title: The Anatomy of Action Systems: Task Differentiation When Learning an EMG Controlled Game.
abstract: This study aims to determine to what extent the task for an action system in its initial development relies on functional and anatomical components. Fifty-two able-bodied participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups or to a control group. As a pre- and post-test all groups performed a computer game with the same goal and using the same musculature. One experimental group also trained to perform this test, while the other two experimental groups learned to perform a game that differed either in its goal or in the musculature used. The observed change in accuracy indicated that retaining the goal of the task or the musculature used equally increased transfer performance relative to controls. Conversely, changing either the goal or the musculature equally decreased transfer relative to training the test. These results suggest that in the initial development of an action system, the task to which the system pertains is not specified solely by either the goal of the task or the anatomical structures involved. It is suggested that functional specificity and anatomical dependence might equally be outcomes of continuously differentiating activity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen - University Medical Center Groningen Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ludger
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen - University Medical Center Groningen Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anniek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heerschop
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Groningen - University Medical Center Groningen Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Corry K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: van der Sluis
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen - University Medical Center Groningen Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Raoul M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bongers
keywords: action systems; electromyography; games; motor learning; myoelectric control; perception-action; serious gaming; transfer of training