O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar os efeitos do tipo de modelo, boneca e humano, na aprendizagem das habilidades motoras do nado sincronizado, mais especificamente na figura tina (Experimento 1), bem como os efeitos da ordem da apresentação do modelo, boneca-humano ou humano-boneca na aprendizagem da mesma figura (Experimento 2). Participaram do Experimento 1, 20 sujeitos, partindo dos seguintes critérios de inclusão: voluntários do sexo feminino, com idade média de 23,1 anos (DP= 4,1), adaptados ao meio aquático, capazes de deslocar-se na parte rasa da piscina, de flutuar com auxílio das mãos, sem experiência anterior com qualquer das habilidades do nado sincronizado. A tarefa consistiu na execução da tina, que compreende a execução de uma sequência composta por 3 posições e 2 movimentos de transição: (1) Posição Inicial; (2) Transição para a tina; (3) Posição de Tina; (4) Transição para a posição final; e, (5) Posição Final. Os sujeitos foram distribuídos em dois grupos de 10 participantes cada, o grupo modelo boneca (GB) e o grupo modelo humano (GH). Após um pré-teste composto de seis tentativas consecutivas de execução da tina a partir de instrução verbal, todos executaram 60 tentativas a partir de demonstração e instrução verbal. As demonstrações tanto do modelo boneca como do modelo humano foram fornecidas a cada tentativa, por vídeo. Após intervalo de 10 minutos, todos foram submetidos a um pós-teste, também composto de seis tentativas consecutivas de execução da tina a partir de instrução verbal. No dia seguinte, todos os sujeitos, independente do grupo foram submetidos ao teste de retenção, composto de dois blocos de 6 tentativas, sem qualquer tipo de instrução. A amostra do Experimento 2 foi constituída por 20 sujeitos, voluntários do sexo feminino, com idade média de 21,6 anos (DP= 2,8), adaptados ao meio aquático, capazes de deslocar-se na parte rasa da piscina, de flutuar com auxílio das mãos, sem experiência anterior com qualquer das habilidades do nado sincronizado, cuja tarefa era a mesma do Experimento 1, a execução da tina. Foram formados dois grupos de 10 participantes, sendo um deles com modelo boneca seguido de modelo humano e outro com modelo humano seguido de boneca. Após a aplicação de pré-teste, somente com instrução verbal, cada grupo executou 10 blocos de aquisição. Dez minutos após a fase de aquisição, os sujeitos executaram um bloco pós-teste, em que só foi fornecida instrução verbal, seguido, no dia seguinte, de dois blocos de teste de retenção, cada um constituído de seis tentativas. Entre os blocos 1 e 5 da fase de aquisição, as participantes receberam uma demonstração a cada tentativa de seu primeiro modelo, boneca ou humano, de acordo com seu grupo. Do bloco 6 ao 10 da fase de aquisição, as participantes receberam uma demonstração a cada tentativa do segundo modelo, humano ou boneca. Os resultados mostraram que nas medidas de desempenho global e de desempenho por componente não houve efeito do tipo de modelo, boneca ou humano (Experimento 1) e da ordem de apresentação do modelo na aprendizagem da tina do nado sincronizado. Nesse sentido concluiu-se que o modelo apresentado na demonstração associado à instrução verbal, não afeta a aprendizagem da tina, podendo ser utilizada a boneca e ou o modelo humano / The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of the type of model, synchro doll and human, in the motor learning process of Synchronized Swimming skills, particularly the tub figure (Experiment 1), as well as the effects of the sequence of models presentation in the learning process of the tub, synchro doll followed by the human model, or the human model prior to the synchro doll (Experiment 2). Experiment I was based on the performance of 20 female volunteer subjects, average age 23,1 years old (SD =4,1), adapted to aquatic environment, able to move on the shallow part of the pool and to fluctuate without using their hands. The task consisted of tub figure of the Synchronized Swimming consisting of 5 positions and 2 transition movements: starting position, tub transition, tub position, final transition and final position. After a pre-test in which all made 6 consecutive trials with verbal task description, the subjects were distributed in two groups consisting of 10 participants which, and made 60 trials with verbal task description and one demonstration per trial, the latter consisting of video instruction showing either a synchro doll model, or a human model. After 10 minutes all were submitted to a post-test, which consisted of 6 consecutive trials with verbal instructions only. On the following day, the subjects of both groups were submitted to a retention test, composed of two sessions of 6 consecutive trials with no instructions at all. In Experiment 2, 20 novice female subjects, average age 21,6 years old (SD = 2,8), adapted to aquatic environment, able to move on the shallow part of the pool and to fluctuate without using their hands had the same task as in Experiment 1, the performance of the five task components of the tub: starting position, tub transition, tub position, final transition and final position. Two groups of 10 participants were formed, one of them having the synchro doll model prior to the human model, and the other with the human model followed by the synchro doll model. After the pre-test in which all made 6 consecutive trials with verbal task description, each subject was submitted to 10 acquisition sessions. Ten minutes after those, the subjects were submitted to a post-test with verbal instructions only and, on the following day, 2 sessions of retention tests, consisting of 6 trials which, with no instructions at all. During the acquisition sessions 1 to 5 the subjects received one demonstration per trial of the first model, either synchro doll or human, according to their group, During the acquisition sessions 6 to 10 the participants received one demonstration per trial of the other model, either human or synchro doll. The results show that the type of model and the presentation sequence did not affect the global performance nor the performance of the components. So it was concluded that the model presented in demonstration associated to the verbal instructions does not affect tub learning, making it possible to use either the doll or the human model in any sequence

