The reality of practice: An action systems approach to serious gaming

The aim of this thesis is to introduce an action systems approach to rehabilitation science. More precisely, this thesis aims to promote a perspective that gives action, or activity, primacy in thinking about motor learning issues in rehabilitation. It will do so by focusing on the assumptions on which the adoption of serious gaming for prosthesis use is based. To make room for considering a novel perspective on motor learning in rehabilitation, the first chapters of the thesis will empirically evaluate the current generation of myogames. Such games are of particular interest because they are used to train patients to become dexterous at using a prosthesis, yet they have never been tested for their effect on prosthesis skill. Moreover, the use of myogames requires learning to modulate electric currents that are usually only a by-product of a goal-directed action. It will be argued that the rationale for conversely using electric currents to control such actions is typical for the traditional view on motor learning. After providing positive evidence that an action systems approach might provide a more promising framework to study motor learning issues in rehabilitation, this thesis unpacks the action system approach by focusing on its theoretical underpinnings.