Unimanual and Bimanual Control in a Compensatory Tracking Task∗

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Abstract
This paper reports an experiment comparing the unimanual and bimanual control performance of human operators in a compensatory tracking task. Two variables of the control system dynamics, the target wave frequencies and the delayed visual feedback (DVF) of operator's hand control motion were also investigated. Target wave frequencies of 0.067 Hz, 0.167 Hz and 0.383 Hz, and DVF of 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.5 s were used. The experiment was divided into one practice session run over four days and one experimental session of two days for each of the six subjects in the study. A computer system was designed to generate target wave patterns, to measure hand control motions, to regulate DVF conditions, and to record task data, all on a real-time basis. The results indicate that unimanual tracking was significantly superior to the bimanual tracking under DVF conditions and higher levels of wave frequency, but not under the zero DVF or low wave frequencies. Tracking performance in general degraded as a function of increased wave frequencies and of increased DVF. Motor learning was observed under three wave frequencies without DVF, but not when DVF conditions were introduced in a series of trials.

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