How To Wiggle Her Thumb

I practiced using the closed-loop theory to try to teach Shiley H. how to wiggle her thumb. The closed loop theory is characterized by completing a specific task over and over again to establish a perceptual trace. Along with practice, the perceptual trace is established through reinforcing an accepted internal reference, which is thought of as being the “correct” way to do things. While it is initially the memory trace that selects and initiates movements, the closed-loop theory works to cause the perceptual trace to override the memory trace and detect any mistakes carried out in the movement or task. I chose this theory because Shiley is very young, about 26 months old. I thought she would respond better to constant and consistent practices, as opposed to trying to apply the task to variable situations, environments, and/or functional tasks. I also used explicit learning tactics, in which I told Shiley exactly what I wanted her to do. …show more content…
There was a lot of commotion going on around us, but I could tell she was at least trying to concentrate and complete the motion. She was more reserved and less open to trying the new task in the beginning, but I had more luck in getting Shiley to participate once her older sister joined us. First, I showed her the motion and asked if she could wiggle her own thumb. When she couldn’t, I moved her thumb in the wiggling motion so she could experience for herself what the movement was supposed to feel like (concurrent extrinsic feedback). I did this in order to try and establish some sort of foundational perceptual trace. After alternating between asking her to wiggle her thumb and manually wiggling Shiley’s thumb for her, she was able to move it to the right, but could not complete the “full wiggle” by moving it back to the left. Based on this, I would say I was half successful in teaching Shiley how to wiggle her