Feedback analysis of learning and performance in steering and tracking behavior

Abstract

Tested the assumption that steering and tracking behavior are interrelated in terms of the extent of self-produced stimulation involved in the 2 tasks. Steering was defined as involving maximal, and stimulus tracking as involving minimal levels of movement-regulated sensory information. 3 tasks steering, as governed by breath-produced target movement, stimulus tracking, and a hand-yoked target control task were compared under conditions in which the difficulty of the steering and stimulus tracking tasks were exactly equated. Results show that steering performance was more accurate and learned more rapidly than stimulus tracking. Oscillograph records of all aspects of performance indicate that the 2 tasks differed psychophysiologically in terms of how the self-timed respiratory activities and the external manual-visual responses were continuously and dynamically interrelated to control visual input. Results suggest that the modes and conditions of feedback control of dynamic sensory input not only determine accuracy of performance and rate of learning, but also define how internally-timed organic functions are integrated to determine learning in motor skills and other activities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)