Deck 8: Motor Skills and Control

Question 1

The time it takes to initiative a movement is known as

A) Movement Time
B) Decision Time
C) Reaction Time
D) Initiation Time

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The time it takes to complete a movement, from beginning to end, is known as

A) Reaction Time
B) Response Selection Time
C) Decision Time
D) Movement Time

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In Donders' experiments on reaction time, the time it takes to discriminate between 2 stimuli is calculated by subtracting the "simple reaction time" from which value?

A) Decision Time
B) Movement Time
C) Response Selection Time
D) Reaction Time

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In Donders' experiments on reaction time, the time it takes to select between 2 possible responses is calculated by subtracting ___________ from the Response Selection Time.

A) Simple Reaction Time
B) Decision Time
C) Movement Time
D) Nothing

Question 5

Which of the following is not known to affect reaction time?

A) Stimulus intensity
B) Number of stimuli
C) Neural transmission speed
D) Index of Difficulty

Question 6

According to the Hick-Hyman law, reaction time increases as a function of what aspect of the stimulus?

A) Stimulus color
B) Stimulus intensity
C) Number of stimuli
D) Index of Difficulty

Question 7

Which of the following statements best captures the effect known as the speed/accuracy tradeoffs?

A) Increasing movement speed increases accuracy
B) Increasing accuracy increases movement speed
C) Increasing movement speed decreases accuracy
D) Increasing movement time decreases accuracy

Question 8

According to Fitts' Law, which 2 factors determine the difficulty of a pointing task?

A) Number of stimuli and Size of stimuli
B) Size of stimuli and movement distance
C) Movement distance and movement direction
D) Movement distance and stimulus intensity

Question 9

Research shows that there is a strong linear relationship between movement time and the ratio of movement distance to target width. This is known as:

A) Fitts' Law
B) Hick-Hyman Law
C) Warrick Principle
D) Tracking Loop

Question 10

According to the principle of closed-loop control, which of the following decrease the accuracy of a movement?

A) Vision of the hand during a reach
B) Performing the movement very quickly
C) Performing the movement very slowly
D) Locating controls close to the user

Question 11

Which of the following is true about movements performed without visual feedback

A) The effect of the speed/accuracy tradeoff is more pronounced
B) The effect of the speed/accuracy tradeoff is less pronounced
C) These movements cannot be accurate
D) They are equally accurate as movements performed with visual feedback

Question 12

The idea that feedback about the state of a movement is used to monitor and adjust that movement as it unfolds is known as

A) Open-loop control
B) Feedforward control
C) Closed-loop control
D) Compensatory tracking

Question 13

The idea that movements are planned in advance, and are performed without corrections, is known as

A) Open-loop control
B) Feedback control
C) Closed-loop control
D) Compensatory Tracking

Question 14

Which of the following is not used to plan an open-loop movement?

A) Perceived target location
B) Visual information about hand location
C) Feedback information about the movement
D) Proprioceptive information about hand location

Question 15

Some controls are designed to be operated by hand, others by foot. The differences in these controls is described as a difference in the _________ that operates them.

A) sense
B) effector
C) person
D) order of control

Question 16

The number of different ways that a control can be manipulated depends on the variety of movements that can be performed with the effector used. This number is represented as the __________ of the effector.

A) size
B) timing
C) degrees of freedom
D) age

Question 17

__________ controls can be placed into any of a number of states along a continuum, while _________ controls can only be placed into a finite number states.

A) Continuous; discrete
B) Discrete; continuous
C) Rotary; linear
D) Linear; rotary

Question 18

While flying a plane, a pilot is able to easily select the control that lowers the landing gear, because the control handle looks like a wheel. This is an example of _______ coding.

A) color
B) location
C) texture
D) shape

Question 19

John is an audio technician in a recording studio who has to operate multiple knobs in a dimly lit environment. He is able to tell the difference between these knobs because some have a smooth surface and others have grooves etched into them. This is an example of ________ coding.

A) shape
B) texture
C) label
D) location

Question 20

In most cars, the most important controls (steering wheel, gas and brake pedals) are placed close to the driver where they are easy to reach. Less important controls (radio, climate control) are farther away. This is an example of __________ coding.

A) size
B) location
C) label
D) redundant

Question 21

It is common feature of light switches that "up" means "on" and "down" means "off". Sometimes, light switches are mounted sideways, and then it is unclear which position means "on" or "off". This type of designed is a violation of

A) Label coding
B) Location coding
C) Population stereotypes
D) Redundant coding

Question 22

Controls that need labels are probably poorly coded.

