Manipulations of sensory information: a test of the hypothesis of redundancy of knowledge of results.

The hypothesis of redundancy in knowledge of results was examined by manipulating the amount and location of sensory information available to participants performing a coincident anticipation timing task. Either the last 8 lights or the last 16 lights of the visual display were visible to 48 participants. Following an acquisition phase, learning was tested over immediate (5-min.) and delayed (24-hr.) retention intervals. The main finding was that performance was better when knowledge of results was present, regardless of the amount of sensory information available; therefore, knowledge of results was not redundant information for learning this task.

A preliminary comparison of stimulus presentation methods with the Bassin Anticipation Timing Task.

The Bassin Anticipation Timing Task was used to compare response performance when the stimulus terminated at the target location to when the stimulus continued past the target location. Two conditions (terminating and continuing) were tested by measuring timing errors on the task. Analyses indicated no significant differences in absolute error and variable error between the conditions. However, analysis of constant error showed a significant effect, with the timing errors being fewer on the terminating condition. These results suggest that the two stimulus presentation methods with the Bassin Anticipation Task differentially influence timing performance.

Translating between orthogonally oriented stimulus and response arrays in four-choice reaction tasks.

Three experiments examined performance of four-choice reaction tasks using stimulus and response arrays oriented along parallel or orthogonal axes. All used a procedure in which pairs of locations were precued in advance of the target stimulus. Responses were slower for orthogonal than for parallel stimulus-response sets, but the pattern of relative precuing benefits was similar. Complete transfer occurred when the stimulus array was changed from an orthogonal to a parallel orientation with respect to the response array after three sessions of practice. Transfer was also evident when the orientation of the response array was changed from orthogonal to parallel with respect to the stimulus array, as long as the assignment of stimulus locations to fingers was not altered. The results suggest that coding in the four-choice task is by relative location regardless of whether the stimulus and response sets are oriented orthogonally, and that an additional transformation operation to align the frames of reference is performed for orthogonal orientations.

Salience of stimulus and response features in choice-reaction tasks.

A pattern of differential reaction time (RT) benefits obtained in spatial-precuing tasks has been attributed to translation processes that operate on mental codes formed to represent the stimulus and response sets. According to the salient-features coding principle, the codes are based on the salient stimulus and response features, with RTs being fastest when the two sets of features correspond. Three experiments are reported in which the stimulus and response sets were manipulated using Gestalt grouping principles. In the first two experiments, stimuli and responses were grouped according to spatial proximity, whereas in the last experiment, they were grouped according to similarity. With both types of manipulations, the grouping of the stimulus set systematically affected the pattern of precuing benefits. Thus, in these experiments, the organization of the stimulus set was the primary determinant of the features selected for coding the stimulus and response sets in the translation process.

Evaluation of compatibility effects in the precuing of arm and direction parameters.

The present study evaluated the role of compatibility effects in the precuing of arm and direction parameters. In the first two experiments different stimulus and response arrangements were examined. For all three experiments the spatial precue and imperative stimuli were compatibly assigned to responses (i.e., a direct correspondence existed between the stimulus and response locations). Experiments 1 and 2 indirectly tested the effect of decision processes required by the stimulus-response set. Experiment 1 replicated previous research that has found longer reaction times for the direction uncertain parameter as compared to arm uncertain. Experiment 2 examined the precuing of arm and direction parameters with stimuli that maintained right-left arrangements for both parameters. Unlike Experiment 1, reaction times did not differ for precuing the two movement parameters. Experiment 3 directly examined the effect of differential decision requirements from up-down spatial stimuli and right-left spatial stimuli for a single parameter. In support of results from the first two experiments, results indicated longer reaction times for decisions from up-down stimuli as compared to right-left stimuli. Because reaction times for precued movement parameters are a function of the stimulus and response arrangements used, differences in reaction times are most likely due to compatibility effects arising from differences in the spatial arrangements of the precued stimulus and response set.

Effect of concurrent visual feedback on acquisition of a weightlifting skill.

