Lateralized effects of orthographical irregularity and auditory memory load on the kinematics of transcription typewriting.
This study investigated the combined effects of orthographical irregularity and auditory memory load on the kinematics of finger movements in a transcription-typewriting task. Eight right-handed touch-typists were asked to type 80 strings of ten seven-letter words. In half the trials an irregularly spelt target word elicited a specific key press sequence of either the left or right index finger. In the other trials regularly spelt target words elicited the same key press sequence. An auditory memory load was added in half the trials by asking participants to remember the pitch of a tone during task performance. Orthographical irregularity was expected to slow down performance. Auditory memory load, viewed as a low level stressor, was expected to affect performance only when orthographically irregular words needed to be typed. The hypotheses were confirmed. Additional analysis showed differential effects on the left and right hand, possibly related to verbal-manual interference and hand dominance. The results are discussed in relation to relevant findings of recent neuroimaging studies.
Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information (NICI), University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Bloemsaat@nici.kun.nl
Gijs
G
Bloemsaat
Gerard P
GP
Van Galen
Ruud G J
RG
Meulenbroek
D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*