Critical Time Intervals for Taking in Flight Information in a Ball-Catching Task
TL;DR: In this article, a ball-catching task in which the ball was caused to enter on a parabolic flight path by means of a mechanical apparatus was administered to 36 male students between the ages of 18 and 40 years.
Abstract: A ball-catching task in which the ball was caused to enter on a parabolic flight path by means of a mechanical apparatus was administered to 36 male students between the ages of 18 and 40 years. An electronic device enabled the ball to be illuminated for predetermined temporal intervals during its flight. Results indicated that in this relatively unpredictable task opportunity to watch the ball for longer periods of time resulted in increased catching success. Results are discussed in relation to previous experimental work in which the ball was on a more predictable trajectory (since output information was available) and are related to the perceptual moment hypothesis.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared the initial and terminal temporal accuracy of 5 male top table tennis players performing attacking forehand drives and found that the players did not fully rely on a consistent movement production strategy.
Abstract: Comparison of initial and terminal temporal accuracy of 5 male top table tennis players performing attacking forehand drives led to the conclusion that because of a higher temporal accuracy at the moment of ball/bat contact than at initiation the players did not fully rely on a consistent movement production strategy. Functional trial-to-trial variation was evidenced by negative correlations between the perceptually specified time-to-contact at the moment of initiation and the mean acceleration during the drive; within-trial adaptation was also evident for two of the Ss. It is argued that task constraints provide the organizing principles for perception and action at the same time, thereby establishing a mutual dependency between the two. Allowing for changes in these parameters over time, a unified explanation is suggested that does not take recourse to large amounts of (tacit) knowledge on the part of the S.
477 citations
TL;DR: To investigate the timing of actions relative to events in the environment, subjects leapt to punch a falling ball and analysed their knee and elbow angles as functions of time for three ball-drop heights, finding that the differences in the functions could be explained on the basis that the subjects were gearing their actions to a particular optic variable.
Abstract: To investigate the timing of actions relative to events in the environment, we observed subjects leaping to punch a falling ball. We analysed their knee and elbow angles as functions of time for three ball-drop heights, finding that the differences in the functions for the different heights could be explained on the basis that the subjects were gearing their actions to a particular optic variable. This variable specifies the time remaining before contact with an object if the closing velocity is constant; for the falling ball it gives an increasingly accurate estimate of the time-to-contact. Our visuo-moto control model incorporates a delay parameter, the value of which was estimated from the data. In addition, correlations indicated that the knee and elbow were generally quite tightly coupled. The relationship of this task to laboratory tracking tasks and to the timing of actions in everyday life is described.
413 citations
TL;DR: The findings from these two experiments support the contention that the time needed to process visual error information and to use this information for movement control is shorter than previous estimates of 190 to 300 msec.
Abstract: The time needed to process visual feedback information for the control of aimed movements was investigated. Experiment 1 demonstrated that withdrawing visual feedback information from the initial portions of aiming responses had little effect on movement outcome. This finding suggested that visual processing times may be faster than previous estimates. The vision manipulation paradigm employed in Experiment 1 was combined with high-speed cinematography. Examination of movement patterns indicated that the average time between the presentation of visual error information and the initiation of a movement correction was 135 msec. The findings from these two experiments support the contention that the time needed to process visual error information and to use this information for movement control is shorter than previous estimates of 190 to 300 msec.
372 citations
TL;DR: A revised version of the tau hypothesis is proposed as an account of the perceptual information processing involved in the control of fast IAs and it is argued that task variables affect whether “cognitive” information processing is involved in performance and can determine whether TTC information is used at all.
Abstract: Three classes of task appear to involve time-to-contact (TTC) information: coincidence anticipation (CA) tasks, relative judgment (RJ) tasks, and interceptive actions (IAs). An important type of CA task used to study the perception of TTC is the prediction-motion (PM) task. The question of whether it is possible to study the perceptual processes involved in the timing of IAs using PM and RJ tasks is considered. A revised version of the tau hypothesis is proposed as an account of the perceptual information processing involved in the control of fast IAs. This draws on the distinction between “motor” and “cognitive” visual systems. It is argued that task variables affect whether “cognitive” information processing is involved in performance and can determine whether TTC information is used at all. Evidence is reviewed that suggests that PM and RJ tasks involve cognitive processing. It is argued that target viewing time, TTC at response initiation, amount of practice, and whether there is a period between target disappearance and response are task variables that determine whether cognitive processing will influence responding.
263 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that compensation is not an exclusive property of the motor system, but rather, is a pervasive feature of the central nervous system (CNS) organization, and understanding visual prediction will inform theories of sensory processes and visual perception, and will impact the notion of visual awareness.
