Motor learning

Motor learning is a relatively lasting improvement in movement skill through practice and experience. It is inferred from performance changes that persist beyond temporary effects such as fatigue or motivation.

Motor program: A proposed stored representation that organizes the commands needed to produce a movement. Motor programs explain how practiced movement sequences can be prepared and reused.
Motor skill: A goal-directed movement or sequence of movements performed with some degree of proficiency. Motor skills are the abilities whose improvement motor learning describes.
Blocked practice: A practice schedule in which repeated attempts at one task precede practice of another task. It offers a low-switching alternative to interleaved practice schedules.
Motor adaptation: A gradual change in movement to compensate for altered body or environmental conditions. Adaptation is a specific form of motor learning driven by changing sensorimotor demands.
Schema theory: A theory that practice builds adaptable rules linking movement conditions, actions, and outcomes. It explains how learning can transfer beyond the exact movements practiced.
Motor performance: The observable quality of movement execution at a particular time. Performance can change temporarily without a lasting change in learned skill.
Random practice: A schedule that intermixes different tasks or variations during practice. Interleaving tasks can strengthen later retention and transfer despite harder practice sessions.
Motor development: The age-related emergence and change of movement abilities across the lifespan. Development includes broader changes in movement capacity beyond practice-based skill acquisition.
Feedback control: The adjustment of a system’s actions using information about its current state or results. Sensory feedback lets learners detect movement errors and modify later attempts.
Retention test: A later assessment of a practiced skill, typically after a period without practice. Retention helps distinguish durable learning from short-lived practice effects.

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