The learning of goal-directed locomotion: a perception-action perspective.
This study was designed to better understand the process underlying the learning of goal-directed locomotion. Subjects walked on a treadmill in a virtual reality setting and were asked to cross pairs of oscillating doors. The subjects behaviour was examined at the beginning of the learning process (pretest), after 350 trials (intermediate test), and after 700 trials (posttest). The data were analysed at three different levels, each representing a specific aspect of the global response: performance outcome, displacement kinematics, and current arrival condition. While some aspects of performance outcome suggested the presence of a ceiling effect in the intermediate test, both displacement kinematics and current arrival condition clearly highlighted continuous transformations of the control mechanism involved. The learning process is best described as (1) the establishing of a relationship between specific information and a movement parameter and (2) the optimization of this relationship. The optimization process is characterized by the further exploration of the available behavioural repertoire and by the refinement of the dialogue between information and movement.
Montagne
Gilles
G
CNRS and Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté des Sciences du Sport, UMR Mouvement et Perception, Marseille, France. montagne@laps.univ-mrs.fr
Buekers
Martinus
M
Camachon
Cyril
C
De Rugy
Aymar
A
Laurent
Michel
M
D000328:Adult; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008124:Locomotion; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time