MOTOR CONTROL AND

LEARNING
 MOTOR
CONTROL
AND
LEARNING
Definition of motor control

Motor control is defined as the ability to regulate or direct

the mechanisms essential to movement
OR
The neutral, pyhsical & behavioral aspects that underline
human movement.
OR
Learning – a relatively permanent change in a person’s
capability to execute a motor skill as a result of practice
@ experience.
TYPE OF MOTOR SKILLS

 Motor skills refer to movement patterns and skills

in the physical body.
 divided into three categories; fine motor, gross
motor and balance/coordination.
 Many factors influence motor skill development
including birth weight, body build, parenting
style, ethnicity, nutrition, personality, social
class, and birth order.
 Fine motor skills involve the smaller muscles of the
body, while gross motor skills involve the larger
muscles.
 CLASSIFICATION OF
MOTOR SKILL

1) Gross and fine motor skill

2) Discrete, continuous and serial skill
3) Open and close skill
 GROSS AND FINE MOTOR SKILL
 Motor skills involve the function of muscle
movements in the entire body.

 There are two groups of motor skill:

-gross motor skill
-fine motor skill
 Gross Motor Skill
Gross motor skills direct performance of large muscle groups

Gross motor skills maneuver large muscle groups coordinating

functions for sitting, standing, walking, running, keeping balance and
changing positions.

 Throwing a ball, riding a bike, playing sports, lifting and sitting

upright are brief descriptions of large motor movements.

Gross motor skills depend upon muscle tone, the contraction of

muscles and their strength for positioning movements.
 Fine Motor Skills

 Fine motor skills coordinate precise, small

movements involving the hands, wrists, feet, toes, lips

and tongue.
Features of fine motor control include handwriting,
drawing, grasping objects, cutting and controlling a
computer mouse.
 Discrete,
continous and
serial motor skill
 Discrete skills
Movement skills that have a clear beginning
and end.
If the single skill is to be repeated then it
maust start again.
Examples include: catching a ball in cricket /
rounders
 Continuous skills

Movement skills that have no definate

beginning or end.
The end of one cycle is the beginning of
the next.
 Examples include: running and cycling
 Serial skills
Movement skills that have a
number of discrete elements that are
put together in a definate order to
make a movement or sequence.
 Examples include: gymnastics or
trampolining sequence
Open and close
skill
 Sports skills can be classified as
either open or closed motor skills.

Skills differ in terms of the...

• environment in which the skill is
performed
• the goal of the skill
close skill:
In sports where an opponents actions play
very little or no part in the performance of a
skill and skills where the athlete is in almost
total control of their performance.

The physical environment does not affect

closed skills either.
examples include figure
 Open motor skills are;

 The environment, for example, wind and rain or the

terrain can affect the performance of a skill.

 Skills affected by the environment are known as open

skills.

 They are also found in sports that involve where there

is an opposing player or team.

 Wherever there is an element of unpredictability then

the skills can be classified as open.
 STAGE OF
MOTOR SKILL
ACQUISITION
3 STAGES OF MOTOR SKILL
ACQUISITION

• 1ST STAGE : COGNITIVE SKILL

• 2ND STAGE : ASSOCIATIVE SKILL
• 3RD STAGE : AUTONOMOUS SKILL
1ST STAGE : COGNITIVE SKILL
• Develop an overall understanding of the task required (what to do?)
• Learner must first set a plan to determine the objective of the skill
• Learner needs one or two simple instructions to concentrate on the
correct skills
• Coaches should be focus on simple fundamental skills
• Conceptualisation/generation of clear mental pictures of the task is
essential for good movement reproduction
• Visual input and trial and error are used to guide the learning (eg:
demonstration, video)
• May make many errors and few success
• Rate of progress :vary from one individual to another (from a few
minutes to a much longer period)
• Example : Before a child master walking, he/she will must likely look
a bit awkward and stumble a few times
2ND STAGE : ASSOCIATIVE
STAGE
• Has determined the most effective way to do the task and to make
subtle adjustments in the performance
• Emphasis of practice
• It is important for the coach to communicate with the learner and
give regular feedback on how to refine the skill and aware of their
mistakes
• Repeated movement will enhance synchronization of mind and
muscles
• Improvement are more gradual and movements become more
consistant
• Errors become less frequent
• Example : The child taking longer,more controlled steps and allow
their arms to relax at their sides.
3RD STAGE : AUTONOMOUS
SKILL
• Most advanced level of skill acquisition
• Characterised by the ability to automatically execute the skill
• Learner is now properly sequence and perform the task
instinctively
• Movement are smooth and fast
• Learner can think of other things while they perform the skill
• It may take a long time to achieve autonomy in all skills with
many never reaching it. Improvement come slowly and training
needs to well organized and must provide a high level
motivation
• Example : the child will now be able to walk in a predictable
environment
Movement Emerges from the Interaction between
Task, Individual, Environment
 UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF
MOVEMENT


