Target-Directed Movements at a Comfortable Pace: Movement Duration and Fitts's Law

Although many studies have supported P. M. Fitts's (1954) law as a description of the speed-accuracy trade-off for speeded movements, there has been a lack of research regarding movement duration for target-directed movements made at any other pace. In the present study, the duration of movemen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of motor behavior 2009-07, Vol.41 (4), p.339-346
Main Authors: Young, Scott J., Pratt, Jay, Chau, Tom
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Adult
Algorithms
Female
goal-directed action
Hand - physiology
human
Humans
Hypotheses
instructions
Kinesthesis - physiology
Literature Reviews
Male
Models, Neurological
Motor ability
Movement - physiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Reference Values
Researchers
speed-accuracy trade-off
Studies
Time Factors
Young Adult
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Summary:Although many studies have supported P. M. Fitts's (1954) law as a description of the speed-accuracy trade-off for speeded movements, there has been a lack of research regarding movement duration for target-directed movements made at any other pace. In the present study, the duration of movements made at a naturally selected comfortable pace and a quick pace differed from Fitts's law in a way that was similar to the predictions of participants in previous studies of naive motor decisions and imagined movements (S. J. Young, J. Pratt, & T. Chau, 2008; S. J. Young, J. Pratt, & T. Chau, 2009). These results show that movements of various speeds have predictable patterns of movement duration. The results also suggest that individuals adjust more than the implicit target size when changing their desired movement speed.
ISSN:0022-2895
1940-1027
DOI:10.3200/JMBR.41.4.339-346