I know that when I first started kicking a soccer ball around, I did not have a keen sense of where my plant foot was landing next to the ball or where the other pre-k children were running around the tiny field. I, like many beginners, did not know where to focus my attention. Because of that there was no strategy for processing helpful incoming information. We use our eyes as sensors so that we can make successful movement based on the information from our vision (Sensory: Vision, slide 2). I was focused on very specific and safe things as a beginner - the ball and the goal. As we discussed in class, the attentional focus of someone who is novice is often much different than that of an expert (Sensory: Vision, slide 28). With more experience I started to focus on the most helpful information to execute an effective response. For an example, while playing defense when I was younger I would fixate my eyes on the ball as if I could know exactly where it was going to go. As I got older however I learned to watch the hips of the attacker rather than the ball or their feet. This is an example of the development of my visual search. In the literature visual search is defined as the “process of directing visual attention to locate relevant environmental cues” (Sensory: Vision, slide 25). Another way visual search changed for me over the years of playing soccer was that I became more aware of the whole field during a game. Rather than watching my feet I would look up to see where a teammate might be running or where there would be a gap in defense. Sometimes I would not even look to where a teammate was I would just kick towards them because I had picked up on the direction they were moving. The movement filter is an important visual cue selection tool, especially in soccer by drawing our visual attention to the things, in this case people, who are moving in our environment. 

What is also nice about Gentile’s taxonomy is that is so simple that classification via the 16 categories allows for a standardized system. And in addition to categorizing known skills Gentile’s taxonomy is organized in a way to allow for progression of motor performance on a task by subtly manipulating the variables of the environment or the mechanisms of the task (Classification lecture, slide 31). This means the taxonomy is even more applicable to rehab-type setting when development of motor skills is a big focus of continued practice. 

 

I specifically think my knee rehab reflects the concepts of practice distribution for a couple reasons. For one, I needed to distribute the time of my PT sessions over many weeks due to the physical recovery and healing. But in addition, the way that my PT had me practice skills within and between sessions also replicated a distributed practice style. And for that I am grateful. Literature from class proved that distribution of practice is not just an influencer on performance but that it is a “learning variable” as well (Practice Distribution module, page 4). To sum it up, “learning is better if it is spread out over days than if it is spread out over intervals within a few days” (Practice Distribution module, page 3). My PT did not have me practice repeatedly one task or skill for each session. Rather we would start with stretching, work on balance, work on gait, ice and repeat the next time. While this is somewhat getting into the idea of practice variability, the point was, my PT wanted me to learn and master the balance activity AND the gait adjustments. So neither of those tasks were practiced in a massed distribution. Rather for much of my postop PT I repeated the same skills, tasks, and challenges as I slowly got better at the skill. Research would suggest not only did I learn better the knowledge gained with distributed practice is more likely to lead to quicker improvements and better retention  because lack of repetitive fatigue (Bourne and Archer, 1955). I am grateful that my PT pushed me to accept a slower and longer practice distribution. Since I knew recovery was going to take awhile the longer length of a distributed practice schedule did not matter. Now I can confidently say I learned much more in the two months of PT than what I would have learned in a week immediately post-op!

Proprioceptors are one of the two types of Somesthesis, they are officially defined as “specialized mechanoreceptors providing uninterrupted knowledge about general position of the body in space prior to and during movements” (Sensory: Proprioception, slide 4). During yoga you are often challenged to stretch your muscles, the feeling of muscle tension that happens before stretching is because of Golgi tendon organs, a type of proprioceptors. When you flow through a sun salutation your joint receptors help indicate when you are standing, bending your knees, or extending them straight behind you. And during all of the positions the muscle spindle proprioceptors are activated indicating stretching and changes in position (Sensory: Proprioception, slide 4). I think that like training a muscle to be stronger, we can ‘train’ ourselves to be more aware of the proprioceptors in our bodies. In fact, just like learning a novel skill, proprioceptors provide me with feedback during my yoga practice that help me to improve. Trying a new pose or balance posture will challenge me to listen to proprioceptors that weren’t firing before. In this way the proprioception sense helps not only during yoga but also aids in the further progress of my yoga skills.