Heh, this email must be going around- I got something about this last week too. Not only is it hard to maintain the clockwise motion of the foot, it actually starts to spin counterclockwise (essentially the same direction of the hand drawing the number 6)! I didn't get much of an effect with the contralateral hand, or if I drew the number 6 from the bottom up (essentially moving the hand in a clockwise direction). Is this universal, and can we learn to dissociate the motor movements, like we can get better at tapping our head while we rub our belly?
Patrick ********************** Patrick O. Dolan, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Psychology Drew University Madison, NJ 07940 973-408-3558 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ********************** ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark S. Schmidt, PhD" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 12:58 PM Subject: motor interference task > Colleagues, A student just showed me a very impressive motor interference > task that I wanted to share with you. Sit in a chair and lift your right > foot off the floor and start moving it in a circle clockwise. Once that > motor pattern is esablished and smooth, use your right index finger to > trace the numeral "6" in the air in front of you. As soon as you start > tracing the numeral, the ability to maintain the circular movement of the > foot is lost. Its a very powerful interference effect and could be a good > class demo to begin a discussion of cortical organization of the motor > system and interference effects. I also tried it with the contralateral > foot and the effect is still there but not as strong. Have fun! > > Mark > > Mark S. Schmidt, PhD > Dept. of Psychology and Sociology > Columbus State University > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
