Biomechanical factors may explain why grasping violates Weber's law. 2015

Kathrin S Utz, and Constanze Hesse, and Nina Aschenneller, and Thomas Schenk
Department of Neurology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.

For grasping, Ganel, Chajut, and Algom (2008) demonstrated that the variability of the maximum grip aperture (MGA) does not increase with the size of the target object. This seems to violate Weber's law, a fundamental law of psychophysics. They concluded that the visual representations guiding grasping are distinct from representations used for perceptual judgments. Weber's law is however only relevant for one component of the measurable variability of MGA, namely the variability in the sensory system. We argue that when looking at the relationship between object size and grasping, the gain (often called slope) governing the relationship between target size and MGA can be used as an approximation to estimate the contribution of sensory noise to MGA variability. To test the idea that differences in gain modulate the relationship between target size and MGA variability, we examined grasping under a variety of conditions. We found that gain varied quite significantly across different tasks, but irrespective of gain Weber's law could not be found in any of the grasping tasks. Instead we repeatedly found an inverse relationship between variability and object size, i.e. variability decreased for bigger objects. This trend may reflect the reduced biomechanical freedom found for movements at the end an effector's effective range of motion. MGA variability may thus be dominated by non-sensory factors and therefore may constitute a poor choice to estimate the variability of the visual signals used by the brain to guide our grasping actions.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009068 Movement The act, process, or result of passing from one place or position to another. It differs from LOCOMOTION in that locomotion is restricted to the passing of the whole body from one place to another, while movement encompasses both locomotion but also a change of the position of the whole body or any of its parts. Movement may be used with reference to humans, vertebrate and invertebrate animals, and microorganisms. Differentiate also from MOTOR ACTIVITY, movement associated with behavior. Movements
D011597 Psychomotor Performance The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity. Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D004056 Differential Threshold The smallest difference which can be discriminated between two stimuli or one which is barely above the threshold. Difference Limen,Just-Noticeable Difference,Weber-Fechner Law,Difference Limens,Difference, Just-Noticeable,Differences, Just-Noticeable,Differential Thresholds,Just Noticeable Difference,Just-Noticeable Differences,Law, Weber-Fechner,Limen, Difference,Limens, Difference,Threshold, Differential,Thresholds, Differential,Weber Fechner Law
D005260 Female Females
D006225 Hand The distal part of the arm beyond the wrist in humans and primates, that includes the palm, fingers, and thumb. Hands
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000704 Analysis of Variance A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable. ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses
D014796 Visual Perception The selecting and organizing of visual stimuli based on the individual's past experience. Visual Processing,Perception, Visual,Processing, Visual

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