Separate movement planning and spatial assimilation effects in sequential bimanual aiming movements

This study extended earlier work by showing spatial assimilations in sequential bimanual aiming movements when the participant preplanned only the first movement of a two-movement sequence. Right-handed participants (n=20, aged 18 to 22 years) made rapid lever reversals of 20 degrees and 60 degrees singly and sequentially with an intermovement interval of 2.5 sec. Following blocked single practice of both movements in each hand (15 trials each), two sets of 30 sequential practice trials were completed. The sequences began with either the long or the short movement and the participant always knew the goal of the first movement. During the intermovement interval, the experimenter gave instructions to complete the sequence with a short movement, a long movement, or no movement in a random order. Compared to the single trials, both movements in the sequence overshot the short-distance and undershot the long-distance goal. Spatial errors increased when a change in the movement goal was required for the second movement in the sequence. The experiment demonstrated that separate planning of sequential aiming movements can reduce spatial assimilation effects, but interference due to practice organization and switching the task's goal must also be overcome in order to produce accurate aiming movements.