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Role of the inferior olivary complex in motor skills and motor learning in the adult rat.

The inferior olivary complex of adult rats was chemically destroyed using intraperitoneal injection of 3-acetylpyridine. Animals were submitted to different motor tasks: hanging test, equilibrium test and motor co-ordination test. The different scores show that 3-acetylpyridine-treated rats had motor co-ordination and static equilibrium deficiencies, whereas their rod suspension capabilities were intact. Animals were also trained on an unrotated rod or on a rod rotating at 5, 10 or 20 r.p.m. 3-Acetylpyridine-treated rats were able to maintain their equilibrium on the unrotated rod and at 5 r.p.m. Moreover, after motor training at 5 r.p.m., rats were able to improve their motor skills and reached the same score as controls. Despite their good motor skills, animals were unable to maintain their equilibrium when rotated at 10 and 20 r.p.m. These results suggest that the inferior olivary complex is needed for motor learning involving the temporal organization of movement.

Age Factors↗

Improving the test-taking skills of learning-disabled students.

16 learning-disabled second- and third-grade students were matched on previous years' achievement scores and grade and assigned at random to experimental and control conditions. Students in the experimental condition were given 8 20-min. sessions of training in test-taking skills particular to the Stanford Achievement Test. Analysis of test scores indicated trained students scored significantly higher on one subtest of a shortened version of the test than students who had not been trained.

Achievement↗

Pollen foraging: learning a complex motor skill by bumblebees (Bombus terrestris).

To investigate how bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) learn the complex motor skills involved in pollen foraging, we observed naïve workers foraging on arrays of nectarless poppy flowers (Papaver rhoeas) in a greenhouse. Foraging skills were quantified by measuring the pollen load collected during each foraging bout and relating this to the number of flowers visited and bout duration on two consecutive days. The pollen standing crop (PSC) in each flower decreased drastically from 0530 to 0900 hours. Therefore, we related foraging performance to the changing levels of pollen available (per flower) and found that collection rate increased over the course of four consecutive foraging bouts (comprising between 277 and 354 individual flower visits), suggesting that learning to forage for pollen represents a substantial time investment for individual foragers. The pollen collection rate and size of pollen loads collected at the start of day 2 were markedly lower than at the end of day 1, suggesting that components of pollen foraging behaviour could be subject to imperfect overnight retention. Our results suggest that learning the necessary motor skills to collect pollen effectively from morphologically simple flowers takes three times as many visits as learning how to handle the most morphologically complex flowers to extract nectar, potentially explaining why bees are more specialised in their choice of pollen flowers.

Animals↗

Communication skills training as part of a problem-based learning curriculum.

Communication skills are an essential element of professionalism. The goal of the problem-based learning (PBL) model is to provide nursing students with the communication skills needed in the helping process. This article addresses the structure of communication skills training at the Dokuz Eylül University School of Nursing. There, students work within a module, first determining the part of the scenario related to communication, adapting this as a learning topic, and then learning the communication skills related to that topic on a cognitive level. A communication laboratory has been set up to permit implementation of the communication skills related to the topic within each learning module. This is necessary because communication requires both knowledge and skill development. Another important facet of communication skills training in this PBL model is that this training occurs during a 4-year learning period. In keeping with the structure of the PBL curriculum, the aim of this study was to provide students first with the skills for self-communication, then for communication with other healthy individuals and groups, and finally, for communication with individuals and groups with specific problems.

Communication↗

Age-related retention of skilled memory search: examination of associative learning, interference, and task-specific skills.

Young and older adults performed skilled memory search after either a 3- or 6-month retention interval. Participants were first trained in consistent-mapping (CM) memory search; then, one of the search conditions was subjected to interfering processing activity prior to the retention interval. Retention testing simultaneously examined situations where interfering processing activity either did or did not intervene between original learning and retention testing. In addition, general task-specific learning was assessed. Results indicate that (a) old and young adults equally retained general, task-specific skills; (b) old adults' performance declined more than young adults' performance for trained CM stimuli; (c) when an interfering processing activity was inserted prior to the retention interval, old adults' performance declined disproportionately more than young adults' performance, especially when compared to the task not subjected to such interference; and (d) for both old and young adults all initial retention deficits were quickly eliminated within retention retraining.

Adolescent↗

Learning a coordination skill: interactive effects of instruction and feedback.

