Multistable states in intrahemispheric learning of a sensorimotor task.
We have obtained evidence from an intrahemispheric learning task using a choice-reaction-time paradigm that the acquisition of a sensorimotor skill can be discontinuous. Subjects had to react as fast as possible to either a visual or an auditory stimulus. In several successive sessions, reaction times improved markedly, however in a discontinuous way. Different levels of performance were characterized by discrete functional states, each state being associated with a particular temporal window. After sufficient learning, reactions were confined to the earlier of two such windows.
Pöppel
E
E
Institut für Medizinische Psychologie, München, FRG.
Schill
K
K
von Steinbüchel
N
N
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology