motor learning exam 3

define consistency

performance becomes increasingly more consistent - performance characteristics should become more similar

automaticity

performance of a skill (or it's parts) with little/no demand on attention - in kahnemans theory, related to evaluation of task demands - automaticity of yaks performance related to amount of practice

define improvement

performance of the skill improvement over a period of time - plateaus and regression

a performer characteristic that does not change across the stages of learning

practice specificity hypothesis - learning is specific to the source of sensory information available during practice - when visual feedback used during practice in the first stage of learning, it continues to be needed throughout the stages of learning - dependency on sensory feedback develops because it becomes a part of the memory representation of the skill - increases in amount of practice with visual feedback increases dependency on its availability

define linear

proportional increases over trials or time (irrelevant)

the "quiet eye"

refers to the final fixation just before movement imitation - it is directed to a critical location or object - it is a stable fixation of gaze - it's onset occurs just before first movement - it's duration is longer for elite performers - it has been demonstrated in numerous closed and open skills

define positively accelerated

slight or slow improvement early but substantial improvement later - skills that are very complex - a novice individual

define procedural

stores information about "how to do" specific activities, e.g. motor skills - learned through overt behavior (physical practice)

define semantic

stores our general knowledge about the world based upon experiences, e.g. concepts

define episodic

stores our knowledge about personally experienced events - allows us to "travel back in time" - consciously re-experiences past experiences

location and distance characteristics

- Movement end-point location remembered better than movement distance - arm movement end-location within the persons own body space remembered better than outside body space - implications for teaching motor skills (emphasize limb movement end-points or key spatial positions during movement)

define expertise

- an "expert"- a person who is located at the extreme right end of the learning stages continuum - experts in all skill performance areas have in common some distinct characteristics 1. amount and type of practice that resulted in expertise 2. knowledge structure 3. use of vision

define negative transfer

- considered rare and temporary in motor learning - occurs when new skill or context involves: *similar environment context features but requires a different movement response (spatial movement requirement, timing structure of movement) (example: switching to a faster keyboard) - negative effects can be overcome with practice - important for the practitioner to be aware that it could cause discouragement early in practice

name and define the types of bilateral transfer

- direction of bilateral transfer is important to consider 1. asymmetric transfer: greater transfer from one limb than from the other 2. symmetric transfer: similar transfer from one limb to the other, regardless of which was used first

Gentiles two stage model: later stage(s)

- fixation/ diversification - involved learner acquiring three characteristics: 1. adapting movement pattern to demands of any performance situation 2. increase consistency of action goal achievement 3. perform with an economy of effort

gentiles two stage model: unique features of Gentiles "later stages"

- learner specific goals depend on the type of skill being learned - closed skill: fixation of movement pattern (develop optimal movement pattern to allow consistent action goal achievement) - open skill: diversification of movement pattern (develop flexible movement pattern that can adapt to changing and novel enviornmental context condition

define memory

- our capacity to remember - the capacity that permits organism to benefit from past experience

working memory subsystem

- phonological loop - visuospatial sketchpad - central executive

long term memory subsystem

- procedural memory - semantic memory - episodic memory

performer and performance changes across the stages of learning

- stages of learning models describes distinct performer and performance characteristics at each learning stage - benefits of considering these characteristics 1. provides a closer look at the skill learning process 2. establishes why different instruction strategies are needed for people in different learning stages

Gentiles two-stage model: initial stage

-getting the idea of the movement - learner works to achieve two goals: 1. organize movement patterns to enable some degree of success achieving action goal 2. Discriminate between regulatory and non-regulatory conditions in environmental context

why does bilateral transfer occur

1. Cognitive explanation - Important cognitive information about "what to do" is acquired from practice with one limb available when other limb begins to perform 2. Motor control explanation - The generalized motor program (GMP) and dynamic pattern theories both provide a basis for bilateral transfer -Interhemispheric transfer: evidence from EMG activity in non-performing contra-lateral limb -Research supports both explanations

4 general trends in performance curves

1. Linear 2. Negatively accelerated 3. Positively accelerated 4. Ogive or S-shaped

Learning Assessment Techniques

1. Observing practice performance 2. Retention tests 3. Transfer tests 4. Coordination dynamics 5. Dual-task procedure

performer and performance changes

1. changes in rate of performance improvement 2. changes in movement coordination (freezing degrees of freedom, freeing degree of freedom, coordinative structure exploits passive forces) 3. alternations in old or preferred coordination patterns 4. changes in muscles used to perform the skill (ex:EMG) 5. changes in energy cost (less energy use at the same task) 6. changes in visual selective attention (viewing the opponent's movements) 7. changes in conscious attention demands 8. changes in error detection and correction capability 9. changes in brain activity: plasticity

fitts and posey proposed motor skill learning involves three stages:

