Question

How might you study motor learning? For example, how could you study what happens when someone is learning a new dance sequence? What kinds of questions did Libet’s experiments raise?

Answer 1

Motor learning is a set of internal processes associated with practice or experience leading to relatively permanent changes in the capability for skilled behavior. Motor learning leads to complex processes in the brain that occur in response to practice or experience of a motor skill leading to changes in the central nervous system that allow for learning of a new motor skill.

While learning a new motor skill, like dance sequences, there are three stages of learning:

Cognitive Stage– This is the initial stage of motor learning.The goal of this stage is to develop an overall knowledge of the skill. The learner determines the objective of learning this news kills and the environmental factor that will affect the ability to produce the skill. An optimal environment with lack of distractions is very crucial for effective learning. The learner focuses on visual input and trial and error to for learning the skill. Example: Before learning a new dance routine, one will most likely look a bit awkward and will definitely make mistakes a few times. The learner visually observes the trainer performing the routine. So making mistakes is a part of the learning process.

Associative Stage – The learner begins to demonstrate a more refined movement in this stage as result of the continuous practice.The learner identifies the environmental factors that affect the production of the new skill. Proprioceptive cues become more important than visual skills in this stage. They are the cues the learners receive from their body and movements.They improve with practice. Example: During the initial stages of learning the dance routine, the learner learns to demonstrate smaller coordinated movements. Their movements become more controlled and the number of mistakes become lesser and lesser. These behaviors indicate that the learner has moved past the initial stage of learning and has progressed to a more refined movement.

Autonomous Stage – This is the final stage of learning.The skills become more automatic in this stage. The learner can demonstrate the learned skill in any environment with little cognitive involvement. Example: The learner can now perform the dance routine facing an audience on a stage.

The learning process is influenced by a lot of factors like motivation of the learner, feedback received, environmental factors, quality of practice etc

Libet's experiment showed that our brains initiate conscious voluntary movements as well as the will to move before we are consciously aware of the will to move. Libet’s 1983 experiment demonstrated that brain activity involving a decision to flex a finger or wrist occurred several hundred milliseconds before the person became aware of his/her decision to move. The Libet experiment questioned conscious voluntary movement and provoked considerable interest and intense controversy, and lead to further research in the area.

Source:

https://starfishtherapies.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/motor-learning-stages-of-motor-learning-and-strategies-to-improve-acquisition-of-motor-skills/

https://www.bethinking.org/human-life/the-libet-experiment-and-its-implications-for-conscious-will