Atypical biological kinematics are represented during observational practice.

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of stimulus-response compatibility on the representation of atypical biological kinematics during observational practice. A compatible group observed an atypical model that moved rightward, whereas an incompatible group observed an atypical model that moved leftward. Both groups were instructed to observe the model with the intention to later reproduce the movement trajectory. This was examined in a posttest where participants were asked to move rightward with a kinematic profile that matched the atypical kinematics. Compared to a control group that did not engage in practice, and irrespective of whether the stimulus was observed in a spatially compatible or incompatible orientation, participants from both experimental groups reproduced velocity profiles that were comparable and similar to the atypical biological kinematics. Bayesian analysis indicated equality between the 2 experimental groups, thus suggesting comparable sensorimotor processing. Therefore, by rotating the incompatible stimulus by 180 degrees during observational practice, the current study has isolated the processing and representation of atypical biological kinematics to the underlying sensorimotor processes, rather than spatial encoding of peak velocity via processes associated with stimulus-response compatibility. (PsycINFO Database Record

Neural network-based Bluetooth synchronization of multiple wearable devices

“…Here, we present an application-level solution for Bluetooth-based device synchronization in a setup featuring multiple unsynchronized KiDs. Measuring and quantifying complex, naturalistic, unrestrained, and minimally shaped behavior presents formidable conceptual and technical challenges, which are only just beginning to be addressed in behavioral and neuroscience research 14,[18][19][20][21] (see Supplementary Discussion, "Motor behavior or sensorimotor analysis"). To tackle this challenge, it is often crucial to collect synchronized responses from multiple devices.…”

Observational learning of atypical biological kinematics in autism

“…The experiment consisted of a 3‐phase adapted version of an observational practice protocol used by Foster et al (2018), whereby participants performed a baseline, observational practice, and a post‐test (see Figure 1b). The baseline consisted of 10 imitation trials, where on each trial participants were instructed to observe the horizontal trajectory of the typical model with the intention to overtly reproduce the movement following action‐observation.…”

“…Using these moments, we then extracted the time-series position data for each baseline, and post-test trial. The position data for each trial were processed using a low-pass 4th order autoregressive filter with an 8 Hz cut-off (Foster et al, 2018(Foster et al, , 2020b. The filter minimized measurement noise in the experimental time-series data before differentiation using a 2-point central difference algorithm to obtain velocity.…”