Motor Learning and Control

Book excerpt: "This twelfth edition primarily updates the previous edition by adding more recent research and interpretations of the concepts and theoretical views associated with those concepts that were in the eleventh edition. Similar to the previous editions this new edition continues its two most distinctive features as an introductory motor learning and control textbook: its overall approach to the study of motor learning and control and the organization of the implementation of that approach. In every edition of this book, the overall approach has been the presentation of motor learning and control "concepts" to identify the common theme of each chapter. The concepts should be viewed as generalized statements and conclusions synthesized from collections of research findings. Following the concept statement is a description of a real-world application of the concept, which is then followed by discussions of specific topics and issues associated with the concept. An important part of these discussions are summaries of research evidence, on which we base our present knowledge of each topic and issue, as well as the implications of this knowledge for practitioners. The benefit of this organizational scheme is the presentation of motor learning and control as a set of principles and guidelines for practitioners, which are based on research evidence rather than on tradition or "how things have always been done"--