The authors asked whether standing posture could be controlled relative to audible oscillation of the environment. Blindfolded sighted adults were exposed to acoustic flow in a moving room, and were asked to move so as to maintain a constant distance between their head and the room. Acoustic flow had direct (source) and indirect (reflected) components. Participants exhibited strong coupling of postural motion with room motion, even when direct information about room motion was masked and was available only in reflected sound. Patterns of hip-ankle coordination closely resembled patterns observed in previous research involving coupling of sway with a visible moving room. The results demonstrate that blindfolded adults can control the dynamics of stance relative to motion of the audible environment.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between 42 parents' and their offsprings' performance on a rapid tapping task. It was expected that genetic predispositions would gradually limit children's performance on a tapping task as they matured chronologically. Four different age groups of children and their parents performed the tapping task on different sizes of boards. Repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that, while parents' mean performance was generally higher than that of their children (F = 32.89, p < .001), the difference was affected by the children's age, which hand was used, and the board size. Spearman rank correlation scores between parents' and children's overall performances gradually increased across age groups (p = -.29, -.10, .47, and .40, respectively, from younger to older age groups). This finding suggests that the potential of youngsters' future performance may be predicted with greater certainty by observing their parents' present performance. This may improve the predictive power of planned programs.

Blindfolded sighted persons were found to detect acoustic flow patterns and use this information to control action. A moving room (a large box on wheels, with no floor, that moved in the subject’s fore–aft axis) was used. Blindfolded sighted persons (1) stood comfortably or (2) moved their head backward and forward to track audible room motion. Pink noise was presented through four speakers attached to the room, or mounted on stationary stands. Room motion was a sinusoid at 0.2 Hz, 22 cm, along subject’s fore–aft axis. When standing comfortably, participants exhibited weak but consistent coupling of body sway with room motion. Tracking of room motion with head movements was robust, matching both the frequency and amplitude of room motion. This was true even when the only information about room motion came from reflected sound (i.e., when the speakers were stationary). The results suggest a strong ability of sighted persons to use acoustic flow in the perception and control of their own action. [Work supported by NSF (BCS-0236627).]