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Scaling the Components of Prehension

Paola Cesari and Karl M. Newell

The experiment reported examined: (a) the role of the geometrical body scaled informational invariant for the transition of human grip configurations; (b) whether the same invariant can be scaled considering also the force applied during the grasp phase; and (c) how the temporal duration of the grasp and displacement phases of prehension are scaled to the object properties of size and mass. Adult subjects performed a series of trials in reaching, grasping, and displacing spheres that varied in size and mass. The grip transitions were described by the body scaled relation:
K = log L s + log M s a + b M h + c L h
where Ls and Ms are, respectively, the diameter and the mass of the spheres grasped and Lh and Mh are the length and the mass of the hand. The impulse during the grasp phase was linearly related with the mass of the spheres within each density. The temporal durations of the grasp and displacement components were scaled coherently to the object properties. These findings provide support to the hypothesis that the grasp and displacement components of prehension are organized coherently within a single action.
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Stochastic Modeling of the Steady-State Variability in Isometric Force

Joseph P. Stitt and Karl M. Newell

This paper presents the stochastic modeling of isometric force variability in the steady-state time series recorded from the index finger of young adults in the act of attempting to hold different levels of constant force. The isometric force time series were examined by assuming that the stochastic (random) models were linear. System identification techniques were employed to estimate the parameters of each linear model. Once the models were parameterized, the values of the estimated parameters were compared to determine if a single linear time-invariant model was applicable across the entire isometric force range. Although the overall random models were found to be nonlinear functions of the target force level, within a fixed target level, linear modeling provided adequate estimates of the underlying processes thus enabling the use of well-known linear system identification algorithms.

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Asymmetric Interference Associated With Force Amplitude and Hand Dominance in Bimanual Constant Isometric Force

Xiaogang Hu and Karl M. Newell

This study investigated the asymmetry of bilateral interference in relation to the relative difference of force amplitude between hands and the hand dominance. In Experiment 1, one hand produced a fixed constant force of 5% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) while the other hand produced different constant forces of 5%, 20%, and 50% MVC in blocked conditions. Asymmetric interference in force amplitude alone was evident in that the hand producing the fixed low force showed a stronger interference than the hand performing the higher force. Asymmetric interference in hand dominance was also found in that more interference was observed when the nondominant left hand produced the higher force, a finding that does not support the hemisphere specialization hypothesis. Experiment 2 was performed to rule out the fixed force level interpretation compared with the low force level account and the fixed force was set at 50% MVC. The results were consistent with the findings in Experiment 1 showing asymmetric interference with force amplitude rather than with fixed force level. The findings revealed that without a timing constraint the task demand associated with force amplitude alone can induce the asymmetric bilateral interference. The external task asymmetry and intrinsic asymmetry of the organism interact and influence the bimanual force coordination and control patterns.

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Coordination Patterns of Foot Dynamics in the Control of Upright Standing

Zheng Wang, Kimberlee Jordan, and Karl M. Newell

In this study, two force platforms were synchronized to investigate the coordination of the right and left foot center of pressure (COPR and COPL) and its relation to the COPNET in the control of 5 upright postures with and without visual information. The results revealed that the standard deviation (SD) of COPL, COPR, and COPNET progressively increased in the more challenging staggered and tandem stances, respectively, and to a lesser degree with the absence of visual information. Circular analysis of the relative phase of COPL and COPR revealed that the coupling pattern and variability were dependent on postural stances and the availability of vision. A negative correlation between the variability of the relative phase of the two feet COPs and the SD of the COPNET in the anterior-posterior (AP) direction was evident most strongly in the no vision conditions. Thus, the asymmetry of the mechanical constraints on the feet as a function of stance organize the coordination patterns of the feet COPs while the degree of adaptive variation between the feet COPs is dependent on both the mechanical constraints and the availability of vision.

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Matching and Minimizing Movement Time in Speed-Accuracy Tasks

Tsung-Yu Hsieh, Matheus M. Pacheco, and Karl M. Newell

The goal of present experiment was to test whether different speed-accuracy paradigms outcomes (time minimization and time matching) were due to different temporal and spatial task constraints. Fifteen participants twice performed 100 trials of time minimization and time matching tasks with the yoked temporal and spatial requirements (criterion time and target width). The results showed that performing an aiming movement under the same spatial and temporal constraints resulted in similar outcomes with distributional properties (skewness and kurtosis) being slightly affected by practice effects. There was a trade-off in the information entropy for space and time (temporal information entropy decreased as spatial information entropy increased) with practice. Nevertheless, the joint space-time entropy of outcome did not change across tasks and conditions—revealing a common level of space-time entropy between these two categories of aiming tasks. These findings support the hypothesis that under the same spatial and temporal constraints the movement speed-accuracy function shares the same properties independent of task category.