Practice in front of a mirror is a common procedure for activities such as dance, gymnastics, and other sports. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that performing with concurrent visual feedback from a mirror had on the acquisition of the power clean movement. 18 college-age males who had no prior experience with the power clean movement served as subjects who were assigned to one of two groups. One group had use of a mirror during the practice trials and the other practiced without the mirror. All subjects viewed an instructional videotape and had practice trials. All subjects were evaluated for proper technique on a pretest, a posttest without the mirror, and a posttest with the mirror. Analysis showed a significant difference between pre- and posttest performances for both groups and a significant difference between groups on the posttest performances with the mirror. Evidently the videotaped instruction was sufficient to allow both groups to improve in performance of the power clean. Differences in posttest performances with the mirror reflected the type of feedback (with or without the mirror) available during training.

Determinants of two-choice reaction-time patterns for same-hand and different-hand finger pairings.

Several studies of two-choice reaction times have compared situations in which the alternative responses are fingers from one hand (the same-hand pairing) or one finger from each hand (the different-hand pairing). Two patterns of results have been obtained: (a) equivalent reaction times for the same-hand and different-hand pairings and (b) faster reaction times for the different-hand pairing. Previously, these outcomes have been attributed to the adoption of different response-preparation strategies when response pairs are constant (low response-pair uncertainty) versus when they are varied from trial to trial (high response-pair uncertainty). However, response-pair uncertainty has been confounded with whether only the two relevant fingers were placed on response keys or whether more than two fingers were. Experiment 1 of the present study demonstrated that finger placement, rather than response-pair uncertainty, determines which reaction-time pattern is obtained. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated the nature of the finger-placement effect by placing the fingers that were irrelevant for the task on response keys or on immovable blocks. The experiments indicated that the crucial factor is the number of fingers on active response keys, with the type of preparation being different when only two fingers are on keys rather than when more than two fingers are.

The acquisition of task-specific productions and modifications of declarative representations in spatial-precuing tasks.

The stimulus-response translation stage of human information processing plays a mediating role of relating stimuli to assigned responses. The translation stage has been implicated as the locus of a pattern of differential precuing benefits obtained in spatial-choice tasks (Proctor & Reeve, 1986; Reeve & Proctor, 1985): When pairs of finger responses from the middle and index fingers of each hand are precued, the two leftmost and two rightmost responses show the greatest benefit. This pattern of differential benefits, which occurs regardless of whether the hand placement is adjacent or overlapped, has been attributed to spatially coded representations of the stimulus and response sets in the translation stage. Experiment 1 evaluated whether the mediating role of the translation stage changes with practice. All precued pairs of responses showed equivalent benefits in the last of three sessions. This result indicates that the spatial representations used initially to translate between stimuli and responses have been altered to be more efficient or have been replaced by productions that directly specify fingers. Experiment 2 used a fourth session in which subjects were transferred from the overlapped hand placement to the adjacent placement, or vice versa. For subjects in the former condition, the pattern of differential precuing benefits reappeared in the transfer session. This lack of transfer is consistent with the hypothesis that task-specific productions develop with practice that directly relate stimuli to fingers. For subjects who practiced with the adjacent placement and switched to the overlapped placement, only a nonsignificant tendency existed for the pattern of differential precuing benefits to reappear. This failure of the pattern to reappear could indicate that spatial representations continue to be used to translate between stimuli and responses. Alternatively, as occurs with the overlapped placement, task-specific productions could be acquired that relate stimuli to fingers. If so, the failure of the pattern of differential precuing benefits to reappear would reflect a modification in the representations that are used for translation in the transfer session. Specifically, if subjects were coding the stimulus and response sets on the basis of the distinction between the two hands, as well as the spatial distinction, the differential benefits would be minimized because hand coding should benefit different responses from those benefitted by spatial coding. These alternative explanations were evaluated in Experiment 3 by having subjects who practiced with the adjacent placement switch to a placement in which the hands were crossed completely.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Visual dominance in the cross-modal kinesthetic to kinesthetic plus visual feedback condition.

