The dynamics of everyday activities such as catching or kicking a ball, lifting a cup, crossing a road, or driving a vehicle require the ability to perceive and adjust to circumstances and environments. For interception or object avoidance, effective perception action coupling emerges from one's ability to optimally interpret meaningful visual information relative to self constraints and abilities. With increasing age, there is clear improvement in timing of one's behaviour to coincide with the visual information one perceives (Bard, Fleury, Carriere & Bellec, 1981). It was unclear how adults and children couple perceived information to their own constraints to successfully intercept when faced with increasingly complex tasks (i.e. faster moving objects, and travelling smaller approach angles to the object)-. Recent research in adults depicted the bearing angle (BA) as a key optic variable that allows one to reach the right place at the right time when intercepting a moving object, by maintaining a constant bearing angle (CBA). The present thesis adapted the study of this strategy in order to evaluate its use in a manual interceptive task. It examined the influence of extrinsic factors on the adherence to this strategy in synchronised movement control patterns. In effect the present work aimed td-address the issue of how perception action coupling influences the strategy and movement control (posture and timing) of adults and typically developing children when intercepting a moving object. . The findings of this thesis suggest that on approach for interception the CBA strategy is largely adhered to in adults and older children and not in younger children. This strategy breaks down on reaching, and the wrist compensates for movement requirements relative to ball velocity and approach angle. Larger deviations occurred when the angle of approach was small and for faster balls. Younger children were unable to adhere to the CBA strategy on approach, requiring more information from slower balls and smaller angles of approach, failing to effectively couple walking velocity to ball velocity. However there were signs of a compensatory strategy emerging. Greater postural adjustments were made by all three participant groups when there was less deviation from the CBA strategy and when intercepting faster balls. Adults and older children showed proximodistal control, making greater adjustments in the trunk during reaching. Younger children tended to make less adjustment at the trunk and controlled their reaching behaviour by making more distal adjustments. All participants were able to compensate successfully in their adaptations of posture and use of the CBA strategy, according to their age, ability and experience, to achieve the desired goal of interception. Improvement with age suggests that compliance to theCBA strategy may be attributed to enhanced coincidence anticipation behaviour.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:485324 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Chohan, Ambreen |
| Publisher | Manchester Metropolitan University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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