Abstract
Monitoring our arm position during goal-directed behaviour allows us to bring our limb to a target as accurately as possible. Despite our success in executing accurate movements, some work suggests that individuals have limited access to information about their limb position. Contradictory evidence from metacognition research shows that when individuals are asked to rate their confidence after making judgements about their movements, they tend to give higher confidence ratings when they are correct, showing some capacity for self-monitoring.
Participants (n=50) made reaching movements toward targets on a screen. Following each movement, they were presented with two movement paths: their actual trajectory and a visually deviated version. We manipulated the location that the deviation was implemented (i.e., start, middle, or end of the path). Participants were asked to determine which trajectory was their own, followed by rating their confidence in their response.
Overall, accuracy was lower than expected. Nevertheless, accuracy was significantly lower when deviations occurred at the start of the reach. Participants showed some ability to metacognitively monitor their movements because their confidence scaled with their accuracy. Finally, differences in metacognitive processes between locations were found, with higher average confidence in the middle of a movement when controlling for accuracy.
We conclude that people have a remarkable blindness to the properties of their own movements, while still having a “feel” of their performance. Additionally, poor awareness of limb position at the start of a movement suggests reduced attention to the limb at this time, possibly due to movement programming demands.
