Eye-Hand Coordination in Rhythmical Pointing

• Lazzari Stefano
• Mottet Denis
• Vercher Jean-Louis

• Coupling
• Phase synchronization
• Saccadic eye movements
• Speed-accuracy trade-off

The authors investigated the relation between hand kinematics and eye movements in 2 variants of a rhythmical Fitts's task in which eye movements were necessary or not necessary. P. M. Fitts's (1954) law held in both conditions with similar slope and marginal differences in hand-kinematic patterns and movement continuity. Movement continuity and eye-hand synchronization were more directly related to movement time than to task index of difficulty. When movement time was decreased to fewer than 350 ms, eye-hand synchronization switched from continuous monitoring to intermittent control. The 1:1 frequency ratio with stable pi/6 relative phase changed for 1:3 and 1:5 frequency ratios with less stable phase relations. The authors Conclude that eye and hand movements in a rhythmical Fitts's task are dynamically synchronized to produce the best behavioral performance.