Kinesthetic Aftereffects and Individual Differences in Carryover effects

There is disagreement among researchers about the distinction between dynamic and static spatial performance. Given that dynamic spatial performance is supposed to be important for some occupations, such as air traffic control (ATC), it is germane to have evidence about the likelihood of that distinction. In the present study, a battery of printed static spatial and reasoning tests were applied to 480 applicants for an ATC training course. Two dynamic spatial tests were also applied. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed for testing three models. In Model A, static and dynamic spatial tests were grouped, whereas in Model B, spatial tests were separated according to their static or dynamic character, and in Model C, spatial tests were segregated according to the construct they tapped (visualization or spatial relations). The authors found that Model B, which distinguished static and dynamic spatial tests, showed the best fit. They also discuss some implications of the findings.     

Kinesthetic aftereffects and individual differences in carryover effects

Prior research has found that individual differences in long-lasting carryover effects occur in the kinesthetic aftereffect (KAE) task both when the aftereffect inducing block was wider (I greater than T) and narrower (I less than T) than the test block. The present study found that such individual differences in carryover effects also occur for a no-aftereffect-induction control condition, with a magnitude approximately equal to that found for the I greater than T and I less than KAE variants used here.     

Memory Characteristics of Kinesthetic Information

Several kinesthetic cues may underlie the retention of movements: joint position receptors, muscle stretch receptors, tendon stretch receptors, cutaneous senses, duration of movements, and motor outflow all provide cues. An attempt was made to separate subsets of cues used for movement reproduction by varying the characteristics of the movements. Ss reproduced either the end Location of a movement or the Distance plus Location. The original and reproduction movements involved either the same or different muscle tensions. These manipulations failed to result in different retention characteristics. In all cases there was little loss of accuracy over a 7-sec. retention interval unless the retention interval was filled with a distracting task. These results are quite different from those of a number of other studies of movement retention, suggesting that different cues do have different retention characteristics.     

Vibration-Induced Kinesthetic Illusions and Corticospinal Excitability Changes

The authors' aim was to investigate the changes of corticospinal excitability during kinesthetic illusions induced by tendon vibration. Motor-evoked potentials in response to transcranial magnetic stimulation were recorded from the vibrated flexor carpi radialis and its antagonist, extensor carpi radialis. The illusions were evoked under vision conditions without feedback for the position of the wrist (open or closed eyes). In these two conditions motor-evoked potential changes during vibration in the antagonist were not identical. This discrepancy may be a result of 2 simultaneously acting, different and opposite influences and the balance between them depends on visual conditions. Thus, the illusion was accompanied by the facilitation of corticospinal excitability in both vibrated muscle and its antagonist.     

Kinesthetic Compensation for Sensorimotor Rearrangements

ABSTRACT

The authors report a new sensorimotor phenomenon in which participants use hand-sensed kinesthetic information to compensate for rotational sensorimotor rearrangements. This compensation benefits from conscious awareness and is related to hand posture. The technique can reduce control inefficiency with some misalignments by as much as 64%. The results support Y. Guiard's (1987) Guiard, Y. 1987. Asymmetric division of labor in human skilled bimanual action. Journal of Motor Behavior, 19: 486–517. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] suggestion that in bimanual tasks one hand provides an operational frame of reference for the other hand as in a closed kinematic chain. Results with right-handed participants show that the right and left hands are equally effective at providing such a cue. A constant-angular-targeting-error model, similar to that used for hand movements by H. Cunningham and I. Vardi (1990) and for walking by S. K. Rushton, J. M. Harris, M. R. Lloyd, and J. P. Wann (1998), is used to model the trajectories of targeting hand movements demonstrating the phenomenon. The model provides a natural parameter of the error.     

Kinesthetic Cues in the Development of Time Concepts

The intent of this study was to document general behavioral correlates of cognitive impulsivity. Fourth-grade children were individually administered the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test, and the resulting measures (latency and errors) were correlated with a group administered scale of impulsivity, the Impulsivity Scale for Children (ISC) and eight teacher ratings evaluating the child on a series of different behaviors. No relationships existed between MFF measures and the ISC; and only one teacher rating correlated significantly with either MFF variable. This teacher rating (tendency to respond) was found to be the only discriminating teacher rating, and the high correlation between it and the MFF latency was explained because of the high task similarity between MFF requirements and the behaviors rated on “tendency to respond.” Cognitive impulsivity was not predicted by classroom behavior, implying that an individual's preferred conceptual tempo is not a part of a global impulsive behavior pattern but rather a relatively independent dimension of cognitive style. The questionable validity of the ISC was discussed for children of this age group, as was the significant correlation between Primary Mental Abilities (PMA) scores and the ISC scores.     

Visual and Kinesthetic Components of Pursuit-Tracking Performance

Ss (N=75) were trained on a pursuit rotor for 10 trials with ambient illumination from a strobe light flashing at frequencies of either 2, 5, 10, 15, or 20/sec. A transfer trial followed, with a strobe flashing frequency of 10/sec for all Ss. Results supported hypotheses derived from Adams’ (1971) closed-loop theory of motor learning that (a) performance would improve during training as a function of amount of visual feedback available, and that (b) if after training visual feedback was reduced, performance would be maintained to the extent that reliance upon kinesthetic feedback had been learned as an alternate compensatory feedback loop.     

