Eddie Gonzalez & Tyler Muscianes Kin 330L 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… 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.

Results Final Initial

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.