Asymmetry of selection of mental representations in performing sensorimotor tasks with right and left hand

690

Abstract

The article discusses the role of hemispheric asymmetry in the performing of simple sensorimotor tasks: a sequence of movements on a touch screen with the left or right hand. It was assumed that this task can be solved using vector or positioning system of representations, which in varying degrees are active in the work of the left and right hemispheres, and as a result, of the left and right hands. We analyzed the accuracy and direction of errors depending on the instruction (exact playback of sequence or simplified playback of sequence) and the type of stimulus material (sequence of rectilinear movements or sequence of curvilinear movements) during a sequential execution of the task with the left and the right hand. Playback of sequence with the right hand appeared to be more effective only in the situation of rectilinear movements. In addition, the negative transfer was detected in the sequential performing of tasks first with the right hand, then with the left hand, and positive transfer was discovered in the situation of the reverse order of performing of tasks. At the same time in the situation of performing task with the right hand subjects were more likely to make errors associated with distortion of the sequence of movements towards a simplified (rectilinear) representation. The data obtained are discussed in terms of hemispheric asymmetry and the related differences in the systems of representations.

General Information

Keywords: hemispheric asymmetry, sensorimotor tasks, repetition of movements, skills transfer, errors, vector and positional encoding

Journal rubric: Cognitive Psychology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Chetverikov A.A., Lyakhovetsky V.A. Asymmetry of selection of mental representations in performing sensorimotor tasks with right and left hand . Eksperimental'naâ psihologiâ = Experimental Psychology (Russia), 2014. Vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 18–27. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Bernstein N. A. Ocherki po fiziologii dvizhenii i fiziologii aktivnosti [Essays on the physiology of movement and the physiology of activation]. Moscow, Meditsina, 1966. 349 p.
  2. Bobrova E.V., Liakhovetskii V. A., Borshchevskaia E. R. Rol' «predystorii» v vosproizvedenii posledovatel'nosti dvizhenii pravoi ili levoi ruki: kodirovanie polozhenii, dvizhenii, struktury elementov posledovatel'nosti [Influence of “Prehistory” of Sequential Movements of the Right and the Left Hand: Coding of Positions, [Influence of “Prehistory” of Sequential Movements of the Right and the Left Hand: Coding of Positions, Movements and Sequence Structure]. Zhurnal vysshei nervnoi deiatel'nosti, 2011, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 565–572.
  3. Vekker L. M. Psikhika i real'nost'. Edinaia teoriia psikhicheskikh protsessov [Mind and reality. Unified theory of psychic processes]. Moscow, Smysl, 1998.
  4. Liakhovetskii V. A., Bobrova E. V. Vosproizvedenie zapomnennoi posledovatel'nosti dvizhenii pravoi i levoi ruki: pozitsionnoe i vektornoe kodirovanie [Sequence acquisition by the right and the left hand: positional and vector coding]. Zhurnal vysshei nervnoi deiatel'nosti, 2009, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 45–54.
  5. Karpinskaia V. Iu., Liakhovetskii V. A. Rol' mezhpolusharnoi asimmetrii pri sensomotornoi otsenke illiuzii vospriiatiia [The role of interhemispheric asymmetry in sensorimotor measurements оf perceptual illusions]. Eksperimental'naia psikhologiia, 2012, no. 1, pp. 35–44.
  6. Criscimagna-Hemminger S. E., Donchin O., Gazzaniga M. S., Shadmehr R. Learned dynamics of reaching movements generalize from dominant to nondominant arm. J. Neurophysiol, 2003, vol. 89, pp. 168–176.
  7. Goldstone R. L. Effects of Categorization on Color Perception. Psychological Science, 1995, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 298–304.
  8. Grafton S. T., Hazeltine E., Ivry R. B. Abstract and effector-specific representations of motor sequences identified with PET. J. Neurosci., 1998, vol. 18, no. 22, pp. 9420–9428.
  9. Grafton S. T., Hazeltine E., Ivry R. B. Motor sequence learning with the nondominant left hand. A PET functional imaging study. Exp. Brain Res., 2002, vol. 146, pp. 369–378.
  10. Van der Ham J. M., Borst G. Individual differences in spatial relation processing: effects of strategy, ability, and gender. Brain Cogn., 2011, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 184–190.
  11. Harnad S. Introduction: psychological and cognitive aspects of categorical perception: a critical overview. Categorical perception: The groundwork of cognition. New York, Cambridge University Press, 1987, pp. 1–28.
  12. Kosslyn S. M., Behrmann M., Jeannerod M. The cognitive neuroscience of mental imagery. Neuropsychologia, 1995, vol. 33, pp. 1335–1344.
  13. Kosslyn S. M. Mental images and the brain. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 1995, vol. 22, pp. 333–347.
  14. Orlov T., Yakovlev V., Amit D., Hochshtein S., Zohary E. Serial memory strategies in macaque monkeys: behavioral and theoretical aspects. Cerebral Cortex, 2002, vol. 12, pp. 306–317.
  15. Sainburg R. L., Duff S. V. Does motor lateralization have implications for stroke rehabilitation? J. Rehabil. Res. Dev, 2006, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 311–322.

Information About the Authors

Andrey A. Chetverikov, Junior Researcher of the B.G. Ananyev Scientific-research Center, Department of Psychology, St. Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russia, e-mail: andrey@chetvericov.ru

Vsevolod A. Lyakhovetsky, PhD in Engineering, Researcher, Saint-Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5948-0991, e-mail: v_la2002@mail.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 3473
Previous month: 18
Current month: 5

Downloads

Total: 690
Previous month: 2
Current month: 1