Learning as Change of Coordination Dynamics: Theory and Experiment

Abstract

Learning of coordination patterns was investigated theoretically from the point of view of a dynamic theory of biological coordination and with reference to recent experiments on the learning of relative timing patterns. The theory is based on theoretical and experimental work showing that coordinated movement is characterized not only by the actually performed pattern of coordination but by an entire dynamics of coordination. Theoretically, such dynamics are captured as equations of motion of relevant collective variables. Experimentally, signatures of these underlying dynamics can be found in the temporal stability of coordination patterns, which can be assessed through various stability measures as well as through processes of pattern change. We argue that not only intrinsic coordination tendencies, but also specific behavioral requirements, be they perceived, memorized, or intended, must be expressed in terms of such dynamics. The concept of behavioral information captures such requirements as part of the coordination dynamics. We expound two hypotheses on the nature of learning in this framework. First, we assume that at each point during the learning process the system is governed by a well-defined coordination dynamics. This equation of motion evolves with learning so as to acquire an attractor solution near the to-be-learned pattern. Second, we hypothesize that this change of the coordination dynamics, captured by the time course of memorized behavioral information, can itself be ascribed to an additional layer of dynamics, the slower learning dynamics. Testable consequences of these views are discussed in the light of recent experimental findings on the learning of a relative phase in rhythmic movement: (a) Learning affects dynamic properties of performed coordination patterns, in particular, their stability; (b) the change of the coordination dynamics due to learning leads to specific changes of behavior also under conditions other than the learned condition, namely, to systematic deviation toward the learned patterns; (c) learning may lead to instabilities in the coordination behavior if initial and learned performance differ sufficiently; and (d) the dynamic properties of the performed coordination patterns are distinct on the two time scales of learning and of performance.

The dynamics of perception and action.

“…This is achieved by allowing informational quantities to contribute to the dynamics, altering the attractive states (Schöner & Kelso, 1988b;Schöner, Zanone, & Kelso, 1992). In the simple one-dimensional system of Equation 2, for instance, the intrinsic dynamics possess a fixed point at a ϭ 0.…”

The dynamics of expertise acquisition in sport: The role of affective learning design

“…Memorized emotional experiences represent patterns of behaviour that are stable attractor states which form when emotional and cognitive changes/responses become linked or synchronised, and subsequently facilitate the emergence of action tendencies (behaviour) (Lewis, 2000a). In this line of thinking, affect, cognition, and behaviours self organise to develop emergent, characteristic responses that shape the intrinsic dynamics of an individual in specific environments (Davids, et al, 2001;Schöner, Zanone, & Kelso, 1992). For example in the development of personality, trait like behaviours and thoughts and feelings become predictable situation specific responses of an individual (Lewis, 1996).…”

Dynamical models of movement coordination

“…Another line of investigations on the basis of the HKB-model is concerned with the fact that the coordination dynamics described by the model may change as a function of learning, In an attempt to deal with this phenomenon, Schöner and Kelso (1988a; .Schöner and ; see also Schöner et al" 1992) distinguished between already existing pattern dynamics, which they termed "intrinsic dynamics", and the to-be-learned pattern dynamics, which was labelled "extrinsic dynamics". Subsequently, they modelled the learning process as a mapping from the intrinsic dynamics onto the extrinsic dynamics.…”