The independent monitoring of form and scale factors in handwriting

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Abstract

In an experimental study on movement latencies and durations of letter-writing tasks we tested a three-stage model of the retrieval and initiation of handwriting movements. In this model it is assumed that the process of preparation of handwriting movements consists of the retrieval of a non-muscle-specific motor program in stage one, the substitution of actual parameters into that program in stage two, and finally, the recruitment of an appropriate number of motor units for the execution of the program in the anatomical and physical context in stage three. The pattern of additivities and interactions in the latency data, due to variations of letter size, slope of the base line, and sequencing of letter strokes, was consistent with our three-stage model of complex motor behavior. Furthermore, the analysis of movement times for separate letter strokes revealed a process that involves the unpacking of later strokes during the execution of earlier ones.

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This research was supported by Grant 15-32-06 from the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO).

Mailing address: G.P. van Galen, Dept. of Experimental Psychology, University of Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

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