neuro 240 lecture 18 - skill acquisition

name the 2 basic problems in skill learning

1. skill acquisition: how practice converts declarative knowledge —> procedural

2. serial order problem: how individual parts of a skill are organized into a sequence

what did the paper folding example prove

speed increases with practice, there are fewer mistakes with practice

what is the power of law practice?

the relationship b/w practive and performance monotomically decreases — so as we practice, we get consistently better and faster BUT as you get better, the rate of improvement decreases

name the 3 stages of skill (fitts and posnet):

1. cognitive stage

2. associative stage

3. autonomous/automatic stage

cognitive stage

learning the basics by verbal instruction, rehearsing the verbal knowledge while ocmpleting the skill

• this is committing facts to memory

true or false: declarative knowledge is very effortful and requires a lot of attention

true!

true or false: knowledge is dependent on skill

false! knowledge can be independent of skill — may know alot about the facts with little skill production and vice versa

associative stage

practive components and see which ones work — assosiating different movements with results

• this strengthens the connection that leafs to desired results

• slowly getting rid of the actions that lead to error

true or false: in the associative phase feedback is very important

true!

autonomous/automatic stage

behavior is automatic, fast, and less attention/consciousness is needed

• consistent practice is needed to maintain the automatic stage

true or false: declarative knowledge in the automatic stage is less available

true! accessing it might even be worse

true or false: feedback is more important in the automatic phase

false! feedback is less important, and when used, it should be proprioceptive, not visual (how do i feel after completing this skilled action)

how does declarative knowledge become procedural? (ACT-R)

ACT-R = adaptive control of thought — claims that declarative and procedural knowledge are separate (supported by H.M research)

declarative

semantic TLC-like network

procedural

production rules with if-then association — unconscious and implicit automatic associations

proceduralization

take declarative knowledge and turn into productions

• early automatization (6 if statements —> 6 then statements)

composition

take several productions and join them together into one

• late automatization (1 if statement —> 6 then statements

response chaining theory

the idea that feedback form one movement triggers the next one via feedback

why is the response chaining theory incorrect?

because movements are too fast for feedback to guide each and every step before moving to the next

what typing evidence contradicts chaining

overlapping movements — next finger moves before the previous key is even pressed

anticipation errors

typing mistakes (e.g becuase) showing planning occurs ahead of time

motor program theory

a pre-strucutred plan for movement sequences composed of subprograms— fast running without feedback

what does hierarchical mean in the context of this theory?

high-level abstract plan —> lower-level details

what is rosenbaums study evidence for?

using hierarchy (arrows) to make predictions about how long the time b/w each button press might be

what does signature size show us about motor programs?

same program produces small or large signatures, although we are suing different motor muscles (entire arm vs hand), the abstract template remains the same, and therefore the signature remains the same

fitts’s law

a speed-accuracy trade-off for aimed movements with both target size and distance to terget determining the movement time

what types of movement does fitts’s law apply to

aimed movements (hand, mouse, leg, etc.)