Movement is organized around both task and

environmental demands. The individual generates

movement to meet the demands of the task being

performed within a specific environment.

I- Individual Constraints on Movement

Movement arises
from the interaction
of multiple processes,
including those that
are related to action ,
perception and
cognition.
I- Individual Constraints on Movement

 Action: “ goal-directed” movements:

Control of action implies understanding the motor
output from the nervous system to the body’s effector
systems, or muscles.
The body is characterized by a high number of
muscles and joints, all of which must be controlled
during the execution of coordinated, functional
movement.
 Action: “ goal-directed” movements:

 There are also multiple ways a movement can be carried out (Multiple equivalent
solutions).

 This problem of choosing among equivalent solutions and then coordinating the many
muscles and joints involved in a movement has been referred to as the “Degrees of freedom
problem” .
I- Individual Constraints on Movement

Perception: “ Sensory integration ”

 Perception is the integration of sensory impressions
into psychologically meaningful information.

 Perception includes both peripheral sensory

mechanisms and higher-level processing that adds
interpretation and meaning to incoming afferent
information.
 Perception: “ Sensory integration ”

 Sensory/perceptual systems provide information about the state of the body (e.g., the position
of different body parts in space) and features within the environment critical to the regulation
of movement.

 Sensory/perceptual information is clearly integral to the ability to act effectively within an

environment
I- Individual Constraints on Movement

Cognition: “ Mental functions &Goal Establishment”

Movement is not usually performed in the absence of intent.
 Cognitive processes broadly to include:
 Attention
 Planning
 Problem solving
 Motivation
 Emotional aspects
 Motor control includes perception and action systems that
are organized to achieve specific goals or intents.
II-Task Constraints on Movement

• The nature of tasks

determine the
movement required.
II-Task Constraints on Movement

• Classify tasks by
– Functional category, e.g. gait, bed-
mobility, transfer
– Discrete vs. continuous e.g. grasping
vs. walking
– Stable vs. mobility, e.g. sitting vs.
walking
– Movement variability, e.g. Open vs.
Closed
III- Environmental Constraints on Movement

• Regulatory
– Essential elements that determine the movement,
e.g. chair height
• Non-regulatory
– Feature that are not essential but may affect the
performance, e.g. background noise
 Mapping of movement control
• There are three main constrains/factors
influencing movement organization:

.)Cook and Woollacott, 2008

* (
 Motor Control
Constarins

Individual Environmental
Task Constrains
Constrains Constrains

Non-Regulatory
Demographic Cognition Nature of the task Regulatory Factors
factors
Kinematic
parameters (Time -
speed of
performance)

Integrity of
controlling Perception BOS constrains
Systems

Psychological
General Health
status

*
 * The educational level and IQ level influence the motor control according to the nature of the
task and the subject experience.

*
 Task Constrains

Nature of the task BOS Time required

accomplishing the task
and speed of movement

Gross Fine Mobility Stability

Automatic/subcortical New skill/cortical Manipulation

Complex Simple

Discrete Continuous

Open movement task Closed movement task

*
 Environmental
Constrains

Non-Regulatory Factors Regulatory Factors

Stability of
Type of supporting supporting surface
Temperature Distracting factors surface
and background
noise

Structure of the
environment

Available space Furniture

/obstacles
arrangement

Colors

Lighting system

Regulatory Factors: environmental features that shape movement itself.

Non-regulatory factors: environmental features that may affect
*
performance.