Handing over a cube: spatial features of physical joint-action.
Even though joint action is highly developed in humans, not much is known about motor control in physical joint-action tasks. Here we investigated a physical handover task: one subject sequentially passed wooden cubes to another without communicating verbally. Temporal parameters such as reaction time decreased on a trial-to-trial basis, showing that the efficiency of the task is optimized on-line by implicit negotiation between the partners. In contrast, the spatial position of the handover was found to be invariant and trial-independent. Thus, our results suggest that physical joint-action is guided by on-line adaptation and a priori assumptions.
Huber
Markus
M
Center for Sensorimotor Research and Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany. mhuber@nefo.med.uni-muenchen.de
Knoll
Alois
A
Brandt
Thomas
T
Glasauer
Stefan
S
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement