By

SYEDA AMEEMA FATIMA

 SkillAcquisition is the science that
underpins movement learning and execution
and is more commonly termed motor
learning and control.
 Fitts and Posner (1967), described a theory
of motor learning related to the stages
involved in learning a new skill. They suggest
that there are three main phases involved in
skill learning
1. Cognitive stage
2. Associative stage
3. Automaticity
 Understanding stage
 Requires attention
 Frequent errors
 Unable to recognise errors
 Demonstration required
 It focuses on what to do
 improvements in performance
 develope strategies that could be used to
carry out the task
 Mrs. J. would learn to reach for a glass in
the following way. When first learning to
reach for the glass, the task would require a
great deal of attention and conscious
thought. Mrs. J would initially make a lot of
errors.
 Healthy individual (correct
strategy):
wide elongation of the arm with a minimal
forward movement of the trunk associated
also with an axial rotation of the trunk
 Stroke patient (incorrect strategy
1):
increase in the forward displacement of the trunk
and mouth in the reaching phase but with a
reduced arm elongation and without a
comparable backward displacement of the trunk
and the mouth in the bringing-to-mouth phase
 Stroke patient (incorrect strategy
2):
increase in the forward displacement of the
trunk and mouth in the reaching phase, with a
reduced arm elongation, but with an equal
backward displacement of the trunk and mouth
in the bringing phase
 By this time, the person has selected the
best strategy for the task and now begins to
refine the skill.
 Intermediate stage
 Fewer errors
 Requires practice
 Focus on refining of movement
 Awareness of mistakes
 Whenmoving into the second stage,
however, her movements toward the glass
would become refined as she developed an
optimal strategy
 Massed practice is defined as a session
in which the amount of practice time in a
trial is greater than the amount of rest
between trials

 Distributed practice is defined as a

session in which the amount of rest between
trials is equal to or greater than the amount
of time for a trial.
 Whole practice method :
when skill is practised as a whole

Part practice method :

break the task down into steps, helping the
patient to master each step prior to learning
the entire task OR when skill is practiced in
components
 Last stage of learning
 The skill is performed without thinking of the
basics
 Unconscious, smooth and automatic
movements
 Can perform multiple tasks
 Can detect and correct errors
 Intrinsic feedback
 Mrs. J would be able to reach for the glass
while carrying on a conversation or being
engaged in other tasks
 Comes from within through vision ,
proprioceptors
 The feel of the movement
 Used in autonomous stage as the person can
now detect error

 From external sources i.e by doctor, coach

etc
 Used mostly in cognitive stage as the
beginners cannot use the intrinsic feedback
 Reinforce correct movements
 Reduce faulty movements
 To increase confidence
 Thank you