Transformations of hand movements by tools such as levers or electronic input devices can invoke performance costs compared to untransformed movements. This study investigated by means of the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) paradigm at which stage of information processing such tool-transformation costs arise. We used an inversion…

According to ideomotor theories, perceiving action effects produced by others triggers corresponding action representations in the observer. We tested whether this principle extends to actions performed by externally controlled limbs and tools. Participants performed a go-no-go version of a spatial compatibility task in which their own actions…

Predicting the consequences of actions is fundamental for skilled motor behavior. We investigated whether motor prediction is influenced by the fact that some movements are easier to perform and stabilize than others. Twelve subjects performed a bimanual rhythmical task either symmetrically or asymmetrically (the latter being more difficult and…

Primary somatosensory maps in the brain represent the body as a discontinuous, fragmented set of two-dimensional (2-D) skin regions. We nevertheless experience our body as a coherent three-dimensional (3-D) volumetric object. The links between these different aspects of body representation, however, remain poorly understood. Perceiving the body's…

Two experiments examined how 10- and 12-year-old children and adults intercept moving gaps while bicycling in an immersive virtual environment. Participants rode an actual bicycle along a virtual roadway. At 12 test intersections, participants attempted to pass through a gap between 2 moving, car-sized blocks without stopping. The blocks were…

Attention operates to select both spatial locations and perceptual objects. However, the specific mechanism by which attention is oriented to objects is not well understood. We examined the means by which object structure constrains the distribution of spatial attention (i.e., a "grouped array"). Using a modified version of the Egly et…

Bingham, Schmidt, & Rosenblum, (1989) showed that people are able to select, by hefting balls, the optimal weight for each size ball to be thrown farthest. We now investigate function learning and smart mechanisms as hypotheses about how this affordance is perceived. Twenty-four unskilled adult throwers learned to throw by practicing with a subset…

Recent studies of position-related proprioceptive sense have provided evidence of a nonpreferred left arm advantage in right-handed individuals. The present study sought to determine whether similar asymmetries might exist in "dynamic position" sense. Thirteen healthy, right-handed adults were blindfolded and seated with arms placed on…

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated the bidirectional coupling of perception and action in the context of object manipulations and motion perception. Participants prepared to grasp an X-shaped object along one of its 2 diagonals and to rotate it in a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction. Action execution had to be delayed until the…

The present study assessed the functional organization of action semantics by asking subjects to categorize pictures of an actor holding objects with a correct or incorrect grip at either a correct or incorrect goal location. Overall, reaction times were slower if the object was presented with an inappropriate posture, and this effect was stronger…

The authors investigated the mechanical basis of length perception through dynamic touch using specially designed rods in which the various moments of mass distribution (mass, static moment, and rotational inertia) were varied independently. In a series of 4 experiments, exploration style and rod orientation were manipulated such that the relative…

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated the impact of action goals on the production of discrete bimanual responses. Similar to a bartender putting 2 glasses simultaneously on a shelf, participants placed 2 objects into either parallel or opposite orientations by carrying out either mirror-symmetrical or mirror-asymmetrical movements. In…

The authors tested whether the effects of the Ebbinghaus illusion on grasping are corrected during late phases of the movement. Surprisingly, the grasp aperture was corrected neither under no-vision (N = 52) nor under full-vision (N = 48) conditions. The authors show that previous reports of a correction (e.g., S. Glover & P. Dixon, 2002a) are due…

Previous studies on ball catching have had the limitation that the catcher was restricted to lateral hand movements. The authors investigated catching behavior in the more natural situation in which hand movements were unconstrained. Movements of the hand were tracked as participants tried to "catch" an approaching ball simulated with changing…

Previous research has shown that synchronized flicker can facilitate detection of a single Kanizsa square. The present study investigated the role of temporally structured priming in discrimination tasks involving perceptual relations between multiple Kanizsa-type figures. Results indicate that visual information presented as temporally structured…