Motor Learning and Control Chapter 2 – Flashcards

Indicates the outcome or result of performing a motor skill (e.g. How far was a ball thrown?) Does not tell us about the movements that led to the outcome Does not provide information about the activity of various muscles involved Eg: Time to complete a task, reaction time. Provide us with information about what happened at the level of actions, where the major concern is, whether or not the goal of the task was accomplished.

Indicate the activity of specific aspects of the motor control system during the performance. (e.g. Which muscle was responsible for bringing the movement) Eg: Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, force, EMG measures provide us information about how the nervous-musculoskeletal system functions, how the limbs and joints are acting during a particular task or skill. measures are used for movement and neuromotor processes levels of analysis.

Common measure indicating how long it takes a person to prepare and initiate a movement. The interval of time between the onset of a signal (stimulus) and the initiation of a response or a movement. Note that the RT does not include any movement related to a specific action, but only the time before movement begins. A stimulus or go signal is the indication to act Has a long history as an "index" of specific aspects of human performance Used to: Infer what a performer does to prepare an action Identify the environmental context information a person uses to prepare an action Assess the capabilities of a person to anticipate a required action and determine when to initiate it

Quiet interval between the onset of stimulus and beginning of activity

Interval from the initial increase in muscle activity until the actual limb movement

One reason a person's performance may be inaccurate is that the person has a tendency to overshoot or undershoot the goal, which is referred to as performance bias

Another reason for performance inaccuracy for a series of repetitions is performance consistency

Absolute value of difference between the actual performance on each trial and the criterion for each trial A measure of the magnitude of an error without regard to the direction of the deviation. AE = ∑|(performance - criterion)| / no. of trials Provides a general index of performance accuracy

Algebraic value of difference between the actual performance on each trial and the criterion for each trial. It represents the amount and direction (+/-) of deviation

The standard deviation of the CE scores. An error score representing the variability of the performance

Common accuracy measure for continuous skills. Think of it as AE for a continuous task. Indicates the amount of error between performance curve and criterion performance curve for a specific amount of time.

Describe motion without regard to force or mass that causes the motion. They are performance production measures. Traditional to Biomechanics, but recently have become important in motor control and learning

Recording of muscle electrical activity Common use is to determine when a muscle begins and ends activation [see Figure 2.10] fractionated RT (index of movement preparation)

Displacement of muscle belly after stimulation

level of oxygenation in the muscle (or brain)

Measures electrical activity in brain Active brain regions produce electrical activity

Neuroimaging (i.e., brain scanning) technique that measures blood flow in the brain Blood flow increases to active brain regions

Neuroimaging technique that measures blood flow changes by detecting blood oxygenation levels

Measures magnetic fields created by neuronal activity

refers to space dimensions, distance

refers to time dimensions

The study of the role of Force as a cause of motion Human movements organized by external and internal forces Importance of force: All three of Newton's laws of motion refer to force Angular force = Torque

Rate of change of velocity

Rate of change of displacement (i.e. speed)

Change in position of a limb or joint over time

Commonly used by researchers and clinicians Four measures commonly reported in motor learning and control research EEG PET fMRI MEG