Bilateral Transfer

Eddie Gonzalez & Tyler Muscianes Kin 330L

Introduction

• Lab Experiment 3 • The purpose of this lab was to test the motor control phenomenon known as bilateral transfer.

• “This form of learning can be measured by perceptual motor tasks involving mirror drawing performance (Mandal and Kumar, 2005).”

Introduction continued…

• It also incorporates the concept of transfer of learning (the gain or loss of a person’s proficiency on one task as a result of previous experience on another task) • Transfer of learning has greatest impact when a person is first learning a skill, in this case tracing a star

Methods

• The individual is seated in front of the star to be traced holding a pencil/pen in the non dominant hand with the forearm resting on the table.

• “The nonworking hand must be kept free because unrelated activity during the tracing might interfere with bilateral transfer of the skill (Bhushan, Dwivedi, Mishra, and Mandal, 2000).”

Methods continued…

• Hand movements should be visible only through the mirror and not through direct visual observation.

• Goal is to move through the star pathway as quickly as possible with the time taken and errors committed to be calculated into the score for a trial.

• Ready position for the tracing task is to have the pencil/pen on the bottom point of the star.

Continued…

• The subject traces the star as quickly as possible while trying to remain within the boundaries in a counterclockwise fashion. • The experimenter times this and stops timing when the subject reaches the initial position. • The time is then recorded in seconds and the number of errors made in the tracing as well.

• An error consists of any mark by the pencil/pen that touches the boundary lines of the star pattern.

Continued…

QuickTime™ and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.

• The first trial is done with the non-dominant hand.

• Trials 2-7 with the dominant hand.

• Last trial is done with the non-dominant hand to measure improvement.

2 1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1 0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0

Results

Average Trial Scores of Initial and Final Non-Dominant Hand Trials

Initial Final 1 2

Trials with Non-Dominant Hand

Results continued…

• The data shows that our non-dominant hand trial scores improved dramatically after performing trials 2-7 with our dominant hands. • This suggests that practice with the dominant hand can in fact have a role in improving the outcome of non-dominant hand activities.

• Overall, the class had a 38% improvement for the non-dominant hand.

Discussion

• The results showed that a positive transfer took place during the experiment, or that experience in tracing with the dominant hand improved tracing with the non-dominant hand.

• “Bilateral transfer was greater from non dominant to dominant hand and was greater with respect to speed but not with accuracy (Mandal and Kumar, 2005).”

Conclusion

• The results illustrated improvement from the initial to final trials by 38% affirming that bilateral transfer took place.

• Furthermore, this lab conveys that because we prefer to use our dominant side of the body transfer normally takes place from the dominant to the non-dominant side (Mandal and Kumar, 2005).

References

• Bhushan, B., Dwivedi, C., Mishra, R., & Mandal, M. (2000). Performance on a Mirror-Drawing Task by Non-Right Handers. The Journal of General Psychology, 271-276.

• Kumar, S., & Mandal, M. (2005). Bilateral transfer of skill in left and right-handers. Psychology Press, 337-343.