KNES 385

Negative transfer of learning

The previous practice of one skill hinders performance/learning of a new skill

Cognitive Stage

Learner encounters cognitive problems, and must integrate information

Associative stage

The learner makes an association between environmental cues and movement

Executive Functions

refers to a family of top-down mental processes needed when you have to concentrate and pay attention, when going automatic or relying on instinct or intuition would be un advised or impossible

3 core functions of Executive functions

Inhibitory control
- Working memory
- Cognitive flexibility

3 high-level executive functions

Resoning
problem solving
high level planing

The prefrontal cortex is critical for

executive function

Inhibitory Control

Involves being able to control one's attention, behavior, thought, and emotions to override a strong internal predisposition or external lure and instead do what is more appropriate or needed

Inhibition( feeling of ) of Inhibitory control are

Behavior( self control)
Attention ( selective or focused)
thought of memories ( cognitive inhibition)

Working memory

Limited capacity systems that operate to temporarily store and use recently presented information

Working memory is

An active structure where information is stored for a short time and is processed

Working memory is an

The interface between proprioception, long term memory, and action
Plays a critical role in decision making, problem solving, movement production, evaluation and long-term memory

Working memory enables

people to respond according to the demands of a right now situation

Cognitive flexibility

A broad term generally referring to our ability to adapt flexibility to our constantly changing environment, such as the ability to change perspectives specially, interpersonally, and how one thinks

Cognitive flexibility requires and builds on

inhibitory control

Problem solving

The process of constructing and applying mental representations of problems to find solutions to these problems that are encountered in nearly every context

High-level planning:

Considers actions and their sequential interdependence in terms of their desirability outcomes

Duration

Generally accepted that the information resides in a relatively permanent state in the long-term memory

Capacity:

Relatively unlimited capacity for information in long-term memory

Semantic Memory

Stores our general knowledge about the world based upon experience

Episodic Memory

Stores our knowledge about personally experienced events along with their temporal associations

Procedural Memory

Enables us to know how to do something as opposed to enabling us to know what to do

Procedural Knowledge

knowledge that enables one to actually perform a skill typically not verbalized or difficult to verbalize

Encoding

memory of process of transforming to-be remembered information in to a form that can be stored in memory

Rehearsal

Process that enables a person to transfer information form the working memory

Retrival

Process of searching through the long term memory for information needed for present use

Attention

Characteristics associated with consciousness, awareness and cognitive effort as they result to the performance of a skill
Select the most relevant stimuli in the physics world for processing while filtering out less relevant information to respond quickly to the critical enviorment

Attention Limits

Influence performance when we do more than one activity at the same time

Concept 1

Humans have limited availability of resources for performing and gaining information

Concept 2

Environmental information must be reduced or filtered

Central- resource capacity theories of attention

Attention Capacity theories that propose one central source of attentional resources for which all activities requiring attention compete it is associated with perpetual, cognitive, and motor activities that establish and limit our performance of motor skills

Central resource capacity theories of attention are

fixed and flexible models

Flexible capacity models

Attention capacity should not be considered fixed, as task requirements change
Available attention that can be given to a task is a pool of effort that can be distributed to several activities at once

Multiple resource theories

suggest that the presence of many attention mechanisms each with limited resources and diffrent functions

Top-down attention

An internally induced process in which information is actively sought out in the environment based on voluntarily chosen factors

Coupling attention and eye movement

Evidence that eye movement, such as central vision directed to a location, are precede by a shift in attention to the area

Visual search influences

Action selection
Constraining the sleeted action
timing of action initiation

Bottom-up (exogenous) attention:

An externally induced process in which information to be processed is selected automatically because of its highly noticeable features of stimuli

Any sensory modality can be involved in

in bottom-up or top-down attentional processes

Attentional Focus

The directing of attention to specific aspects of our performance or performance environment

Direction:

Can be external or internal

Prefrontal cortex

Involved in information processing with a high level of integration

The prefrontal cortex plays an important role in

Executive function
Selecting appropriate responses
Anticipation of action consequences
sequencing of behavior over time

Pre moter cortex

Comprised of the Lateral Premotor Cortex and the supplementary motor area

The pre-motor cortex is involved in

Eliciting complex movements
contributing to specify motion features

The pre-motor cortex inputs to

the basal ganglia and the cerebellum

Both the premotor and the primary motor area

terminations overlap in the spinal cord

All premotor areas project to

the spinal cord

Corticospinal projections from the

Supplementary motor area innervates the muscle in the hand area of the primary motor area

Dense interconnection between premotor/prefrontal areas:

Allow working memory to influence specific aspects of motor planning

The supplementary motor area is involved in

The control of distal muscles
The control of bilateral movements
planning of movement sequences demo memory in the absence of visual cues

The supplementary motor area and the pre-supplementary motor area are involved in

Learning of movement sequences

The Lateral Premotor Cortex is involved in the:

-control of proximal and distal muscles
-The planning of trigger movements based on external sensory input
-conforming the shape of the hand to the object
-Selection of the action and the sensorimotor transformation

Lateral Premotor Cortex(LPC) receives:

Inputs from the Prefrontal cortex(PFC)
such as access to the information about the spacial location and the guid of movement

Primary Motor Cortex

Controls a group of muscles to move an entire segment towards an objective
Elicit simple movements of single joints
Active before movement onset and stays during the entire movement
Encodes the movement direction and the force produced to perform the movement

Motor Planing

Distributed process involving various brain regions, mainly the Prefrontal cortex(PFC), the Supplementary Motor Area (SMA), Lateral Premotor Cortex (LPMC) to select the appropriate motor plans

Motor Programming

Distributed process involving various brain regions, mainly the premotor and primary motor areas, as well as to
Implement the movement plan

Lateral Pathway ( ON top left)

Corticalspinal tract
Rubrospinal tract

Ventromedial pathway

Tectospinal tract
Vestibulospinal tract
pontine reticulospinal tract
Medullary reticulospinal tract

Basal Ganglia Structures

Striatum
Globus pallidus
SubstaniaNigra
Subathalamic nucleus

The basal ganglia have access to the

cortical somatopy

Basal Ganglia Parkinson's Disease

Results from impaired basal ganglia function
Symptoms include diminished facial expression, lack of movement, and difficulty starting and ending movement, hypothermia at times
also known as hyphkinetic movement disorder

Basal Ganglia functions

-The choice of the right strategy/ motor plans
-Activate and retrieve movement plans
-movement initiation and completion
-Scales movement parameters
-Sequencing information

In serial processing what cortex is activated first

serial processing throughout the basal ganglia- thalami cortical loop

The basal ganglia do not have direct input or output

to the spinal cord

The cerebellum is involved in

Spacial accuracy
Balance and muscle tone
motor control and learning
anticipatory computation of the muscular command

The cerebellum does not project directly

to the spinal cord

The cerebellum influences the motor systems by

Evaluating disparities
Adjusting the operation of the motor centered int the cortex and brainstem

The cerebellum receives information about

the goals, the commands, and the feedback signals associated with the movement preparation and execution

The cerebellum projects

mainly to the pre motor , motor centers and brain stem

Open-loop control system

A system in which, during the course of an action, sensory information related to the effects of motor commands does not affect future motor commands
The movement control center is part of the ins

Closed- loop control system

A system of control in which, during the course of an action, sensory information related to the effect of motor commands can affect future motor commands

Feedforward control

pre-planned program response

Characteristics of early motor programs

Top-down control (motor cortex)
Sensory input is not necessary or used
Control directed at the muscle level
Separate programs for each specific movement

Generalized Motor Program (GMP) Theory

A stored pattern for movement that applies to a wide range of movements within the same general category
This controls a class of actions rather than specific movements or sequences

Invariant features

Unique set of characteristics that define a GMP
does not vary from one performance of the action to another

Parameters

Features of the GMP can vary from one performance to another, and set characteristics that define GMP
Modifications to the GMP to meet the specific movement demands of a situation

GMP and the belief of motor equivalence

The ability to produce the same outcome with a variety of diffrent muscle groups or effectors

GMP addresses

storage problem and execution of novel movements

Schmidt's Schema Theory

a rule or a set of rules that serves to provide the basis for a decision, an abstract representation of rules governing movement

An individual performs a goal-oriented movement, 4 piece of information are stored

1. Initial conditions
2. Generalized motor program (GMP) parameters
3. Sensory consequences
4. Outcomes

Motor Learning

Changes in the capability of a person to perform a skill: it must be inferred from a relatively permanent improvement in performance as a result of a practice or experience

Motor learning

Acquisition of motor skills
Performance enhancements
Reacquisition of difficult skills to perform
Reacquisition of skills cannot be performed because of injury or disease

Relationship between learning and memory

Learning is the process of acquiring new information
A memory is created when something Is learned
A memory is created by single or repetitive exposure

Learning and memory stages

Encoding: processing of incoming information
Storage: Results of acquisition and consolidation
Retrival: Uses stored information to create a representation or execute a learned behavior

Explicit Learning

Learning generated by viral knowledge of movement performance

Implicit learning:

Executed with none or minimal increase in the verbal knowledge of movement performance

De novo motor learning

Extension of motor repertoire with a newly learned skill to improve motor system performance

Mental practice

the cognitive rehearsal of a physical skill without performing the movement

Mental practice:

the cognitive rehearsal of a physical skill in
the absence of overt physical movement. It can take the form
of thinking about the cognitive or procedural aspects of motor
skill or of engaging in visual or kinesthetic motor imagery of
the performance of a skill or part of a skill.

2 main focuses of mental practice

cognitive/procedural steps of a motor skill, or using visual or kinesthetic imagery of performing the skill.

What does visual or kinesthetic imagery mean in mental practice

imagining seeing or feeling yourself perform the movement without physically moving.

Performance

Observable Behavior
Temporary
May not be due to practice
May be influenced by performance

Learning

Inferred from performance
Relatively Permanent
Due to practice
Not influenced by performance variables

Characteristics associated with motor learning

1. Improvement
2. Consistency
3. Stability
4. Persistence
5. Adaptability
6. Reduction in attention demand

Retention test

test of a practical skill that a learner performs following an interval of time after practice has ceased

Transfer Test

A test in which a person
performs a skill that is different from the skill they practiced
Practiced a skill in a context of situation different from the practice context or situation

Contextual interference (CI):

interference in performance (i.e., not learning) resulting from variations in practice context

Positive transfer of learning:

The previous practice of one skill assists performance/ learning of a new skill

Neutral transfer of learning

Previous practice of one skill does not influence performance/learning of a new skill