Date of Award
1984
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to examine visually guided movements of the upper limbs which approximated normal reaching behaviour, and to describe the production of these movements on the basis of a number of interrelated measures. The series of studies required subjects to point quickly and accurately to small visual targets presented lateral to a visual fixation point, on an otherwise featureless screen. In Studies 1 and 2 the kinematic characteristics of the limb movements were examined by a frame-by-frame analysis of video records of the subjects' performance. The use of visual feedback information in the guidance of the limb was evident from the modifications in trajectory during periods of low velocity at the end of the movements, and also from the increased accuracy and longer movement duration when the subjects pointed to persistent rather than briefly visible targets. Studies 1 and 2 also revealed that reaches of either limb which crossed the body axis were less efficient, in terms of movement velocity, than those performed within the extrapersonal space ipsilateral to the limb being used. As long as the subjects fixated a point directly in front of their body axis before the target was presented, these ipsilateral reaches were also initiated more quickly and were more accurate. Unlike movement velocity, the latency and accuracy of the limb movement were altered when the subjects fixated an eccentric point so that the visual field did not correspond to extrapersonal space relative to the body axis. Studies 1 and 3 found a low but statistically correlation between the latency to initiate movement of the eyes and hand. The results of Study 3 suggested that this correlation may be reduced by previous trials in which only the eyes or the hand were directed to the target. In Study 1 the eye and limb movement latencies were lower for ipsilaterally presented targets and for blocks of trials in which the subjects reached with their right hand. The results suggest the existence of a hemispherically organized network of cortical areas which is involved in the integration of sensorimotor information for the control of visually directed eye and limb movements.
Recommended Citation
Fisk, John David, "The Spatial And Temporal Characteristics Of Visually Directed Limb Movements And Comparison Of Ocular And Manual Performance" (1984). Digitized Theses. 1344.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/1344