Abstract

In a set of three experiments, we show that after an auditory "go" signal, subjects simultaneously initiate and terminate two-handed movements to targets of widely disparate difficulty. This is the case when the movements required are (a) lateral and away from the midline of the body (Experiment 1), (b) toward the midline of the body (Experiment 2), and (c) in the forward direction away from the body midline (Experiment 3). Kinematic data obtained from high-speed cinematography (200 frames/sec) point to a tight coordinative coupling between the two hands. Although the hands move at entirely different speeds to different points in space, times to peak velocity and acceleration are almost perfectly synchronous. We believe that the brain produces simultaneity of action as the optimal solution for the two-handed task by organizing functional groupings of muscles (coordinative structures) that are constrained to act as a single unit.

Keywords

KinematicsSimultaneityAccelerationSet (abstract data type)Movement (music)Action (physics)Computer sciencePoint (geometry)Task (project management)CommunicationSIGNAL (programming language)Motion (physics)Coupling (piping)Space (punctuation)PhysicsAcousticsGeometryComputer visionMathematicsClassical mechanicsPsychologyEngineering

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Publication Info

Year
1979
Type
article
Volume
5
Issue
2
Pages
229-238
Citations
518
Access
Closed

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Cite This

J. Scott Kelso, Dan Southard, David Goodman (1979). On the coordination of two-handed movements.. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance , 5 (2) , 229-238. https://doi.org/10.1037//0096-1523.5.2.229

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DOI
10.1037//0096-1523.5.2.229