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Response programming, as assessed by reaction time, does not establish commands for particular muscles
1Department of Psychology, California State University, Hayward, CA 94542, USA.
Journal of Motor Behavior
|December 1, 1977
Summary
This study investigates response programming, determining if it involves specific muscle commands or abstract timing. Findings suggest abstract timing networks are prioritized over muscle-specific commands during response programming.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Motor control
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Previous research inferred response programming from reaction time and response characteristics.
- A key question remains whether programming generates muscle-specific commands or abstract timing networks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nature of response programming in motor control.
- To determine if muscle selection precedes or follows response programming.
- To test the hypothesis that abstract timing networks are central to response programming.
Main Methods:
- Experiment 1 utilized the Sternberg (1969) additive-factor method.
- Experiments 2 and 3 manipulated response muscle specification during programming.
- Behavioral experiments measured reaction times and response characteristics.
Main Results:
- Muscle selection is not necessarily completed before response programming begins.
- Advance programming of response timing can occur independently of specific muscle selection.
- Results challenge the view that programming generates commands for pre-selected muscles.
Conclusions:
- Response programming appears to rely on abstract timing networks rather than solely on muscle-specific commands.
- This supports a more flexible and abstract model of motor preparation.
- A new theoretical framework is proposed to integrate these findings.