RESUMO
In this paper we re-visit and elaborate-on the theoretical framework of learning as searching within the perceptual-motor workspace for a solution to the task. The central focus is the nature of search strategies to locate and create stable equilibrium regions in the perceptual-motor workspace and how these strategies relate to the emergent movement forms in the acquisition of coordination, control, and skill. In the ecological theory of perception and action, the enhanced stability of performance occurs through the attunement of the perceptual systems to the task dynamics together with modifications of action as task and intrinsic dynamics cooperate and/or compete. Thus, through practice in this search process, individuals adapt to the pick-up of task relevant perceptual variables and change their movement form according to the stability of the performed action and its outcome in relation to the task demands. Contemporary experimental findings have revealed features of the search process given the interaction of individual intrinsic dynamics in the context of task requirements and principles that drive the change - e.g., exploitation of more tolerant task-space solutions and emergence of compensatory mechanisms. Finally, we outline how the search strategy framework relates to traditional learning-related phenomena: including the dynamical pathways of learning, learning curves, factors of learning, individuality, motor development, and sport and rehabilitation interventions.
RESUMO
The experiment was set up to investigate the inter- and intrafoot coordination dynamics of postural control on balance boards. A frequency domain principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on 4 center of pressure (COP) time series collected from two force platforms to reveal their contributions to postural stability. The orientation of support played a more significant role than its width in channeling the foot coordination dynamics. When the support was oriented along the AP-challenging direction, the 4 COPs revealed a parallel contribution to the 1st principal component (PC1) indicating an interdependence of the foot coordination in both directions. When the support was positioned along the ML-challenging direction, the COPs in the AP direction showed larger weightings to PC1 implying an interfoot coordination. These findings provide evidence that COP coordination operates in adaptive ways to sustain postural stability in light of changing support constraints to standing.