This article describes a neuropsychological theory of motor skill learning that is based on the idea that learning grows directly out of motor control processes. Three motor control processes may be tuned to specific tasks, thereby improving performance: selecting spatial targets for movement, sequencing these targets, and transforming them into muscle commands. These processes operate outside ...

This paper describes how graduate students used paper-based support tools to help them acquire a complex cognitive skill during unsupervised practice, and explains why the tools were able to support the practice. The paper also explains how to design such tools and describes a comparable computer-based performance support system. Ohlsson’s (1996) theory of learning from performance errors state...

The cerebellum is involved in the update of motor commands during error-dependent learning. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a form of noninvasive brain stimulation, has been shown to increase cerebellar excitability and improve learning in motor adaptation tasks. Although cerebellar involvement has been clearly demonstrated in adaptation paradigms, a type of task that heavily re...

Motor skill learning is critical in post-stroke motor recovery, but little is known about its underlying neural substrates. Recently, using a new visuomotor skill learning paradigm involving a speed/accuracy trade-off in healthy individuals we identified three subpopulations based on their behavioral trajectories: fitters (in whom improvement in speed or accuracy coincided with deterioration in...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential long-term association of motor skill proficiency at 6 years of age and self-reported physical activity (PA) at age 26. Direct motor performance data were collected in 1991 with a follow-up study occurring in 1996, and then indirect questionnaires (self-report) administered in 2001 and 2011. In 2011, 17 participants who were identified a...

Motor-skill learning induces changes in synaptic structure and function in the primary motor cortex through the involvement of a long-term potentiation- (LTP-) like mechanism. Although there is evidence that calcium-dependent release of gliotransmitters by astrocytes plays an important role in synaptic transmission and plasticity, the role of astrocytes in motor-skill learning is not known. To ...

BACKGROUND: An understanding of how motor skill performance levels relate to energy expenditure (EE) is an important, yet relatively unexplored topic that may better inform physical activity interventions. AIM: This study examined the impact competence (MC) on EE during object control skills in children and young adults. METHOD: Forty-two (Mage 8.1 years) 40 adults = 23.4 completed sessions thr...

Nurses have a duty to the public, their profession, and themselves to maintain and demonstrate competence throughout their career. Increasing numbers of patients access health care through the emergency department, placing increased importance on ED nurses to maintain competencies. However, a consensus definition and methodology to maintain clinical competence remains elusive. Competency is an ...

This paper presents a review of the research focusing on the study of coordination and motor competence in the adolescent stage. The purpose of this article was to provide an insight into the different dimensions of adolescent motor development in the influence of the evolution of motor co-ordination at this stage of life. The review included the most relevant studies between 2000 and 2012. Inc...