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Over the summer, I work at a physical therapy clinic as a physical therapist aide. This job is great experience for my intended career path as a licensed physical therapist; I get to see firsthand how they work and interact with patients, how they log treatment sessions, and much more. Of course, I am not physically treating patients but now I have a much better understanding of how to do so, and when to use what exercises and techniques for what injuries.

One of the most common type of patients we see is older adults who need treatment and training on how to balance while walking and daily activities. It is such a rewarding feeling to see them go from only being able to walk a couple of steps to being able to walk all around the clinic with no assistance or wobbling. We usually do this through bilateral transfer. We start with what they are most scared of, and usually the worst at, balancing on one foot. Learning to balance on one foot improves overall balance over time.  By learning to balance on say your left foot, you would not only be training your left leg muscles to complete the task, but also training your brain on how to balance. Then when you would try and balance on your right foot, or with both feet, you would be better at this new task because your brain is already used to the idea of the task. Bilateral transfer uses both cognitive and motor control factors to explain how balancing on one foot translates to better balance on both feet.

This image shows a person on a type of balance board, something we use to increase the complexity of balancing on normal, stable ground.

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Ever since I was five years old, I’ve been playing soccer; with 15 years’ worth of games, practices, tournaments, and intramurals I’ve had my fair share of getting around defenders as well as other players getting around me. This skill is not an easy one to master even though some players make it look like they can do it in their sleep. The feeling of faking out a defender and running past them with the ball is like no other, it really makes you feel like the most talented soccer play to ever step on the field- well maybe not that good, but you get the idea. But on the other hand, when a player cuts the ball right in front of you, or fakes you out, and gets around you, well that is definitely not a good feeling.

The good thing is, it’s not entirely your fault. The idea of the psychological refractory period states that the shorter amount of time in between two or more closely spaced stimuli, the longer it will take you to react to the second stimuli. This means that when the player in front of you makes their initial movement in one direction and then immediately moves in the opposite direction, your brain cannot react to the second movement as quickly as they moved. This makes it easier for the player to get by you because your brain is preoccupied with the initial movement and isn’t ready to react immediately to the actual movement of them running past you.

This is a compilation video showing Lionel Messi, one of the best soccer players in the world, performing some of his best fakes and cuts to get around defenders- making it look like a piece of cake.

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Lionel Messi | Best Feints + Fakes + Shoulder-drops

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Being the typically girl I am, I love to get my hair done or played with- but being on a college student budget, I can't afford to pay a professional to do that. So, I enlisted in the help of my boyfriend, but things did not go as planned. He didn't know how to French braid my hair, and I realized I did not know how to teach him. For as long as I can remember, I've always known how to braid hair. I don’t remember how or when I learned, it just came naturally with a little practice.

As I started to try and explain how to braid, I felt my hands automatically reach for the back of my head as I began to speak, but obviously his hands were where mine would normally be. So, I tried explaining the task with just words, and let’s just say it did not go well. I didn’t know how to describe the specific hand placements and movements or order to grab hair without doing it myself.

My lack of verbal shareable knowledge shows that French braiding hair is stored as procedural knowledge in my brain. This task has become so automatic and natural for me that is difficult to verbalize. Procedural knowledge is often non-conscious and automatic, and consists of instructions for the performance of a series of operations, often using hand or body motions to aid in describing the process. I’m sure I could teach him how to do it by just having him watch me, but it’s kind of funny to have him try to follow my horrible, vague instructions.

The GIF below shows a clip from the movie Pocahontas where Meeko makes braiding hair look like a breeze.

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Transitioning from high school to college is a difficult process both academically and socially. The difference between high school classes and college classes is so drastically different; college courses have a higher work load, more rigorous course work, and shorter deadlines, not to mention intense final exams. Unfortunately, as a freshman I learned the hard way that these new changes would require new study habits and time management skills. In my Anthropology 100 class, I used my high school study skills to study for my first college exam, and it did not go as expected. I was hit in the face with my first extremely below average grade. I realized I needed to change my study habits.

I learned that the best way for me to study was with a form of distributed practice; spreading out my studying over a couple days rather than cramming the night before. Distributed practice states that learning is better if it is spread out over days than if it is massed within a few days and the amount of rest between practice sessions (or study days) is relatively long. If I would have learned this skill before my first college exam, maybe I would have prepared differently. The sad part is, even I know this form of practice or studying to be best, sometimes I still cram the night before.

This GIF shows Homer Simpson visually stressed out and studying for something, which is probably what I look like when don't use distributed studying.

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Learning to drive is a very special moment for young adults; you finally have some freedom and go out on your own. I remember when I was 15 and was just starting to learn how to drive; I never wanted to drive with my mom because she was always so nervous and corrected my every move. However, my dad made me feel much more comfortable and safer. My dad was very good at describing what was what both inside and outside of the car. He explained which pedal the gas was and which was the break, what each gear shift meant, and how to read all the meters on the dashboard. One thing he never had to explain to me was which way to turn the wheel when turning. It never occurred to me that it might be something that needs explaining, I just knew how it worked.

The compatibility between the direction you want to turn the car and the direction you turn the wheel is perfectly matched up. This helps you to visualize which way the car is going to move and to anticipate new stimuli coming your way. Incompatible stimuli often are confusing and take longer to react to; and quick reaction times are extremely important on the road. It also just does not make a lot of logical sense to turn the wheel to the right in order to move left. If cars were in fact made this way, in an incompatible way, learning to drive a car would take much more practice and patient to get over the unnatural movements. This alternative also runs the risk of confusion on the road which could lead to more car accidents.

The image below shows what I assume to be a mother and daughter driving together. To this day, after five years of having my license, I still don't like driving with my mom because of her backseat driving, which looks like what this mom might be doing in the picture.