Date Approved

1995

Graduate Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Physical Therapy (M.S.)

Degree Program

Physical Therapy

First Advisor

Tim Strickler

Second Advisor

Brian Curry

Third Advisor

C. Harro

Abstract

Twelve normal and 12 brain injured subjects aged 18-56 years learned a linear positioning task involving moving a slide to a target position while blind folded. During the acquisition phase, feedback was provided as 33%, 67% or 100% KR. Immediate (10 minute) and delayed (24 hour) retention tests were performed without feedback. ANOVAs were used to compare the effects of feedback frequency. At the acquisition and immediate retention phases, the normal group performed with significantly less error than the brain injured group. This trend continued in the delayed retention test, but was not significant. Both groups performed best in the immediate retention test with 67% KR (not significant). In the delayed retention test, the normal group had less error with 33% KR, while the brain injured group had less error with 67% KR (not significant). It was concluded that brain injured individuals have more difficulty learning a motor task than do normal individuals. A medium relative frequency of KR is preferable to promote motor learning in both brain injured and normal individuals.

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