MOTOR LEARNING

An example of an open discrete skill would be:

the actual catching of a windswept fly ball

Which of the following proprioceptors are found at the junction of the tendon and the muscle?

the golgi tendon organs

Define Fitts' Law.

Fitt's Law states that when amplitude and width are constant, movement time will also remain constant. **BE MORE DESCRIPTIVE**

Briefly list and explain how the 3 phases of information processing relate to the sport skill of your choice.

A goalie sees a ball coming in their direction. This input or stimulus is then recognized in the stimulus identification stage where the visual senses will be sent to the brain for processing. The goalie will either duck to avoid being hit by the ball or catch the ball to prevent the opposing team from getting a goal. Once the response is decided it is then sent as an output by the efferent neurons. This will initiate a motor response or output.

Describe a situation when relatively long rest periods should be employed (distributed practice).

Any situation involving a continuous task should use the distributed practice schedule. It is proven that with these types of tasks, longer rest periods lead to a positive practice and positive learning effects. An example of this would be running. When I run, I feel that longer rest periods between the activity result in better performance on my next lap. The longer I have to catch my breath, hydrate and stretch out, the better and much easier the next laps are for me.

When is it best to use blocked practice and when is it best to use random practice?

Blocked practice would be best in the case of free-throws or track and field exercises. Since there is no variation in this type of shot, there is only one way to practice it. The situation never changes and the environment never changes. Random practice would be best used in drills such as different types of passes made in basket ball or different ways to serve in tennis.

As the number of possible alternatives increases, reaction time increases. This is known as:

Hicks law

List two similarities and three differences between 'knowledge of performance' and 'knowledge of results.'

Knowledge of performance and knowledge of results are both types of augmented feedback. They also both produce motivation. Knowledge of performance is very qualitative and will give learners feedback on their patterns of action, where as knowledge of results gives feedback related to the goal. Knowledge of results directs the learners attention to an externally directed focus. Where as the knowledge of performance directs the learners attention to internally directed focused. Knowledge of results is often used in research, where knowledge of performance is more common in daily activities.

_______________ is extrinsic information provided after the action is completed that tells the learner about the degree to which the goal was achieved.

Knowledge of results

Playing a song on a piano is best classified as a:

Serial motor skill

Name and discuss the two hypotheses offered to explain the blocked versus random practice effect.

The elaboration hypothesis and the Forgetting Hypothesis are the two hypotheses that explain the blocked vs random practice effect. The elaboration hypothesis found that by changing the different tasks in different random-practice trials resulted in the participants showing an increase in learning. This is because this changing of tasks made each task more distinct from one another and created more elaborate memory representations of each task. This increased performance, learning and retention.

The elaboration hypothesis and the forgetting hypothesis are complementary rather than competing explanations for the blocked-random practice effect.

True

The total number of feedback presentations across a set of trials is the _____________ of feedback.

absolute frequency

The instructor has control over which type of information?

augmented

Information about movement provided by an outside source is

augmented (extrinsic) feedback

All of the following statements about augmented feedback are true except:

augmented feedback removal does not effect performance

______________ is feedback provided after a series of practice attempts that informs learners about their average performance.

average feedback

Feedback that is given to learners when their errors exceed a certain tolerance level is:

bandwidth feedback

This feedback is provided only when errors exceed a certain level of tolerance.

bandwidth feedback

A practice sequence in which a significant amount of time is spent on one task before practicing the next task is:

blocked practice

During skill acquisition, Shea and Morgan's 1979 study found that ___________ practice was more effective for performance and ________ practice was more effective for learning.

blocked;random

The ___________________ hypothesis states that contextual interference in random practice causes people to appreciate the distinctiveness of different tasks.

elaboration

________________ is providing a high relative frequency of feedback early in practice, but reducing the frequency of feedback later in practice.

faded feedback

The ___________ hypothesis explains the contextual-interference effect by suggesting that the learner forgets task A to do task B and then has to re-learn or re-plan task A the next time it is needed.

forgetting

Practicing in a particular environment often leads to better performance _________________.

in that specific environment

________________ is the sensory information that comes from producing movements; the information may come from outside of the body (exteroception) or within the body (proprioception).

inherent (intrinsic) feedback

When discussing information processing, __________________ is the information a person receives for processing.

input

_________________ is augmented feedback that provides information about the quality of movement the performer produced.

knowledge of performance

A practice schedule in which the learner performs a number of different skills in no particular order, while avoiding or minimizing consecutive repetition is:

random practice

Choose a practice structure that would be appropriate for practicing bounce passes, overhead passes, and chest passes in basketball.

random practice

__________________ refers to giving learners ownership over some of the components of practice, such as how to organize the practice schedule.

self-regulated practice

For continuous tasks, distributed practice is beneficial for both performance and learning.

true

Specificity of learning suggests that what you learn depends on what you practice.

true

Automatic processing is:

used for well-learned tasks

A practice schedule in which a person rehearses different variations of the same action is:

variable practice

Motor learning is best defined as:

Relatively permanent changes in skilled performance that come about as a result of practice or experience.