Information prior to and during the acquisition of a continuous bimanual task was manipulated. Participants practiced a difficult coordination pattern, which produced circular shapes on the computer, when they moved their arms correctly. Four groups were examined, which differed in the type and amount of information provided. Either limb or circle feedback was provided in the presence or absence of instructions detailing how to move the limbs. Circle feedback facilitated learning relative to the limb feedback in which the explicit displacements of the limbs was displayed. Under circle feedback conditions, instructions hindered acquisition. Little instructional effects were observed under limb feedback conditions, despite the prediction that instructions would benefit learning when the feedback was more compatible. Findings are discussed in relation to the complexity of the feedback and processing demands.

Adult↗

The influence of different training schedules on the learning of psychomotor skills for endoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Psychomotor skills for endoscopic surgery can be trained with virtual reality simulators. Distributed training is more effective than massed training, but it is unclear whether distributed training over several days is more effective than distributed training within 1 day. This study aimed to determine which of these two options is the most effective for training endoscopic psychomotor skills. METHODS: Students with no endoscopic experience were randomly assigned either to distributed training on 3 consecutive days (group A, n = 10) or distributed training within 1 day (group B, n = 10). For this study the SIMENDO virtual reality simulator for endoscopic skills was used. The training involved 12 repetitions of three different exercises (drop balls, needle manipulation, 30 degree endoscope) in differently distributed training schedules. All the participants performed a posttraining test (posttest) for the trained tasks 7 days after the training. The parameters measured were time, nontarget environment collisions, and instrument path length. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups in the first training session for all the parameters. In the posttest, group A (training over several days) performed 18.7% faster than group B (training on 1 day) (p = 0.013). The collision and path length scores for group A did not differ significantly from the scores for group B. CONCLUSION: The distributed group trained over several days was faster, with the same number of errors and the same instrument path length used. Psychomotor skill training for endoscopic surgery distributed over several days is superior to training on 1 day.

Adult↗

An attempt to distinguish between two reversal processing strategies for learning modeled motor skill.

The first purpose was to examine the effects of reversal processing strategy of visual information on recognition and acquisition of a sequential gross movement task. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between a measure of reversal processing strategy and movements during eye fixation. 24 undergraduates were assigned into one of three conditions, a Reversal-emphasized condition in which subjects were instructed to recognize the movement correctly from a reversed angle, a Recognition-emphasized condition in which subjects were instructed to recognize the movement correctly, and a Recall-emphasized condition in which subjects were instructed to reproduce the movement correctly. Subjects observed stimuli with the model facing them. Following observation, the subjects' recognition of stimuli was tested with model facing towards (Facing Angle) and facing away (Rear Angle). Recall tests were carried out after the two recognition tests. Analysis indicated that accuracy and response time on recognition tests improved under each condition, but there were no other effects. The Reversal-emphasized condition showed significantly greater modeling effect than the other conditions. Movements during eye fixation were very similar among conditions.

Adult↗

Problem-based learning of research skills.

PURPOSE: To determine whether a short-term, problem-based educational intervention leads to increased research activity among health care practitioners. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Participant's success was evaluated as a composite of 2 outcomes. These were (1) reporting results for the project designed during the practicum and (2) conducting subsequent research activities. The study population included 36 clinical research outcomes projects developed by clinical practitioners, postgraduate trainees, and medical students during 6 separate practicums. All project teams received the same educational intervention, an "outcomes research practicum" that was divided into 4 primary learning modules administered over a 1 to 4 month period. Each module included a preparatory videotape lecture, supplemental readings, and a 90-minute interactive laboratory session during which faculty members worked with participants to develop answers to a series of predefined questions relating to the design of clinical outcomes research projects. Follow-up continued for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 36 months. RESULTS: Eighty-three percent of project teams completed all 4 practicum modules, and 69% completed one of the study outcomes (50% completed their research project and 47% completing a subsequent research activity). Practitioners were more likely to complete subsequent research activities, whereas trainees were more likely to complete their study project. DISCUSSION: This short-term, problem-based educational intervention was successful in increasing the collective research activities of participants. Further, more rigorous structured research is needed to determine the ultimate impact on practice change and patient outcomes.

Education, Medical, Continuing↗

Training skills in the psychiatrically disabled: learning coping and competence.

