The Attention Demands of Movements

The probe technique has been employed extensively to measure the attention demands of movement control. Inherent in any RT paradigm is the potential confounding effect of anticipation. Experiment 1 studied this problem by varying probe frequency (or, conversely, catch-trial frequency) for three independent groups of subjects performing the same movement. Probe frequencies of one-third and two-thirds produced V-shaped curves of probe RT plotted against probe position within the movement, while a three-thirds condition was described by a negatively sloped linear function. Because of the different shaped curves it was recommended that a two-thirds frequency be adopted by all researchers in this area. Experiments 2 and 3 looked at the effects of movement length and movement time on the attention demands of movement. Shorter (11-cm) movements were more attention demanding in the middle of the movement than the longer (50-cm) movements, but movement time had no effect.