Fitts' stages of learning were designed to consider _______________ components involved in skill acquisition.

both perceptual and motor

_______________ is the interval between the presentation of one of several stimuli to the beginning of one of several possible responses.

choice reaction time

When feedback can be used to adjust the action during the movement itself, then the skill is classified as a(n):

closed-loop skill

Some learners engaeg in much self-talk about the actual physical performance in Fitts' __________ stage of learning.

cognitive

Reaction time and decision making are NOT influenced by which of the following?

color of the stimuli

Which of the following is NOT part of the open-loop system of control?

comparator

An individual whose dominant eye is opposite that of his or her dominant hand is considered:

cross dominant

The __________ system serves both central and peripheral visual fields.

dorsal system

In Bernstein's final stage of learning, movement becomes maximally skilled in terms of ___________.

effectiveness and efficiency

Reaction time and movement complexity, deafferentation, and mechanically blocking a limb were all experiments to demonstrate

evidence of motor programs

Focusing on "the flight of the dart" would be best defined as a(n) ______________ focus of attention.

external

Which of the following detect stimuli outside of the body and provide information about the environment?

exteroceptors

According to the textbook and current evidence, the General Motor Ability Hypothesis is likely

false

We have unlimited attentional resources

false

______________ is the stage of information processing in which the person organizes the motor system to produce the desired output.

movement programming

Which of the following sends a signal to the CNS indicating how much and how fast a muscle's length is changing?

muscle spindles

Fitts' Law is more applicable to which type of task?

single-limb tasks

Which of the following would indicate an increase in skill level?

all of the above

Which of the following is an example of a bimanual task?

playing a violin

List two differences between automatic and controlled processing.

Automatic processing is not attention demanding, involuntary and also very fast. Controlled processing requires attention, voluntary actions and can take time.

______________ is the period of time that passes from the presentation of a stimulus to the beginning of a person's response. It begins when the stimulus is presented and ends when the movement is initiated.

Reaction Time

Experts benefit from more precise feedback.

TRUE

To which of the following situations is Fitts' Law NOT applicable?

kicking a football as far as you can with maximal effort

Which of the following is the visual system that mountain bikers use to identify changes in the trail or a rider in front of them?

ventral system

Which visual pathway functions to identify objects primarily located in the central region of the visual field?

ventral system

The best example of a gross motor skill would be

walking

In Bernstein's views, a degree of freedom means _________

ways in which muscles or joints are free to move

What is a transfer design and what are the main features of it?

A transfer design helps to determine if a change that improves performance actually improves learning as well. The main features of this design are that it allows enough time for the temporary effects to go away to determine what has actually been learned and that the participants will be tested again in a given time frame under common conditions.

________ error measures the distance from a target without considering direction.

Absolute

In one complete sentence, explain why accuracy improves when you generate maximal force during a task as opposed to moderate force generation.

Accuracy improves when generating maximal force because the forces become consistent. Because of this, by increasing the speed and load, it becomes more accurate and decreases error.

Give 1 example of 'far transfer,' that is not in your textbook.

An example of a far transfer would be throwing a football and kicking a soccer ball.

Give 1 example of 'near transfer,' that is not in your textbook.

An example of a near transfer would be tying a shoelace and tying a stitch in surgery.

__________________ is information provided to the learner from an external source.

Augmented feedback

Which of the following would be considered a "repeatable" measure?

BMI

___________ error measures the distance from a target and considers the direction.

Constant

Which is the term that best describes a skill with arbitrary beginning and end locations?

Continuous motor skill

Flipping on a light switch is best classified as a:

Discrete motor skill

List different types of stimuli you can receive from the environment to be used during the Stimulus Identification Stage.

During the stimulus identification stage, the most common types of stimuli to be picked up from the environment are auditory and visual stimuli. Touch and pressure are considered proprioception because they are detected by the cutaneous receptors inside the skin. Therefore, this information comes from inside the body and not the environment. Another type of stimuli could be scent, for example, you smell a fire so you know to exit the building.

