An otherwise impossible 4:3 bimanual circling frequency relationship can be performed comfortably when it serves visual symmetry of visible proxy flags¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Participants instructed to circle visible flags in symmetry, with a gear system making symmetric flag circling require a 4:3 hand-frequency relationship, could do so after brief training, implicitly performing the impossible hand pattern. → Dor Abrahamson · Franz Mechsner 2022

Evidence¶

Dor Abrahamson · Franz Mechsner 2022¶

Dor Abrahamson · Franz Mechsner. (2022). Toward Synergizing Educational Research and Movement Sciences: a Dialogue on Learning as Developing Perception for Action. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-022-09668-3

q2 · i? · causal · r?

Apparatus experiment by Mechsner et al. (2001) in which unseen hands drive visible proxy flags, with a gear system making the right flag circle 4/3 times faster than the hand. Participants "circle the flags in symmetry" after a few minutes of training, implicitly enacting the 4:3 hand relationship. No effect size printed.

"However, if participants are instructed to circle the flags in symmetry (after a few minutes of unimanual training with the RH handle–flag gear system), they are well able to do so (after a further few minutes of bimanual training)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Students solving bimanual proportion tasks spontaneously develop attentional anchors, such as an imaginary diagonal line, that guide coordinated movement — related
• The bimanual finger-oscillation symmetry tendency is perceptual rather than neuromuscular: the symmetrical pattern stays stable across congruous and incongruous hand positions while the parallel pattern disintegrates with speed — related
• Difficulty maintaining a 90° phase-shifted bimanual circling pattern reflects an unsuitable strategy rather than neuromuscular constraint, and spatial or imagined marks render the task easy — related