Chapter 5

Motor Control Theories

Concept: Theories about how we control coordinated
movement differ in terms of the roles of central and
environmental features of a control system

Theory and Professional Practice

What is a theory?
Accurately describes a large class of observations
Make definite predictions about results of future observations
(Hawking, 1996)

Theories of motor learning and control focus on:

Explaining human movement behavior
Providing explanations about why people perform skills as they
do

Does a theory have relevance to professional practice?

Provides the why basis for what practitioners do
[See Figure 5.1]

Motor Control Theory

Describes and explains how the nervous
system produces coordinated movement
of motor skill in a variety of environments
Two important terms:
Coordination
The degrees of freedom problem

Coordination
Patterning of body and limb motions relative to
the patterning of environmental objects and
events (Turvey, 1990)
Two parts to consider:
Movement pattern of a skill in relation to a specific
point of time
Context of the environment of the head, body,
and/or limb movements so the actions can be
accomplished

Degrees of Freedom Problem

Degrees of freedom (df) = Number of independent
elements in a system and the ways each element can
act
Degrees of freedom problem = How to control the df to
make a complex system act in a specific way
e.g. The control of a helicopters flight (described in
the textbook)
Degree of freedom problem for the control of movement:
How does the nervous system control the many df of muscles,
limbs, and joints to enable a person to perform an action as
intended?

Two General Types of

Control Systems
Open- and Closed-Loop Control Systems
[See Figure 5.3]
Incorporated into all theories of motor control
Models of basic descriptions to show different ways
the CNS and PNS initiate and control action
Each has a central control center (executive)
Function to generate and forward movement
instructions to effectors (i.e., muscles)

Each includes movement instructions from control

center to effectors
Content of the instructions differs between systems

Differences Between the Systems

Open-Loop

Movement
control center

Movement instructions

Movement
effectors

Does not use feedback

Control center provides all the information for effectors to
carry out movement
Does not use feedback to continue and terminate movement

Closed-Loop
Movement
Control center

Movement instructions

Movement
effectors

Uses feedback
Control center issues information to effectors sufficient only
to initiate movement
Relies on feedback to continue and terminate movement

Two Theories of Motor Control

1.

2.

Motor Program-based theory: Memory-based

mechanism that controls coordinated
movement
Dynamic Pattern theory (a.k.a. Dynamical
Systems): Describes and explains coordinated
movement control by emphasizing the role of
information in the environment and
mechanical properties of the body and limbs

Motor Program-Based Theory

Best example comes from Schema Theory by
Schmidt (1988)
Generalized motor program (GMP):
Hypothesized memory-based mechanism
responsible for adaptive and flexible qualities of
human movement
Proposed that each GMP controls a class of
actions that have common invariant
characteristics

Motor Program-Based Theory,

contd
GMP Function
To serve as the basis for generating movement instructions
prior to and during the performance of an action

GMP Characteristics
Invariant features
Characteristics of the GMP that do not vary across performances
of a skill within class of actions
The identifying signature of a GMP

Parameters
Specific movement features added to the invariant features to
enable the performance of a skill in a specific situation
Characteristics can vary from one performance of a skill to another

Motor Program-Based Theory,

contd
Invariant features and parameters
Example of an invariant feature
Relative time of the components of an action (i.e. % of
total time each component uses during performance)

Example of a parameter
Overall time (i.e.) for performing a skill

An Analogy from Music and Dance

Relative time = Rhythm (beat) of the music, e.g. The 3
beats to a measure for a waltz
Overall time = Tempo (The speed at which you waltz)
Regardless of how fast or slow you waltz, the
rhythm remains the same (i.e. invariant)

GMP for Walking

Invariant
Relative time for gait cycle phases -

Parameter
Walking speed

Motor Program-Based Theory:

Testing Relative Time Invariance
Experiment by Shapiro et al. (1981)
Used gait characteristics to test prediction of relative time

invariance for a class of actions controlled by a GMP:

Are walking and running one or two classes of action?
Assessed 4 components of 1 step cycle
Calculated relative time for each component at 9
different speeds (3 12 km/hr)
Relative time = % of total time each component required

for 1 step cycle

Results: Relative time similar within speeds when walking

but different from speeds when running (similar within

speeds when running) [See Figure 5.5]

