Analysis of skill acquisition process: A case study of arm reaching task

2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kahori Kita ◽  
Ryu Kato ◽  
Hiroshi Yokoi ◽  
Tamio Arai
2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 1064-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Cisek ◽  
John F. Kalaska

Recent studies have shown that gaze angle modulates reach-related neural activity in many cortical areas, including the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), when gaze direction is experimentally controlled by lengthy periods of imposed fixation. We looked for gaze-related modulation in PMd during the brief fixations that occur when a monkey is allowed to look around freely without experimentally imposed gaze control while performing a center-out delayed arm-reaching task. During the course of the instructed-delay period, we found significant effects of gaze angle in 27–51% of PMd cells. However, for 90–95% of cells, these effects accounted for <20% of the observed discharge variance. The effect of gaze was significantly weaker than the effect of reach-related variables. In particular, cell activity during the delay period was more strongly related to the intended movement expressed in arm-related coordinates than in gaze-related coordinates. Under the same experimental conditions, many cells in medial parietal cortex exhibited much stronger gaze-related modulation and expressed intended movement in gaze-related coordinates. In summary, gaze direction-related modulation of cell activity is indeed expressed in PMd during the brief fixations that occur in natural oculomotor behavior, but its overall effect on cell activity is modest.


2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 812-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murat Tavlasoglu ◽  
Ahmet Baris Durukan ◽  
Hasan Alper Gurbuz ◽  
Artan Jahollari ◽  
Adem Guler

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Felix Chukwudi Oparah ◽  
Enya Ndem Bassey ◽  
Ohatu Ekoh Ohatu

This study examined the role of Non State Actors (NSAs) in strengthening the developmental capacity of the state, using a case study of Cross River State, Nigeria. Primary and secondary data on selected constituents of NSAs including Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Privately Owned Companies, Banks, Private Hospitals and Private Schools were analyzed using tables and charts. The results revealed that activities of NSAs significantly enhance the developmental capacity of Cross River State especially in the areas of provision of public services, knowledge and skill acquisition, infrastructural development and employment generation. Besides other recommendations, it was recommended that NSAs and the government should perform complementary roles in enhancing developmental capacity and that the establishment of more NSAs in the rural areas should be encouraged through the provision of special funding and other incentives for NSAs that have their offices in the rural areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 499-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Hammerbeck ◽  
Nada Yousif ◽  
Damon Hoad ◽  
Richard Greenwood ◽  
Jörn Diedrichsen ◽  
...  

Background. Recovery from stroke is often said to have “plateaued” after 6 to 12 months. Yet training can still improve performance even in the chronic phase. Here we investigate the biomechanics of accuracy improvements during a reaching task and test whether they are affected by the speed at which movements are practiced. Method. We trained 36 chronic stroke survivors (57.5 years, SD ± 11.5; 10 females) over 4 consecutive days to improve endpoint accuracy in an arm-reaching task (420 repetitions/day). Half of the group trained using fast movements and the other half slow movements. The trunk was constrained allowing only shoulder and elbow movement for task performance. Results. Before training, movements were variable, tended to undershoot the target, and terminated in contralateral workspace (flexion bias). Both groups improved movement accuracy by reducing trial-to-trial variability; however, change in endpoint bias (systematic error) was not significant. Improvements were greatest at the trained movement speed and generalized to other speeds in the fast training group. Small but significant improvements were observed in clinical measures in the fast training group. Conclusions. The reduction in trial-to-trial variability without an alteration to endpoint bias suggests that improvements are achieved by better control over motor commands within the existing repertoire. Thus, 4 days’ training allows stroke survivors to improve movements that they can already make. Whether new movement patterns can be acquired in the chronic phase will need to be tested in longer term studies. We recommend that training needs to be performed at slow and fast movement speeds to enhance generalization.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zheng ◽  
Chris Smith

This article examines social relations in language learning through a case study of two cohorts of Chinese workers in a Japanese multinational company (MNC). The two cohorts weigh learning Japanese in the context of internal and external opportunities, and pursue different strategies – deliberative acquisition and deliberative opposition. Exploring the broader meanings of language learning beyond skill acquisition, the article suggests that language is more than an individual asset or a common code for workers to build collective power. Social reproduction of language is embedded in workers’ choice of pathways for social mobility which was created in the social transition and has shifted over time in China. These findings make a contribution to the sociology of language training in work, by challenging structural and cultural theories that underplay the agency of workers in assessing language as a resource for labour power development.


1976 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Velta Rūķe-Draviņa

The concern of this case study is to show how the parental terms for ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’ in Latvian are acquired, paying particular attention to the changing relationship between the input and output forms during the acquisition process. We may note here three questions which we shall attempt to answer. (1) Are parental terms the earliest words used spontaneously by the young child? (2) Does their ‘easier’ word structure allow the child to acquire the adult forms for these words earlier than is the case for the rest of the vocabulary? (3) Do the function and meaning of these parental terms correspond to those of the adults', and if not, what is the difference? And how stable are the meanings of these words during the first years of life?


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document