1. cognitive stage: beginner focuses on solving cognitively-oriented problems 2. Associative stage: person has learned to associate environmental information with required movements. works to refine performance to be more consistent 3. Autonomous stage: final stage. performance of the skill is "automatic" (in terms of attention demanded)

Kahneman's Attention Theory: 3 rules people Used to allocate attention resources when performing multiple task

1. ensure completion of at least one task 2. enduring dispositions: involuntary allocation (event is novel for the situation, meaningfulness of the event) 3. momentary intentions (allocate attention according to instructions)

attention theories

1. filter theories (aka bottleneck theories) - difficulty doing multiple tasks simultaneously because of inability to serially process multiple stimuli -not accepted anymore 2. resources capacity theories - difficulty doing multiple tasks simultaneously because of limited availability of resources needed to carry out tasks - simultaneous successful performance of multiple tasks can occur when resource capacity limits not exceeded 3. central resource capacity theories - propose one central source of attention resources for which all activities compete

6 characteristics of general performance characteristics of skill learning

1. improvement 2. consistency 3. stability 4. persistence 5. adaptability 6. reduced attention demands

strategies that enhance memory performance

1. increasing a movement's meaningfulness - visual metaphoric imagery (person thinks of producing a metaphoric image related to the movement. example: alligator hands when kids are catching a ground ball) - verbal label (attach a specific label to the movement) 2. the intention to remember - intentional and incidental memory 3. subjective organization - organizing sequence of movements

why does negative transfer occurs

1. memory representation - established perception-action coupling elicits an inappropriate action in a familiar context 2. cognitive confusion - example: unattended acceleration of a car 3. learning intrinsic dynamic compete with the required task dynamics

practice performance may misrepresent learning. 2 reasons:

1. practice may involve a performance variable that artificially inflates or depresses performance 2. practice may involve performance plateaus

three types of memory systems in Long term memory

1. procedural 2. semantic 3. episodic

transfer principle has practical and theoretical significance for:

1. sequencing skill to be learned - gentiles taxonomy provides helpful guidelines - part practice, simplification, and the use of simulators are also examples of skill progression 2. assessing the effectiveness of practice conditions - transfer test performance provides best assessment

why does positive transfer occur

1. similarity of skill and context components - various ideas on what constitutes a component - roots in Thorndike's "identical elements" theory 2. similarity of cognitive procession requirements - transfer-appriopriate precession view - transfer task requires a person to engage in: problem solving activity, rapid decision making, application of rules, attention control

memory functions

1. storage of information 2. retrieval of information 3. system specific functions

Dual task procedures to investigate attention limits

Determines attention demands of the simultaneous performance at two different task - Primary task is a task of interest - secondary tasks performance is the basis to make inferences about the attention demands of the primary task

practice test context effects

encoding specificity principle - refers to the relationship between memory encoding and retrieval process - the more the test context resembles the practice context, the better the retention performance

attention switching

The changing of attentional focus - task switching (moving for internal, external to broad, narrow quickly)

define learning

a change in the capability to perform a skill that must be inferred from a relatively permanent improvement in performance as a result of practice or experience - not directly observable - must be inferred from observable behavior

action effect hypothesis vs constrained action hypothesis

action effect hypothesis GOOD -proposed benefit of external focus during performance * actions are planned with reference to their effect *use an "effect" focus when learning/performing constrained action hypothesis BAD - focusing on body (internal focus) interferes with automatic processing - increase conscious or controlled processing

