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The Locus of Bimanual Skill Transfer
Robert E Hicks1,2, Jay Martin Frank1,2, Marcel Kinsbourne1,2
1a University of North Carolina School of Medicine, State University of New York , Albany , USA.
The Journal of General Psychology
|February 3, 2017
Summary
Engaging one hand in a typing task while the other grasps a table leg prevents motor learning transfer. This suggests motor programs irradiate during, not after, practice.
Area of Science:
- Motor learning
- Motor control
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Motor learning transfer between limbs is a well-documented phenomenon.
- The precise mechanisms underlying interlimb transfer remain incompletely understood.
- Previous research has not fully elucidated the temporal dynamics of motor program irradiation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of concurrent motor activity in the non-practicing limb on motor learning transfer.
- To determine if motor learning transfer occurs during or after the acquisition phase.
- To test the hypothesis that motor program irradiation mediates interlimb transfer.
Main Methods:
- 128 subjects performed a unimanual typing task.
- Experimental group: the non-practicing hand grasped a table leg.
- Control group: the non-practicing hand remained free.
Main Results:
- Significant savings in training were observed in the control group's non-practicing hand.
- No savings in training were found in the experimental group's non-practicing hand.
- Concurrent limb engagement abolished interlimb transfer of motor learning.
Conclusions:
- Transfer of motor learning is abolished when the non-practicing limb is engaged in an unrelated motor task.
- Motor learning transfer is mediated by the irradiation of motor programs during the acquisition phase.
- These findings support a dynamic model of motor learning where neural processes unfold concurrently with practice.
