Visual Regulation of Manual Aiming

Abstract

Traditional models of visuomotor control have generally emphasized the importance of vision in the guidance of limb movements. Vision is thought to subserve the modificational processes underlying the control of these movements. The objectives of the present work were to elaborate upon the role of vision in the regulation of an ongoing limb movement, address issues pertaining to the nature of this regulation, and examine predictions of the Optimized Submovement Model (Meyer, Abrams, Kornblum, Wright, & Smith, 1988) of limb control. An aiming task was adopted in which subjects were required to displace a graphics cursor on a monitor toward a target. The presence of visual feedback proved to be a potent determinant of performance. In Experiment 1, superior performance consistency with visual feedback was attributable to the prevalence of discrete and continuous modifications made to the movement when visual information was available. In Experiment 2, the same visually-based performance advantage was found. However, this advantage was no longer related to the presence of adjustments to the movement. The present results are discussed with reference to current issues in the nature of visuomotor regulation and their implications toward the Optimized Submovement Model.