Citation

Lee DN, Young DS, Rewt D. J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform. 1992; 18(4): 1195-1202.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

1431752

Abstract

Body movements of trampolinists landing upright from forward somersaults, with eyes open and closed, were analyzed to test a theory of how braking and timing of actions are conjointly controlled. In regulating landing, rotation has to be slowed by extending the body so that it reaches the upright just as the feet hit the trampoline. Extending a theory of visual control of linear braking, it was hypothesized that upright landing is achieved by perceptually regulating body extension so as to keep the ratio angle of body to upright: rate of change of angle (the tau function of the angle) proportional to time-to-landing. The data support the hypothesis, indicate that vision improves precision of control, and argue further for the value of the tau function in the perceptual regulation of action.

Language: en