Can metric feedback training hinder actions involving distance?

Calibration to tool use during visually-guided reaching

In studying human perception and performance researchers must understand how the body schema is modified to accurately represent one's capabilities when tools are used, as humans use tools that alter their capabilities frequently. The present work tested the idea that calibration is responsible for modifying an embodied action schema during tool use. We investigated calibration in the context of manual activity in near space through a behavioral measure. Participants made blind reaches to various visual distances in pre- and post-test phases using a short tool that did not extend their reach. During an intervening calibration phase they received visual feedback about the accuracy of their reaches, with half of the participants reaching with a tool that extended their reach by 30cm. Results indicated both groups showed calibration appropriate to the type of tool that they used during the calibration phase, and this calibration carried over to reaches made in the post-test. These results inform discussions on the proposed embodied action schema and have applications to virtual reality, specifically the development of self-avatars.

The effects of prism adaptation on egocentric metric distance estimation

OBJECTIVE

The present experiment evaluated whether training involving throwing transferred to metric distance estimation (i.e., describing in feet and inches the distance between oneself and targets).

BACKGROUND

In prior work, we found that metric estimation training negatively transferred to throwing. We explained our results in terms of cognitive intrusion. The present study tested that possibility by swapping our training and transfer tasks.

METHOD

During pretesting, participants verbally estimated the metric distances between themselves and targets, or they threw a beanbag to targets. During training, participants donned goggles that distorted their vision. While wearing the goggles, they threw a beanbag to targets. Half received feedback. During posttesting, participants removed the distorting goggles and completed the same task that they performed during pretesting.

RESULTS

The results indicated that the distorting goggles degraded throwing at the beginning of training, visual feedback improved throwing during training, the effects of training with feedback persisted into the throwing posttest, and the effects of training with feedback did not transfer to the verbal metric estimation posttest.

CONCLUSION

Training involving throwing was effective, but did not transfer to verbal metric distance estimation. This supports our argument that the negative transfer observed in our previous study stemmed from cognitive intrusion.

APPLICATION

The present experiment suggests that the creation of distance estimation training should begin with a careful analysis of the transfer task, and that distance estimation training programs should explicitly teach trainees that their training will not generalize to all distance estimation tasks.