Degree of Preference and Its Influence on Motor Control When Reaching for Most Preferred, Neutrally Preferred, and Least Preferred Candy

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether reaching for objects with varying levels of preference associated with them elicited influenced motor control in a reaching task. Forty healthy adults were asked to reach for seven different types of candy, which they ranked by personal preference from being the most preferred to the least preferred. In this repeated measures design, data were analyzed on 39 participants who tended to demonstrate greater movement efficiency in movement time and movement units when reaching for candy in which they associated with greater preference (p < .0 167). Although no differences were found between conditions with peak velocity and percentage of movement time to peak velocity (p > .0167), these dependent variables appeared to trend in the direction of similar movement efficiency. Therapists can use this knowledge to help guide clinical reasoning when designing treatment plans and approaches. Future research is needed to further examine intensity along the continuum of preference and its implications for occupational therapy practice.

A Representation of Effort in Decision-Making and Motor Control

“…However, they also move faster toward that stimulus [1][2][3][4][5]. This suggests that reward and effort not only affect decision-making, they also influence motor control [6,7].…”

“…Equation 4 makes four predictions: as reward increases, the utility of the movement increases, but its optimum duration decreases ( Figure 1C). Animals should not only prefer stimuli that promise greater reward [12], but also move with greater speed toward them [1,2,4,5]. As the metabolic cost of the movement increases, the utility of the movement decreases, but its duration increases ( Figure 1D).…”

“…However, minimizing energy expenditure cannot be the only concern of the nervous system (Supplemental Mathematical Derivations), as evidenced by the fact that reward modulates movement speed [1][2][3][4][5]. To incorporate the effect of reward, consider reaching for food that has reward value a > 0.…”

Modulation of Saccade Vigor during Value-Based Decision Making

“…For example, Sackaloo et al (2015) asked participants to rank order in terms of preference a number of different kinds of candy bars. When asked to reach for a single candy bar, participants reached faster and with a shorter duration for the more preferred bar.…”

Luring the Motor System: Impact of Performance-Contingent Incentives on Pre-Movement Beta-Band Activity and Motor Performance

“…Several studies have shown that the value of a target affects the vigor of saccades (Xu-Wilson et al, 2009;Manohar et al, 2015;Reppert et al, 2015) and upper limb movements (Opris et al, 2011;Sackaloo et al, 2015;Summerside et al, 2018). Consistent with this, considerable evidence from monkey electrophysiology has revealed that regions of the dorsal parieto-frontal cortex, which directly contribute to goal-directed movements (Andersen and Cui, 2009), are modulated by incentives during movement preparation (Platt and Glimcher, 1999;Olson, 2003, 2004;Musallam et al, 2004;Leathers and Olson, 2012).…”