Analysis of actual and mental movement times in graphic tasks

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of movement times and movement time variability of graphic gestures which were executed either physically or mentally. The results revealed that temporal parameters for actual as well as mental graphic movements in the same subject and for the same hand were very similar, irrespective of the writing amplitude. It is suggested that the programming of motor acts, whether they are physically executed or only virtually, share to a considerable extent the same timing mechanism.