The effect of temporal and force changes on the patterning of sequential movements

This article examines the programming of relatively long sequences of action with the control of sequential movements being effected through the use of a tapping task involving a sequence of five taps. Subjects were required to tap with their right hand at rates of 150, 200, and 250 ms. There were two conditions, with subjects being required either to increase, in condition 1, or to decrease, in condition 2, the force at one of the five tap positions (all five tap positions were examined), then return to the previous force level. Changes in timing resulting from variations in the force characteristics have previously been discussed in terms of changes in the organizational time required (Semjen, Garcia-Colera, & Requin, 1984). The current study breaks the intertap interval down into two separate components: the contact interval (finger in contact with the key) and the non-contact interval (interval preceding the tap). Although changes in the non-contact interval could be explained in terms of changes in the organizational time required, changes in the contact interval appeared to be a result of the mechanical changes in force.