HLSC 3410

Motor Control and Learning

Dr. Nicholas T. Antony

Email: Nicholas.Antony@uoit.ca
 Course Syllabus

 Course is divided into lecture and laboratory components

• Lectures: Tuesday (5:10 – 8:00pm)
• Labs: Thursday and Friday (9:10 – 11:00am, 11:40 – 1:30 pm, 2:10 –
4:00pm)

 5 individual labs
• Focus on clinical and research applications of lecture material
• 2 weeks to complete each laboratory
• Lab grade dependant on attendance and submission of a lab report
• Email TA to schedule alternate lab time for missed lab
 Evaluation

Lab Completion (25%): 5 x 5% = 25% (Due at beginning of following lab)

Mid-term (30%): MARCH 8th, 2017

Assignment (20%): TBA (last week of semester)

Final Exam (35%): CUMMULATIVE (Exam date and time scheduled by Registrar)
Required Text

Richard Magill and David Anderson

Motor Control And Learning: Concepts

and Applications (11th edition)

ISBN: 1259823997
 Course Description

 Course aims to develop a critical approach to understanding

human movement
• Expands on principles of applied neuroscience established in HLSC
2400U: Introduction of Movement Neuroscience
• Introduces psychological and behavioural principles underlying
human motor control and learning

 Course topics include:

o Classification and measurement of motor performance
o Role of sensory processes
o Memory and attention
o Feedback and Practice
 Learning Outcomes
 Further understanding of the neural and musculoskeletal systems and
their interaction to produce movement

 Investigate the many theoretical approaches that drive motor control and
learning research

 Study the contemporary theories on how the motor system produces

coordinated movement and skills

 Evaluate how the human body acquires and retains learned motor skills

 Discuss the methods for achieving maximum performance and retention

of skills
 Lecture Outline

1. Introduction to motor skills and abilities

• What is motor control, learning, development

2. Skills, actions, movements and neuromotor processes

3. The classification of motor skills

• One-dimension classification systems
• Gentiles two-dimension taxonomy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5cdYuMRJ78
 Part 1:
Introduction to Motor Skills and
Abilities
 Introduction

Why Study Motor Learning?

 We are born to move but learn to move skillfully

 Skill is a biological imperative; without it, we would

quickly perish
o Skill is vital to our sense of control of the world around us
o We depend on our capacity to learn and perform motor skills

 Humans are unrivaled in their capacity for acquiring skill

 Introduction

Movement = Performance of Motor Skills

 When people move they are engaged in the performance of a

type of human behaviour called motor skills

 Motor skills are a product of skill acquisition through learning

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYW68cP55ak
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K_SR4P-Xx8
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2aZNnIdq5k

Clinical: loss of coordination and control of motor skills following

injury, disease and disability
 Motor Control and Learning
Control vs. Learning
 Both areas of study focus on the performance of motor
skills

 Motor Skills: are activities or tasks that require

voluntary control over movements of the joints and
body segments to achieve a goal

Researchers study motor skills in many ways

 Motor Learning

 Motor learning involves the study of:

1. The acquisition of motor skills
2. The performance enhancement of learned or highly
experienced motor skills
3. The reacquisition of skills following injury and
disease

Clinical: What type of feedback can be given during

learning of a motor skill which will influence acquisition?
 Motor Learning
Four characteristics of learning motor skills:

1. Process
o Set of events that lead to a specific outcome or change (skill acquisition)
2. Practice
o Skill development, or increased capability to perform a movement or action
3. Learning is inferred
o Based on observation
o Where does the “learning” occur?
4. Relatively Permanent
o Examples?

Motor learning is a set of processes associated with practice or experience

leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled movement
 Motor Control

 Motor control: involves the study of the

behavioural and neuromuscular mechanisms
which produce coordinated movement
 While learning a new skill
 While performing a well-learned skill

Clinical: What is the difference between

performing new and learned motor skills? How is
coordination altered by practice?
 Motor Control
Levels of study and analysis:
a) Observational and Behavioural
• Relation between performance and environment
• Whether skill was performed accurately and efficiently

b) Biomechanical
• Mechanical and physical basis of movement

c) Neurophysiological and Neuroanatomical

• Central nervous system organization and control/coordination
of multiple muscles to produce complex (and simple) motor
outputs
• Role of sensory input
 Motor Control

Why study motor control?

