Bimanual coordination patterns are stabilized under monitoring-pressure.
The influence of monitoring-pressure on the performance of anti-phase and in-phase bimanual coordination was examined. The two bimanual patterns were produced under no-monitoring and monitoring-pressure conditions at self-paced frequencies. Anti-phase coordination was always less stable than in-phase coordination, with or without monitoring. When performed under monitoring-pressure, the coordination patterns were performed with less variability in relative phase for both patterns across a range of self-paced movement frequencies compared to performance without monitoring. Thus, while monitoring-pressure did induce a behavioral change, it consisted of performance stabilization rather than degradation, a finding inconsistent with explicit-monitoring theory. However, the findings are consistent with the theory of coordination dynamics and studies that have revealed increased stability for the system's intrinsic dynamics as a result of attentional focus and intentional control.
Perception-Action Dynamics Lab, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA. jjbuchanan@hlkn.tamu.edu.
John J
JJ
Buchanan
Perception-Action Dynamics Lab, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Inchon
I
Park
Perception-Action Dynamics Lab, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Jing
J
Chen
Perception-Action Dynamics Lab, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University, 4243 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
David L
DL
Wright
NeuroErgonomics Lab, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M University, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Ranjana K
RK
Mehta
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Attention; Coordination dynamics; Intention; Relative phase; Stress