A motor program is an abstract representation of movement that centrally organizes and controls the many degrees of freedom involved in performing an action.^p. 182 Signals transmitted through efferent and afferent pathways allow the central nervous system to anticipate, plan or guide movement. Evidence for the concept of motor programs include the following:^p. 182

1. Processing of afferent information (feedback) is too slow for on-going regulation of rapid movements.
2. Reaction time (time between “go” signal and movement initiation) increases with movement complexity, suggesting that movements are planned in advance.
3. Movement is possible even without feedback from the moving limb.