 Goal to understand the affect of different variables on
motor performance
o Reaction, speed-accuracy trade-off, memory, attention,
feedback, force control, multi-task performance, automaticity,
arousal, stress, expert-novice

 Research began to develop guidelines in physical

therapy and rehabilitation settings
o Important for physical therapists (Physiotherapy, Chiropractic,
Athletic Therapy and Occupational Therapy etc.)
 Motor Development

 Motor development involves the study of motor

behaviour from infancy to old age
• Issues related to both motor learning or motor
control
• Greater emphasis on growth and maturation

Clinical: How do the elderly compare with young

adults in navigating through a crowded hallway to
avoid collision with other people
 Factors That Influence Motor Skill Learning and
Performance

 Research assumes motor skills performance is

influenced by 3 factors:

1. The specific motor skill

2. The performance environment

3. The physical and psychological characteristics

of the person performing the skill
Factors That Influence Motor Skill Learning and
Performance
 Part 2:
Skills, Actions, Movements and
Neuromotor Processes
 Skills, Actions and Movements

 Several terms are used in motor control and

learning research – skills, actions, movements
and neuromotor processes

 What is a skill?
a) Tasks or activities that have specific goals to achieve
(action goals)
b) Require voluntary control over movements of the
joints and body segments (no reflexes)
 Skill or Reflex?

Wink = Skill
Blink = Reflex

Winks and Blinks are similar movements

But…
Very different neural characteristics
 Motor Skills

“Skill” also used as an indicator of quality of

performance

 Characteristics of being ‘skilled’:

• Goal is achieved with maximum certainty
• Goal can be achieved under a wide range of
conditions
• Goal is achieved with minimum effort
 Motor Skills vs. Cognitive skills

Evaluate motor vs. cognitive contributions

 Cognitive:
o Outcome determined by cognitive component not motor
o May utilize motor skills; but they are not primary
o Decision making maximized
Performing calculus requires cognitive skill

 Motor:
o Opposite!
o Motor control maximized, decision making minimized
Sidney Crosby is a highly skilled athlete
 Motor Skills vs. Cognitive skills

Evaluate motor vs. cognitive contributions

 Skills, Actions and Movements

 Actions: Term often used synonymously with

the term “motor skills”
o Must be learned or relearned for goal to be achieved

 Movements: Specific patterns of motion among

joints and body segments
o Movements are the component parts of motor skills
o Individual motor skills can be accomplished through
a variety of different movements
 Skills, Actions and Movements

 Movements and Actions - the relationship between can

described as:

 Many-to-One: meaning a single action goal can be

accomplished by a number of different movements
• Going upstairs: one-leg at a time, two stairs at once etc.

 One-to-Many: meaning one movement can be utilized in

a number of different action goals
• Jumping: high jump, hurdles, skipping, jump shot etc.
 Skills, Actions and Movements

 Neuromotor Processes: Are the neuroanatomical and

neurophysiological mechanisms of movement
• Involves the interaction between the central nervous system and
musculoskeletal system

 Many-to-One: with a multitude of firing patterns and motor

recruitment strategies producing the same movements

 One-to-Many: with similar muscle contractions used in

different types of movement
 Skills, Actions and Movements
Why distinguish between neuromotor processes,
movements, skills/actions?

 People initially learn to achieve action goals

 People use a variety of movements to achieve the same action goal

 People use a variety of neuromotor processes to perform the same

movement

 Different measures are used to evaluate actions, movements, and

neuromotor processes
 Part 3:
The Classification of Motor Skills
The Classification of Motor Skills

Why Classify Motor Skills?

 The Classification of Motor Skills

 Provides basis for identifying

similarities/differences among skills

 Helps identify demands different skills place

on performer/learner

 Provides basis for developing principles

related to performing and learning motor skills
 Motor Skill Classification Systems

We will evaluate two classification groups:

1. 3 One-Dimensional Systems

2. Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy

• Environmental context
• Function of the action
 One-Dimensional Systems

Different classification methods:

1) Size of primary musculature involved in action

2) Specificity of where actions begin and end

3) Stability of the environmental context

 1. Size of Involved Musculature
 Two categories:
1. Gross motor skills - require the use of large
musculature to achieve the goal of the skill
• e.g. walking, jumping

2. Fine motor skills - require control of small

muscles to achieve the goal of the skill
• e.g. skills involving hand/eye coordination
 1. Size of Involved Musculature
Is it OK to separate these terms as bluntly as suggested?

