For the effective use of modern tools, the inherent visuo-motor transformation needs to be mastered. The successful adjustment to and learning of these transformations crucially depends on practice conditions, particularly on the type of visual feedback ...

When using a tool, proximal action effects (e.g., the hand movement on a digitizer tablet) and distal action effects (e.g., the cursor movement on a display) often do not correspond to or are even in conflict with each other. In the experiments reported ...

Using tools, such as simple levers, makes specific demands on the motor system. Two related performance decrements have been reported: The costs that arise when required tool movements and movements of the operating hand are spatially incompatible (hand-...

This research evaluated how the inertial properties of a tool influence tool-using actions. Grip patterns and movements of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children and adults were recorded while hammering. Results revealed that both number of pegs driven and ...

The ability to create stone tools is considered an important step in the emergence of human cognition. To further our understanding of these evolutionary processes we focused on the initial learning processes with which this percussive skill may be ...

Biomechanical and environmental constraints limit body movements and tool use actions. However, in the case of tool use, such constraints can often be overcome by adjusting a tool’s tool transformation to the requirements of the intended tool use action. ...

To investigate how preschoolers acquire a tool use strategy and how they adapt their tool use to a changed situation, 2- to 4-year-olds were asked to retrieve chips from a transparent box with a rod, either by stabbing and lifting through a top opening or ...