Overview
This lecture introduces core concepts in motor learning, including key definitions, skill classification, stages of learning, and guidance for designing motor learning experiments.
Core Concepts in Motor Learning
- Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior from practice or experience, not just maturation.
- Motor learning is a change in internal processes determining capability for motor tasks, inferred from performance.
- Motor performance is the observable attempt to produce a voluntary action.
- Motor development studies movement behavior and associated biological changes over the lifespan.
- Motor behavior is the broad field that includes motor learning, motor control, and motor development.
Classification of Motor Skills
- A motor skill requires quality movement as the main factor in success.
- Discrete skills have clear beginnings and ends (e.g., volleyball serve).
- Serial skills combine discrete skills in sequence (e.g., gymnastics pass).
- Continuous skills lack definite start or end (e.g., cycling, running).
- Cognitive skills depend more on decision-making than movement quality (e.g., playing chess).
- Open skills are performed in unpredictable environments (e.g., football).
- Closed skills are performed in predictable, stable environments (e.g., bowling).
Characteristics of Skilled Performance
- High certainty of goal achievement indicates skill.
- Skilled performers use minimal energy to complete tasks.
- High skill often results in reduced movement time for a task.
Stages of Motor Learning
- Cognitive stage: learner talks through tasks and focuses on understanding steps.
- Associative stage: learner refines performance and corrects errors.
- Autonomous (automatic) stage: skill is performed with little conscious attention.
Alternative Stage Models
- Gentile: "Getting the idea" (cognitive), then "fixation" (closed environments) or "diversification" (open environments).
- Adams: "Verbal-motor phase" (talking through), then "motor phase" (automatic performance).
- Newell: "Coordination" (pattern acquisition), then "control" (fine-tuning/adaptation).
Experimental Design in Motor Learning
- Research proposals include introduction, literature review, methods, and data analysis.
- Key terms: reliability (repeatability), validity (measuring intended variable), objectivity (agreement among observers).
- Measurement is data collection; evaluation is judging the value of collected info.
- Control groups provide comparison for experimental groups.
- Novel tasks reduce prior experience as a confounding factor.
- Consistent instructions and sometimes scripts are important.
- Dual task paradigms test attention by requiring two tasks simultaneously.
- Retention measures the ability to recall a skill after time; transfer assesses adaptation of learned skills to new tasks.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Motor Learning — A relatively permanent change in movement capability due to practice or experience.
- Motor Performance — The observable attempt to execute a movement.
- Reliability — Consistency of a measurement or test.
- Validity — The degree to which a test measures what it claims.
- Objectivity — Extent of agreement between different examiners.
- Control Group — Group in an experiment not receiving the key intervention, used for comparison.
- Dual Task Paradigm — A method requiring simultaneous performance of two tasks to assess attention.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Read Chapter 1 and pages 202–203 in the textbook.
- Prepare to design a motor learning experiment for section four’s assignment.
- Review Table 1.5 on page 13 for performance characteristics during learning stages.
- Study the different classification methods for motor skills.