EXSS 380 FINAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What is motor learning?
--focused on what? - Answers :study of the acquisition of motor skills
--focused on behavioral and neurological consequences associated with learning of a
motor skill
Motor skill
--what is it?
--what 3 things are involved? - Answers :--an activity that requires voluntary movement
to achieve a goal
--new skill acquisitions, enhancement of prior skills, reacquisition following injury and
disease
Motor learning is also defines as changes in what?
--is it measurable? - Answers :Internal processes that determine an individual's
capabilities for performing a motor task
--not directly measurable; changes are inferred from observed changes
Two types of learning transfer - Answers :--Generalization (near transfer)
--Far transfer
Generalization (near transfer)
--what is it? - Answers :--transfer of skill performance from the instructional setting to the
target context
Far transfer
--what is it? - Answers :--transfer of learning of one task to a different task (general)
Specificity of Learning Principle
--what is it?
--do past experiences and the transfer of common elements enhance learning?
--as skill level improves, what should learning experience focus on? - Answers :--best
practice approximates the movements of the target skill and the environmental
conditions of the target context
--only in initial stages
--target movement
Stages of Learning (3) - Answers :--Verbal-cognitive stage
--Motor (associative) stage
--Autonomous stage
Verbal-cognitive stage
--occurs when?
--what is the challenge?
--marked by?
,--what does this stage require? - Answers :--occurs when learner is confronted with an
entirely unfamiliar task
--challenge is to gain a general understanding of the task
--marked by verbal and cognitive strategizing
--requires a great deal of attention, thus preventing other aspects from being processed
(begins to drop out as skill improves)
Verbal-cognitive stage (cont.)
--gain in performance are ____ and ____.
--performance is typically _____ and ____?
--what is particularly helpful? - Answers :--large and rapid
--unsmooth and poorly timed
--verbal instructions
Motor (associative) stage
--focus shifts from where to where?
--how is movement refinement different for slow and rapid movements?
--how is movement refinement different for closed and open skills?
--what is evidenced in producing more effective movement patterns? - Answers :--
strategy to refinement of movement patterns
--rapid= motor program development; slow= improvement in processing and utilizing
specific feedback
--closed= stationary environment allows for fixation on repetition of same movement;
open= changing environment requires development of adaptation strategies
--changes
Autonomous stage
--efficient performance with little or no what?
--what are the motor programs like?
--automaticity in sensory analysis of environmental cues: what does this mean? -
Answers :--attention
--nearly fully developed, thus minimal attention devoted to aspects of movement
--less attention required to process and interpret sensory info; allows attention to be
direct toward higher order tasks
How do we measure motor learning? (3) - Answers :--process measures
--outcome measures
--performance curves
Process measures
--provide information regarding what?
--examples?
--are these sensitive and specific? Are they applicable to learning environments? -
Answers :--the processes involved with movement production
--kinematic/kinetic analysis, EMG, EEG
--highly sensitive and specific, but not usually applicable in most learning environments
,Outcome measures
--what are they indicative of?
--examples (4) - Answers :--the results of a movement task
--accuracy, time, distance, consistency (DCAT)
Performance curves
--not necessarily indicative of?
--dependent variable value determined by? - Answers :--learning
--learning, multiple extraneous influences (motivation, alertness, fatigue)
Learning is assumed to be what kind of phenomenon? - Answers :A relatively
permanent phenomenon
How is learning evaluated?
--performance evaluated during what phase? - Answers :Retention/transfer
experimental designs
--acquisition (when you're learning something)
Retention vs. Transfer - Answers :--retention: the persistence of performance following
a retention interval
--transfer: the gain in the capability to perform one task as a result of practice of another
task
Retention
--same task performed in what phases? - Answers :both acquisition and retention
How is transfer assessed? - Answers :Using a different task than during acquisition, or
the same task under different conditions
Absolute vs. relative retention - Answers :--absolute: the level of performance on the
first trial of the retention test
-relative: the expression of absolute retention relative to acquisition measures
Absolute retention
--what is a difference score? - Answers :--amount of skill lost over retention interval;
difference b/t last acquisition trial and first retention trial
Relative retention
--percentage score:
--savings score: - Answers :--percentage: amount of skill lost over retention interval
(difference score) relative to amount of skill gained during acquisition
--savings: # of trials required to attain level of proficiency achieved in acquisition phase
Positive vs. Negative Transfer - Answers :--positive: you do a task and become better at
a second task
, --negative: you do a task and become worse at a second task
Percentage Transfer
--what is it?
--is it positive or negative? - Answers :--gain in performance of task B associated with
practice of task A
--can be either
Proactive vs. retroactive transfer - Answers :--pro: transfer works forward from one task
to another
--retro: transfer works backward from one task to another
Savings transfer - Answers :amount of practice time on task B saved by having first
practiced task A
What is the mechanism responsible for transferal of information to long term memory? -
Answers :Practice/rehearsal
When an individual is asked to learn, enhance or reacquire a skill, what is usually a
constraining factor? - Answers :Time
The Power Law of Practice
--in general, ____ learning occurs with ____ practice
--improvements in performance typically ____ and ____ initially
--improvements become ____ and ____ with increasing practice. - Answers :--more,
more
--large and rapid
--smaller and less rapid
Massed vs. Distributed practice - Answers :--massed: several practice sessions with
relatively little or no rest b/t
--distributed: substantial periods of rest b/t periods of practice
What effects on performance does short periods of rest have? - Answers :Degrades
performance relative to longer rest periods (the more rest, better performance)
What effects does little or no rest have on learning?
--do differences b/t groups stay the same?
--what happens to these differences from first trial to the last acquisition trial? Why is
this?
--what result did massing transfer trials have on performance? - Answers :Temporary
fatigue, which results in performance decrements
--differences b/t groups during acquisition maintained with transfer
--differences at first trial of transfer smaller than those at last acquisition trial; some of it
due to temporary fatigue, differences in amount of learning
--degraded performance
What is motor learning?
--focused on what? - Answers :study of the acquisition of motor skills
--focused on behavioral and neurological consequences associated with learning of a
motor skill
Motor skill
--what is it?
--what 3 things are involved? - Answers :--an activity that requires voluntary movement
to achieve a goal
--new skill acquisitions, enhancement of prior skills, reacquisition following injury and
disease
Motor learning is also defines as changes in what?
--is it measurable? - Answers :Internal processes that determine an individual's
capabilities for performing a motor task
--not directly measurable; changes are inferred from observed changes
Two types of learning transfer - Answers :--Generalization (near transfer)
--Far transfer
Generalization (near transfer)
--what is it? - Answers :--transfer of skill performance from the instructional setting to the
target context
Far transfer
--what is it? - Answers :--transfer of learning of one task to a different task (general)
Specificity of Learning Principle
--what is it?
--do past experiences and the transfer of common elements enhance learning?
--as skill level improves, what should learning experience focus on? - Answers :--best
practice approximates the movements of the target skill and the environmental
conditions of the target context
--only in initial stages
--target movement
Stages of Learning (3) - Answers :--Verbal-cognitive stage
--Motor (associative) stage
--Autonomous stage
Verbal-cognitive stage
--occurs when?
--what is the challenge?
--marked by?
,--what does this stage require? - Answers :--occurs when learner is confronted with an
entirely unfamiliar task
--challenge is to gain a general understanding of the task
--marked by verbal and cognitive strategizing
--requires a great deal of attention, thus preventing other aspects from being processed
(begins to drop out as skill improves)
Verbal-cognitive stage (cont.)
--gain in performance are ____ and ____.
--performance is typically _____ and ____?
--what is particularly helpful? - Answers :--large and rapid
--unsmooth and poorly timed
--verbal instructions
Motor (associative) stage
--focus shifts from where to where?
--how is movement refinement different for slow and rapid movements?
--how is movement refinement different for closed and open skills?
--what is evidenced in producing more effective movement patterns? - Answers :--
strategy to refinement of movement patterns
--rapid= motor program development; slow= improvement in processing and utilizing
specific feedback
--closed= stationary environment allows for fixation on repetition of same movement;
open= changing environment requires development of adaptation strategies
--changes
Autonomous stage
--efficient performance with little or no what?
--what are the motor programs like?
--automaticity in sensory analysis of environmental cues: what does this mean? -
Answers :--attention
--nearly fully developed, thus minimal attention devoted to aspects of movement
--less attention required to process and interpret sensory info; allows attention to be
direct toward higher order tasks
How do we measure motor learning? (3) - Answers :--process measures
--outcome measures
--performance curves
Process measures
--provide information regarding what?
--examples?
--are these sensitive and specific? Are they applicable to learning environments? -
Answers :--the processes involved with movement production
--kinematic/kinetic analysis, EMG, EEG
--highly sensitive and specific, but not usually applicable in most learning environments
,Outcome measures
--what are they indicative of?
--examples (4) - Answers :--the results of a movement task
--accuracy, time, distance, consistency (DCAT)
Performance curves
--not necessarily indicative of?
--dependent variable value determined by? - Answers :--learning
--learning, multiple extraneous influences (motivation, alertness, fatigue)
Learning is assumed to be what kind of phenomenon? - Answers :A relatively
permanent phenomenon
How is learning evaluated?
--performance evaluated during what phase? - Answers :Retention/transfer
experimental designs
--acquisition (when you're learning something)
Retention vs. Transfer - Answers :--retention: the persistence of performance following
a retention interval
--transfer: the gain in the capability to perform one task as a result of practice of another
task
Retention
--same task performed in what phases? - Answers :both acquisition and retention
How is transfer assessed? - Answers :Using a different task than during acquisition, or
the same task under different conditions
Absolute vs. relative retention - Answers :--absolute: the level of performance on the
first trial of the retention test
-relative: the expression of absolute retention relative to acquisition measures
Absolute retention
--what is a difference score? - Answers :--amount of skill lost over retention interval;
difference b/t last acquisition trial and first retention trial
Relative retention
--percentage score:
--savings score: - Answers :--percentage: amount of skill lost over retention interval
(difference score) relative to amount of skill gained during acquisition
--savings: # of trials required to attain level of proficiency achieved in acquisition phase
Positive vs. Negative Transfer - Answers :--positive: you do a task and become better at
a second task
, --negative: you do a task and become worse at a second task
Percentage Transfer
--what is it?
--is it positive or negative? - Answers :--gain in performance of task B associated with
practice of task A
--can be either
Proactive vs. retroactive transfer - Answers :--pro: transfer works forward from one task
to another
--retro: transfer works backward from one task to another
Savings transfer - Answers :amount of practice time on task B saved by having first
practiced task A
What is the mechanism responsible for transferal of information to long term memory? -
Answers :Practice/rehearsal
When an individual is asked to learn, enhance or reacquire a skill, what is usually a
constraining factor? - Answers :Time
The Power Law of Practice
--in general, ____ learning occurs with ____ practice
--improvements in performance typically ____ and ____ initially
--improvements become ____ and ____ with increasing practice. - Answers :--more,
more
--large and rapid
--smaller and less rapid
Massed vs. Distributed practice - Answers :--massed: several practice sessions with
relatively little or no rest b/t
--distributed: substantial periods of rest b/t periods of practice
What effects on performance does short periods of rest have? - Answers :Degrades
performance relative to longer rest periods (the more rest, better performance)
What effects does little or no rest have on learning?
--do differences b/t groups stay the same?
--what happens to these differences from first trial to the last acquisition trial? Why is
this?
--what result did massing transfer trials have on performance? - Answers :Temporary
fatigue, which results in performance decrements
--differences b/t groups during acquisition maintained with transfer
--differences at first trial of transfer smaller than those at last acquisition trial; some of it
due to temporary fatigue, differences in amount of learning
--degraded performance
