MOTOR LEARNING

MOTOR LEARNING

“a set of internal processes associated with practice or experience

leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled
behaviour.”
2) MOTOR LEARNING
THEORIES
 Closed loop theory
 Schema theory
CLOSED LOOP THEORY
“sensory feedback from ongoing movement is compared with stored
memory of the intended movement (perceptual trace) to provide the CNS
with a reference of correctness and error detection”

Use of Memory traces for production and evaluation of movements

 Does not adequately explain learning under conditions of rapid
movements (open-loop control processes)

 Does not explain learning that can occur in the absence of sensory
feedback (de afferentation studies).
SCHEMA THEORY
“a rule, concept, or relationship formed on the basis of experience.”
 Recall schema (Motor)

are used to select and define the initial movement conditions

 Recognition schema (Sensory)

are used to evaluate movement responses based on expected sensory

consequences
IMPLICATIONS OF SCHEMA
THEORY
“Clinically, this theory supports the concept that practicing a variety of
movement outcomes would improve learning through the development
of expanded rules or schema. It also provides a reasonable explanation
for the learning of novel and open skills performed in a variable and
changing environment”
MOTOR LEARNING VS
MOTOR PERFORMANCE
MEASURE OF MOTOR
LEARNING
 Performance test: An examination of observable
 improvements with attention to the quality of movements and the
success of movement outcomes after a period of skill practice.
 Retention: The ability of the learner to demonstrate a
 learned skill over time and after a period of no practice (termed a
retention interval).
Retention test: An examination of a learned skill
administered after a period of no practice (retention interval).
 Generalisability (adaptability of skills): The ability to apply a
learned skill to the performance of other similar or related skills.
Resistance to contextual change (adaptability of context): The
ability to perform a learned skill in altered environmental
situations.
Transfer test: An examination of performance of similar learned
skill in altered environmental situations.
HOW A THERAPIST CAN
EFFECTIVELY TEACH THE
PATIENT A MOTOR SKILL ?

“By means of effective motor learning strategies. But we will first

learn the variable of motor learning to use them effectively”
WHAT ARE THESE
VARIABLES?
1) Practice
2) Feedback
3) Verbal and visual instruction
4) Guided Movements
5) Environment structure
6) Contextual Interference

These variables are used differently in Motor Learning Stages

1) PRACTICE
Type of Practice
1) Mass Practice ( learning with no interval)
2) Distributed Practice (learning with no interval
3) Blocked Practice ( Repititive learning )
4) Serial Practice ( series of task performed )
5) Random or variable Practice (tasks and task variations )
7) Mental Practice (is the cognitive (thinking) rehearsal of a physical skill
without movement. It is effective both for skill learning and preparing
for competition.)
 Questions that guide and inform clinical decisions about practice include:
 How should practice periods and rest periods be spaced(distribution of
practice)?
 What tasks and task variations should be practiced (variability of practice)?
 How should the tasks be sequenced (practice order)?
 How should the environment be structured (closed Vs open)?
 2) FEED BACK
1) Intrinsic
2) Augmented
o Knowledge of result (feedback of information: "(a) to a subject about the
correctness of his/her responses; (b) a student about success or failure in
mastering material, or (c) a client in psychotherapy about progress".
o Knowledge of Performance (refers to information provided to a performer,
indicating the quality of their movement. It may include information such as
displacement, velocity or joint motion.)
3) Feed Back Schedule
o Constant feedback after every trial
o Summed after fixed no. of trials
o Fading
o Bandwidth ( Bandwidth feedback is a technique that reduces the relative
frequency of feedback)
Questions that guide and inform clinical decisions
 about feedback include:
 What type of feedback should be employed (mode)?
 How much feedback should be used (intensity)?
 When should feedback be given (scheduling)?
3) Verbal and visual instruction

4) Guided Movements

5) Environment structure

6) Contextual Interference
STAGES OF MOTOR
LEARNING
1) Cognitive Stage
2) Associative Stage
3) Automatic Stage
COGNITIVE STAGE
“What to do” Decisions,

What does learner do in this stage?

1) Structure a motor program
2) Assess task demands and his/her personal capabilities to accomplish a
task
3) Identifies a stimulus, contacts the memory
and select an appropriate response and then perform initial approximation of
task in the first attempt by cognitive mapping

If task needed different requirement or movement is not up to expectation,

modified the second attempt accordingly
ASSOCIATIVE STAGE

“How to do decision” e.g.

How to decrease error and extraneous movements and thus refine

motor program further
AUTONOMOUS STAGE

Patient, though, continues refining the motor program but focuses on

“How to succeed” decisions

Less Cognitive monitoring is required, so patient can focus on the

second task at hand
EFFECTIVE TRAINING
STRATEGIES
What are these?

“Should these be different for each motor learning stage”?

TRAINING STRATEGIES FOR
COGNITIVE STAGE
Select appropriate feedback
 Emphasize intact sensory feed back

“but why”?
 Carefully pair extrinsic with intrinsic feedback
 Patient should watch movement
 Provide (KP) focus on those errors that become consistent
 (KR) focus on success of movements
 Use reinforcement
 Ask patient to identify and solve problems
Organize feedback schedule
Feed back after every trial improves performance
Variable feed back (Summed, fading, bandwidth) increases depth of
understanding, improve retention though may decrease performance
initially
Organize initial practice
 Distributed practice
 Blocked practice to increase performance
 Variable practice to increase cognitive understanding and retention
though may disturb performance
 Structure environment

Closed initially and gradually progress to open environment

MOTOR LEARNING STRATEGIES
FOR ASSOCIATIVE STAGE
 Continue proved (KP) when error become consistent
 KR stress relevance of outcomes
 Emphasize on the proprioception “feel of movement”
 Assist learner to self evaluation and decision making skills
 Facilitator techniques and guided movements are counter productive at
this stage
ORGANIZE SCHEDULE
 Continues to provide feedback for motivation
 Avoid excessive augmented feedback (KP + KR)
 Instead focus on variable feedback
STRUCTURE ENVIRONMENT
 Open and changing environment
 Prepare the learner for home and community, work environment
AUTONOMIC STAGE
 Select appropriate feedback
 Provide occasional KP and Kr when errors are evident
 Organize practice

Mass practice
Structure Environment
variable and open environment
Focus on competitive aspect of the skills
WHAT DOES MOTOR LEARNING
LEAD TO ?

Answer is “Plasticity”
But remember plasticity can be + as well as -ive

Characteristics Negative Plasticity Positive plasticity

Stimulation Disuse, unskilled Intensive, skilled

Quality of sensory Noisy, nonspecific Appropriate, specific
input

Modulation Not challenging High stakes, novel,

challenging

Outcome Negative behaviours Positive behaviours

MECHANISMS OF PLASTICITY
Neuroanatomical
Neurochemical
Neuroreceptive