abstract: Fractal analyses examine variability in a time series to look for temporal structure
or pattern that reveals the underlying processes of a complex system. Although fractal
property has been found in many signals in biological systems, how it relates to
behavioral performance and what it implies about the complex system under scrutiny are
still open questions. In this series of experiments, fractal property, movement kinematics,
and behavioral performance were measured on participants performing a reciprocal
tapping task. In Experiment 1, the results indicated that the alpha value from detrended
fluctuation analysis (DFA) reflected deteriorating performance when visual feedback
delay was introduced into the reciprocal tapping task. This finding suggests that this
fractal index is sensitive to performance level in a movement task. In Experiment 2, the
sensitivity of DFA alpha to the coupling strength between sub-processes within a system
was examined by manipulation of task space visibility. The results showed that DFA
alpha was not influenced by disruption of subsystems coupling strength. In Experiment 3,
the sensitivity of DFA alpha to the level of adaptivity in a system under constraints was
examined. Manipulation of the level of adaptivity was not successful, leading to
inconclusive results to this question. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:asu.edu/item:55660 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Contributors | Nguyen, Tri Duc (Author), Amazeen, Eric L (Advisor), Glenberg, Arthur M (Advisor), Amazeen, Polemnia G (Committee member), Arizona State University (Publisher) |
| Source Sets | Arizona State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Masters Thesis |
| Format | 48 pages |
| Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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