Multiple resource theory

alternative to one central resource theories - Propose that we have several resources for attention (Each source has a limited capacity) -The multiple sources based on specific information processing need * sensory input (Visual, proprioceptive) * response output (verbal, motor) * type of memory code (spatial, verbal)

kahnemans attention theory

an example of a central resource capacity theory: - equates attention with "cognitive effort" - proposed flexible attention capacity limits - The amount of tension capacity available is determined by the persons arousal level: Maximum amount available when arousal level is optional for the situation - evaluation of attention requirements of multiple task

transfer tests

assess the adaptability of what was learned during practice - tests can involve: performing the practiced skill in a context or situation different from practices, e.g.: availability of augmented feedback, physical environment, personal characteristics - performing a skill that is a novel variation of the practiced skill

define ogive or s- shaped

combination of linear, negatively accelerated, and positively accelerated - applies to most skills

attention refers to characteristics associated with

consciousness, awareness, cognitive effort

define declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge

declarative knowledge: the knowledge that can be verbalized (i.e., "what to do" to perform a skill) procedural knowledge: the knowledge that enables one to actually perform a skill (i.e., know"how to do" a skill) - typically not verbalizable or difficult to verbalize

performance curves for kinematic measures

difficult to present in performance curves (assessed over time within a trial) - to assess improvement and consistency, one graph presented per trial or blocks of trials

working memory ... define duration and capacity

duration: maintains information for 20-30 sec before losing parts of information (trace decay) capacity: can store, 7 items (+/-2). a person can increase capacity. "chunking"

define negatively accelerated

early improvement but slows later (most common) - skill you're learning is easy, not complex - individual could already be experienced with something similar to the new skill - individual has a high motor ability

function of working memory

enables people to respond to the demands of a "right now" situation (PAC) - critical role in decision making, problem solving, movement planning and execution - interacts with long term memory - serves as an interactive workspace

remembering and forgetting terminology

encoding: process of transforming to be remembered information into a form that can be stored in memory storage: process of placing information in long term memory rehearsal: process that enables a person to transfer information from working to long-term memory retrieval: process of searching through LTM for information needed for present use

define Performance

execution of a skill at a specific time and in a specific location

two kinds of memory tests

explicit memory test: consciously call something to mind - recall test - recognition test implicit memory tests: assess info in memory that is difficult or impossible to verbalize (i.e., info that would not be accessed on an explicit memory test)

research support for asymmetric transfer:

greater amount of transfer occurs from preferred to non-preferred limb

define transfer learning and the influences that it can result in

influence of previous experience on: - learning a new skill - performing a skill in a new content - positive transfer - negative transfer - neutral (zero)

working memory processing of information

information processed to allow person to achieve action goal or goal of problem at hand - remember instructions about how to perform a skill

observing practice performance: performance curve

line graph that plots performance measures across practice trials or periods of time - provides evidence of: improvement and consistency

define working memory

memory system associated with sensory, perceptual, attentional, and short term memory process - involved in all situations requiring temporary use and storage of information

define reduced attention demands

more easily perform another activity simultaneously - demonstrated using dual-task procedures

meaningfulness of the movement

movement becomes meaningful if it can be related to something person knows

retention tests

tests of a practiced skill that a learner performs following an interval of time after practice has ceased (length of no-practice interval is arbitrary) - purpose: assess permanence of the performance level achieved during practice

visual selective attention

the detection and selection of performance-related information in the performance environment - Visual search is a process of directing visual attention to locate relevant information (i.e., cues) in the environment -eye movement recordings (commonly used technique visual selective attention. what a person is visually attending to inferred from "point of gaze")

attentional focus

the directing of attention to specific aspects of our performance or performance environment - width of focus (Focus can be a broad or narrow) - Direction of focus (Focus can be external or internal)

define persistence

the improved performance capability is marked by an increase in persistence - as the person progresses in learning the skill, the improved performance capability lasts over increasing periods of time - example: you riding a bike as a young kid for so long that if you take a 10 year break from a bike, you can pick it up from where you left off

define adaptability

the improved performance is adaptable to a variety of performance context characteristics - generalizability or how generalizable the performance of the skill is example: going from grass to turf for soccer

define stability

the influence on skill performance which are internal or external conditions that can disrupt performance - i.e. stress, environmental conditions - influences decrease over time

learning how to learn is an example of

transfer

define bilateral transfer

transfer of learning that occurs between two limbs - also known as inter-manual transfer, cross transfer or cross education

memory structure comprised of two functional system

working memory and long term memory

learning how to learn:

•Antithesis of the specificity of learning principle •Learners extract general principles when they practice multiple tasks •The principles transfer to the learning of many new skills •E.g. learners become good problem solvers by solving many different types of problems

Bernstein's ideas

•Bernstein best remembered for his ideas about freezing & freeing degrees of freedom •Thought that learning a skill was similar to solving a problem •Likened skill acquisition to staging a play, with many phases •Described appropriate practice as a form of repetition without repetition (learner should experience many modifications of the task)