TY - JOUR

T1 - What’s your number? The effects of trial order on the one-target advantage

AU - Bested, S.R.

AU - Khan, Michael

AU - Lawrence, Gavin

AU - Tremblay, L.

PY - 2018/5

Y1 - 2018/5

N2 - When moving our upper-limb towards a single target, movement times are typically shorter than when movement to a second target is required. This is known as the one-target advantage. Most studies that have demonstrated the one-target advantage have employed separate trial blocks for the one- and two-segment movements. To test if the presence of the one-target advantage depends on advance knowledge of the number of segments, the present study investigated whether the one-target advantage would emerge under different trial orders/sequences. One- and two-segment responses were organized in blocked (i.e., 1-1-1, 2-2-2), alternating (i.e., 1-2-1-2-1-2), and random (i.e., 1-1-2-1-2-2) trial sequences. Similar to previous studies, where only blocked schedules have typically been utilized, the one-target advantage emerged during the blocked and alternate conditions, but not in the random condition. This finding indicates that the one-target advantage is contingent on participants knowing the number of movement segments prior to stimulus onset.

AB - When moving our upper-limb towards a single target, movement times are typically shorter than when movement to a second target is required. This is known as the one-target advantage. Most studies that have demonstrated the one-target advantage have employed separate trial blocks for the one- and two-segment movements. To test if the presence of the one-target advantage depends on advance knowledge of the number of segments, the present study investigated whether the one-target advantage would emerge under different trial orders/sequences. One- and two-segment responses were organized in blocked (i.e., 1-1-1, 2-2-2), alternating (i.e., 1-2-1-2-1-2), and random (i.e., 1-1-2-1-2-2) trial sequences. Similar to previous studies, where only blocked schedules have typically been utilized, the one-target advantage emerged during the blocked and alternate conditions, but not in the random condition. This finding indicates that the one-target advantage is contingent on participants knowing the number of movement segments prior to stimulus onset.

KW - One-target advantage

KW - Reaction time

KW - Movement constraint hypothesis

KW - Movement integration hypothesis

U2 - 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.03.005

DO - 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.03.005

M3 - Article

VL - 186

SP - 110

EP - 117

JO - Acta Psychologica

JF - Acta Psychologica

SN - 0001-6918

IS - May

ER -