Dynamic (Kinesthetic) Touch Perception in Preschool Children

The preschool years are an important time during which children gain proficiency using the hands for both performatory and perceptual functions that involve dynamic (kinesthetic) touch. We evaluated dynamic touch perception of object extent and found that preschool children are able to discriminate length by dynamic touch early, but perception is not very fine-tuned and perceptual attunement to inertial characteristics increased with age. An analysis comparing the performatory and perceptual functions of the hands showed links between performance and perception in dynamic touch tasks that did not require haptic–visual correspondence. We concluded that whereas dynamic touch is functional early in the preschool years, perceptual acuity is not very precise and haptic–visual correspondence remains immature. In addition, reliance on inertial properties as information to make judgments of length emerges between 3 and 5 years and attunement to inertial properties likely continues to develop throughout childhood because perceptual judgments of 5-year-olds did not reach adult levels. Tight links between the performatory and the perceptual functions of the hand suggest this is an important avenue for future research.     

The Grisso Tests for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Warnings with a Forensic Sample

The Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights, hereafter referred to as the Grisso tests, are widely used and recommended psychological tests designed to help assess ability to understand and appreciate Miranda warnings. This article describes the results of these tests administered to 439 individuals who participated in an evaluation to assess knowing and intelligent waiver of Miranda warnings during police questioning. This study is the first of its kind using a large sample of defendants who were referred for an assessment of capacity to waive Miranda rights. This forensic sample includes both juveniles (176) and adults (263), and the results are quite similar to the original Grisso norms. There are strong correlations between performance on these tests and IQ as well as between performance and age. This sample provides a broader foundation for users of the Grisso tests and answers some of the initial criticism of the instruments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Short-Term Kinesthetic Training for Sensorimotor Rhythms: Effects in Experts and Amateurs

The authors’ aim was to examine whether short-term kinesthetic training affects the level of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) in different frequency band: alpha (8–12 Hz), lower beta (12.5–16 Hz) and beta (16.5–20 Hz) during the execution of a motor imagery task of closing and opening the right and the left hand by experts (jugglers, practicing similar exercises on an everyday basis) and amateurs (individuals not practicing any sports). It was found that the performance of short kinesthetic training increases the power of alpha rhythm when executing imagery tasks only in the group of amateurs. Therefore, kinesthetic training may be successfully used as a method increasing the vividness of motor imagery, for example, in tasks involving the control of brain–computer interfaces based on SMR.     

The Atonement of the Alleged Perpetrator's Daughter: Understanding of Model Scenes and Space Attachment in Analytical Dance Therapy

In this rich paper the analysand Annabelle is sent by her analyst to the dance therapist who reports in great detail how Annabelle manages to throw off and—to a certain extent—integrate not only her own life-long misunderstanding but also those of her parents. The reason for Annabelle's referral was straightforward: the analysis had ground to a halt. Words no longer reached her. The reader is reminded of the emotive-relational-motor clusters described in Chazan's and Shahar-Levy's papers. Body image distortions and space misperceptions curtailed this patient's ability to function. When she began to bring her distress to her analytic dance therapy sessions, she could not associate verbally but made use of props her therapist had in store. As she slowly progressed toward true symbolization and expression, her therapist found herself embroiled countertransferentially. The patient's long-suffering mother was remembered as someone who would, or could, only give partial information about the family's history. The father had been a Nazi and was now blamed for all the suffering the family had lo endure. This fact resonated both with Annabelle's analyst and the dance therapist who managed to take a long look at their own family's records during that troubled time.     

Initiation of Bilateral Responses in a Kinesthetic Reaction Time Task

Two experiments are presented in which different mechanisms controlling each limb in a bilateral arm response to a unilateral kinesthetic stimulus are postulated to occur. In Experiment 1, the limb serving as the stimulus limb was described as operating with relative invariance by using a tightly coupled input-output reflexive pathway, whereas the nonstimulus limb appeared to be controlled by higher-order processing thought to be more susceptible to influences such as hemispheric specialization and stimulus expectancy. The differential control model was further tested in Experiment 2 by retaining the intrahemispheric pathway of the unilateral kinesthetic stimulus but experimentally uncoupling the reflex mechanism from the stimulus side. Analyses of bilateral EMG premotor latencies under these conditions revealed that each response side can be controlled at separate levels —i.e., by a reflexive type mechanism or by higher-order processing when one of the response limbs is also the stimulus limb. When the stimulus is on the same side but not generated by either responding limb, both sides reflect behavior that is best described by an information processing type of voluntary control.     

Kinesthetic Recall And Information Bold>Reduction Activity

2 experiments are reported in which interpolated motor activity requiring either information reduction (1.86 bits) or no reduction was compared to a control to examine their effects on kinesthetic retention. Exp. 1 used an independent groups design and found only absolute error to increase over the delay intervals. Information reduction activity did not affect kinesthetic retention and there was increasing negative error for longer movements, with positive response sets for short movements and negative response sets for long movements. Exp. 2 replicated the retention interval conditions using a within-Ss design. No difference between conditions was found for either absolute or algebraic error, but an effect of Retention Intervals was found for absolute error. For both studies, the Interpolated Activity X Retention Interval interaction failed significance. No evidence was found to support interference or available processing capacity expalanation for the loss of retention.