Module

JMJ Marists Brothers

Notre Dame of Marbel University
College of Education

1 PHYSICAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

EDFPE 104 Principles of Motor Control and Learning of

Exercise, Sports and Dance
Jethro Carl H. Arandallo, MAED

Lesson 4: Principles and Theories in Human Movement

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, the students can:
 discuss briefly the different theories in motor skill learning through a worksheet;
 classify appropriately the movement constraints through various situations; and
 apply correctly its understanding of open-loop, close-loop controls through given
examples.

BTI: 2.5.1. Demonstrate knowledge of learning environments that motivate learners to

work productively by assuming responsibility for their own learning.

Introduction
Human motor skills are amazingly complex. The body contains over 600 muscles
and more than 200 bones, forming an intricate system of levers and pulleys capable of
producing the extensive variety of movements underlying human motor skills. This
mechanical arrangement of bone and muscle is further connected through the
networking of a vast array of nerves, making possible the infinite patterning of actions
seen in human movement.

Although the degrees of freedom available in the human motor system make possible
the great flexibility inherent in motor skills, they also inform a significant intellectual
problem for those attempting to understand the acquisition and control of such skills.
How is this intricate system of interconnected bones, muscles, and nerves coordinated
so that the movements underlying skilled actions are controlled? How can the

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contributions of millions of individual nerve and muscle cells be harnessed to act in
unison toward the accomplishment of specific skills? How do humans adapt and learn to
control their movements in new ways? To begin answering such questions, researchers
embed their thinking within scientific theories capable of connecting the many facets
concerning motor skills revealed through research. A theory and principles provide
perspective, allowing you to see how individual facts are connected to form a single,
meaningful picture of human movement (Edwards, 2011).

In this lesson, you will learn the different scientific theories and theoretical
approaches as well as their strengths and weaknesses underlying the contemporary
study of motor skills. As you study the individual elements of motor skills, a solid grasp
of theory will place them in a broader and more meaningful perspective.

Acquisition of New Knowledge

A scientific theory is a statement or set of statements that relates observations
about a specific phenomenon of interest in a coherent, logical, and testable way. A good
theory does two things. First, it accounts for a significantly large class of observations
on the basis of only a few simple, though powerful, propositions. Second, it makes
definite predictions about the results of future observations – it is testable.

For example, Einstein’s theory of special relativity is based upon two simple
propositions: that the speed of light is the same for any observer regardless of his or her
relative speed, and that the laws of physics as described by Newton will always be the
same for observers in the same inertial (i.e., non-accelerating) frame of reference.
Given these two simple statements, Einstein’s theory has successfully predicted the
expansion and structure of the universe, the properties of subatomic particles, the
principles of nuclear power, and provided the necessary guidelines for sending space
vehicles to other planets in our solar system.

Hypothesis is an educated guess based upon previous observations. It usually

describes how one thing is guessed to have an effect on another thing, which is then
tested experimentally. A hypothesis can be proven false, but never proven to be true-it
is accepted, however, until it may be disproved in future experiments.

Theory summarizes a significant group of hypotheses that have supported the same
conclusions about something through repeated testing. One way to consider a theory is
to define as the acceptance of a large number of hypotheses. A theory is considered to
be valid as long as there is no evidence to dispute it (this can be a point of major
contention between scientists of competing views).

Law generalizes a large body of scientific observations, usually of many experiments

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over a substantial period of time that have tested something in a broad diversity of
ways. At the time it is postulated, no exemptions have been found to the law. Scientific
laws explain things rather than describing them as do theories.

Principle is a proposition or value that is a guide for behavior or evaluation. In law, it is

a rule that has to be or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an
inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way
that a system is constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its
users as the essential characteristics of the system, or reflecting system's designed
purpose, and the effective operation or use of which would be impossible if any one of
the principles was to be ignored.

