Hari and Jousmaki (1996) highlighted the distinction between personal space and peripersonal space in their finding that motor activity is initiated more efficiently in response to stimuli located on the responding limb as opposed to near the responding limb. Experiments conducted in the current thesis adapted the Hari and Jousmaki (1996) method in order to determine whether a similar bias could be associated with virtual limbs. These studies revealed that responses to a target located on a virtual limb under the constant reliable control of the individual are faster than responses to a target located near the virtual limb, irrespective of the visual appearance, spatial orientation, and spatial location of the limb. In the absence of control over the virtual object, these studies also found some evidence to suggest that the experience of tactile
sensation from the virtual hand may result in a similar bias. Past research suggests that these findings may be a result of an attention bias towards the virtual limbs (Whiteley, Kennett, Taylor-Clarke, & Haggard, 2004); however, the evidence presented in this thesis cannot support an attention explanation thus it must be concluded that the on/off effect observed in this thesis is the result of compatibility between the stimlus and the response. This thesis discusses the implications of these findings to review the potential applications of this research from a theoretical and methodological perspective.