Motor Learning and Performance Midterm (ch. 1-5)
production units
developed with practice, that allow skilled performers to handle certain information processing tasks automatically
surface features
easily changeable components of a movement, such as movement time or amplitude that are modified as a result of changing parameters
stimulus identification stage
first stage of information processing. input is detected and identified
fitts law
for rapid aiming tasks, states that movement time is linearly related to the index of movement difficulty
long term memory (LTM)
holds information and life experiences. Vast in capacity and unlimited in duration.
automated movements
movements preformed with little attention to or conscious awareness of skill execution. a characteristic of advanced learners
timing accuracy
required for aiming movements for which accuracy of the movement in time is important to task performance
spatial accuracy
required of aiming movements for which spatial position of the movements end point is important to task performance
fitts task
requiring performers to tap back and forth between two targets as rapidly and accurately as possible
response selection stage
second stage of information processing it is decided which, if any, response should be made
interoception
sensory information arising from within the body, such as hunger and thirst
kinesthesis
sensory information coming from the motor system that signals contractions and limb movements. The sense or awareness we have of the movements of our joints and the tension in our muscles during motor activity.
visual proprioception
sensory information provided by the visual system about proprioceptive aspects of a person's movement.
proprioception
sensory information that comes primarily from sources in the muscles and joints and from bodily movements
exteroception
sensory information that comes primarily from sources outside a person's body, primarily vision and smell.
muscle spindles
sensory receptors located in the muscles that provide the nervous system with information about changes in muscle length
fundamental timing structure
sequencing and timing of a movement that define the underlying pattern
stages of processing
several distinguishable operations that people preform on information between input and output
individual differences
stable, enduring differences among individuals performances often attributable to differences in their abilities
reflexes
stereotyped, involuntary, automatic, and usually rapid responses to stimuli
mind to muscle skills
techniques for regulating arousal that use cognitive activity to relax or energize the muscles
muscle to mind skills
techniques regulating arousal that use somatic activity to relax or energize the mind
speed accuracy trade off
tendency for individuals to substitute accuracy for speed or vice versa in their movements depending on task requirements
linear speed accuracy trade off
tendency for the spatial variability of movement end points to increase as performers increase the velocity of rapid aiming movements
movement output chunking
the act of organizing and producing several movements as a single unit memory
effective target width
the amount of spread or variability of a persons movement end points about his or her own mean spatial position for repeated attempts of a rapid aiming task
motor learning
the changes, associated with practice or experience, in internal processes that determine a persons capability for producing a motor skill
degrees of freedom
the components of a control system that can vary independently and that are controlled to produce effective action
stimulus response compatibility
the degree to which the relationship between a stimulus and an associated response is natural
psychological refractory period (PRP)
the delay in a person's reaction time to the second of two closely spaced stimuli compared with the person's reaction time to the second stimulus presented by itself
comparator
the error detection mechanism in closed loop control systems. Compares feedback of the desired state to feedback of the actual state
input
the information that people receive for processing
foreperiod
the interval of time between the presentation of a warning signal and the presentation of the stimulus
choice reaction time
the interval of time that elapses between the presentation of one of several possible stimuli and the beginning of one of several possible responses
simple reaction time
the interval of time that elapses between the presentation of one possible stimulus and the beginning of its associated response
movement time (MT)
the interval of time that elapses from the beginning to the end of a movement
reaction time (RT)
the interval of time that elapses from the sudden presentation of a stimulus to the beginning of a persons response
interstimulus interval (ISI)
the length of time separating the onsets of two stimuli in a double stimulation paradigm
output
the motor behavior or action produced as a result of information processing
optical flow
the movement of patterns of light rays from the environment over a person's retina, allowing the person to detect motion, position and timing.
motor performance
the observable production of a voluntary action or a motor skill. The level of a persons performance is susceptible to fluctuations in temporary factors such as motivation, arousal, fatigue, and physical condition.
visual capture
the tendency for visual information to attract a person's attention more easily than other forms of information
visual dominance
the tendency for visual information to dominate information from the other senses during the process of perception.
focal vision
the visual system people use primarily to identify objects. Uses center of the visual field, leads to conscious visual perception and is degraded in dim lighting.
M3 response
the voluntary reaction time response with a latency of 120-180 ms
response programming stage
third stage of information processing the motor system is organized to produce the desired movement
coincidence anticipation
type of task that requires performers to produce movements that coincide in time, space or both with an external object or event.
parameters
variable inputs to a generalized motor program such as speed or amplitude of the movement, which result in different surface features.
motor skill
-the ability to perform complex muscle-and-nerve acts that produce movement. - the primary determinant of success is the quality of the movement that the performer produces
cognitive skill
a skill for which the primary determinant of success is the quality of the performers decisions regarding what to do.
discrete skill
a skill or task that is organized in such a way that the action is usually brief and has a well defined beginning and end.
continuous skill
a skill organized in such a way that the action unfolds without a recognizable beginning and end in an ongoing and often repetitive fashion
closed skill
a skill preformed in an environment that is predictable or stationary and that allows performers to plan their movements in advance.
open skill
a skill preformed in an environment that is unpredictable or in motion and it requires performers to adapt their movements in response to dynamic properties of the environment.
