the learner’s performance falls outside a predefined range, helping to develop movement consistency.
Bandwidth Feedback
A motor learning theory that emphasizes the role of exploration in the perceptual and motor workspace to identify relevant cues and optimal movement strategies.
Ecological Theory
The reduction in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, often used in physical therapy to treat conditions like dizziness.
Habituation
The increase in response to a stimulus, often used in training to enhance awareness of certain conditions, like loss of balance.
Sensitization
The process in declarative learning where information is transformed from short-term memory to long-term memory, making it accessible for future recall.
Consolidation
The act of recalling and using stored information from memory, often seen in patients who have undergone extensive practice in motor tasks.
Retrieval
A method of practicing a skill in different contexts to enhance the learner’s ability to generalize and apply the skill in various situations.
Variable Practice
Learning that is specific to the practice environment, with skills developed in one context not transferring well to a different context.
Contextual Specificity
A motor learning theory suggesting that accuracy of movement is proportional to the strength of the perceptual trace developed through practice.
Adam’s Closed-Loop Theory
The concept that a learner’s performance will improve if practice includes variations in the task, leading to better generalization of motor programs.
Schmidt’s Variability of Practice Hypothesis
The phenomenon where feedback is so frequent that it creates a reliance on it, hindering the learner’s ability to perform independently.
Feedback Dependency
Practicing independent components of a motor skill, effective for tasks that are serial in nature and of relatively long duration.
Part Practice
Practicing a skill as a whole, typically used for discrete tasks of short duration where components interact intensely.
Whole Practice
The process of mentally rehearsing the performance of a skill in the absence of physical movement, beneficial as a supplement to physical practice
Mental Rehearsal
A practice schedule where the order of tasks is randomized, mixing different tasks throughout the practice period, effective for more developed skills.
Random Practice
A practice schedule with short rest periods relative to the length of the practice trial, potentially leading to physical and mental fatigue.
Massed Practice
A practice schedule that allows for longer rest periods relative to the trial length, giving the body and CNS time to recover.
Distributed Practice
Learning approach where learners discover solutions on their own or with minimal guidance, fostering problem-solving skills and implicit learning.
Discovery Learning
Manipulating task and environmental demands to vary the practice environment, which benefits the learning of current and future skills.
Varying the Practice Environment
Feedback provided based on the level of performance within a certain range; lack of feedback within this range is considered positive reinforcement.
Bandwidth Feedback
Practice schedule where the learner performs a skill or variation only once before moving on to a different skill, making the practice environment more cognitively challenging.
Random Practice Schedule
The process of practicing different variations of a single skill according to a blocked followed by random practice, suitable for increasing cognitive effort.
Suitable Progression