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of determining the relationship of selected abilities to motor skill performance. Specifically this study analysed the performance trend on a gross motor task to determine the degree of relationship between the abilities: agility, balance, depth perception, flexibility, reaction time and speed of arm movement, and strength and performance scores on a wall volley task at successive stages of task practice.

No description available.

Movement is the key to animal behavior. From fighting off predators to reaching for food, our survival relies on movement. Losing the ability to move the body through the world in a purposeful way would be dire. We learn to perform a wide variety of actions, which require exact motor control. How are such skilled actions refined over time? The neural mechanism of motor learning has been posited to arise from integrating neuronal signals about motor commands, environmental context, and outcome through the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic loop. Here, I investigate the role of two thalamic nuclei — the parafascicular (Pf) and ventroanterior/ventrolateral (VAL) —in the process of motor learning. In an introductory Chapter 1, I introduce some key behavioral signatures of motor learning and the distributed neural circuity for movement through the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic network. Pf and VAL are at the center of this network. Both receive basal ganglia output but differ in primary projection patterns. Pf sends large excitatory projections directly to the striatum (the main input area of the basal ganglia), while VAL projects back to the cortex. Despite their critical place in the movement system, little is known about their changing roles in motor learning. In Chapter 2, I highlight a novel skilled forelimb joystick target task for mice; the JTT. In the JTT, head-fixed mice learn reaches to spatial targets in 2D space by moving an unrestricted joystick without visual feedback. This task allows for multiple windows of learning and refinement of various reaches in space. Over the learning of targeted reaching movements, mice increase their accuracy and individual trajectories become less variable, showing that they have learned the location of the target in space, and also refine the reaching movements. In Chapter 3, I use 2-photon calcium imaging of the forelimb-related areas of Pf and VAL to investigate how their activity changes over learning of forelimb reaching actions. Both Pf and VAL are highly engaged during movements. Neural population engagement of Pf decreases over time, suggesting a specific role early in learning. Additionally, the underlying neural dynamics of Pf and VAL shift and occupy different state spaces over learning, as shown through principal component analysis. To investigate if neural activity in Pf or VAL encodes behavioral information, we used a ridge regression model to predict the initial direction of movements from neural data. We were able to predict the initial direction from Pf activity on early training days, but not from VAL. In Chapter 4, I performed pre and post-learning lesions to Pf or VAL to investigate if they are needed for learning and/or performance of targeted reaches. Results show that Pf is needed for learning, but not the performance of accurate spatial reaches. VAL, on the other hand, does not affect the learning or performance of target reaches, but does affect the speed of movements. In a discussion-based Chapter 5, I summarize these above experiments, which suggest different roles for PF and VAL over learning of multiple targeted reaches, and reflect on future directions of my findings in the broader context of motor learning research in neuroscience. In particular, my findings highlight a novel and critical role for Pf in learning and processing directional information during early skill learning. This work demonstrates that the thalamus is an essential node of the brain networks involved in motor learning.

The spatial perceptions (i.e., ability to find hidden objects) of infants were tested and compared to their self-mobility and gender. Sixteen infants, eight males and eight females, were tested four times over a nine-week period. The testing was begun with each infant two to three weeks after the infant had begun to crawl.

