Learning Processes and Motor Skills Development

Learning Processes

Learning is the collective name for processes that produce changes in behavior. Between maturation and learning, there are several possibilities. Learning does not occur without maturation and development. There is no adaptation to the environment if there is maturation but no learning, and there is no development and no effect if there is no development. When there is maturation and learning, there is correct development and adaptation. The three forms of learning are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. There are three schools that study learning: the American, Soviet, and European.

Theory of Learning Processes

Learning cannot be considered as a whole. There are different levels, from simple to complex symbolism. The theory says that learning levels are always from simple terms. You can learn a simple task. A person can also learn the same simple task, but not through a simple mechanism, but by applying their intelligence and cognition. Automatic and attentional processes are present in any learning. The attentional process is the first part of any learning (it needs a lot of attention, is limited to short-term memory, is controlled by the subject, and is easy to modify). The automatic process is the end (it does not need a lot of attention, it is not short-term, and it is an automatic sequence). Unconscious learning is implicit, outside of consciousness. There are two types:

• Primitive unconscious learning involves a series of basic functions that are automatic and are essential components for species survival.
• Sophisticated learning depends on prior knowledge.

Motor Skills

Characteristics

• They are learned through continued, intensive, and systematic practice.
• There are interindividual differences.
• They are heterogeneous and complex.
• They always have a goal.
• There are differences between experts and novices.

Types

• By duration:
  • Discrete: Short, with a definite beginning and end.
  • Continuous: Long, with a diffuse beginning and end.
• By potential to receive feedback:
  • Closed-circuit: Receives feedback.
  • Open-circuit: Receives feedback, but there is no possibility to correct the skill.
• By involved body segments:
  • Thick: Large muscle groups, not precise externally.
  • Fine: Few muscle segments, more precise.

Stages of Learning Motor Skills

According to Fitts and Posner:

1. Cognitive or declarative phase: The student strives to learn the skill, gets information, and compares it to information already received. There is a high percentage of error due to the level of attention.
2. Associative phase or knowledge comparison: Mistakes are eliminated (approximately 50%). The skills have not been automated. Errors must be corrected.
3. Automated stage: There is a minimum error rate. The skill is almost fully automated, or added practice can be added to refine learning. There is an implied improvement in skill composition through "work by blocks," "acceleration" to increase execution speed, and "automation" to integrate those blocks.

Factors Favoring Learning

• Repetition, either routine or mental.
• The significance of the movement (a movement is significant if it resembles another already known).
• Intentional learning (the cause to learn).
• Movement pre-selection (by choosing the most implied).
• Reinstatement of the context (performing a task on the same site where it is learned results in improvement in its realization).
• The distribution of practice (learning by parties).
• Knowledge of the score (positive reinforcement).

Explanatory Theories of Motor Learning

• Open and closed-loop by Adams: Chains and motor programs of responses (executions cause stimuli for the next).
• Schema theory: Unconscious sets that are organized in the brain and fit together.