Exam 3 Review

Exam 3 Review: Motor Learning and Performance

Chapter 8

Motor Learning Defined

  • Definition: A set of processes associated with practice or experience leading to relatively permanent gains in the capability for skilled performance.

  • Key Points:

    • Improved performance does not define learning.

    • Learning results from practice or experience and is not directly observable.

    • Changes in learning are inferred from performance changes.

    • Involves central nervous system processes that lead to skilled performance.

    • Changes are relatively permanent, not transitory.

Performance Curves

  • Plots performance against practice trials; shaped by how the task is scored.

    • The law of practice indicates rapid improvement initially, slowing later.

Effects of Practice

  • Types of Effects:

    • Permanent effects that persist long-term.

    • Temporary effects that diminish over time or with changing conditions.

    • Both permanent and temporary effects can occur simultaneously.

  • Automaticity: Increased automation of skills through practice.

Separating Effects of Practice

  • Transfer Design: Method to analyze whether a performance change in practice enhances learning.

Transfer of Learning

  • Definition: When performance on one task enhances capability in another task.

  • Application:

    • Breaking complex skills into simpler elements aids beginning learners.

    • Practice conditions differ from real situations for safety or feasibility.

Measuring Transfer

  • Estimate performance on a criterion task, separating permanent learning effects from temporary performance effects.

Transfer Designs

  • Essential features:

    • Allow enough time for temporary effects to dissipate before testing.

    • Evaluate learners under identical conditions during transfer tests to assess long-term capabilities.

Transfer Test Outcomes (Figure 8.6)

  • Outcome A: Performance differences persist, indicating permanent learning effects.

  • Outcome B: Some temporary effects dissipate, indicating partial permanent learning.

  • Outcome C: No difference remains, indicating the effect of practice was solely temporary.

  • Outcome D: Practice resulted in poorer performance than no aid, indicating a negative learning effect from the aid.

Types of Transfer

  • Specific Transfer: Measured by delayed retention tests on a specific task.

  • Near Transfer: Transfer between similar tasks.

  • Far Transfer: Transfer between very different tasks.

  • Generalized Transfer: Transfer with varying task conditions.

Chapter 9

Practice

  • More practice correlates with more learning.

  • Deliberate practice: Intentionally focused on improving performance, guided by feedback.

Specificity of Practice

  • What is learned largely depends on the practice context; environment and feedback during practice influence skill acquisition.

Learning Versus Performance

  • Learners focusing solely on immediate performance may inhibit learning.

  • Learning occurs through exploring new techniques and strategies.

Forgetting and Skill Retention

  • Retention Interval: Ice of time without practice affects memory retention.

  • Discrete Tasks: Forgotten faster than continuous tasks, which are retained longer.

Warm-Up Decrement

  • Initial performance dip due to absence from practice, resolved upon resumption.

Stages of Learning

Fitts' Stages

  1. Cognitive Stage: Focus on goal identification and skill evaluation.

  2. Fixation Stage: Organizing effective movement patterns, consistency increases.

  3. Autonomous Stage: Expert performance with little cognitive attention needed.

Bernstein's Stages

  1. Reduce Degrees of Freedom: Initially reduces nonessential movement.

  2. Release Degrees of Freedom: Improves performance by freeing restricted movements.

  3. Exploit Passive Dynamics: Movement becomes efficient and effective.

Chapter 10

Motivation for Learning

  • Intrinsic Motivation: Self-driven desire to learn leads to better outcomes.

  • Influenced by goal setting and self-regulated practice.

Attentional Focus

  • External focus on intended results enhances performance more than internal movement focus.

Practice Schedules

Work and Rest Periods

  • Massed Practice: Short rest; may not impair discrete tasks.

  • Distributed Practice: Longer rest; beneficial, especially for continuous tasks.

Schema Theory

  • Rules linking task features to performance parameters enable better learning and task performance over time.

Practice Types

Variable vs. Constant Practice

  • Variable Practice: Practicing variations enhances schema development.

  • Constant Practice: Focus on one variation; less effective for skill acquisition.

Random vs. Blocked Practice

  • Random Practice: Mixed tasks; high contextual interference; promotes distinct learning.

  • Blocked Practice: Consolidated rotations of one task; low interference.

Feedback

Types of Feedback

  • Intrinsic Feedback: Natural consequence feedback.

  • Augmented Feedback: External performance information including knowledge of performance and results.

Feedback Timing

  • Before Movement: Instructions and modeling.

  • During Movement: Concurrent feedback alters ongoing actions.

  • After Movement: Provides insights into effectiveness post-performance.

Feedback Strategies

  • Faded Feedback: High feedback initially, tapering off as skill improves.

  • Bandwidth Feedback: Feedback is only given when performance deviates significantly from an acceptable range.

Final Exam Details

  • Scheduled for Thursday, December 12th, from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM CST.

  • Ensure to communicate any legitimate excuses for rescheduling. Cameras required for the entire duration.

  • Class materials will be uploaded post-class.