Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology.
Doctoral School of Psychology.
J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2022 Jul;48(7):711-723. doi: 10.1037/xhp0001021. Epub 2022 May 19.
Previous research indicates that quick, repetitive actions (pinches, taps, button presses) are executed with smaller force when followed by predictable and salient action effects (tones, light flashes). It has been suggested that successive actions become gradually softer until an optimum is reached, which presumably reflects a balance between the ability to maintain a high probability of action success, and the reduction of exerted force to conserve energy. In the present experiments, we investigated whether this appeared when the arrival of the action effect was unpredictable. Young adult participants produced evenly spaced pinches (Experiment 1) or taps (Experiment 2), which resulted in a tone in 50% of the trials. The presence of the tone effect varied randomly from trial to trial, leading to action sequences with various tone-elicitation patterns. We have found that pinches and taps preceded by sequences of tone-eliciting actions were softer than actions preceded by sequences of tone-absent trials. In the case of pinches, actions were also modulated on the fly, with the current action being softer and briefer when a tone was elicited. Our results demonstrate that action effects can modulate subsequent and ongoing actions even when the arrival of these effects is unpredictable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
先前的研究表明，当紧随可预测且显著的动作效应（如声音、闪光）之后时，快速、重复的动作（捏、轻拍、按键）的力度会变小。有人认为，连续的动作会逐渐变轻，直到达到最佳状态，这大概反映了在保持高动作成功率的能力和节约能量减少施力之间的平衡。在本实验中，我们研究了当动作效应不可预测时，这种情况是否会出现。年轻的成年参与者进行均匀间隔的捏（实验 1）或轻拍（实验 2），其中 50%的试验会产生声音。声音效应的出现从试验到试验随机变化，导致动作序列具有不同的声音诱发模式。我们发现，由产生声音的动作序列引发的捏和轻拍比由不产生声音的动作序列引发的动作要轻柔。在捏的情况下，动作也会实时调节，当产生声音时，当前动作会更轻柔、更短暂。我们的结果表明，即使动作效应的出现是不可预测的，它们也可以调节后续和正在进行的动作。