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There is strong evidence that certain neurophysiological processes link action and observation (Higuchi et al., 2012), which supports the idea that learning a motor skill is enhanced via skill observation (Hayes et al., 2010). Skill learning through observation is optimized when the observation includes a combination of expert and novice models (Rohbanfard and Proteau, 2011). The purported advantage lies in the two types of models’ dissimilar ability (Andrieux & Proteau, 2013). The novice model is characterized by larger margins of error that manifest as variable attempts. Increased variability has been shown to be beneficial in physical practice (Moxley, 1979). The purpose of the first study was to examine the observation of novice variability effect to explore whether it is Schmidt’s (1975) generalized motor programs or schema parameterization representations that is acquired when observing modeled performances. Participants engaged in an observational period in which they observed a criterion model with no variability, a model demonstrating absolute timing variability, a model demonstrating relative timing variability, or a model demonstrating variability in both relative and absolute timing. The results indicate that variability in relative timing information contributes to observational learning, which suggests that generalized motor programs are acquired through observation but not schematic parameterizations. The purpose of the second study was to apply the Rohbanfard and Proteau (2011) paradigm in the medical education context by exploring the impact of video-based observational practice on the clinical learning. First year medical students learned a common surgical skill by observing expert demonstrations of the skill, novice demonstrations, or demonstrations by both an expert and novice model. The study demonstrated a robust effect of observational learning in that all groups improved over time regardless of the type of model they observed. Both studies highlight that an expert model may be the most beneficial when engaging in observational practice. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Humans are constantly faced with learning motor tasks throughout their lifespan (e.g., children learning how to throw a ball overhand, elite athletes learning how to become more even more efficient at their sports performance, and an older adult relearning how to walk post-stroke recovery). With such variety in the types of motor tasks that humans try to learn across the lifespan, little is known about the impact of a learner’s previous motor skill experience. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to investigate when motor learning generalizability or specificity are more likely to occur, respectively. An in-depth background of motor learning generalizability and specificity was provided in chapter one. The scope of the motor learning literature including generalizability and/or specificity was investigated in chapter two. At the end of chapter two, certain limitations of the motor learning literature are addressed and framed into a useable checklist for future motor learning experiments. Chapter three serves as a bridging chapter to connect the scoping review and checklist in chapter two, to the framework implemented in chapter four. In chapter four, the checklist was employed to assess its usefulness in future motor learning experiments. Collectively, this thesis provides organization to the previous motor learning generalizability and specificity literature, as well as recommendations for future motor learning researchers based on a tested framework protocol. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Our previous movement experiences can impact our capability to learn new motor tasks. These previous movement experiences can be either beneficial or detrimental (or have no effect) on our learning of that task depending on many different things with no real definitive answers to why the outcomes differ and when. The purpose of this thesis is to review how prior motor skill practice may be beneficial to future motor skill learning (generalizability), detrimental to learning, or no effect (specificity) and to organize these findings into a new ‘types of transfer’ taxonomy, create a framework to help guide future motor learning research and conduct an experiment that follows this framework. By considering and organizing this large motor learning literature into a review, creating this taxonomy and outlining an empirical investigative framework, this thesis will help us to better understand motor learning history and provide a pathway forward for future researchers.

As motor learning in individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been poorly elucidated, this study aimed to apply an acute aerobic exercise (AE), well-known intervention favorable to motor learning in typically developing individuals, to assist people with ID in motor learning, and examine its underlying mechanisms via EF and EEG assessments. 17 adults with ID (11 males, aged 31.41 ± 9.7, & mental aged 7.69 ± 3.06) participated in this within-group counterbalanced study. They participated in 2 interventions, a vigorous treadmill walking (AE) or seated rest (CON) condition, with having a month of wash-out period in between interventions. The pre-test, post-test, 24-hour retention test, and 7-day retention test was administered, and each testing phase administered a golf putt performance under both original (i.e., with guideline) and transfer putt tasks (i.e., without guideline), EF (i.e., Knock and Tap test, forward and backward Digit span test, forward and backward Corsi block test), and resting EEG assessment. Golf putting accuracy in post-test was not significantly different from the pre-test; however, the putt accuracy under the transfer putt task indicated an interaction effect at 24-hour retention test phase compared to pre-test, F(1, 32) = 5.26, p = .03, ηp2 = .14, and paired t-test indicated a near significant improvement in putt accuracy in AE (p = .07), but not in CON condition (p = .23). The pre-test and 7-day retention phases did not indicate a significant effect on golf putt skill. As EF variables and resting EEG temporal alpha asymmetry (TAA) remained unchanged throughout the procedure, underlying mechanisms of change in putt skill need to be further investigated. This study revealed a trend that the AE positively influenced golf putt accuracy and offline motor memory consolidation at 24-hour retention phase, but the effects were not statistically significant. Given that the study procedure did not include practice blocks, the observed positive impact of AE on golf putt accuracy is promising; thus, a future study is recommended to further verify the benefit of AE on motor learning in individuals with ID, as well as with rigorous EF and EEG measures to elucidate possible underlying mechanisms of AE-dependent improvement in motor skill.

No description available.