reflex reversal phenomenon
a special case of reflex activity involving different responses to the same tactile stimulus when it is presented in different phases of the movement
deafferentation
a surgical procedure in which an afferent pathway is cut, preventing nerve impulses from the periphery from reaching the spinal cord
model
a tentative description of a system that captures many of its known properties typically facilitate understanding of systems and promote practical applications
closed-loop control
a type of control that involves the use of feedback and the activity of error detection and correction processes to maintain the desired state. Used to control slow, deliberate movements.
serial skill
a type of skill organization that is characterized by several discrete actions connected together in a sequence. - often with the order of actions being crucial to performance success.
double stimulation paradigm
a research design requiring separate reactions to two different stimuli presented together closely in time
motor program
a set of motor commands that is prestructured at the executive level and that defines the essential details of a skilled action.
trait anxiety
a persons general disposition to perceive situations as threatening.
anxiety
a persons uneasiness or distress about future uncertainties
triggered reaction
relatively complex, coordinated reaction to a particular stimulus, with a latenct of 80-120 ms
attention
A limited mental resource, or a capacity to process information
cue-utilization hypothesis
An explanation for performance decrements under conditions of low and high arousal. Perceptual narrowing under high arousal causes relevant cues in the periphery to be missed.
perceptual narrowing
The narrowing of attentional focus that occurs as a person's arousal level increases
limited attentional capacity
The notion that attention is limited to at most a few activities at any one time Parallel processing
zone of optimal functioning
The range of arousal levels associated with a person's maximum performance Individual affect related performance situations
novelty problem
a deficiency of the simple motor program notion which presumes that people are unable to produce novel (new) movements or unpracticed variations of learned movements because they have not developed specific motor programs for producing them
storage problem
a deficiency of the simple motor program notion, which presumes the need for a vast memory capacity to store separate programs for controlling the nearly infinite number of movements people are able to produce
human factors
a field of study concerned with the interaction of human characteristics and the design of machines or instruments used by people
relative timing
a measure of the temporal structure of a movement in which the ratios among the durations of various movement features are used to define the temporal pattern
electromyography (EMG)
a method for recording the electrical activity in a muscle or group of muscles
consistent stimulus response mapping
a performance condition for which a given stimulus pattern always requires the same response
varied stimulus response mapping
a performance condition for which a given stimulus pattern requires different responses in different situations
ambient vision
allows people to detect the orientation of their body in the environment. nonconscious, takes in all of the visual field and is used for action and movement control.
parallel processing
allows people to handle two or more streams of information at the same time.
short term memory (STM)
allows people to retrieve, rehearse, process, and transfer from STSS. Limited in capacity and brief in duration
situation based approach
an approach to understanding motor performance and learning that emphasizes the situation in which performance and learning take place
motor program notion
an explanation for how people control coordinated movements that emphasizes the role of prestructured motor commands organized at the executive level
tau
an optical variable proportional to time until contact, defined as the size of the retinal image divided by the rate of change of the image
effector
carries out the desired action
central pattern generator (CPG)
centrally located control mechanism that produces mainly genetically defines, repetitive actions.
invariant features
characteristics of a movement that remain constant when the surface features change
capabilities
characteristics of individuals that are subject to change as a result of practice and that underlie the performance of various tasks.
tracking
class of tasks in which a moving track must be followed, typically by movements of a manual control
stoop effect
competition between the response to color word and the ink color in which it is presented. Showing that two stimuli can be processed simultaneously.
generalized motor program
defines a pattern of movement rather than a specific movement. this flexibility allows performers to adapt to produce variations of the pattern that meet various environmental demands
inverted- U principle
describes the relationship between arousal level and performance. arousal level increases performance improves but only to a point if arousal continues to increase performance begins to decrease.
hick's law
describes the stable relationship between the number of stimulus response alternatives and choice reaction time.
executive
determines the actions necessary to maintain the desired goal state
implicit learning
improvements that occur in a persons capability for correct responding as a result of repeated performance attempts and without the person's awareness of what caused the improvements
automatic processing
information processing that is fast, parallel, not attention demanding, and often involuntary
controlled processing
information processing that is slow, sequential, attention demanding and voluntary
feedback
information produced from the various sensors as a consequence of moving
open-loop control
involves the use of centrally determined prestructured commands sent to the effector system and executed without feedback. Used to control rapid, discrete movements.
arousal
level of activation of the central nervous system
golgi tendon organs
located at the junction of muscles and tendons that signal information about force in the muscles
cutaneous receptors
located in most skin areas that signal information about pressure, temperature, and touch.
M1 response
monosynaptic stretch reflex, with a latency of 30-50 ms.
short term sensory store (STSS)
most peripheral memory system. Holds incoming information by modality (auditory, visual) until the person identifies it. Unlimited in capacity, extremely brief duration
M2 response
polysynaptic, functional stretch reflex with a latency of 50-80 ms. Sometimes called long loop reflex.
spatial (event) anticipation
predicting what is going to happen before the signal is presented
temporal anticipation
predicting when a signal to respond is going to happen or predicting the time course of a sequence of events
vestibular apparatus
proprioceptive sense organs located in the inner ear that provide information about posture, balance, and movements of the head.