Postural dynamics as a function of skill level and task constraints

Abstract An experiment is reported that was set up to examine the interactive effects of the base of support (number of feet; sole versus toes), visual information and skill level on the stability of adults in certain postural balance tasks. The findings showed that the role of vision in decreasing the motion of the centre of pressure becomes more significant as the base of support is reduced and the lower the skill level of the performer. The skilled subjects more systematically used a smaller set of compensatory movement strategies to regain or maintain balance in theimporished physical and informational support conditions. The findings are consistent with the proposition that there are interactive effects of environmental, organismic and task constraints on postural performance and they suggest that learned compensatory search strategies are used to maintain balance in the face of reduced stability regions of postural support.