Economy and anticipation in graphic stroke sequences

Abstract The selection of stroke sequences in graphic production is studied, focussing on planning and anticipation of economy. An experiment is presented in which fifteen subjects copied 256 variations of a geometrical four-segment pattern characterized by parallel lines. The stroke sequences adopted by the subjects are shown to depend on a number of constraint including the execution of the parallel segments in immediate succession and in the same direction, and the performance of the final stroke in a preferred direction. Although they are often effective only at subsequent stages in performance, these constraints appear to determine the entire organization of a large proportion of the stroke sequences. Thus, the planning of graphic action involves the anticipation of economy later in the sequence. It is speculated that such anticipation may be a feature of complex-movement organization in general.