KNH EXAM 3 - PART 1 Summaries and Elaborations
1. motor programs: coordinated sequences of muscle actions
2. open loop control: a type of system control in which instructions for the effector system are determined in advance
and run off without feedback
3. What is good for open loop systems?: things we don't want to think about, like typing or kicking
4. research supporting motor systems: Reaction time, effect of removal of feed- back, blocking of a limb, stopping a
movement underway, studies of movement with arise after the startled response
5. Reaction time evidence for motor programs: HICKS LAW: slower RT when additional information needs to
be processed
-complexity of response increases reaction time
-indicates a longer preparation time
Henry & Rogers (1960) experiment: same simple RT mechanism for all three movements but as the movement becomes
more complex, more time is spent processing the movement programming stage
6. Deafferentation studies (removing feedback): the motor pathways (efferent neurons) are not affected
7. mentally blocking a limb: Some of the most compelling evidence for motor programs comes from looking at
the effects of mechanically blocking a limb
8. afferent neurons: Nerve cells that carry impulses towards the central nervous system
9. efferent neurons: Nerve cells that conduct impulses away from the central ner- vous system
10.Inhibiting actions: Considerable evidence suggests that a motor program is released that is responsible for
initiating the action in tasks and serves to carry out the entire action unless a second stop signal program is initiated in
time to arrest its completion.
The stop signal paradigm is the method most frequently used for studying action inhibition.
11.Which components must be deleted to leave a purely open-loop system?-
: response selection
12.If humans could not use an open-loop system to produce movement, how would we be disadvantaged?: slow
and attention demanding
13.What characteristic of movement mostly determines whether a movement will be under open-loop or closed-
loop control?: duration of the movement
14.how fast does a movement have to be to be considered quick?: <200 msec
15.Why are movements that take less than 200 ms to complete not primarily controlled by a closed-loop
system?: not enough time to use conscious feedback
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2
1. motor programs: coordinated sequences of muscle actions
2. open loop control: a type of system control in which instructions for the effector system are determined in advance
and run off without feedback
3. What is good for open loop systems?: things we don't want to think about, like typing or kicking
4. research supporting motor systems: Reaction time, effect of removal of feed- back, blocking of a limb, stopping a
movement underway, studies of movement with arise after the startled response
5. Reaction time evidence for motor programs: HICKS LAW: slower RT when additional information needs to
be processed
-complexity of response increases reaction time
-indicates a longer preparation time
Henry & Rogers (1960) experiment: same simple RT mechanism for all three movements but as the movement becomes
more complex, more time is spent processing the movement programming stage
6. Deafferentation studies (removing feedback): the motor pathways (efferent neurons) are not affected
7. mentally blocking a limb: Some of the most compelling evidence for motor programs comes from looking at
the effects of mechanically blocking a limb
8. afferent neurons: Nerve cells that carry impulses towards the central nervous system
9. efferent neurons: Nerve cells that conduct impulses away from the central ner- vous system
10.Inhibiting actions: Considerable evidence suggests that a motor program is released that is responsible for
initiating the action in tasks and serves to carry out the entire action unless a second stop signal program is initiated in
time to arrest its completion.
The stop signal paradigm is the method most frequently used for studying action inhibition.
11.Which components must be deleted to leave a purely open-loop system?-
: response selection
12.If humans could not use an open-loop system to produce movement, how would we be disadvantaged?: slow
and attention demanding
13.What characteristic of movement mostly determines whether a movement will be under open-loop or closed-
loop control?: duration of the movement
14.how fast does a movement have to be to be considered quick?: <200 msec
15.Why are movements that take less than 200 ms to complete not primarily controlled by a closed-loop
system?: not enough time to use conscious feedback
1/
2
