Informational constraints in perception-action coupling

The present work sought to investigate informational constraints in perception-action coupling through the study of spatial constraints and to extend the study of perceptual-motor compatibility to coordination. A paradigm of person environment coordination was employed in which rhythmic forearm rotations were coupled to a periodic visual stimulus. Four experiments were performed. Experiment 1 examined basic spatial constraints through the study of the relation between information-action mappings and configurations and their impact on coordination dynamics. The intrinsic dynamics of the coordination mappings were influenced by the information-action configuration. Under-orthogonal configurations, the mappings, up-right/down-left and up-left/down-right, were arbitrary compared to in-phase and anti-phase mappings. This was reflected in the general absence of stability differences between these orthogonal mappings. This equistability was attributed to a symmetry in the informational constraints imposed by the orthogonal mappings. Experiment 2 proceeded with an investigation of whether the information-action global spatial relation mediated the interaction between configuration and mapping. Response location was manipulated in order to change the global spatial relation. The preferred orthogonal mapping changed as a function of the global relation. Indications were of an up-right/down-left preference for movements performed in ipsilateral space and a trend toward an opposite preference for contralateral space. Experiment 3 extended the investigation of the influence of spatial configurations on coordination dynamics and finally, Experiment 4 studied the asymmetric dynamics of perception-action coupling under spatial parameter scaling. These experiments further confirmed the intrusion of spatial constraints in visual coordination. Moreover, compatibility effects were noted even when the coordination mappings were based on a mapping of an informational feature to action and not based on both the spatial dimensions of the information and action. In sum, the results suggested that spatial constraints impinged upon visual coordination dynamics.