Motor Control and Motor Learning Flashcards

According to the Fitts and Posner three-stage model, which stage of motor learning is characterized by the highest cognitive demands, frequent errors, and large performance gains?

Answer: Cognitive stage

The cognitive stage is the initial phase where learners require significant conscious attention, make frequent errors, and show the largest performance gains as they work to understand the task.

Which of the following BEST defines motor learning?

Answer: Relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled motor behavior resulting from practice or experience

Motor learning refers to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled motor behavior that result from practice or experience, distinguishing it from temporary performance fluctuations.

Distributed practice in motor learning is defined as a schedule in which:

Answer: Rest intervals equal or exceed the actual practice time

Distributed practice involves rest intervals that are equal to or longer than the actual practice time, and is generally more effective for long-term retention than massed practice.

Which brain structure is primarily responsible for procedural motor learning and habit formation through dopaminergic reinforcement pathways?

Answer: Basal ganglia

The basal ganglia are critical for procedural motor learning and habit formation, working through dopaminergic reward pathways to reinforce and consolidate motor programs over repeated practice.

Knowledge of Results (KR) in motor learning is BEST described as:

Answer: Augmented feedback about the outcome or goal achievement of a movement

Knowledge of Results (KR) is a form of augmented feedback that provides information about the outcome or goal achievement relative to the intended goal, rather than about movement quality.

According to the systems model of motor control proposed by Shumway-Cook and Woollacott, movement emerges from:

Answer: The dynamic interaction of the task, the individual, and the environment

The systems model proposes that movement is not centrally pre-programmed but emerges dynamically from the interaction of the task demands, individual characteristics, and environmental constraints.

Which practice schedule has been shown to produce the greatest long-term retention and transfer of multiple motor skills, despite producing slower initial acquisition?

Answer: Random practice

Random practice, due to the contextual interference effect, leads to greater long-term retention and transfer because the varied scheduling enhances memory encoding and problem-solving during acquisition.