Abstract
Previous research has revealed that individuals can make estimates of their own and other people’s movement capabilities. These judgments are thought to be based on a simulation of one’s own capabilities through the activation of ideomotor (bound perception/action) codes. To form judgments about others, the simulation likely remains intact while the threshold for what is deemed “possible” is modified. It is not known, however, if limited motor capacities alter these processes. In the present study, participants with different degrees of upper limb function, due to spinal cord injury (cervical vs. thoracic or lower SCI), were recruited to determine if their judgments of another person’s capabilities are biased by their own motor capabilities. Participants observed apparent motion videos of a reciprocal tapping task with varying index of difficulties. They were asked to determine the shortest movement time (MT) at which they and a young adult male could maintain endpoint accuracy. Participants also performed the task. Analyses of the MTs for the judgments of their own movement capabilities were consistent with those of their performance - people with cervical SCI had longer MTs than their peers with lower SCI. In contrast, there were no between-group differences for judgments of the young adult. Although it is unclear how the judgments were adjusted (simulation vs. threshold modification), the data reveal that people with different motor capabilities due to SCI are not biased by their own movement capabilities and can effectively adjust their judgments to estimate the actions of others.Acknowledgments: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation