Motor Learning, Exam 1

Motor control

The study of how the neuromuscular system functions to activate and coordinate muscles and joints during skill performance.

Motor learning

The study of skill acquisition, performance enhancement, reacquisition after injury, and the behavioral or neurological changes that occur during these processes.

Motor development

issues related to either or both motor learning and control

Motor skill

Task/activity with specific goal, requires voluntary control and movements of joints/body parts; aka actions

Cognitive skills

Task/activity with specific goal, mental activity including decision making, problem solving, remembering, etc.

Characteristics of skills and actions

• have a goal to achieve

• performed voluntarily

• require control of joints and body segments

• need to be learned or relearned

Many-to-one relationship

variety of movements can be used to accomplish one goal

One-to-many relationship

one movement can be applied in many contexts

Neuromotor processes

mechanisms with neurons and muscular systems that underlie the control of movements and actions

One-dimension classification system of motor skills

• size of primary musculature: gross, fine

• specificity of where movements of a skill begin: continuous, discrete, serial (rep of discrete skill, ex., playing piano)

• stability of the environment: open (externally-paced), closed

Gentile’s two-dimension taxonomy of motor skills

• Environmental context:

  • Regulatory conditions — stable/predictable; environmental features which movements must conform to; spatial/temporal

    • (a) Stationary / In-motion

    • (b) Intertrial variability — whether regulatory conditions change from one trial to the next

  • Non-regulatory conditions — environment is changing/unpredictable (*not included in the chart)

    • (a) Intertrial variability

• Function of the action

  • (a) Body transport

  • (b) Object manipulation

*1A is simplest, 4D is most complex

Performance outcome measure (POM)

indicates outcome/result of performing a motor skill but does not provide info about how action was performed (ex, how far a ball is thrown)

Performance production measures (PPM)

Indicates how the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems function during the performance of a motor skill (ex, EMG, EEG)

Reaction time (RT)

measures how long it takes a person to prepare and initiate a movement; does not include any movement

Movement time (MT)

Interval of time betweRen initiation and completion of movement. Begins when RT ends.

Response time

Total time interval; reponse time = reaction time + movement time

Types of RT

• Simple == involves only one signal and only one movement response

• Choice == involves more than one signal, and each signal has a specified response

  • Discrimination == involves more than one signal, but only one response

Fractionated RT components

• Premotor time — quiet period, no increase in muscular activity; between onset of stimulus signal and beginning of the muscle activity

  • Motor time — period of time from increase in muscle activity until actual beginning of observable limb movement; muscle is preparing to move

Error types for one-dimension movement goals

• Absolute (AE) — abs diff between actual performance on each rep and the goal

• Constant — signed (±) deviation from target or criterion

• Variable — standard deviation of the CE scores for the series of repetitions

Kinematics

description of motion without regard to force or mass; displacement, velocity, acceleration, etc.

Kinetics

Study of role of force as a cause of motion. Human movements involve both internal and external factors

Joint torque/rotary force

Effect of force on rotation of body segments

Electromyography (EMG)

Recording of electrical activity of muscle or group of muscles

Whole muscle mechanomyography (wMMG)

Detects and measures lateral displacement of a muscle belly following maximal percutaneous neuromuscular stimulation

Ability

General trait or capacity of a person; Determinant of potential for skill performance

Motor ability

Any ability that is specifically related to performance of motor skill; Each individual has a varietyG

General motor ability hypothesis

Many motor abilities are highly related and can be grouped as a singular, global motor ability; older idea, less supported

Specificity of motor ability hypotheses

Many motor abilities are relatively independent in an individual; more supported

Balance

postural stability; static or dynamic; can’t conclude that only 1 test is a valid measure of balancing ability

Timing

• External — precisely time movement with movement of an external object

• Internal — time movements based on knowledge of time

Research: timing ability is specific to requirements of the skill being performed

“All-around” athlete

• very proficient at variety of physical activities

• actually very rare to find

  • may have high number of abilities in the “high” range of abilitiesE

Edwin Fleishman taxonomy of motor abilities

Goal was to define fewest independent ability categories to describe performance in the widest range of tasks

Abilities categories (11): speed of arm movement, RT, control precision, etc.

Physical proficiencies (9): static strength, trunk strength, dynamic flexibility, etc. A

Aptitude test

Predicts future performance of motor skill or physical activity