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Visual target distance, but not visual cursor path length produces shifts in motor behavior
Nike Wendker1, Oliver S Sack1, Christine Sutter1
1Department of Work and Cognitive Psychology, RWTH Aachen University Aachen, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|March 28, 2014
Summary
Visual feedback significantly impacts action control when tool use effects mismatch body and distant spaces. This study reveals aftereffects depend on hand path length and visual target distance, not cursor path, with fleeting visual feedback effects.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- Tool use often creates discrepancies between body-centric and external spatial effects.
- Visual feedback typically dominates action control over proprioceptive feedback in such scenarios.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how dimensional overlap between visual and proprioceptive action effects influences motor response aftereffects.
- To determine the impact of varying dimensional relationships on aftereffects in visually guided movements.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments involving linear hand movements on a digitizer tablet to generate non-overlapping cursor trajectories.
- Manipulation of hand amplitude, visual target distance, and cursor path length across different conditions.
- Analysis of motor response aftereffects based on dimensional relationships and contextual interference.
Main Results:
- Aftereffects were primarily influenced by the relationship between hand path length and visual target distance.
- No significant increase in aftereffects was observed with heightened contextual interference.
- Repetition of gain across trials yielded greater benefits than gain switching.
Conclusions:
- Dimensional overlap between visual and proprioceptive action effects modulates information processing in visually controlled actions.
- The internal model adjusts rapidly for simple linear transformations, making the impact of prior visual feedback transient.
- Understanding these dynamics is crucial for designing effective human-tool interactions.