Social skills training methods represent a major strategy for psychiatric rehabilitation. Building skills in patients with schizophrenic and other major mental disorders is based on the assumption that coping and competence can override stress and vulnerability in reducing relapses and improving psychosocial functioning. For maximum efficiency, skills training needs to incorporate procedures and principles of human learning and information processing. Several models for skills training have been designed and evaluated, each of which has proved to be effective in raising the social competence of chronic mental patients. The "basic" model involves role playing by the patient and modeling, prompting, feedback, and reinforcement by the therapist. A "problem-solving" model of training provides general strategies for dealing with a wide variety of social situations. This model uses role playing to enhance behavioral performance but also highlights the patient's abilities to perceive and process incoming social messages and meanings. It is essential that social skills training be imbedded in a comprehensive program of rehabilitation that features continuity of care, supportive community services, therapeutic relationships, and judicious prescription of psychotropic drugs.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Short-term effects of using verbal instructions and demonstration at the beginning of learning a complex skill in figure skating.

This study examined whether providing verbal instructions plus demonstration and task repetition facilitates the early acquisition of a sport skill for which learners had a prior knowledge of the individual motor components. After one demonstration of the task by an expert, 18 novice skaters practiced a figure skating jump during a 15-min. period. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: a group provided with a verbal instruction that specified the subgoals of the task (Subgoals group), a group provided with a verbal instruction that used a metaphor (Metaphoric group), and a group not receiving any specific instruction during training (Control group). Subjects were filmed prior to and immediately following the practice session. Analysis indicated that the modifications of performance were related to the demonstration and the subsequent task repetitions only. Providing additional verbal instructions generated no effect. Therefore, guiding the learner toward a solution to the task problem by means of verbal instruction seems to be ineffective if done too early in the course of learning.

Body Mass Index↗

Goal setting in acquisition of a volleyball skill late in motor learning.

To examine the effects of different types of goal setting on motor skill acquisition during advanced stages of learning. 44 female volleyball players were tested in four experimental training groups with generic goals, specific long-term goals, specific short-term goals, and as a control group. This study's pretest, training, and retention test phases used performance of a volleyball dig/forearm pass oriented to a target. Analyses yielded no significant differences among groups, although performance increased from pre- to retention test.

Adolescent↗

Learning clinical teaching skills at the baccalaureate level.

Nurses returning to work after obtaining their baccalaureate degree in nursing find increased expectations to participate in student and staff clinical education. Often these nurses are not prepared for this role. This paper describes a project that involved final year post-diploma registered nurse students in the clinical teaching of second year basic degree students in a baccalaureate nursing programme. Results of a pilot study to determine if the perceptions of the students involved in the teaching project changed following the experience, show a more positive change in teacher behaviours in these student tutors compared to students doing a traditional clinical experience. Course evaluations indicate the experience increased knowledge and comfort in clinical teaching and point to positive changes in the perceptions of behaviours conducive to clinical teaching.

Clinical Competence↗

Development of oral-motor skills in the neurologically impaired child receiving non-oral feedings.

Treatment of children with swallowing dysfunction requires a holistic approach based on a global view of their problems and needs. The connection of the swallowing mechanism with the sensorimotor organization of postural tone and movement throughout the body is a critical factor in the evaluation and treatment of children whose dysphagia is rooted in a neurologic disorder. An appropriate program includes work with the development of movement skills, sensory processing, learning, social skills, and communication. The initial focus is placed on oral-motor treatment, rather than direct work on oral feeding. The primary goal of the program is to develop the appropriate use of the mouth, respiratory, and phonatory systems in exploration, sound play, and as much oral feeding as possible. Oral feeding is the by-product of a total program, not its major goal.

Child↗

A college without walls. Learning first assistant skills.

This course for expanded perioperative role assumption as an RNFA intends to prepare nurses who eventually can become individually responsible for comprehensive care of the patient undergoing surgical intervention, and help them establish collegial relationships with other nursing colleagues, surgeons, and health care providers. The RNFA is concerned about the intraoperative safety of the patient and is involved in patient assessment and patient and family education. The RNFA collaborates with the physician to provide patient care in a complementary, collegial partnership. Within a framework of communication, trust, and mutual respect, the perioperative nurse prepared to first assist emerges as a renewed patient advocate, confident of her or his contribution to patient care, and committed to responsibility and accountability for the quality of that care.

Clinical Competence↗