Two Major Theoretical Approaches

1. Closed systems (focuses on the central nervous system) are those in which
control is explained entirely by processes inherent within the control system itself
and which are capable of meeting system goals in isolation from the surrounding
environment.
2. Open control system is a system that interacts with the environment outside of
itself and responds to external influences in its mechanics of control. In this
theoretical approach, the body and its various systems, including the central
nervous system, hold no privileged position in controlling bodily actions, with the
larger environment playing just as important of a role in the emergence of motor
skills.

COGNITIVE – BASED THEORIES

Motor program – is a procedural memory comprised of the rules commanding

muscular activity for producing specific skills. Central to the concept of motor program is
that because skills can be learned and retained, they must somehow be represented
within memory.

1. Information Processing Model – is a model of cognitive processes occurring in

the central nervous system underlying the production of motor skills; three stages
are identified, including the perceptual, decision-making, and programming
stages.

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 THE INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL
Sensory Output

Perceptual Stage

Decision-making
stage Central processes

Programming
Stage

Response Output

Spinal Cord

Muscles

Action

2. Closed – Loop Systems of Information Processing is a system of control in

which feedback is compared to a reference of correctness during the course of
action and errors corrected when necessary.

Advantages
 Appropriate in performing unpredicted skills
 Movements can be corrected once they have begun, rather than having
movement errors continue until action is completed.
 Can result in precise and accurate movements.

Disadvantages
 Attention demanding
 Time required preparing and executing successive corrections to an
ongoing action.

3. Open – loop System of Information Processing is a system of control in which

movement commands are pre-structured and executed without corrective
intervention from feedback. Rather than using sensory information as feedback
during the performance of a skill, open-loop systems use environmental
information in order to prepare the motor systems (i.e, the motor program) for
action. Sensory information used in this manner is called feedforward.

Feedforward – is sensory information related to the production of an action prior

to the initiation of the action.

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 Advantages
 Capable of producing quick movements because the commands for action
are prestructured and, once initiated, carried out without the need for
further major modification.
 Attentional resources can be directed toward other tasks rather than being
diverted to the conscious control of ongoing movement because
movement commands are prestructured.

Disadvantages
 Open – loop control critically depends on the availability of an appropriate
motor program, it is not effective for skills which are unpracticed or not
well learned.
 Open – loop control is not effective in changing environments because
motor programs anticipate particular environmental conditions.

4. Open-/Closed – Loop Control Continuum

By the mid-1970s, two major information processing theories of motor
control and learning had gained Wide acceptance and dominated the theoretical
landscape of movement science. These were a closed-loop theory proposed by
Jack Adams at the University of Illinois, and an open-loop theory proposed by
Richard Schmidt at the University of Southern California. A major difference in
these two theories was the role accorded sensory feedback in the production of
motor skills. Adams’ closed-loop theory provided a central role for feedback,
whereas in Schmidt’s theory feedback had little role in the completion of an
action once initiated (though feedback played an important role in learning).

These two types of control can be viewed as describing different ways in which
the central and peripheral nervous systems initiate and control actions, with the nature
of the task determining which mode of control has priority. It can be presumed that
based upon the nature of the task, the central nervous system selects the appropriate
mode of control when commanding motor skills. An illustration of these two systems of
control as related to the information processing model is presented below.

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 Open – Loop and Closed – Loop Systems of Control in
the Information Processing Model

Sensory Sensory
input input

Response-
produced
feedback

Response Response

An Example of the Open-/Closed-Loop Continuum – Fitt’s Law

An example of the symbiotic cooperation between closed-loop and open-
loop control processes is observed when considering how individuals balance
between speed and accuracy when performing rapid tasks. In many motor skills,
there is a trade-off between how quickly the skill can be performed on the one
hand, or how accurately performed on the other. Pitching a fastball, a parry in
fencing, and speed typing all require speed as well as accuracy to achieve
successful performance, but if executed too rapidly, performance will suffer as
the number of errors increases. In many skill performance situations an
excessive emphasis on speed will result in an increased rate of error. The
opposite is also true, with movement speed having to be reduced in order to
increase accuracy. Thus for many skills, a speed-accuracy trade-off exists,
where an optimal speed which minimizes errors must be determined in order to
achieve performance success.

Speed – accuracy trade-off – is the observation that in the performance of

many skills an increase in the speed with which the skill is performed is
accompanied by a decrease in performance accuracy, and vice versa.

Fitt’s Law – is a law expressing the mathematical relationship between speed of

movement and accuracy for discrete aiming tasks. Fitt’s law quantifies the
relationship between speed and spatial accuracy for rapid aiming tasks based
upon distance moved and target size.

5. Adams’ Closed –Loop Theory

A motor program consisting of two separate traces called the memory
trace. The role of the memory trace, according to Adams’ theory, is to select and
initiate the desired action. Once initiated, the primary responsibility for the
ongoing control of a movement is assigned to a second cortical trace called the
perceptual trace. The perceptual trace evaluates the correctness of the action
executed by the memory trace. It continually monitors and compares response-

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 produced feedback from ongoing movement with a reference of correctness
representing the feedback qualities expected in a correct response. If sensory
feedback from the ongoing action does not match the perceptual trace, then new
muscular commands are generated to bring sensory feedback into alignment
with desired action goals. This process of detection and correction continues until
the system is back in balance with its desired state. Adams’s theory lent
considerable support to the specificity of practice hypothesis.

Specificity of practice hypothesis – the notion that skills should be practiced

as exactly as possible to the way in which they are intended to be performed.

6. Schmidt’s Schema Theory

Richard Schmidt proposed that every unique expression of a skill does not
require a separate motor program, but that the motor program is more general
generalized to represent an entire class of similar actions or skill variations and
that this single motor program which he termed a generalized motor program
(GMP), could be modified to yield various action outcomes.

General Motor Program – is the concept of a motor program as proposed by

schema theory; an abstract representation of rules generalized to control an
entire class of actions.

Schema – a set of rules relating the various outcomes of an individual’s actions

(e.g., short distance of a throw) to the parameter values the individual chooses in
order to produce those outcomes (e.g., small amount of force).

Schema theory – a theory of motor programs first proposed by Schmidt in 1975

that assumes that motor programs are made up of an abstract set of rules that
can be generalized to control an entire class of actions.

Dynamical Systems Theory

1. Dynamical Systems Theory – is a theory of motor control and learning having

as a major assumption that the human motor system interacts with the larger
environment surrounding it and reacts to organize movement patterns
establishing internal system stability.

System – a collection of interacting parts that functions as a single entity.

Dynamical System – any system that is in motion or exhibits change over time.

Dynamic systems theories are a response to criticisms of cognitive-based

theories. Bernstein first identified the degrees of freedom problem with cognitive-
based theories and proposed the concept of the synergy as one solution. Modern
dynamical systems approaches are open system theories assuming interaction

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 among subsystems. Movement scientists applying dynamical systems theories
view movement coordination and skilled performance as arising from the
synergistic interaction of complex systems. Movements systems are

 Diverse (comprised of many elements differing in kind)

 Connection (from a linked network)
 Interdependence (a change in one element affects all other elements)
 Adaption (capable of change, i.e, of learning)

Complexity – a characteristic of systems that are comprised of diverse elements

that are connected and interdependent, and capable of adaptation.

Features of Dynamical Systems Theory

1. Emergence – entails the creation of something new that transcends the parts
from which it is produced. For instance, wetness is an emergent property of
water. Water is made up of individual molecules of hydrogen and oxygen,
neither of which possesses the quality of wetness. When combined to form
water, however, a new quality, wetness, which is not inherent in individual
hydrogen and oxygen molecules, emerges – it is something new that could
not have been predicted from its parts. Consciousness, as another example,
is an emergent property. Consciousness does not reside, even in the smallest
part, within individual neurons. When millions of neurons are organized
together in the human brain, however, consciousness, in some way
wonderfully mysterious but as yet far from understood, emerges.

