from Part V - Learning and Development
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2016
To survive, we must interact with an ever-changing world. Our capacity to move accurately in a range of environments lies in the brain’s ability to flexibly modify our motor behavior. For example, simply holding an object in the hand changes the arm’s dynamic environment. That is, the additional weight of the object changes the relationship between applied forces and motion such that the brain’s motor commands and muscle forces no longer result in the intended arm movement. In order to skillfully manipulate the object, the brain must alter its motor commands to compensate for the object’s weight and achieve a desired movement. Subsequent movements are improved with time and practice; this process is called motor learning. While many of our motor skills are acquired and refined through active physical practice, we can also learn how to make movements by observing others. This is referred to as observational motor learning. This chapter will begin with a brief overview of modern studies of human motor learning, followed by a discussion of how these concepts relate to observational motor learning.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.