Question 23

The commonly used QWERTY keyboard was introduced as a way to slow down typing rate.

Question 24

Research shows that trackballs are the best devices for point-and-click tasks when using a computer.

Question 25

In order to raise the forks on a forklift, Barry must push a lever down. This is a violation of which design principle?

A) Location coding
B) Spatial compatibility
C) Movement compatibility
D) Label coding

Question 26

If a driver wishes to turn her car, she operates the steering wheel by turning it. The fact that the turning action of the steering wheel reflects the turning response of the car is an example of

A) Spatial compatibility
B) Movement compatibility
C) Direction coding
D) Location coding

Question 27

According to Warrick's Principle, a rotary knob placed above a horizontal linear display must be turned _________ in order to cause an indicator in the display to move to the right.

A) counterclockwise
B) clockwise
C) up
D) down

Question 28

The scaling between the distance of movement of a controller and the distance of the displayed movement is called the

A) mode of operation
B) lag
C) control-display ratio
D) tracking loop

Question 29

In tracking tasks, operation of the controller is considered the _____, while the system response to the controller is called the _______.

A) movement; state
B) movement; effect
C) output; input
D) input; output

Question 30

Delay between control input and system output is called _____; long delays tend to have a ______ effect on operator performance.

A) lag; positive
B) feedback; positive
C) lag; negative
D) feedback; negative

Question 31

You have designed a video game called "Get Off My Lawn!" in which the player controls a virtual water hose and uses it to spray things as they walk on their virtual lawn, such as neighborhood kids, stray dogs, and salespeople. You have designed it to work with a joystick, such that large deflections of the joystick moves the spray nozzle quickly around the screen. Small deflections cause it to move slowly. This is an example of

A) zero order control
B) first order control
C) second order control
D) third order control

Question 32

You have designed a video game called "Get Off My Lawn!" in which the player controls a virtual water hose and uses it to spray things as they walk on their virtual lawn, such as neighborhood kids, stray dogs, and salespeople. You have designed it to work with a joystick, such that when the joystick is in the neutral position, the nozzle stays centered on screen. Small deflections of the joystick move the nozzle a small distance from center, while larger deflections move the nozzle to the edges of the screen. This is an example of

A) zero order control
B) first order control
C) second order control
D) third order control

Question 33

Tracking displays that show only the error state without showing the system or controller state, are known as

A) pursuit displays
B) compensatory displays
C) second-order
D) laggy

Question 34

Steering a car by monitoring where the front of the car is located relative to the lane markers is an example of a ______ tracking task.

A) pursuit
B) compensatory
C) zero-order
D) first-order

Question 35

Which of the following persons is mostly likely at their peak of motor skill and functioning?

A) Sally, who is 8 years old.
B) Mike, who is 26 years old.
C) James, who is 57 years old.
D) Christina, who is 80 years old.

Question 36

The ability to hold and manipulate small objects is referred to as

A) fine motor skill
B) complex motor skill
C) gross motor skill
D) physical strength

Question 37

Research shows that _________ can help offset age-related declines in movement rapidity.

A) determination
B) intelligence
C) personality
D) physical activity and exercise

Question 38

One established reason for why older adults performing slower reaching movements is:

A) personality changes
B) memory deficits
C) feedback processing deficits
D) stress

Question 39

Medicine bottles that can only be opened using a "press down and turn" movement of the cap are designed for what reason:

A) To assist older adults in opening them
B) To prevent older adults in opening them
C) To prevent children from opening them
D) To assist children in opening them

Question 40

What is the difference between reaction time and movement time?

Question 41

What is the difference between a discrete and a continuous control?

Question 42

What is the difference between spatial compatibility and movement compatibility?

Question 43

Briefly explain Warrick's principle.

Question 44

What is the difference between pursuit and compensatory tracking?

Question 45

What two parameters constitute the Index of Difficulty in Fitts' Law?

Question 46

What are some characteristics of movement skill in older adults?

Question 47

What is the difference between simple reaction time and decision time?

Question 48

Identify two factors that can increase reaction time.

Question 49

Provide a real-life example of velocity (aka first-order) control.

Question 50

Explain the difference between closed-loop and open-loop control of movement.

Question 51

Explain how Fitts' Law can be applied to the design of controls.

Question 52

Explain why label coding of controls may be a sign of bad design and discuss ways to improve control design so that labels are not needed.