2. Self-organization – refers to the tendency for elements within a complex

system to synergistically adapt so that new states or patterns emerge. The
individual components of a system each adapt to changing circumstances in
their own unique ways, contributing to the emergence of new structures and
patterns. In a sense, it is the individual parts that command the final whole.
The collective dynamical systems result of the contributions of the various
parts to the whole, of the micro to the macro, is termed self-organization.

Motor skills, from a dynamical systems perspective, result from

emergence, from the cooperating organization of system elements guided by the
activities of

A. Movement constraints
Human movement, as a dynamical system of many bodily and environ~
mental subsystems interacting, is limited by both biological and environmental
constraints.

Constraints – refer to the boundaries that limit the possible values or patterns
that a system can assume that are imposed by the organism, physical
environment, and task itself.

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 Three Categories of Constraints

1. Organismic Constraints (i.e., the person) - refer to characteristics of the

individual, including both structural and functional characteristics. These
include not only physical characteristics such as height, weight, and body
type, but also behavioral characteristics, including cognitive, motivational,
emotional, and other psychological attributes of the individual. Factors
such as physical condition and existing skill level are included in this
category.

2. Environmental constraints arise in both the physical and the socio-

cultural environments of individuals. The most obvious environmental
constraints are physical in nature. These would include gravity (perhaps
the most influential environmental constraint upon moving individuals),
ambient light, temperature, features of the terrain, and the movement
medium (i.e., air, water, etc.). Other environmental constraints are social
in nature, although these act more subtly than do physical constraints
Socio-cultural factors such as family support networks, peer groups, and
social expectations and values also shape behavior.

3. Task constraints - are specific to the task itself.

Types of Task Constraints

a. Goal of the task
b. Rules governing performance when imposed (e.g., game rules and
boundary markings in a sporting contest), as well as instructional aids
when provided (e.g., augmented feedback and Visual demonstrations)
c. (3) The implements, tools, or equipment used in performing the task.

4. Combined effects of constraints each category of constraints and each

individual constraint within those categories imposes its particular
boundaries upon movement options. Taken together, the combined effects
of all constraints acting upon the moving person are synergistic. Although
environmental constraints may support a broad range of movement
possibilities when performing a specific skill, for example, a particular
individual may lack the physical capacity (organismic capabilities) to take
full advantage of the entire range of available environmental options. In
this case, it is where environmental and organismic constraints overlap
that available movement options are to be found. Even in considering only
two types of constraints, it becomes clear that interaction among
constraints functions to narrow movement options (state space)
dramatically.

State space – all of the possible patterns or states that a system is

capable of assuming.

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 B. Self-organization - refers to a process whereby the organization of a system
spontaneously increases and becomes more stable because of inherent
properties within the system itself. Self-organization is the counter-intuitive
idea that something left to it tends to become more organized.

C. Attractors - is an organizational arrangement that keeps a system’s

component parts working in harmony to fulfil the system’s mission. A system
may have a number of attractors, each one being more effective than the
others under given environmental conditions. Relative to human movement
systems, attractors are states of spatial-temporal muscular organization that
are able to maintain stable movement patterns with the greatest efficiency in
specific situation.

Learning, from a dynamical systems perspective, results from a balancing

of exploration and exploitation of the movement environment.

References

Edwards. William H., (2011). Motor Learning and Control from Theory to Practice.

Wadsworth Cengage Learning. USA

Magill, Richard A., (2001). Motor Learning Concepts and Application 3rd Edition. Wm. C.

Brown Publisher. USA

Krasnow, Donna H., PhD et.al, (2015). Motor Learning and Control for Dance

Principles and Practices for Performers and Teachers. Human Kinetics. USA

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