If practice is given for one variant of a movement, then the learner should be able to transfer that learning to any other variant using a different pattern.

False

Transfer decreases between two tasks as similarity between them increases.

False

Attention narrowing or perceptual narrowing can be effective or ineffective. Explain and cite an example for each

Perceptual narrowing can be effective when you are in a room full of distractions but you maintain your focus on your work. However, if you were to have this same narrowing of perception while doing something such as driving, you could become a danger to yourself or others because you are unintentionally avoiding the things going on around you.

Which is NOT a characteristic that is common to motor skills?

Performed involuntarily

Which of the following would more than likely demonstrate skill based on its definition?

Riding a bicycle around the block

Briefly describe characteristics of short term memory.

Short term memory can last for only a few minutes. Short term memory store only lasts for about a few seconds. This is only long enough to remember what someone said for you to create a response. Short term memory however is a little longer for things that may not be permanent but are needed to be remembered longer than a few seconds.

When we define learning, what are the key features to consider?

Some key features to consider when defining learning is the improvement in a skill, the time it takes to learn these skills and get better, performance and practice. I feel that it is also important to take the individual's experience into consideration as well as the skill at hand. It is important to consider that learning comes from practice and experience and that it cannot be measured and it is not observable. It is also important to understand that if someone truly learned something, it is relatively permanent.

What is the Inverted-U Principle? Explain how it can affect students and/or athletes. If you are a coach or a teacher, how could you use the Inverted-U Principle to your benefit?

The Inverted-U principle helps to describe the relationship between arousal and performance. This principle identifies that there is an optimal zone where a specific level of arousal will promote better performance. To students and athletes this could be beneficial. It is easy to get overwhelmed in school and sports but once they know that too much stress can harm their performance, they are more likely to try to find ways to cope and bring their arousal down to optimal levels. As a coach or a teacher you could use this to your benefit by encouraging the students to find their optimal levels because when they excel, so do you. I remember my psychology teacher explaining that too much arousal is a bad thing and that if we were ever feeling overly anxious to listen to classical music and that not enough arousal was also bad and to listen to up beat music to pump us up before exams.

In specific terms, describe how the Psychological Refractory Period operates. Cite an example to help illustrate your answer.

The Psychological Refractory Period works by increasing the reaction time to promote a delayed response. This works because the person who is being "faked" is anticipating a different action and is prepared to act accordingly. By the time they realize it was a fake, they are already responding to it. It takes more time to recognize this false response and then to recognize the actual response. This is because of the Bottle neck. While more than one stimulus can be processed at once, only one motor output can occur at a time.

Briefly describe how the closed-loop system of control works. Cite an example to help illustrate.

The closed-loop system works through a series of trial and error or feedback with necessary corrections. Once your input is processed and a response is selected in the executive stage, it is then passed along to the motor programming, through the spinal cord and then through the muscles, which is all known as the effector stage. Once the movement is performed, feedback is then given both internally through proprioceptive feedback, and externally with exteroceptive feedback. In the comparator, the actual feedback is then compared with the anticipated feedback. If the anticipated feedback does not match, motor programming will adjust accordingly to meet this desired feedback. An example of this would be accelerating in a vehicle. My car typically juts forward, I am aware of this so I know not to push on the gas too hard. When I get in other people's vehicles, I don't push as hard at first and don't accelerate as desired. When I try the next time, I will know to push harder on their gas pedal because it will not jut forward as mine does. The same happens when someone drives my car and they aren't prepared for quick acceleration. I can tell that they are alarmed because it is not what they expected to happen and they know to correct it the next time they accelerate.

Motor control is best described as:

The neural, physical, and behavioral aspects of movement.

What is the Specificity Hypothesis?

The specificity hypothesis predicted that if a person was good at a given skill, they would have a strong general motor ability. If this was true, they would be predicted to score well on the next skill tested.********THE OPPOSITE. HENRY'S SPECIFICITY HYPOTHESIS STATED THAT MOTOR SKILLS DON'T TRANSFER. THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE GOOD AT ONE THING DOESN'T MEAN YOU'LL EXCEL AT ANOTHER.

List 3 factors that affect reaction time AND describe the effect of each.

The stimulus plays a major role in reaction time. If you do not recognize the stimulus it will take you longer to react. The number of alternatives that you have to choose from will also determine the reaction time. The less options that you have the quicker the reaction. Whether the stimulus is stimulus-response compatible or not plays a role. If something doesn't make sense to your brain, it will take a longer time to process it.

What term has been coined the explain individuals with higher levels of general motor ability? What does this term mean? Do you believe it's a real thing? Why or why not?

