EXSS 380 1st EditionFinal Exam Study Guide* Exam is cumulative but focuses more on this section*Principles of Motor Learning-What is the difference between motor learning and motor control? o Motor learning: study of the acquisition of motor skills, focused on behavioral and neurological consequences assoc. with learning of a motorskill Changes in internal processes like wiring of synapses that determine and individual’s capabilities for performing a motor task; not directly measureable  IPSPs and EPSPso Motor skill: activity that requires voluntary movement to achieve a goal-What are the potential applications of motor learning?o Skill acquisition like learning to play an instrument, play golf, to speak a foreign language, to use equipmento Skill refinement like lowering golf handicap, improving free throw %, and improving typing speed and accuracyo Skill reacquisition which focuses on rehab in sports med, PT, and OT and examples are activities of daily living, gait, muscle function, and functionalactivity- Transfer of learning: learn fundamental movements and they can transfer to a wide variety of other skills, easier than practicing each individual skillo Shows influence of indiv. prior experience on learning new task and how learning an initial task can influence learning a second tasko In experiment to teach amputees how to use a prosthetic arm, knowing the fundamental skills of using the prosthetic is more advantageous than teaching them a specific ADL like brushing their teetho Other practical examples= Do defensive slide drills improve ability to play defense in bball? Does learning in virtual environments enhance skill in actual environments? Do goal-directed single joint rehab tasks improve functional ability?o Generalization (near transfer): transfer of learning from one task to another similar task, ex: transfer of skill in practice to actual competition; the more similar the tasks are the easier transfer will beo Far transfer: transfer of learning of one task to a different task; ex questions: does learning how to use prosthetic arm improve the functionality with the device in general? Does learning relative overheadthrowing transfer to improved ability in other overhead activities like a volleyball spike or tennis serve?-What is the difference between Transfer and Retention of information?o Learning assumed to be relatively permanent phenomenon and is evaluated via retention/transfer experimentso Performance is eval during acquisition phase and learning is eval with retention/transfer test that is delayed by at least one day allowing the practice effects to dissipate leaving changes due to learningo Retention: persistence of performance following a retention interval which is a period where you are not doing the skill you acquiredSame task performed in acquisition and retention phaseso Transfer: gain in the capability to perform task as a result of practice of another taskAssessed using a different task than the acquisition stage or the same task under different conditionso Absolute retention: level of performance on the first trial of the retention testDifference score- amount of skill lost over retention interval, difference btwn last acquisition trial and first retention trialo Relative retention: the expression of absolute retention relative to acquisition measuresPercentage score- amt of skill lost over retention interval (difference score) relative to amt of skill gained (improvement) during acquisitionSavings score- # of trials required to attain level of proficiency achieved during acquisition phaseo Use rotary pursuit task to measure (slide 29)o Athletes warm up prior to competition to get savings score back to where it was a practice (last acquisition period)o Positive transfer is when learning one skill helps one do better at performing a second skillo Negative transfer is when learning one skills causes one to perform worse on a second skillEx: switching from throwing a baseball to throwing a football or switching from swinging a baseball bat to swinging a golf clubo Percentage transfer: gain in performance of task B assoc. with practice of task A relative to total learning, can be positive or negative  (initial group difference/total learning of control group)* 100o Proactive transfer: transfer that works forward from oen task to another, you do task A which causes you to do better on task B (which you’ve never done before) than the control groupo Retroactive transfer: transfer works backward from one task to another, you do task A which causes you to do worse on a task that you already knew how to doo Negative proactive transfer would be if you do task A before task B which you’ve never done before and you do worse on task B than the control groupo Savings transfer: amount of practice time on task B saved by having first practiced task A-How doe specificity of learning relate to transfer?o Specificity of learning principle: best practice approximates the movements of the target skill and the environmental conditions of the target context Past experiences and the transfer of common elements only enhance learning in initial stages As skill level improve learning experience should focus on target movement Ex: being a rowing machine vs. rowing in a boat on water-What are the stages of motor learning? o Verbal-cognitive stage: when first encounter an unfamiliar movement, challenge is to gain general understanding of the task with verbal and cognitive questions like “What am I trying to do?” and “What went right/wrong?” Requires lots of attention preventing other aspects from being processed; drops out as skill improves Gains in performance are large and rapid Performance typically poorly timed and unsmooth Verbal instructions help in this stageo Motor stage (associative stage): focus shifted from strategy to refinement of movement patterns; like freeing the freeze Movement refinement different for slow vs. rapid movements Rapid movements are like punching and refine with next movement or repetition Slower movements see improvement in processing and while doing the action, ex: walking because can change where put foot during swing phase Movement refinement different for closed vs. open skills. Open and closed skills are on a continuum with activities closer to one side than the other. Closed skills have stationary environments that allow for fixation on repetition of same