The Role of Visual Feedback in Short-Term Motor Memory

Abstract

Previous experiments examining the role of feedback in short-term motor memory have permitted vision not only during the movement, but also of the starting and terminal positions. In the present experiment, presence or absence of vision (a) prior to the start of the movement, and (b) during the movement were independently manipulated in a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, using 15 subjects per group. During prior vision subjects were able to see the terminal position of the movement they were about to make. Results, showing that vision during the movement did not contribute to performance, were taken as providing evidence against the Adams (1971) closed-loop theory of motor learning.