Dynamic Pattern Theory

(a.k.a., Dynamical Systems)
Describes the control of coordinated movement that
emphasizes the role of information in the environment
and dynamic properties of the body/limbs
Began to influence views about motor control in early
1980s
Views the process of human motor control as a
complex system that behaves like any complex
biological or physical system
Concerned with identifying laws (natural and physical)
that govern changes in human coordination patterns

Dynamic Pattern Theory Concepts

Motor control system operates on the basis
of non-linear dynamics:
Behavioral changes are not always continuous,
linear progressions but often make sudden and
abrupt changes
Behaviors specified by environmental and task
characteristics/conditions
Behaviors are self-organized

Dynamic Pattern Theory Concepts:

Attractors
Attractor A stable state of the motor control
system that leads to behavior according to
preferred coordination patterns (e.g. walking)
Characteristics of an attractor:
Identified by order parameters (e.g., relative phase)
Control parameters (e.g., speed) influence order
parameters
Minimum trial-to-trial performance variability
Stability Retains present state despite perturbation
Energy efficient

Dynamic Pattern Theory Concepts:

Order and Control Parameters
Order parameters
Also called collective variables
Functionally specific and abstract variables
that define the overall behavior of the system
Enable a coordinated pattern of movement
that can be reproduced and distinguished from
other patterns
Relative phase is the most prominent of
order parameters which represents the
movement relationship between two movement
segments (see chapter 2)

Order and Control Parameters,

contd
Control parameter
A variable, when increased or decreased,
will influence the stability and character of the
order parameter
Is important to identify since it becomes
the variable to manipulate in order to assess
the stability of the order parameter
Provides the basis for determining
attractor states for patterns of limb movement

Dynamic Pattern Theory Concepts:

Self-Organization
Self-Organization
When certain conditions characterize a
situation, a specific pattern of limb movement
emerges
This pattern of movement self-organizes
within the characteristic of environmental
conditions and limb dynamics

Attractors and Self-Organization for

Movement Coordination
Gait Transitions
Research (to be discussed
more in ch. 7) shows that if
a person begins walking on
treadmill at slow speed
Treadmill speed increases
every few minutes
Person begins to run at a
certain speed [not same
speed for all people]
Same effect if person begins
running on treadmill Begins to walk at certain
speed

Swim Stroke Transitions

Research in France (2004)
14 elite male swimmers
Each trial involved a swim
velocity increase [began at
preferred velocity]
Arm-stroke analysis showed 2
distinct arm movement
coordination modes
Began in one mode but abruptly
began 2nd mode at a specific
swim velocity

Attractors and Self-Organization for

Movement Coordination, contd
Discuss how the two research examples on the
previous slide demonstrate the dynamic
pattern theory concepts of:

Self-organization

Control parameter
Attractors (i.e., stable coordination states)

Non-linear behavior change

Dynamic Pattern Theory Concepts:

Coordinative Structures
Functional synergies (i.e. cooperative groups)
of muscles and joints that act cooperatively to
produce an action
If a perturbation stops one set of muscles from
working, another works in its place
e.g. walking with a leg cast

Develop through practice, experience, or

naturally

Dynamic Pattern Theory Concepts:

Perception and Action Coupling
The linking together (i.e. coupling) of movement to
environmental information
The perception part
The detection of critical invariant information in the environment

The action part

The movement that becomes associated with what is specified
by the environmental information

An example
When walking, the time to contact an object in your pathway
(specified by the perception of the changing size of the object)
determines when you initiate stepping over the object
i.e. Your stepping action is coupled with your visual perception
of the object

Present State of the Control

Theory Issue
Currently, both the motor program-based theory
and dynamic pattern theory predominate
Research investigating each has shown that a
theory of motor control cannot focus exclusively
on movement information specified by the CNS

Task and environmental characteristics must be also

be taken into account

Speculation exists that a hybrid of the two

theories as a compromise theory could emerge
to explain the control of coordinated movement