Age differences in the relationship between visual movement imagery and performance on kinesthetic acuity tests.

The Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire was administered to 280 fourteen-year-olds and 186 ten-year-olds, who were then tested on measures of kinesthetic acuity. The relationship between visual movement imagery and kinesthetic acuity scores was significant in the older group: Those with high levels of visual movement imagery performed significantly better on measures of kinesthetic acuity than did those with low imagery. No such effect was found in the younger group. The results indicate that for adolescents, the confounding effect of visual imagery affects the researcher's ability to interpret kinesthetic acuity scores. The relationship between imagery and kinesthesis appears to develop over the period between 10 and 14 years, although such an interpretation may be premature because the measurement of visual movement imagery in the younger age group is problematic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differentiating visual and kinesthetic imagery in mental practice.

Through two experiments, the study sought to emphasize the usefulness of the visual and kinesthetic imagery in mental practice. In Experiment 1, it was hypothesized that when the task to be learned through mental practice necessitates the reproduction of a form by drawing, the visual image, which provides a wide span of apprehension, is more suitable than the kinesthetic image. On the other hand, the kinesthetic image that supplies inputs from the muscles' positions and movements should be more appropriate for the acquisition of the duration of the drawing. In Experiment 2, it was hypothesized that the task, transformed into a motor task necessitating minute coordination of the two hands, would benefit more from kinesthetic imagery. To have optimal control over what was actually experienced during mental practice, the participants' imagery skills were measured. The participants also benefited from prior imagery training. The results demonstrate that when using mental practice to initially acquire a task, visual imagery is better for tasks that emphasize form while kinesthetic imagery is better for those tasks that emphasize timing or minute coordination of the two hands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cortical conductivity and vocabulary.

The relationship of cortical activity to kinesthetic and visual aftereffects was investigated. Cortical activity was measured by Vocabulary test scores. The results do not support a previous finding (Livson & Krech, 1955) of an inverse relationship between these variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nitric oxide-mediated renal epithelial cell injury during hypoxia and reoxygenation

If two targets are both on the visual axis of one eye or the other, and binocular fixation is shifted from the farther one to the nearer, the aligned eye consistently makes an initial, seemingly pointless saccade in a temporal direction. The size of those saccades typically differs markedly, depending on whether the targets are aligned with the observer's dominant or non-dominant eye. Pickwell [(1972) Vision Research, 12, 1499-1507] proposed that this binocular asymmetry in oculomotor performance reflects a subject-specific lateral displacement of the egocenter (the "binoculus" of Hering, which has traditionally been assumed to be on the midline). An empirical test of Pickwell's widely endorsed hypothesis has now been conducted and the proposal has been found wanting. In an otherwise darkened room, subjects were required repeatedly to set a small light to a perceived straight-ahead location in the horizontal plane, first for a target at 300 cm distance and then for one at 30 cm. Extrapolation of a line that connects the two averages of those settings to the inter-ocular axis provides an estimate of the subjective egocenter to which visual directions are referred. Contrary to Pickwell's proposal, those locations of the inferred egocenter were usually quite near the midline, and were completely uncorrelated with same-subject data on the extent of saccadic asymmetry at the onset of asymmetrical convergence. The data on perceived straight-ahead underlying this result indicate the availability of extraretinal information about eye orientation that is quite precise at a given moment (median standard deviation of 47 min arc) but conspicuously non-stationary over several-minute intervals (monotonic drifts in sequential settings being very common).     

Three methods of measuring the location of the egocentre: Their reliability, comparative locations and intercorrelations.

