Volume 9, Number 8, Abstract 1099, Page 1099a doi:10.1167/9.8.1099 http://journalofvision.org/9/8/1099/ ISSN 1534-7362
Response to changes in variability during movement under risk
Michael S. Landy
Dept. of Psychology, NYU, and Center for Neural Science, NYU
[e-mail]
Nathaniel Daw
Dept. of Psychology, NYU, and Center for Neural Science, NYU
Julia Trommershäuser
Dept. of Psychology, University of Giessen
Abstract

Humans account optimally, or nearly so, for visuomotor variability (Trommershäuser et al., JOSA A 20, 2003) during movement under risk, even when variability is artificially increased (Trommershäuser et al., J Neurosci 25, 2005). How do humans estimate task-related variability in a dynamic, volatile environment in which variability changes? Methods: Subjects pointed rapidly at a target (a tall, green rectangle) on a visual touchscreen display. A small white circle indicated where the finger landed, and a blue circle was also displayed, randomly displaced horizontally from the white square. Displacements were drawn from a zero-mean normal distribution whose standard deviation remained constant for a sequence of trials (random epoch lengths: 75-150 trials) then suddenly changed to a new value (3.7-18.4 mm). Instructions indicated that outcome variability followed such a random sample-and-hold trajectory. On 2/3 of trials, an overlapping, horizontally displaced, red penalty rectangle was also displayed. Subjects won a point (4¢) if the blue square landed on the target, but lost 5 points if it landed on the penalty region. Observers should thus aim further from the penalty area when displacements are larger. Slow movements ([[gt]] 400 ms) were penalized 10 points. Results: 5 of 6 subjects took changing variability into account in planning movement. Actual movement endpoints (where the finger landed) were significantly correlated (p Conclusion: Subjects dynamically estimate movement outcome variability over a windowed running average of previous outcomes.
NIH EY08266 to MSL Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Emmy-Noether-Programme grant TR 528/1-4) to JT.

History
Received June 11, 2009; published August 5, 2009
Citation
Landy, M. S., Daw, N., & Trommershäuser, J. (2009). Response to changes in variability during movement under risk [Abstract]. Journal of Vision, 9(8):1099, 1099a, http://journalofvision.org/9/8/1099/, doi:10.1167/9.8.1099.
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