The influence of speed and force on bimanual finger tapping patterns.

The current study investigated factors that affect the stability of anti-phase bimanual finger tapping. Past research employing the order parameter and control parameter concepts, has identified frequency of movement as a control parameter that affects the stability of finger movement patterns (the order parameter). The present study investigated the hypothesis that multiple movement related variables can interact to influence the stability of an order parameter. Specifically, the combined effect of the rate of movement and movement force on the stability of bimanual finger tapping was examined. Participants were required to initiate an anti-phase tapping pattern under three different movement rate conditions (600, 400, and 200 ms), and were required to increase the force of one finger at the onset of a randomly presented stimulus. The results indicate that an increase in the force parameter at lower tapping rates (600 ms) did not affect the phase relation of the fingers, however at higher rates (200 and 400 ms), the introduction of a force parameter resulted in fluctuations of the phase relation of the fingers, which were followed by pattern shifts from anti-phase to in-phase tapping. The results indicate that movement force and rate of movement interact to influence the outcome of the tapping pattern. Further research is required to investigate force as a control parameter.

[1]  H. Haken.  Synergetics: an Introduction, Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and Self-organization in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology , 1977 .

[2]  J. Kelso.  Phase transitions and critical behavior in human bimanual coordination. , 1984, The American journal of physiology.

[3]  Richard G. Carson,et al.  Expressions of asymmetries and anchoring in bimanual coordination , 1994 .

[4]  Paolo Cavallari,et al.  Preferential coupling between voluntary movements of ipsilateral limbs , 1982, Neuroscience Letters.

[5]  J. Kelso,et al.  Self-organization of coordinative movement patterns ☆ , 1988 .

[6]  J. Kelso,et al.  Symmetry breaking dynamics of human multilimb coordination. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[7]  K. Kaplan.  H. Haken, Synergetics. An Introduction. Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and Self-Organization in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (2nd Edition). XI + 355 S., 152 Abb. Berlin—Heidelberg—New York 1978. Springer-Verlag. DM 66,00 , 1980 .

[8]  M. Turvey,et al.  Phase transitions and critical fluctuations in the visual coordination of rhythmic movements between people. , 1990 .

[9]  Linda B. Smith,et al.  A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action , 2007, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

[10]  J. Kelso,et al.  Evolution of behavioral attractors with learning: nonequilibrium phase transitions. , 1992 .

[11]  I. Prigogine,et al.  Order out of chaos , 1984 .

[12]  Stephan P. Swinnen,et al.  The effect of movement speed on upper-limb coupling strength , 1992 .

[13]  D J Glencross,et al.  The effect of temporal and force changes on the patterning of sequential movements , 1993, Psychological research.

[14]  Timothy D. Lee,et al.  Effects of task instructions and oscillation frequency on bimanual coordination , 1996, Psychological research.

[15]  J. Kelso,et al.  The informational character of self-organized coordination dynamics , 1994 .