 Many actions would fall under a continuum involving both

large and small muscle groups

 Classification useful in research and rehabilitation

environments
 2. Specificity of Beginning and End

 Two main categories

1. Discrete motor skills - specified beginning and end points, usually
require a simple movement
• e.g. flipping a light switch

2. Continuous motor skills - arbitrary beginning and end points;

usually involve repetitive movements
• e.g. steering a car

 Combination category: Serial motor skills

o Involve a continuous series of discrete skills
• e.g. shifting gears in a stick shift car
 2. Specificity of Beginning and End
Continuum again…

 Classification system especially prevalent in motor control research

• Distinctions between performance of discrete and continuous motor skills
 3. Stability of the Environmental Context

 “Environmental Context” is the physical

location / setting in which a skill is performed

 3 specific features:
1. Supporting surface
2. Objects
3. Other people
 3. Stability of the Environmental Context

 Two main categories:

1. Closed motor skills – involve a stationary supporting surface,
object, and/or other people
• Self-paced: performer determines when to begin the action
• e.g. picking up a cup while seated at a table

2. Open motor skill – involve supporting surface, object, and/or

other people in motion
• Externally-paced: environmental features determine when to begin
the action
• e.g. catching a thrown ball
 3. Stability of the Environmental Context

Closed Skills:
• Environment doesn’t change (predictable)

Open Skills:
• Environment in motion (change unpredictably)

 Classification system popular in instructional and rehabilitation fields

 Useful in research to infer demands placed upon individual

 Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy
 Taxonomy: A classification system organized according to
relationships among the component characteristics of what is
being classified

 One-dimensional classifications too limited in describing the

complexity of different motor skills

 Gentile developed system considering two general

characteristics (Gentile, 2000)
1. Environmental context in which the person performs the skill
2. Function of the actions characterizing the skill

 Developed for physical therapists to assess patient

movement problems and selecting appropriate exercises
 Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy
Function of the Action

Stability Transport

No Manipulation Manipulation No Manipulation Manipulation

Environmental Context

No
ITV 1A 1B 1C 1D
Stationary

ITV 2A 2B 2C 2D

No
ITV 3A 3B 3C 3D
In Motion

ITV 4A 4B 4C 4D
Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy
Environmental Context

No inter-trial Sitting on your

variability favorite chair
Regulatory Conditions

Stationary
(closed skill) Inter-trial
High Jump
variability

Walking on a
No inter-trial treadmill:
variability constant speed
In-Motion

Inter-trial Hitting a
variability pitched ball
 Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy

Environmental context:

a) Regulatory conditions – features of environment* to

which movements must conform to for achievement
of the goal
• *Object, surfaces, other people
• Tool asks: Are the regulatory conditions stable or in motion

b) Non-regulatory conditions – features of environment

that have no or an indirect effect on movement
 Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy
Environmental context:

 Regulatory conditions example: A drinking cup could

vary in size, shape, weight, texture, orientation,
position relative to performer
o Each variation requires modification of movement (or
underlying forces) to reach, grasp, manipulate the cup

c. Intertrial variability – occurs with variations in the

regulatory conditions from one trial to the next
Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy

Function of the Action

Body Stability Body Transport

No Manipulation Manipulation No Manipulation Manipulation

Climbing
Writing at a across a Walking while
Handstand desk jungle gym texting on phone
 Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy
Function of the action:
a) Body stability – maintaining base of support in
one position

b) Body transport – changing the location of the

base of support
• Can occur on object (car, bike, skateboard, escalator)
• Requires active processing of change of position
relative to the surround

c) Manipulation – maintaining/changing position of

moveable objects
 Gentile’s Two-Dimensional Taxonomy
Function of the Action

Stability Transport

No Manipulation Manipulation No Manipulation Manipulation

Environmental Context

No
ITV 1A 1B 1C 1D
Stationary

ITV 2A 2B 2C 2D

No
ITV 3A 3B 3C 3D
In Motion

ITV 4A 4B 4C 4D
 Characteristics of Gentile’s Taxonomy
 Each category puts different demands on the
performer

 Skill complexity basis for taxonomy organization

o From simplest [#1A] diagonally to most complex [#4D]

 Complexity increases when a motor skill involves one

or more of the following:
o Open environment
o Trial-to-trial variability
o Object manipulation
o Body transport
How would you classify this task?
How would you classify this task?
 Characteristics of Gentile’s Taxonomy
 Guide for evaluating motor performance
capabilities, limitations, and deficiencies

 Systematic basis for selecting progressions of

functionally appropriate activities to
o increase performance capabilities
o overcome performance deficiencies

 Chart person’s progress

o Develop an individual profile of competencies