Hand Movement Speed Research Articles

Preliminary Evaluation of Women's Aging Process:

Tests were carried out on 60 participants in courses offered by the Third Age University in Kielce; one was a group of younger women (55 years old), and another of older women (65 years old). Psycholosocial traits such as congruence between "ideal ego" and "real ego," personal life review, and subjective health evaluation were studied. Among psychomotor features, static force, speed of hand movements, and simple reaction time were evaluated. The analyzed psychomotor features' level decreases variouly, depending on age. In both groups, a better congruence between "ideal ego" and "real ego" and a higher evaluation of one's own health make aging a more satisfactory process. The results obtained further indicate that self-image and evaluation of one's life affect aging more significantly than subjective health evaluation.

Hand Movement Speed and Accuracy in Detoxified Alcoholics

Detoxified alcoholics (n = 192) were found to be 9.3% slower than age-matched controls (n = 112) with regard to the composite speed (movement time, MT) with which they were able to strike targets of various sizes and distances with a hand-held stylus at onset of a light stimulus (Fitts's Task). Females (n = 102) were 8% slower than males (n = 202), and blacks (n = 103) about 15.6% slower than whites (n = 201). Gender was the only significant factor with regard to errors (target misses), with women committing 28% fewer errors than men. Women, in contrast to men, appear to trade speed for accuracy in this task. Favorable socioeconomic/medical status and target misses were directly related to movement speed. Thus, when the MT data were corrected for lifestyle variables, the significance of the alcohol effects on MT disappeared, but gender differences persisted. The alcohol effect became statistically significant, the ethnic group differences remained statistically significant, and the gender effect became insignificant when MT scores were corrected for accuracy of performance (target misses). The slope of the linear function relating MT to target difficulty was similar for all subgroups. Prior knowledge of the direction of movement was found to affect MT performance more in white than in black subjects. With regard to reaction times, ethnic group and alcohol use effects remained statistically significant after corrections for lifestyle and errors were made, with values for blacks about 5% slower than values for whites, and values for alcoholics about 4.6% slower than those for controls. Prior knowledge of the direction of movement significantly improved (shortened) reaction time in all subgroups (14%-19%).

Effects of Age and Sex on Speed and Accuracy of Hand Movements: And the Refinements they Suggest for Fitts' Law

Based on modifications of Fitts' Law suggested in the literature, 121 unique formulas were tested against reciprocal tapping data from 1,318 subjects (1,047 males and 271 females) who participated in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging from 1960 to 1981 in order to determine the best formula (based on the standard error of estimate) and to examine age and sex differences using this formula. The best formula for males differed from that found for females, resulting in a set of new formulas which take into consideration age and sex and which fit the experimental data better than past formulations. While females were faster than males and young were faster than the old, a substantial portion of age and sex differences might be explained by a speed-accuracy tradeoff.

Measure of Work Performance Decrement Due to Respirators

Possible work decrements caused by respirator usage were examined. A battery of physical, cognitive and psychomotor tasks were used to investigate the effects of respirator wear on twelve subjects. A repeated measures experimental design was used to study the effects of three types of respirators: a disposable dust mask, an air purifying half-mask and a full-face airline. Performance while wearing a mask was compared to the control condition without a respirator. The psychomotor task test methods appear to be the best indicators of respiratory effects on work performance decrement. A steadiness task showed a 31% decrement for the full-face respirator. The One-Hole Test, which includes a number of measurement variables, indicated an average movement time decrement of 16%. The other One-Hole Test indicators also showed decrements, but were lower and not statistically significant. The results from the physical work task of bicycle riding indicated approximately a 10% increase in oxygen consumption with the half and full face masks, supporting previous physiological findings. The results indicate that the respirators did not significantly affect the performance of cognitive tasks. In general, respirators can be shown to produce an increase in oxygen consumption for physical tasks and decrements in psychomotor performance with regard to hand movement speed and steadiness.

Speed of forward hand movement--the effect of age, sex, posture and hand.

Abstract Times for forward hand movements of 52 subjects were taken. Results were examined in relation to: (1) age: 16-25 years, 26-56 years; (2) sex: males and females; (3) posture: standing and sitting; (4) hand:left hand and right hand. Significant differences were found only in the sex and age categories.

What the Eye Tells the Hand

The information flow necessary to coordinate hand movements with vision is summarized. A series of experiments was performed which quantitatively examined and confirmed the summary. In general, an information-theoretic approach was used. It was confirmed that the speed and accuracy of hand movements are in a reciprocal relationship. The accuracy of a movement is more sensitive to a loss of visual information than the pacing mechanism. Both speed and accuracy are sensitive to withdrawal of information to maintain posture. It is suggested that the retrieval of a movement pre-program is disturbed by afferent "noise." The contribution of visual information to controlling standing posture, arm and shoulder movement, and wrist movement were investigated.