Based on discrepancies between the various assumptions and reports that have been made regarding the location of the egocenter, 3 different methods of measuring its location, which have been previously used or suggested, were studied. These methods were developed by I. P. Howard and W. B. Templeton (1966), S. Funaiski (1962), and C. O. Roelofs (see record 1960-05258-001). The locations of egocenters for 15 Ss were determined 8 times by each method during each of 2 different experimental sessions separated by a week. All 3 methods were found to have high internal consistency as indicated by high alpha coefficients. Two methods were found to have high stability over time as indicated by test-retest correlations. The mean egocenter was found to be located near the corneal plane and near the median plane with Howard and Templeton's and Funaishi's methods, but using Roelofs' method the mean egocenter was found to be located 17 cm behind the corneal plane near the median plane. The intermethod correlations were uniformly low. The lack of intermethod correlation and the different mean locations among the methods suggest that, unless predictive validity is established for the 3 tasks, there is no basis for choosing among the 3 methods. (French summary) (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual versus kinesthetic mental imagery: Efficacy for the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children.

The main purposes of this study were (a) to compare the effects of mental imagery combined with physical practise and specific physical practise on the retention and transfer of a closed motor skill in young children; (b) to determine the mental imagery (visual vs. kinesthetic), which is the most efficient for retention and transfer of a closed motor skill; and (c) to verify the relationship between movement image vividness and motor performance. As for the secondary purpose, it was to compare the effects of gender on motor learning. Participants (n = 96) were selected from 3 primary schools. These participants were divided into 6 groups and submitted to different experimental conditions. The experimental task required the participants to throw, with the nondominant hand (left hand), a ball toward a target composed of 3 concentric circles. The results demonstrated that performance obtained by the mental imagery (visual or kinesthetic) combined with physical practise group was, during the retention phase, equivalent to that produced by the specific physical practise group but significantly superior during the transfer of closed motor skill. These results showed the potential benefits of mental imagery as a retention strategy intended for motor skills and performance enhancement. Such results could be explained by the similarity of 3 principal functional evidences shared by mental and physical practise: behavioural, central, and peripheral (as suggested by Holmes & Collins, 2001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Production of serotonin syndrome by 8-OH DPAT in Cryptotis parva

When asked to look through a tube, younger children place it at the bridge of the nose, and not over one eye: the Cyclops effect. This is a natural response to a median plane egocenter. With maturity, the Cyclops effect disappears as we learn to overcome the consequences of an egocenter between the two eyes, and instead, to use the "preferred" eye. We videotaped adults (n = 14) and children with normal vision (n = 30), children with comitant strabismus (n = 14), and adults and children (n = 14) with one eye enucleated as they attempted to look through a plastic tube. Immediately in front of the face was a liquid crystal window that could be either transparent or opaque. As the tube was raised, the window was made opaque--blocking sight of the target, their hands, and the tube. Most binocular observers placed the tube approximately at the bridge of the nose. This was significantly different from the response of the enucleated observers who put the tube 75% of the way to the remaining eye (P = 0.0001). All observers align, on average, with the measured location of their egocenter when asked to perform a monocular task without visual cues. Deprived of visual feedback, binocular observers show the Cyclops effect, regardless of age.     

A comparison of mental retardates and normals on kinesthetic figural aftereffects.

The reactivity of normals and retardates was compared on tests of visual and kinesthetic afteraffects. Mental retardates were shown to be characterized by a weaker satiation process than normals of comparable CA. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JI86S. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introversion-extraversion and kinesthetic aftereffects.

"Eysenck's hypothesis that extraverts show greater figural aftereffects than introverts was investigated by comparing the kinesthetic aftereffects of 37 subjects with high scores on Guilford's Rhathymia scale (extraverts) with those of 37 subjects with low scores on the scale (introverts). The personality groups did not differ significantly in amount of aftereffect. Several differences remain between the present study and Eysenck's earlier one, but the generality of the hypothesis that extraverts develop greater aftereffects than introverts is seriously questioned." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2HE95R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelationships among personality variables, kinesthetic figure afteraffect, and reminiscence in motor learning.