Abstract: A necessary consequence of the nature of neural transmission systems is that as change in the physical state of a time-varying event takes place, delays produce error between the instantaneous registered state and the external state. Another source of delay is the transmission of internal motor commands to muscles and the inertia of the musculoskeletal system. How does the central nervous system compensate for these pervasive delays? Although it has been argued that delay compensation occurs late in the motor planning stages, even the earliest visual processes, such as phototransduction, contribute significantly to delays. I argue that compensation is not an exclusive property of the motor system, but rather, is a pervasive feature of the central nervous system (CNS) organization. Although the motor planning system may contain a highly flexible compensation mechanism, accounting not just for delays but also variability in delays (e.g., those resulting from variations in luminance contrast, internal body temperature, muscle fatigue, etc.), visual mechanisms also contribute to compensation. Previous suggestions of this notion of "visual prediction" led to a lively debate producing re-examination of previous arguments, new analyses, and review of the experiments presented here. Understanding visual prediction will inform our theories of sensory processes and visual perception, and will impact our notion of visual awareness.
207 citations
References
More filters
Book•
01 Jan 1963
TL;DR: Michotte as mentioned in this paper used a partially concealed rotating disc to give the impression of objects in motion and where certain conditions of speed, position, and time-interval were satisfied, his subjects received the impression that one object has bumped into another or is carrying it along.
Abstract: Originally published in 1963, this is a classic work on the psychology of perception. By means of suitable patterns on a partly concealed rotating disc Michotte was able to give the impression of objects in movement; and where certain conditions of speed, position, and time-interval were satisfied, his subjects received the impression of a causal interaction between two objects – for example, the impression that one object has ‘bumped into’ another (the ‘Launching Effect’) or is carrying it along (the ‘Entraining Effect’). In a further group of experiments Michotte studies the conditions in which moving objects look as though they are alive.
A large number of experiments are described, and on the basis of them Michotte formulates a theory as to the conditions in which causal impressions occur. He also compares his own views on causality with those of Hume, Maine de Biran, and Piaget.
1,344 citations
TL;DR: This monograph is concerned with the relationships between what was called “psychological time” and the time of classical Newtonian physical theory and its experimental measurement, which has been known for over a century that there are some nontrivial differences.
Abstract: In common, I am sure, with every scientist contributing to this monograph, I am certain that my particular view of time encompasses its most important aspects. We all share an interest in such questions as “What is ‘now’?’’ and “Why is it for each of us always ‘now’?’’ From the eternal now, we view in memory a past which is our entire stock of information and wisdom. Only now do we attempt in imagination to anticipate the future. Only now may we decide, and now decide we must, for the decision not t o choose among the remaining alternatives is itself one of the alternatives. Only now do we act. Some of you may know that I am credited in the literature with another paper of precisely the same title as this.’ You may wonder why I should confuse matters by thus having two different papers of the same title, delivered ten years apart. The reasons are, I believe, simple and sufficient. Had I not already given the older part of this paper, I should have been forced to give it now, a t least so much of it as would have been possible within the limits of the time available. Happily, the paper does exist and we may simply talk about i t in a more relaxed and enjoyable way. But there is, from my point of view, more to the story. The older part of the paper is incomplete. Henry Quastler, the editor, did a magnificent job of reducing to so slender a volume as Information Theory in Psychology what the participants in the Allerton Park Conference literally lived in five days. On rereading my contribution ten years later, I must admit to a feeling of very real pride a t having my name on it as author. There are no significant changes I would make. What is missing in the paper was missing a t the conference and is present here. There we looked inward as it were, upon a narrow and specific discipline, psychology. Here we look outward a t all things in the universe.that we may in some fashion or another apprehend. Let us review briefly the contents of that ten-year-old paper. Centrally, it concerned an effort to determine the relationships between what was called “psychological time” and the time of classical Newtonian physical theory and its experimental measurement. Psychological time is the time in which we are aware of things happening, where we are aware of events some of which occur before others, and some of which occur together. For the nature of the various notions of time in physical theories, I refer you to the papers given by the other members of the conference. I t has been known for over a century that there are some nontrivial differences between the time of the given experience of the physicist as a man and the time of his physics, the genetically rather than socially inherited discipline, but i t has not excited anything like the interest roused by the differences among physicists and between varieties of physics on the subject of physical time.
337 citations
160 citations
TL;DR: The positive polarity of the human cornea was used to produce signals from marginal electrodes around the eyes which produced amplitude-time oscillographic tracings of the horizontal and vertical components of eyeball movement and which are used for an analysis of eye movements and fixations in a surveillance search task.
Abstract: The positive polarity of the human cornea was used to produce signals from marginal electrodes around the eyes The potentials were amplified with dc networks which produced amplitude-time oscillographic tracings of the horizontal and vertical components of eyeball movement, and also controlled the deflectors of a cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO) in such a way that the beam moved in the same way as the eyes An automatic camera photographed the CRO face to produce two-dimensional electro-oculographic (EOG) plots of eyeball movement Data thus obtained are used for an analysis of eye movements and fixations in a surveillance search task The paper oscillographic tracings against time show (1) the number of fixations per unit of time, and (2) the duration of the fixations The cathode-ray EOG shows (1) the order of fixations in search procedure, (2) the lengths of various saccadic jumps, and (3) the areas of neglect and concentration for 5-sec search periods on a circular field subtending 30° of visual angle
113 citations