Questions from the slides on Modeling and imagery:
1. How does Patient H.M. help us understand the special way in which motor skills
are remembered, in contrast with, for instance, verbal skills?
The surgery he underwent bilaterally removed the hippocampus, amygdala, and a
portion of the medial temporal lobes. This effectively removed his ability to form new
declarative memories. However, in a series of tests, he has been shown to still be able
to learn motor skills. As such, it is clear that the neural pathways needed to learn
movements are distinct from those needed to learn cognitive skills.
2. Define implicit and explicit learning.
Implicit: learning without awareness. Explicit: learning with awareness.
3. What are the “perceptual processes” at the top of the ALI model?
On the right (verbal instructions) side, we have conscious thought (internal
verbalizations, reasoning), while on the left we have all manner of motor processes,
most of which are beyond consciousness. It is imagery that lies somewhere between the
two, and is undoubtedly involved in the left hand side at some point. Hence, imagery is
the link between the right and left sides of the model.
4. Contrast the model given in the first set of slides (modeling) with the ALI model
given in the second set of slides (imagery). How are they different?
It’s the same from top to bottom, but another “stream” has been added to signify the
potential separation of motor and verbal sources of information.
5. How might the use of verbal instructions differ from using demonstrations,
according to (and in terms of) the ALI model?
Less direct. Verbal instructions have to access the movement centers after first passing
through the verbal centers. Given that the ultimate method of “awaking” the motor
centers (those that move us) is via motor imagery, it would seem to make sense to use
an approach to instruction that most closely ties to this destination, while providing the
information necessary to learn the skill. So, an instructor might first consider purely
visual or proprioceptive (feel) cues, because they descend directly through the left side
of the ALI model and thus directly stimulate motor imagery. If the information can’t be
provided that way, then go with words, but remember that the ultimate destination is
to motor imagery, so one should use words that are more likely to stimulate this.