title: Timing variability in circle drawing and tapping: probing the relationship between event and emergent timing.
abstract: R. Ivry, R. M. Spencer, H. N. Zelaznik, and J. Diedrichsen (2002) have proposed a distinction between timed movements in which a temporal representation is part of the task goal (event timing) and those in which timing properties are emergent. The issue addressed in the present experiment was how timing in conditions conducive to emergent timing becomes established. According to what the authors term the transformation hypothesis, timing initially requires an event-based representation when the temporal goal is defined externally (e.g., by a metronome), but over the first few movement cycles, control processes become established that allow timing to become emergent. Different groups of participants (N = 84) executed either 1 timed interval, 4 timed intervals, or 2 timed intervals separated by a pause. They produced the intervals by either circle drawing, a task associated with emergent timing, or tapping, a task associated with event timing. Analyses of movement variability suggested that similar timing processes were used in the 2 tasks only during the 1st interval. Those results are consistent with the transformation hypothesis and lead to the inference that the transition from event-based control to emergent timing can occur rapidly during continuous movements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Kinesiology, Purdue University, Lambert, 800 West Stadium Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. hnzelaz@purdue.edu
authors.forename: Howard N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Zelaznik
authors.forename: Rebecca M C
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Ivry
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baria
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bloom
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dolansky
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Justice
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Whetter
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D001288:Attention; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009043:Motor Activity; D009048:Motor Skills; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011601:Psychophysics; D011930:Reaction Time; D013998:Time Perception