The Contribution of Individual Movements to the Learning of a Movement Sequence

This thesis explores how the overall learning of a motor sequence through repeated practice is impacted by the individual movement’s components. Changes seen in the response time, peak velocity, and the hand path distance were examined whilst considering the Fitts’s ID and inertial demands of the individual movements. During data collection, twenty-four right-handed participants completed a series of repeated and random reaching movements that varied in direction and distance in a 3D virtual environment. When considering only the repeated sequences, the results indicated significant improvement in both the hand path distance and response time across all target combos, specifically Target combo 3 and Target combo 4. Peak velocity’s improvement was found to be dependent on the movement’s length and complexity components. The more difficult sequences, which had higher Fitts’s IDs and inertial demands, had higher levels of improvement in the peak velocity than the “simpler” movements. These results suggest that reach direction, reach distance, and other movement specific factors can impact sequence learning and has the potential to improve specific rehabilitation programs focused on motor learning. Those recovering from neurological disabilities or injuries, such as stoke patients, would be a group that could benefit from further research on this topic.