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Inter- and Intrafoot Coordination When Standing on Balance Boards

Zheng Wang, Peter C. M. Molenaar, and Karl M. Newell

The experiment was set up to investigate the inter- and intrafoot coordination dynamics of postural control on balance boards. A frequency domain principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on 4 center of pressure (COP) time series collected from two force platforms to reveal their contributions to postural stability. The orientation of support played a more significant role than its width in channeling the foot coordination dynamics. When the support was oriented along the AP-challenging direction, the 4 COPs revealed a parallel contribution to the 1st principal component (PC1) indicating an interdependence of the foot coordination in both directions. When the support was positioned along the ML-challenging direction, the COPs in the AP direction showed larger weightings to PC1 implying an interfoot coordination. These findings provide evidence that COP coordination operates in adaptive ways to sustain postural stability in light of changing support constraints to standing.

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Aging and the Time Needed to Reacquire Postural Stability

Clare B. Johnson, Shannon L. Mihalko, and Karl M. Newell

The study reported had three purposes, namely, to analyze the effect of aging (cohort groups 20–29, 60–69, 70–79, and 80–89 years of age), step length, and self-efficacy on the time to reacquire stability after the execution of a step. The analysis of force-platform data showed that the time to reacquire a stable posture after taking a step increased with increments of age. Correlation analysis showed that older adults were less confident in their ability to complete daily activities without falling or losing balance and that participants with lower levels of balance-related efficacy required a longer time to reacquire stability. These findings provide evidence that aging imposes temporal limitations in the regaining of postural stability that are related to individuals’ perceptions of balance and falls efficacy.

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Distributional Properties of Relative Phase in Bimanual Coordination

Eric James, Charles S. Layne, and Karl M. Newell

Studies of bimanual coordination have typically estimated the stability of coordination patterns through the use of the circular standard deviation of relative phase. The interpretation of this statistic depends upon the assumption of a von Mises distribution. The present study tested this assumption by examining the distributional properties of relative phase in three bimanual coordination patterns. There were significant deviations from the von Mises distribution due to differences in the kurtosis of distributions. The kurtosis depended upon the relative phase pattern performed, with leptokurtic distributions occurring in the in-phase and antiphase patterns and platykurtic distributions occurring in the 30° pattern. Thus, the distributional assumptions needed to validly and reliably use the standard deviation are not necessarily present in relative phase data though they are qualitatively consistent with the landscape properties of the intrinsic dynamics.

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Learning to Ride a Unicycle: Coordinating Balance and Propulsion

I-Chieh Lee, Yeou-Teh Liu, and Karl M. Newell

We investigated the coordination of balance and propulsion processes in learning to ride a unicycle through a principal component analysis (PCA) of the nature and number of functional degrees of freedom (DOF) in the movement coordination patterns. Six participants practiced unicycle riding on an indoor track for 28 sessions over separate days. The movement time and performance outcomes were recorded for each trial and body segment kinematics were collected from the first and every succeeding 4th session. The first appearance of no-hand-support performance varied across participants from the 5th practice session to the 22nd session. The PCA showed that initially in practice the 39 kinematic time series could be represented by 6–9 components that were reduced over practice to 4–7 components. The loadings of the PCA that reflected balance and propulsion processes became more coupled as a function of successfully riding the unicycle. The findings support the proposition that learning to ride the unicycle is a process of making the system more controllable by coordinating balance and propulsion while mastering the redundant DOF.

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Inter-digit Individuation and Force Variability in the Precision Grip of Young, Elderly, and Parkinson's Disease Participants

David E. Vaillancourt, Andrew B. Slifkin, and Karl M. Newell

We examine the force fluctuations in the control of grip force to determine if force variability increases or decreases in relation to the degree of inter-digit individuation. This relation was examined in young (n = 7) and elderly (n = 7) participants, and in participants diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (n = 7). Force was produced under different force levels (5%, 25%, 50% MVC) with and without visual feedback. Force variability was assessed using the standard deviation and root mean square error, and inter-digit individuation was examined using cross-approximate entropy. Force variability increased with the force level, the removal of visual feedback, and also in the Parkinson's disease compared to the young and elderly matched control participants. There was a reduction in the degree of inter-digit individuation, with increases in force level, the removal of visual feedback, and in Parkinson's disease participants compared to the matched controls. Overall, there was a negative correlation between the degree of inter-digit individuation and force variability. The force fluctuations in precision grip revealed a continuum for the degree of inter-digit individuation in which task constraints, aging, and Parkinson's disease alter the coupling between the digits in controlling grip force.