The relationship among kinesthetic figural aftereffect (KAE), reminiscence in motor learning (Rem), MMPI data, psychiatric diagnosis, age and vocabulary were studied in psychotic and nonpsychotic VA patients. KAE was found to be negatively related to Rem, but there was no significant relationship with MMPI and psychiatric diagnostic data; Rem was found to be positively related with MMPI and psychiatric diagnosis. It was assumed that part of the explanation for whatever relationships existed between the variables might be found in neural processes. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HJ87M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size perception by vision and kinesthesia

When two sizes, one perceived by vision and the other by kinesthesia, are apparently equal, the physical relationship between them varies: The sizes may be equal, or the visual size may be larger than the kinesthetic size, or vice versa. In this study, the method of cross-modal matching and the method of magnitude production were used to explore the relationship between apparently equal sizes (5-40 cm) perceived by vision and by kinesthesia. The sizes were linear or circular, and the mode of standard presentation was visual, kinesthetic, or verbal. The size and the direction of the intermodal mismatch varied with the size of the standard. It was also found that an apparent length of movement varied with the direction of movement. In all conditions, the relationship between apparently equal visual and kinesthetic sizes was well approximated by a power function.     

Practise strengthens haptic capture.

When do haptic estimates of discordant visual-haptic size capture vision? Observers looked at a square through a minifying lens (50%) whilst they simultaneously touched the square from below through a hand-concealing cloth. Their subsequent match of the square’s size, rendered by touching a set of comparison squares, was haptically biased when they practised estimating the square’s size (Experiment 1, N = 72), when they actively explored rather than passively touched the square (Experiment 2, N = 24), but not when they were uninformed before inspecting the square that they would estimate its size (Experiment 3, N = 36). Evidently, the haptic exploratory strategies occasioned by the practise influenced the integration of the felt size and the seen size by weighing the haptic input more than the visual input, and this weight shifting manifested itself by strengthening haptic capture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

La manipulation d'indices kinesthésiques et tactiles lors d'une tache de reproduction de mouvement.

Reexamined the effect of several variables on the performance of the kinesthetic system. A classical movement duplication task was used in which each of the 48 18-38 yr old Ss was required to duplicate a passive criterion movement of one arm by positioning the same arm. Six factors were manipulated in a randomized design with fixed effects: mode of duplication (passive, active), tactile sensation (limb uncovered, limb covered, limb covered with forced air currents), kinesthetic cues for reproduction (either final arm position or distance moved), the sector of presentation of the criterion movement (43-76°, 87-217°, 128-264° in a horizontal arm adduction movement), information load (1, 2, or 4 criterion demonstrations of the movement), and the starting position of duplication. Constant and variable errors were used as dependent variables. Results confirm that active duplication was superior to passive, concerning variable, but not constant error. Duplication of final arm position was better than duplication of distance moved, also concerning only variable error. Two significant interactions (mode of duplication by kinesthetic cues, and kinesthetic cues by starting position of duplication) were found. Results indicate that final location cue and starting position of duplication are important markers in accurate reproduction. It is suggested that joint afference is transformed into a motor plan compatible with active duplication. (English summary) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of lesions of the associative parietal cortex on the acquisition and use of spatial memory in egocentric and allocentric navigation tasks in the rat.

It has been hypothesized that the rat associative parietal cortex (APC) is involved in the association between visuospatial and locomotion-generated (kinesthetic) information. To study the kinesthetic component, APC-lesioned and control rats were trained in total darkness to reach a submerged platform in the Morris water maze. In the egocentric task, the relative position of the starting point and the platform was constant all over training. Parietal rats have been found impaired in acquisition and to a less extent in retention of this task. In the allocentric task, rats were then trained in the standard version of the navigation task. A mild deficit was observed in acquisition of this task because the APC-lesioned rats displayed longer escape latencies but control-like search patterns. These results suggest that the APC is involved in the coding of kinesthetic information that plays an important role in place navigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Simon Effect in Pigeons.

