Graduation Year
2016
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Linguistics & Cognitive Science
Reader 1
Deborah Burke
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2016 Harrison M. Goodall
Abstract
Previous studies have established that when a subject’s attention is directed to a specific body part, the subject is able to move that body part faster than a body part their attention was not drawn to. This is known as the body compatibility effect, and it has been shown that this effect only occurs when viewing upright images of the human body. In this study, we presented control subjects and expert acrobats with inverted and upright stimuli. We hypothesized that the amount of time the acrobats spent inverted would result in the acrobats exhibiting body compatibility effects for both upright and inverted stimuli. Compatibility effects were observed in the upright condition for both groups, but neither group exhibited any compatibility effects in the inverted position. Unexpectedly the acrobats responded significantly faster to incongruent trials compared to the control subjects, leading to the conclusion that there must be some form of priming occurring concurrently with the body compatibility task allowing the acrobats to respond faster than the control participants.
Recommended Citation
Goodall, Harrison M. III, "The Effect of Inversion and Motor Expertise on Body Compatibility" (2016). Pomona Senior Theses. 159.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/159
Included in
Biological Psychology Commons, Cognition and Perception Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons
