Topic 2

LEARNING PATTERNS

Concept: Distinct performance and performer

characteristics change during skill learning
 Introduction
People progress through
distinct stages (phases) as
they learn a motor skill
i.e, as they progress from
being a beginner to being
highly skilled
Learning Styles?
Information enters your brain three
main ways: sight, hearing and touch,
which one you use the most is called
your Learning Style
Visual Learners learn by sight
Auditory Learners learn by hearing
Tactile Learners (kinesthetic) learn by
touch
Theories of motor
learning
Adams Closed-Loop Theory
In motor learning, sensory feedback from the ongoing
movements is compared with the stored memory of
the intended movement
Memory trace selects and initiates a movement
Perceptual trace, built-up over practice, is the internal
reference of correctness
Adams Closed-Loop Theory
Clinical Implications
Accuracy of a movement is proportional to the strength
of the perceptual trace
Patient must practice the movement repeatedly to ↑ the
perceptual trace
Limitations
Cannot explain open loop movement or novel
movements
Schmidt Schema Theory
Emphasizes open-loop control processes and
generalized motor program
“Schema” is a generalized set of rules for producing
movements that can be applied to a variety of contexts
Equivalent to motor programming theory of motor
control
Schmidt Schema Theory
Information stored in short-term memory after a
movement is produced
1. Initial movement conditions, e.g. body position,
weight of an object, step height
2. Parameters of a generalized motor program
3. Outcome of the movement, in terms of
knowledge of results
4. Intrinsic sensory feedback of the movement
Schmidt Schema Theory
Information stored in short-term memory is converted
into two schemas
1. Recall schema selects a specific response and
contains rules for producing a movement
2. Recognition schema evaluates the response
correctness and informs the learner about the errors of
a movement
Schmidt Schema Theory
Clinical Implications
Variability of practice↑ learning and generalized motor
program rules
Novel movement can be made accurately based on
previously learned rules
Limitations
Vague; no consistent research finding in support of
variable practice
Cannot account for one-trial learning (In the absence of
a schema)
Ecological Theory
Learning involves the exploration the perceptual and
motor workspace
1. Identify critical perceptual variables, i.e. regulatory
cues
2. Explore the optimal or most efficient movements for
the task
3. Incorporate the relevant perceptual cues and
optimal movement strategies for a specific task
Ecological Theory
Clinical Implications
Patients learn to identify relevant perceptual cues that
are important for developing appropriate motor
responses, e.g. identify relevant perceptual cues for
reaching and lifting a heavy glass: weight, size, or
surface of the glass vs. its color?
Fitts and Posner Three Stage Model:
Cognitive stage
Learner activities
Learn what to do
Learn about the task and goals
Require high degree of attention
Select among alternative strategies
Performance may be more variable
Fast improvement in performance
Develop a motor program
Fitts and Posner Three Stage Model:
Associative Stage
Learner activities
Refine the skills
Refine a particular movement strategy
Performance is less variable and more consistent
Cognitive monitoring decreases
Improve the organization of the motor program
Fitts and Posner Three Stage Model:
Autonomous Stage
Learner activities
Become proficient, save energy
Attention demands are greatly reduced
Movements and sensory analysis begin to become
automatic
Able to perform multiple tasks, scan the environment
Ability to detect own errors improves
 Motor Abilities
Ackerman (1988)

Perceptual
speed ability

General Psychomotor
intelligence ability

Ackerman
Motor
Ability
General ability
Memory related processes
Exm : acquiring,storing,retriving,combining,
comparing & use memory based information in
new contents.

Perceptual speed ability

Ability to solve problems of increasing
complexity & with speed of processing
information.

Psychomotor ability
Relate to speed & accuracy of movement with
little cognitive involvement
 Inviduallity In Acquaring of Skill
Important knowledge of acquiring skill for individual

Discovering the fundamental of skills

Involve multi- limb coordination when performed a motion

Identification of motor abilities are basic of a large number

of motor skills allows to be include for introduction.

To indentify the problem being experience by the

individual.

Initial difficulty in acquisition of skills is lack experience &

poorly development of movement
The Fitts and Posner
Three Stage Model
Fitts and Posner (1967) proposed motor skill learning
involved three stages
Cognitive stage: Beginner focuses on solving
cognitively-oriented problems

Associative stage: Person has learned to associate cues

from the environment with required movements;
works to refine performance to be more consistent

Autonomous stage: Final stage where performance of

the skill is “automatic” (in terms of attention
demanded)
Cognitive stage:
The beginning or initial stage on the learning stages
continuum.
Performance is marked by a large number of errors
Performance showing lack of consistency from one
attempt to the next.
Associative stage
Intermediate stages on the learning stages continuum
Performance fewer and less gross errors because of
acquired the basics fundamentals or mechanics of the
skill.
Referred as refining stage.
 people acquired the capability to detect and identify
some of their performance errors.
Autonomous stage
Final stages on the learning stages continuum, also
caled the automatic phase
Skill is become habitual and automatic.
Variability is small: skill performed consistent
People in this stages do not consciously think about
what they are doing wile performing the skill.
Performer and Performance Changes Across the
Stages of Learning
Stages of learning models describe distinct
characteristics at each learning stage that change across
the stages
 Observable changes are noted for both the person and the skill
performance

We will overview a few characteristics

Benefits of considering these characteristics:

 Provides a closer look at the skill learning process
 Establishes why we need to develop different instruction
strategies for people in different learning stages
Performer and Performance Changes Across the
Stages of Learning, cont’d

i. Changes in rate of improvement

ii. Changes in movement coordination
iii. Changes in altering an old or
preferred coordination pattern
iv. Changes in muscles used to perform
the skill
v. Changes in energy cost
Performer and Performance Changes Across the
Stages of Learning, cont’d
vi. Changes in achieving the kinematic
goals of the skill
vii. Changes in visual selective attention
viii.Changes in conscious attention with
performing a skill
ix. Changes in error detection and
correction capability
x. Changes in brain activity
A Performer Characteristics that Does Not Change
Across the Stages of Learning
Practice specificity hypothesis
Learning is specific to the sources of sensory
information available during practice

When we use visual feedback during practice in

the first stage of learning,
We continue to need this feedback, even after we
become more skillful with additional practice

Proteau (1998) hypothesized and provided

evidence that a dependency on the sensory
feedback develops because it becomes a part of
the memory representation of the skill
Expertise
An “expert” – A person who is located
at the extreme right end of the
learning stages continuum
Experts in all skill performance areas
have in common some distinct
characteristics, e.g. –
Amount and type of practice that resulted
in expertise
Knowledge structure
Use of vision