Intramodal and intermodal transfer of movement information

The Cannolly and Jones model of transfer is inappropriate due to the lack of research and the inability of such models to account for all types of observed performance.

Abstract

Abstract Transfer of movement information between and within the visual and kinesthetic sensory systems was examined using a linear movement task. The amount of information to be transferred and the methods of reproduction were standardized by using a single light as a visual stimulus and by examining passive movements. The results, in terms of absolute error, indicated that intramodal matching was as proficient as intermodal matching at short distances with intermodal matching becoming less proficient as movement length increased. Contrary to Connolly and Jones (1970), transfer from vision to kinesthesis was as proficient as transfer from kinesthesis to vision except at longer distances where transfer from vision to kinesthesis had less error than transfer from kinesthesis to vision. These differences did not support and were in the opposite direction to the Connolly and Jones findings. Therefore, the present results supported a model characterized by little difference in transfer ability except at long distances where it appeared that transfer did not occur until reproduction. In general, it was pointed out that transfer mechanisms are sensitive to the type of information and reproduction procedures used. As such, the Cannolly and Jones model of transfer is inappropriate due to the lack of research and the inability of such models to account for all types of observed performance.