The term is called superability. This term means that these individuals have many motor abilities and would be predicted to exceed in different skill sets. I believe that it is a real thing because there are many people out there that exceed at many things. Abilities can't necessarily be taught so I believe if they have a very wide skill set and have many of the abilities listed, then it does exist.

Describe the 2 exceptions to Fitts' Law and list an example for each.

The two exceptions are very forceful movements and movement timing. Maximal effort can be more accurate than trying to find the perfect medium of force and speed. An example would be kicking a ball at maximal effort. It is more likely to go right where you need it to if you don't overthink it and kick it as hard as you can in that direction. When trying to find a medium between the force you should kick it with or the speed, you can create more errors. Movement time is also an exception to the law because there are two different types of accuracy. With temporal accuracy, you are looking at when you should hit the target, such as a batter in baseball. When looking at spatial accuracy it is where you should hit the target in space. An example of this could be shooting a target. Both of these are important because as movement time decreases the variability of timing also decreases.

While walking and reading a book, you are able to weave through a row of chairs spaced three feet apart. List the name of the 2 visual systems that allow you to do this and briefly explain the role of each.

The ventral and dorsal visual systems allow this to be possible. The dorsal visual system is also called the ambient system. This system includes both the central and peripheral vision but allows you to tell what is around you and what to avoid. The dorsal visual system operates nonconsciously. It identifies where we are in reference to the environment around us. The ventral visual system is also called the focal system. It is strictly the central vision and helps us to focus on objects in front of us. This system is a conscious system so every time it is used, it is used consciously. It helps us to identify what is in front of us. ***Also apply to the example given

Specificity of learning suggests that what you learn depends on what you practice.

True

Stimulus identification is primarily a sensory stage.

True

Transfer between two well-learned tasks is low.

True

Transfer can used as an effective teaching strategy.

True

Explain the following statements: 1) Performance and learning are different, and 2) performance can interfere with learning.

Your Answer: 1. Performance and learning are different because performance is often viewed as an outcome of learning. 2. Performance can interfere with learning because someone may fail to grow in their learning or miss out on learning experiences if they are focused on performance. Also, someone may miss a chance to develop over time because someone else's performance at that given time was better than theirs.

An example of a "choice RT" situation would be:

a car approaching an intersection with a traffic signal

Automaticity:

all of the above

Reaction time decreases (is faster) as

all of the above

Regarding long-term memory:

all of the above

Which of the following relate(s) to the Generalized Motor Program Theory? degrees of freedom all of the above parameters schema

all of the above

The delay in completing a movement skill may be due to:

all of the above are correct

An example of temporal anticipation would be:

anticipating the snap count in football

Zone of optimal functioning closely relates to:

arousal levels

Which of the following is NOT true regarding short term memory?

has an unlimited capacity

An open loop control system would be best used for which of the following?

hitting a golf ball

Practicing in a particular environment often leads to better performance ______________.

in that specific environment

Which of the following never changes regarding features of a particular motor program?

invariant features

Hyper-vigilance is closely related to:

inverted u principle

____________ practice provides relatively little rest between trials, whereas _____________ practice calls for much more rest between trials.

massed;distributed

Swimming in lane #1 of the pool would be an example of:

none of the above

The pitcher throws a slow pitch when the batter is expecting a fastball. The batter not being able to adjust is due to:inverted U principle You Answered slow reaction time Correct Answer none of the above perceptual narrowing

none of the above

Predicting success in motor skills is

not very effective

Which of the following provide information about body position and movement?

proprioceptors

The inability to react correctly to a good basketball fake would be due to

psychological refractory period

The three stages of information processing between input and output include all of the following except:

response interpreation

Which information processing stage is responsible for a transition process between sensory input and movement output?

response selection

The time required to complete a motor skill is referred to as:

response time

Learning

results from practice or experience

An example of a continuous closed skill would be:

running around the track in lane #1

A set of rules relating the various outcomes of a person's actions to the parameters that the person sets to produce those outcomes is a:

schema

__________________ is the stage of information processing in which a person recognizes and distinguishes the input.

stimulus identification

The final fixation located on a specific target or object before the initiation of movement is which of the following?

the quite eye

____________ are located in the inner ear and respond to changes in posture and balance.

the vestibular apparatus

An invariant feature for hitting a tennis forehand would be: spin on the ball speed of the hit all of the above timing of the step and hit

timing of the step and hit

Which of the following require use of the closed-loop system?typing a letter You Answered none of the above the swing of the bat at a fastball hitting a golf ball

typing a letter