Ideomotor Control of Anticipatory Action
Final Report Abstract
We interact with many different objects every day. Even though we usually do not pay much heed to these actions they require the integration of knowledge about objects, our own action capabilities, and the relationship between the two. In recent decades, the topic of how we select grasps for object manipulations has received considerable attention. Whereas we now understand the function of such grasp selections well, we have a very limited understanding of the involved motor-cognitive and learning processes. These processes were addressed in the present project. In the typical experiment, participants grasped an object to rotate it. Usually, participants use different grasps for different tasks (end-state comfort effect). WP1 of the first funding period showed that cognitive factors (e.g., the same physical/biomechanical rotation instructed in different ways) had a considerable effect on grasp selections, especially compared to factors affecting the biomechanics. WP2 showed that having previously manipulated objects in a-typical tasks (e.g., in which the end-state comfort was less beneficial) affected grasp selections in transparently typical tasks, indicating that the end-state comfort effect is based on a slow and gradual learning process. WP3 showed that grasp selections are not planned based on internal models mapping object to body movements (i.e. simulation). By contrast, grasp selections appeared to be based on the association of grasps and experienced action-outcomes. WP4 showed that grasps are typically more excursed than necessary to optimize dial rotation performance but can be considered as approximately optimal when considering effects of grasp variability. In summary, the project revealed the need for cognitive theories. The second funding period tested the hypothesis that the findings of the first period can be explained in terms of ideo-motor theory. That is, grasps get bidirectionally associated with subsequent object movements during learning and this link can be re-used to select a grasp based on the desired object movement. WP1 used the induction method to test whether such links can be created associatively but the hypothesis could not be confirmed. WP2 used stimulus-response-compatibility and responseeffect-compatibility paradigms to check for acquired associations between grasps and object movements. Again, the experiments revealed no evidence for such associations. WP3 showed that the visual complexity of the anticipated object motion may affect grasp selection but found no consistent effects in accordance with the hypothesis. In summary, the project contributed to our understanding of the cognitive processes and learning mechanisms involved in acquiring a central everyday behaviour such as selecting grasps for object manipulation. The hypothesis that these processes can be explained in the framework of ideomotor theory was not supported.
Publications
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Intelligente Bewegungen: Wie vorausschauendes Verhalten alltägliche Bewegungen einfacher macht. The Inquisitive Mind, 2
Herbort, O.
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The contribution of cognitive, kinematic, and dynamic factors to anticipatory grasp selection. Experimental Brain Research, 232(6), 1677-1688.
Herbort, Oliver; Butz, Martin V. & Kunde, Wilfried
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What's in a Grasp?. American Scientist, 102(5), 366.
Herbort, Oliver; Rosenbaum, David; van der Wel, Robrecht & Weiss, Daniel
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Too much anticipation? Large anticipatory adjustments of grasping movements to minimal object manipulations. Human Movement Science, 42(2015, 8), 100-116.
Herbort, Oliver
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Habit outweighs planning in grasp selection for object manipulation. Cognitive Psychology, 92(2017, 2), 127-140.
Herbort, Oliver; Mathew, Hanna & Kunde, Wilfried
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Inverting the planning gradient: adjustment of grasps to late segments of multi-step object manipulations. Experimental Brain Research, 235(5), 1397-1409.
Mathew, Hanna; Kunde, Wilfried & Herbort, Oliver
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Preschool children adapt grasping movements to upcoming object manipulations: Evidence from a dial rotation task. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 167(2018, 3), 62-77.
Herbort, Oliver; Büschelberger, Juliane & Janczyk, Markus
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Emergence of anticipatory actions in a novel task. Experimental Brain Research, 237(6), 1421-1430.
Herbort, Oliver & Kunde, Wilfried
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Grasp planning for object manipulation without simulation of the object manipulation action.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 45(2), 237-254.
Herbort, Oliver; Kirsch, Wladimir & Kunde, Wilfried
