Constant and random practice on learning of volleyball serve

The type of practice can influence what is learned from a motor skill. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the constant and random practice on the learning of Generalized Motor Program and parameters of the volleyball serve. The sample was composed of 20 children between 10 and 12 years old. The participants performed a pre-test whose score was adopted to counterbalance two groups (n=10), random practice and constant practice. During the acquisition phase, the random group performed 252 serves from three different positions, always indicated at the end of each serve, and the constant group performed all serves from only a specific position. The retention test showed that both groups learned the Generalized Motor Program, but random practice conducted to higher parameterization learning, resultant from the variable of practice. During practice of a sport motor skills, although the constant and random practice improve the learning of Generalized Motor Program, only the random practice improves learning of parameters of the motor skill.

A Novel Investigation of Generalized Motor Program Theory: Syllable Stress as a Motor-Class Variable

Purpose This experiment evaluated syllable-stress position as a motor class directed by a syllable-sized generalized motor program. Reaction times were predicted to be slower for stimuli with untrained stress patterns outside the trained motor class. Furthermore, reaction times were predicted to be stable for untrained stimuli within the same motor class regardless of phonetic similarity. Method Twenty-three young adults with typical speech and hearing participated in a motor-learning study comprised of motor-class training and a judgment task. Reaction times derived from the judgment task were evaluated using a within-subject repeated-measures design to evaluate the effects of syllable-stress position on stimulus type. Results Reaction times were not significantly different across proposed syllable-stress motor-class boundaries. However, reaction times for the stimuli within the same motor class were significantly different. To be specific, slower reaction times were associated with untrained stimuli that were phonetically similar to the trained stimuli. Conclusions The proposed hypotheses for syllable stress as a motor class were not met. Results indicate that multiple stimulus features, including syllable stress and phoneme similarity, may be encoded into memory during motor learning. Future research should evaluate how phonetic similarity of stimuli may influence motor-learning outcomes. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5116837

Reconstruction of Human Skills by Using PCA and Transferring them to a Robot

This paper discusses human skills enabling rapid adaptation to a changing environment, e.g., when a human table tennis player hits an incoming ball, and describes how to transfer these skills to a robot. Human skills are classified into motor and cognitive. Motor skills are functions involving precise limb movement with the intent to perform a specific act, i.e., hitting a ball. Cognitive skills are functions involving meaningful responses to external stimuli. We extract these skills from observing human movement using principal component analysis and generalize these skills as a schema for a generalized motor program. We also describe table tennis matches between a human opponent and a robot to which these skills have been transferred.

Average-Kr Schedule Benefits Generalized Motor Program Learning

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of average Knowledge of Results (KR) on generalized motor program learning and parameter learning. Two groups of participants ( n = 15 per group) performed 80 acquisition trials of sequential timing tasks. All participants were asked to depress sequentially four keys (2, 4, 8, and 6) on the numeric pad portion of the computer keyboard with the index finger of the right hand. The author presented average feedback on timing errors based on 5-trial blocks and compared this feedback schedule with every-trial feedback. Analysis of the delayed no-feedback retention test indicated a strong advantage for the average KR compared with the every-trial condition in both generalized motor program learning and parameter learning. The current results suggest that the average KR schedule may have positive effects on generalized motor program learning and parameter learning.