What is the “degrees of freedom problem” as it relates to the study of human motor control and learning?

Question

What is the “degrees of freedom problem” as it relates to the study of human motor control and learning? how can this be explaned in simple terms (in your own words)?

Answer 1

I'm just guessing, but I use "degrees of freedom" to indicate the number of ways a thing can move. Your forearm, for example, seems to have two degrees of freedom: it can move angularly at the elbow and rotate the hand. The upper arm seems to have two also: it can move up and down as well as back and forth. If you want to assign mathematical coordinate systems, the upper arm could be said to have two angular degrees of freedom and call them theta and phi, for example. I think of it differently than "where" it can move, rather considering "how" it moves there.