Influence of different preparatory sets on reaction time and arm-movement time.

The effect of three different preparatory sets on reaction time (RT), movement time (MT) and reaction time-movement time (RT-MT) relationship was examined. All 15 subjects were required to perform under the three conditions regarding the relative payoff of stimulus and speed of movement. No significant effect of RT was found, while the significant difference between MT under MT-payoff condition and MT under RT-payoff condition was found. The correlations between RT and MT under MT-payoff condition and RT-MT payoff condition are significant (p less than .05). Also high canonical correlation between RTs and MTs was found. Results suggested that the motor program in the simple task may be executed more effectively under MT-payoff condition than RT-payoff conditions and also that a certain amount of generality between RT and MT under the payoff conditions might exist in multivariate domains.