The influence of head movement on the accuracy of a rapid pointing task.
BACKGROUND
Eye-hand coordination contributes to sports performance. The positive effect of head movement on the accuracy of eye-hand coordination of some subjects has been demonstrated for self-paced or single tasks, but not for rapid, repetititive tasks, such as those sometimes required in sports. The purpose of this study was to determine whether head movement is detrimental to performance of a rapid, repetitive pointing task.


METHODS
Pointing accuracy and speed were tested using the AcuVision 1000 trainer, a device designed to assess and train eye-hand coordination. Twenty-six subjects participated. In one trial, subjects were told to turn their heads toward the targets as they pointed at them. In a second trial, subjects were told to keep their heads stationary as they pointed at the targets. The order of the trials was counter-balanced and subjects were randomly assigned to one of the orders.


RESULTS
Pointing accuracy was significantly greater in the head movement trial than in the no head movement trial.


CONCLUSIONS
Head movement increased the accuracy of this rapid task. Head movement probably allows more-accurate encoding of target position by maintaining the eyes in less-eccentric positions of gaze.
Fogt
Nick
N
Ohio State University, College of Optometry, Columbus, Ohio 43218-2342, USA. fogt.4@osu.edu
Uhlig
Rebecca
R
Thach
Daran Phan
DP
Liu
Amy
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time