Pigeons pecked left versus right keys contingent upon the color presented at 1 of those locations. Spatial-response latencies were shorter when the color appeared at the same location as the required response than at the opposite location. This Simon effect occurred when the stimulus on the alternative key was constant, varied from trial to trial, or changed when the color cue appeared and when the reinforcement probability for correct responses was the same on corresponding as on noncorresponding trials. Humans performing the same task by touching the keys also showed the Simon effect. These findings demonstrate that for pigeons, too, a relevant symbolic cue activates a spatial code that produces faster responses at the location corresponding with the activated code. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of kinesthetic training on perceptual-motor skills in persons with Huntington's disease.

Examined whether kinesthetic training for persons with Huntington's disease (HD) leads to improved performance in more complex perceptual-motor tasks. 11 persons (aged 31–60 yrs) with HD and 10 normal controls (NCs [aged 19–65 yrs]) performed a horizontal linear positioning task, which required the ability to process kinesthetic information, and the Purdue Pegboard finger dexterity test. Results indicate that HDs experienced a small deficiency in performance of kinesthetic tasks. The size of the deficit was about the same, regardless of whether the task required immediate perception or memory for kinesthetic information. NCs' performance in the kinesthetic training task increased significantly over practice trials, while performance in the HD group did not change as a result of practice. Transfer of training was not found in either group. There was, however, evidence that HDs made significant improvements in finger dexterity through training. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How liked and disliked foods affect time perception.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence on time perception of pictures showing liked or disliked foods in comparison with a neutral picture. Healthy adults performed a temporal bisection task in which they had to categorize the presentation duration of pictures (neutral, liked, and disliked foods) as more similar to a short (400 ms) or to a long (1,600 ms) standard duration. The data revealed that the presentation duration of food pictures was underestimated compared with the presentation duration of the neutral picture, and that this underestimation was more marked for the disliked than for the liked food pictures. These results are consistent with the idea that this time underestimation arises from an attentional-bias mechanism. The food pictures, and particularly those depicting disliked food items, distracted attention away from the processing of time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On homogeneous retinal stimulation and the perception of depth.

A review of recent experiments showing that where the perception of voluminous fog does not occur consistently under conditions attempting homogeneity of visual stimulation, there are sources of inhomogeneity which can produce the impression of a surface. As homogeneity is approached, the volume experience becomes more reliable. A view of this phenomenon, other than Gibson's—which does not deal with it on the grounds of poor reliability—or Koffka's—which attributes it to the fundamental nature of the perceptual system, is presented. It is based on kinesthetic stimulation as a likely source of visual space anisotropy with respect to perceived distance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal problem solving in young children.

24 children at each of 3 age levels (4, 6, and 8 yrs) were asked a series of class inclusion questions presented verbally, visually, and kinesthetically. Four-year-olds performed significantly better under the verbal condition than they did under the visual or kinesthetic condition. There was no effect of condition for 6- or 8-yr-olds on response accuracy. Analysis of correctness of reasons showed main effects of Age and Condition. The majority of the reasons given across ages were based on a comparison between the 2 subclasses, providing support for the misinterpretation hypothesis as an explanation for children's errors. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integration of auditory and kinesthetic information in motion: Alterations in Parkinson's disease.

The main aim in this work was to study the interaction between auditory and kinesthetic stimuli and its influence on motion control. The study was performed on healthy subjects and patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Thirty-five right-handed volunteers (young, PD, and age-matched healthy participants, and PD-patients) were studied with three different motor tasks (slow cyclic movements, fast cyclic movements, and slow continuous movements) and under the action of kinesthetic stimuli and sounds at different beat rates. The action of kinesthesia was evaluated by comparing real movements with virtual movements (movements imaged but not executed). The fast cyclic task was accelerated by kinesthetic but not by auditory stimuli. The slow cyclic task changed with the beat rate of sounds but not with kinesthetic stimuli. The slow continuous task showed an integrated response to both sensorial modalities. These data show that the influence of the multisensory integration on motion changes with the motor task and that some motor patterns are modulated by the simultaneous action of auditory and kinesthetic information, a cross-modal integration that was different in PD-patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)