TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - Is Fitts' law continuous in discrete aiming?
JO  - PLoS one
A1  - Sleimen-Malkoun, Rita
A1  - Temprado, Jean-Jacques
A1  - Huys, Raoul
A1  - Jirsa, Viktor
A1  - Berton, Eric
SP  - e41190
EP  - e41190
VL  - 7
IS  - 7
N2  - The lawful continuous linear relation between movement time and task difficulty (i.e., index of difficulty; ID) in a goal-directed rapid aiming task (Fitts' law) has been recently challenged in reciprocal performance. Specifically, a discontinuity was observed at critical ID and was attributed to a transition between two distinct dynamic regimes that occurs with increasing difficulty. In the present paper, we show that such a discontinuity is also present in discrete aiming when ID is manipulated via target width (experiment 1) but not via target distance (experiment 2). Fitts' law's discontinuity appears, therefore, to be a suitable indicator of the underlying functional adaptations of the neuro-muscular-skeletal system to task properties/requirements, independently of reciprocal or discrete nature of the task. These findings open new perspectives to the study of dynamic regimes involved in discrete aiming and sensori-motor mechanisms underlying the speed-accuracy trade-off.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1932-6203
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0041190
ID  - ref1
ER  -