| Term | Definition |
|---|
| coordination | the patterning of head, body, and/or limb motions relative to the patterning of environmenal objects and events |
| degrees of freedom | the number of independent elements or components in a control system and the number of ways each component can act |
| degrees of freedom problem | a control problem that occurs in the designing of a complex system that must produce a specific result; |
| open-loop control system | a control system in which all the information needed to initiate and carry out an action as planned is contained in the initial instructons to the effectors |
| closed-loop control system | a system of control in which during the course of an action, feedback is compared against a standard or reference to enable an action to be carried out as planned |
| feedback | information from the sensory system that indicates the status of a movement to the central nervous system |
| motor program | a memory representation that stores information needed to perform an action |
| generalized motor program (GMP) | the memory representation of a class of actions that share common invariant characteristics; it provides the basis for controlling a specific action within the class of actions |
| invariant features | a unique set of characteristics that defines a GMP and does not vary from one performance of the action to another |
| parameters | features of the GMP that can be varied from one performance of a skill to another; the features of a skill that must be added to the invariant features of a GMP before a person can perform a skill to meet the specific movement demand of a situation |
| relative time | the proportion, or percentage, of the total amount of time required by each component of a skill durng the performance of that skill |
| schema | a rule or set of rules that sets to provide the basis for a decision |
| dynamic pattern theory | an approch to descrbing and explaining the control of coordinated movements that emphasizes the role of information in the environment and the dynamic properties of the body and limbs |
| nonlinear behavior | a behavior that changes in abrupt, nonlinear ways in response to systematic linear increases in the value of a specific variable |
| stability | a behavioral steady state of a system that represents a preferred behavioral state and incorporates the notion of invariance by noting that a stable system with spontaneously return to a stable state after it is slightly perturbed |
| attractors | the stable behavioral steady states of systems. |
| order parameters | functionally specific variables that define the overall behavior of a system; they enable coordinated pattern of movement to be reproduced and distinguished from other patterns |
| control parameters | coordinated movement control variables that freely charge according to the characteristics of an action situation |
| self-organization | the emergence of a specific stable pattern of behavior due to a specific control mechanism organizing the behavior |
| coordinative structures | functionally specific collectives of muscles and joints that are constrained by the nervous system to act cooperatively to produce an action |
| perception-action coupling | the spatial and temporal coordination of vision and the hands or feet that enables people to perform eye-hand and eye-foot coordination skills; |
| proprioception | the perception of limb,body, and head movement characteristics |
| proprioceptors | senory neurons located in the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints |
| muscle spindles | a type of propriocptor consisting of specialized muscle fibers that lie within the fibers of most skeletal muscles; they detect changes in muscle length |
| Golgi-tendon organs | a type of proprioceptor located in the skeletal muscle near the insertion of the tendons into the muscle; they detect changes in muscle tension, or force |
| joint receptors | a collection of various types of proprioceptors located in the joint capsule and ligaments; they detect changes in joint movement at the extreme limits of movement and position |
| deafferntation | a procedure that researchers use to make proprioceptive feedback unavailable |
| cornea | a clear surface that covers he front of the eye; it serves as an important part of the eye's optical system |
| pupil | the opening in the eye that lets in light; its diameter increases and decreases according to the amount of light detected by the eye |
| iris | the eye structure that surrounds the pupil and provides the eye its color |
| lens | the transparent eye structure that sits just behind he iris; it allows the eye to focus at various distances |
| retina | the eye structure that lines the back wall of the eye; as an extension of the brain it contains the neroreceptors that transmit visual information to the brain |
| rods | one of two types of photoreceptors in the retina; it detects low levels of light |
| cones | one of two types of photoreceptors in the retina; it dectects bright light |
| optic nerve | cranial nerve II; it serves as a means of information transmission from the retina to the brain |
| optic chiasm | the place near the base of the brain where the optic nerve fibers meet and either continue to the same side or cross over to the opposite side of the brain |
| visual field | th image or scene being viewed; it typically extends approximately 200 degrees horizontally and 160 degrees vertically |
| central vision | the middle 2 to 5 degrees of the visual field |
| peripheral vision | the visual field outside the 2 to 5 degrees of central vision |
| optical flow | the patterns of rays of light that strike the retina of the eye that emanate from and are specific to objects and features inthe environment |
| manual aiming skills | motor skills that inolve arm, hand, and/or finger mvement to a target |
| speed-accuracy tradeoff | a characteristic of motor skill performance in which the speed at which a skill is performed is influenced by movement accuracy demands |
| Fitt's Law | a human performance law specifying the movement time for an aiming movement when the distance to move and the target size are known |
| index of difficulty (D) | according to Fitt's law, a quantitative measure of the difficulty of performing a skill involving both speed and accuracy requirements |
| prehension | the action of reacing for or grasping an object that may be stationary or moving |
| motor equialence | the capability of the motor control system to enable a person to achieve an action goal in a variety of situations and conditions |
| bimanual coordination | a motor skill that requires the simultaneous use of two arms |
| action preparation | the activity that occurs between the intention to perform an action and the inention of that action |
| Hick's Law | a law of human performance stating that RT will increase logarithmically as the number of stimulus-response choices increases |
| cost-benefit trade-off | th cost (terms of slower RT) and benefit (in terms of faster RT) that occur as a result of biasing the preparation of an action in favor of one or several possible actions |
| stimulus-response compatibility | a characteristic of the spatial arrangemnt relationship between a stimulus and a response. |
| Stroop effect | a type of stimulus-response compatibility situation in which a color's name or ink are the same or different |
| foreperiod | in a reaction time paradigm, the time interval between a warning signal and the go signal |
| psychological refractory period (PRP) | a delay period where a person seems to put planned action "on hold" while excuting a previously initiated action |
| vigilance | maintaining attention in a performance situation in which stimuli requiring a respose occur infrequently |
Combine with other sets
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