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Action goal selection and motor planning can be dissociated by tool use
Thérèse Collins1, Tobias Schicke, Brigitte Röder
1Biological Psychology and Neuropsychology, University of Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146 Hamburg, Germany. therese.collins@uni-hamburg.de
Cognition
|November 18, 2008
Summary
Action preparation, like hand movements, sharpens visual perception at movement endpoints. This study shows both goal selection and motor planning influence perception, challenging the idea that tools extend the body schema.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Perception Science
- Motor Control
Background:
- Action preparation, including eye and hand movements, is known to enhance visual perception.
- The precise spatial locus of this action-perception link (goal selection vs. motor planning) remains debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether action goal selection or motor planning determines the spatial extent of action's influence on perception.
- To examine how tool use affects perception at different spatial locations relevant to the action.
Main Methods:
- A tool use paradigm was designed to differentiate between the goal location and the motor endpoint.
- Participants performed a visual discrimination task at the tool tip, motor endpoint, and control locations.
- Perceptual performance was measured by discrimination accuracy.
Main Results:
- Visual perception was enhanced at both the tool tip (goal) and the fingertip (motor endpoint) locations.
- Enhancement was specific to these two locations, with no significant effects at nearby or intermediate points.
- These findings suggest parallel contributions from both goal selection and motor planning to perception.
Conclusions:
- Both action goal selection and motor planning contribute to the enhancement of visual perception during action preparation.
- Tool use enhances perception at task-relevant locations (tool tip and manipulator's body part), rather than extending the body schema.
- Perception is modulated by the specific spatial demands of tool-mediated actions.
