Week 7 Flashcards
What is a motor learning process
- a set of events or occurances that lead to a product or state of change
-largely assumed
Relatively permanent change
-change of state that is not readily reversible
Learning
-should have some lasting effect
-you are a different person
-some underlying change that is stable
Hebbian processes
-neurons that fire together, wire together
-the more common pathways fire, greater chances they will fire in this pattern again
Activation in networks can be observed by?
-looking at outputs (electrical energy)
-looking at energy consumption (bloodflow)
Functional connectivity analysis
-examines the time series of FMRI data in different brain regions
-examines strength of these relationships with regions of interest
-measure conductivity of blood flow between one area to another
Functional connectivity and learning
-some studies have shown that functional connectivity can predict motor learning
Adaptation
-the trial to trial modification based on error feedback
-person must de-adapt after the behaviour
-show an after effect
-transient change
How to measure adaptation
-aquisition tests
How to measure learning
-retention and transfer tests
Different types of performance curves
-linear
-negatively accelerated
-positively accelerated
-sigmoid (S)
Factors affecting performance
-between participants variability
-within-person variability
-ceiling effects
-floor effects
Ceiling and floor effects
-its much harder to improve your score in gymnastics from a 9 to a 10 than from a 5 to a 6
-also much harder to reduce score in golf when your stroke number is high not low
Retention tests
-testing participant on same task after a time interval
Transfer tests
-testing participant on new variations of the practiced task
Learning with robotic guidance study example
-learning with robot only 50% of time instead of 100% of time leads to better learning
Double transfer tests
-test both groups in both practice conditions in retention and transfer to control for the effect of bias because of practice conditions
Performance variables
-influence performance in transient ways
Learning variables
-influences performance in relatively permanent ways
Overlearning
-continuing to practice after reaching performance ceiling
Overlearning benefits
-still reach ceiling effect but in less time or with less effort
Other ways of assessing learning
-performance of a secondary task
-measuring indices of effort
-measuring response latency
-generalizability of learning
How to measure the rate of learning
-there is no real measure of the rate of learning
Massed practice
-practice with very little rest in between trials
Distributed practice
-practice with longer rest periods in between trials
Is massed or distributed practice better
-distributed
Role of fatigue on learning
-fatigue is worse for learning
Constant practice
-one variation of a task per practice session
Variable practice
-many variations of a task within a practice session
Is constant or variable practice better
-variable
What does variable practice also increase
-generalizability of learning
-better performance on retention and transfer
Schema theory
-with practice people develop their own rules or “schemas” about their own motor behaviour
-variable practice produces a schema for selecting parameters of the GMP
-if you get used to specifying a variety of inputs to produce desired outcomes, you get better at calling on those outputs
