Do Vision and Audition Influence Bimanual Timing Coordination for In-Phase and Anti-Phase Patterns in a Linear Slide Task?

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of vision and audition in the coordination of in-phase and anti-phase movement patterns at increasing frequency of oscillation in a bimanual linear slide task. The dependent variables were mean error of relative phase and standard deviation of relative phase. Results indicated that vision and audition did not influence the accuracy and the variability in performance of the two relative phase patterns, whereas increasing frequency influenced the performance of the anti-phase pattern, but not the in-phase pattern. As a potential explanation of the current findings, it is hypothesized that the bimanual linear coordination task did not rely on vision and audition because the task was perhaps governed by proprioception. With consideration for specific motor tasks, investigating the role of vision, audition, and proprioception on the performance of coordinative movements remains an important question for continued research.