In previous studies subjects who have learned a positioning response with kinesthetic feedback tended to make greater errors when visual feedback was provided during later trials. These subjects have always performed with both kinesthetic and visual feedback available. This study determined whether subjects with only visual feedback would produce errors similar to those who received kinesthetic plus visual feedback. Blindfolded subjects learned to move a handle to a criterion location with knowledge of results following each trial. Subjects then were assigned to one of three experimental groups, with only kinesthetic feedback, with kinesthetic plus visual feedback, or with only visual feedback. Subjects had 9 trials without knowledge of results in these feedback conditions. When visual feedback was available, subjects tended to make longer response errors. This finding replicates previous studies. Also, the similarity of performances from the conditions with visual feedback indicated the dominance of visual information in the condition with kinesthetic plus visual feedback.

On the advance preparation of discrete finger responses.

Most studies that examined the precuing of motor responses have been interpreted as indicating that response specification is a variable-order process. An apparent exception to this conclusion was obtained by Miller (1982) for the preparation of discrete finger responses. Precuing was beneficial only when the precued responses were on the same hand, suggesting that response specification occurs in a fixed order, with hand specified before other aspects of the response. Three experiments examined this discrepant finding for discrete finger responses. Experiment 1 demonstrated that with sufficient time (3 s), all combinations of responses can be equally well prepared. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the precuing advantage for same-hand responses at shorter precuing intervals is due to strategic and decision factors, not to an ability to prepare these responses more efficiently. Preparation of finger responses, thus, also appears to be variable. This conclusion poses problems for Miller's extension of the precuing procedure to the evaluation of discrete versus continuous models of information processing.

Effects of skill level and sensory information on golf putting.

To determine the role of sensory information in golf putting 22 subjects were classified as either high or low in skill. Subjects from both groups putted from two distances (5 and 15 ft.) under three different conditions: relevant visual cues (look at ball), no visual cues (blindfolded), and irrelevant visual cues (look at offset marker). The 2 X 2 X 3 analysis of variance with radial error as the dependent variable indicated significant main effects for each factor but no significant interactions. Relevant visual cues provided greater accuracy than did no visual cues or irrelevant visual cues.

An empirical note on the role of verbal labels in motor short-term memory tasks.

Previous studies of motor short-term memory have shown that when a criterion movement on a semicircular positioning task is accompanied by an appropriate verbal label (a clock-face position), recall of the movement is more accurate than when only the movement is presented. This increased accuracy could be due to either the additional spatial information provided by the label or enhanced retention of the movement information. These two alternatives cannot be distinguished on the basis of previous studies because the studies have not evaluated movement accuracy following presentation of the label alone. The present study employed such a condition in addition to the movement-only and movement-plus-label conditions to distinguish between the two hypotheses. In all conditions, subjects were asked to move to the criterion position after a retention interval of either 5 sec or 60 sec. Evidence indicated that subjects who received both the label and the movement tended to use the spatial information provided by the label at the 60-sec interval. The evidence did not indicate that the verbal label actually enhanced retention of the movement information.

Age, sex, and body composition as predictors of children's performance on basic motor abilities and health-related fitness items.

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of age, sex, and body composition to children's motor performances on selected basic motor tasks, balance, speed, agility, power, coordination, and reaction time, and health-related fitness items, flexibility, muscle strength and endurance, and cardiovascular functions. 80 subjects were students in Grades 1, 2, 3. Data were submitted to a step-wise multiple linear regression for each criterion variable. Predictor variables were age, sex, and body composition. Age was a significant factor in predicting performance on all variables except muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility. Sex significantly predicted performance for only flexibility and cardiovascular function and body composition for the power and cardiovascular function variables. Beyond the biological potential of each individual are factors that influence his motor development. These factors need early identification to make possible opportunities for each person to reach the full perimeters of motor potential.

Effects of variability of practice in a movement-education program on motor skill performance.

The study investigated the effects of the direct and exploration methods of teaching on the overhand throwing performance of kindergarten children. Variable throwing practice was provided in the exploration method by allowing children to throw 5 different types of balls at a variety of targets. Children given the direct method threw only one type of ball and received specific instruction and demonstrations. Throwing for distance and throwing accuracy were measured on pre- and posttests. A novel throwing task was administered on the posttest to measure skill transfer. The experimental groups received instruction three times per week for 4 wk. in throwing while a control group received no instruction. Significant sex differences in throws were found for distance and accuracy. Analysis of data from the novel task gave no significant effects. The two methods of teaching did not produce different levels of throwing skill.