Motor Control Theories and Techniques Quiz

Week 1

• Learning Outcomes cover describing and distinguishing motor learning terms, identifying factors influencing motor skill performance, describing motor skill classification, and different ways to measure motor skill performance.
• Key definitions include motor learning (acquisition, enhancement, or reacquisition of motor skills), motor control (how the neuromuscular system performs motor skills), motor development (movement from infancy to adulthood), movements (characteristics of limbs in motor skills), and motor skills (voluntary control over body parts for specific goals).
• Movements are distinguished from skills; multiple ways exist to achieve the same goal (motor skill). Motor skills include cognitive and perceptual domains (knowing what/how to do, measure of success, knowledge, and cognitive abilities).
• Perceptual domain involves detecting and discerning sensory stimuli (how to act, measure of success).
• Motor domain is about doing the skill correctly (performed in daily activities, not in isolation; measures of success include quality, speed, and range of movement)
• Three components influence motor skill performance (person, task, environment).

The classification of Motor Skills

• One-Dimensional Systems classify on a continuum, rather than a dichotomy
• One-Dimensional categories include size of primary musculature required, stability of the environment, and temporal features of the skill.
• Two-Dimensional Systems consider environmental demands and action requirements to influence motor performance.
• Fine motor skills recruit small muscle groups (essential for precision, hand-eye coordination).
• Gross motor skills involve large muscle groups and body movement (fundamental motor skills).

Temporal Predictability

• Discrete Motor Skills have identifiable beginning and end points.
• Serial Motor Skills are a series of discrete movements.
• Continuous Motor Skills have arbitrary beginning and end points.

Stability of the Environment

• Environmental Context is the physical location where a skill is performed (supporting surface, objects involved, other people involved).
• Closed Motor Skills occur in predictable environments (surface remains constant).
• Open Motor Skills occur in unpredictable environments (surface changes, objects/people move).

Closed vs. Open Motor Skills

• Closed motor skills involve performing the skill when the performer is ready (self-paced skill).
• Open motor skills require the performer to time movements with an external feature in the environment (externally paced skill).

Two-Dimensional Classification

• The one-dimensional classification system does not always capture the complexity of many skills.
• Two dimensions classification systems (Gentile's taxonomy 2000)
• Environmental Demands (regulatory conditions under which skill is performed, stationary or in-motion conditions)
• Action Requirements (body transport, object manipulation).
• Gentile's Taxonomy guides therapists in assessing patient movement problems, and choosing appropriate activities.

Assessing/Measuring Motor Skill

• Performance Outcome Measures describe the outcome or result of performing a motor skill.
• Performance Production Measures evaluate how nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems function during the execution of a motor skill.

Reaction Time

• Reaction Time (RT) is the time interval between a signal (stimulus) and the initiation of a response.
• Simple RT - one signal, one response
• Choice RT - multiple signals, each needs its own response .
• Discrimination RT - multiple signals, only one requires response.

Error Measures

• Absolute Error (AE) is the magnitude of error without directionality (magnitude of deviation).
• Constant Error (CE) is the amount and direction of error.
• Variable Error (VE) is the variability (or consistency) of performance.

Kinematic Measures

• Kinematic measures describe movement without reference to force or mass.
• Displacement is the change in spatial position over time
• Velocity is the rate of change in spatial position.
• Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity.

Week 2

• The Neural Basis of Motor Control covers the nervous system.
• The central nervous system (CNS) is made up of the brain and spinal cord.
• The peripheral nervous system (PNS) connects the CNS to the rest of the body.
• Neurons are the fundamental unit of the nervous system; cell body (soma), dendrites, axon.
• Synapses are junctions where neurons communicate.
• Types of neurons include sensory, motor, and interneurons.
• Action potential is the electrical signal that transmits information along neurons.
• Neurons communicate via chemical signals at synapses.
• CNS anatomy, including brain functions (conscious/unconscious control), connections to the body, and structures of the brain (neurons, glial cells, brainstem, cerebellum, cerebrum).

Week 3

• Sensory components cover touch and proprioception, specifically Mechanoreceptors.
• Mechanoreceptors provide the CNS with information about pain, temperature, and movement; Tactile feedback significantly influences fine motor skills (accuracy, consistency, timing, and estimates of distance).

Proprioception

• Proprioception refers to feedback from different parts of the body that allows us to sense our body’s position and movement; Limbs and joint receptors detect muscle tension and changes in muscle length
• Muscle Spindles detect changes in muscle length.
• Golgi Tendon Organs sense muscle tension, protective against injury.
• Joint Receptors detect joint position and motion

Visual System - Vision

• Cornea: Transparent, dome-shaped front part that helps focus light; Pupil: Central opening that controls light entry; Iris: Surrounds the pupil, controls its size, gives eye color; Lens: Flexible, adjusts shape to focus light onto the retina; Retina: Receives light; Optic Nerve: Transmits signals to the brain; Image processing in the visual cortex
• Central vision: Middle 2-5 degrees, for object size, shape, and distance; Peripheral vision broader, for limb movement and spatial features
• Monocular Vision: Vision by one eye; Binocular vision: Vision by both eyes

Week 4

• Attention is cognitive processing for selectively focusing on specific information while ignoring other stimuli.
• Attention has characteristics including limited capacity, selective focus, and divisible attention.
• Attention theories include: Bottleneck Theory, Central Resource Capacity Theory, and Multiple Resource Theory.
• Kahneman’s Attention Theory addresses allocation of attention based on task demands.
• Arousal levels influence the availability of attentional resources.
• Broad attention involves a wide range of information, while narrow attention focuses on specific details; Focusing on specific details may lead to better performance in certain tasks.
• Automaticity is the ability to perform tasks with minimal conscious effort.

Week 5

• Traditional Theories of Motor Learning and Skill Acquisition explain that learning is a change in a person’s ability to perform a skill.
• This change is primarily due to practice or experience.
• Association Theories describe how learning happens.
• Response Programming translates a decision into motor commands.
• Open-loop control involves sending movement commands without requiring feedback from the environment, while closed-loop control involves feedback.

Week 6

• Neurocomputational Theories of Motor Control are based on the idea that motor control processes are based on the brain using internal models.
• Motor programs are a set of rules that govern a specific class of actions.
• Schema Theory is based on the premise that memory uses schemas to make decisions in similar situations.
• Dynamical systems theory considers motor control arises from various interacting factors within and outside the body, rather than a linear process. It is not about a system, rather the overall interaction between all factors, that cause an output.

Week 7

• Verbal instructions to facilitate motor learning.
• Verbal instruction components include content (critical features), quantity, precision, and focus, and verbal cues can guide learners' attention to specific aspects of a skill.
• Demonstration is a powerful tool for learning, often providing more information than verbal cues.

Week 9

• Practice variability is the difference in movement and context characteristics during practice.
• Variability can improve learning in motor skills.
• Practice variability can involve variation in the task, environment, the skill performed, and the level of practice difficulty.
• Contextual interference occurs when a specific task is varied between practice trials to allow the learner to develop more elaborate and robust representations.

Week 10

• Motor performance changes with age and injury, requiring changes in motor skill learning practices.
• Aging impacts both how we perform and how we learn motor skills.
• Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to change throughout our life, resulting in a reorganisation of neural circuits, in the brain.
• Physical and cognitive functions decline with age.

Week 11 & 12

• The topics of memory, forgetting, and the constraints of motor performance are discussed in more detail
• The theory of ecological dynamics is introduced – a holistic approach where motor learning is adaptive and influenced by the environment, considering task demands, performers, and perception.
• Key components that shape motor skill learning (and are affected by age and injury) include individual, task, and environmental factors
• These constraints interrelate dynamically during performance and athletes adapt to changing conditions (adaptive reactions).

Test your understanding of various motor control theories, feedback types in asymmetric coordination, and the principles of speed-accuracy skills. This quiz covers key concepts from generalized motor programs to open and closed loop control systems, focusing on how these theories apply to learning and coordination. Perfect for students studying motor learning and control.