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Ken Hashizume

Publications and source records attributed to Ken Hashizume.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Mechanical power flow changes during multijoint movement acquisition.

We investigated the differences in mechanical power flow in early and late practice stages during a cyclic movement consisting of upper arm circumduction to clarify the change in mechanical energy use with skill acquisition. Seven participants practiced the task every other day until their joint angular movements conformed to those of an expert. During the practice sessions, participants' motions were digitally recorded once a week using four high-speed infrared cameras, and the joint kinematics and joint powers of the right arm were calculated. With practice, the inflow power derived from the net joint force increased at the hand, forearm, and upper arm segments by 143.1 +/- 17.2%, 57.1 +/- 7.3%, and 198.1 +/- 35.4%, respectively. In contrast, the power caused by the muscle joint moments was not significantly increased. These results suggested that participants acquired a motor pattern promoting transfer of the joint reaction forces. Results may provide some support for Bernstein's (1967) ideas that skill acquisition involves improving movement efficiency by greater use of nonmuscular forces.

Adolescent↗

Temporal and spatial factors reflecting performance improvement during learning three-ball cascade juggling.

Beek and van Santvoord [Beek, P. J., & van Santvoord, A. A. M. (1992). Journal of Motor Behavior, 24, 85-94] proposed a three-stage model of learning to juggle based on group analyses of temporal measures. Here, we examined in detail how the temporal and spatial features of juggling evolved in eight individual participants progressing from the second to the third stage of learning. During the second stage, the dwell ratio, defined as the ratio of the time that the juggler holds a ball between catch and toss and the hand cycle time (HCT), was stable when it was about 0.83. The subjects with a dwell ratio near this value and controlled throws exhibited stable juggling, whereas the subjects with a dwell ratio of 0.80 or smaller exhibited unstable juggling. Compared to the former group, the latter group had a longer time from the throw of a ball to the arrival at its zenith (TZ), and a shorter time between the arrival of an airborne ball at its zenith and the subsequent throw (IZR). The latter group also exhibited larger variability in the dwell ratio and IZR. With practice, the subjects appropriated, on average, the duration of TZ and IZR to the dwell ratio and improved the ability to accurately throw balls by changing the motions of the limb segments involved. Although these changes helped to stabilize the performance during the second stage, the variability problem was not sufficiently resolved. Only two out of eight subjects passed on to the third stage by the last (10th) Session. They achieved small variability in IZR, dwell ratio, and flight paths of the ball while juggling with short HCTs and small dwell ratios. These results suggest that the reduction of variability in these variables was essential to pass on to the third stage.

Adolescent↗

Practice changes the usage of moment components in executing a multijoint task.

We examined changes in the usage of muscular and motion-dependent moments during the long-term practice of a complex, multijoint movement. Seven participants practiced a cyclic movement of the upper limbs until their joint angular movements conformed to those of an expert. The motions of the participants were digitally recorded using four high-speed infrared cameras, and the joint kinematics and kinetics of the right arm were calculated. Practice brought about changes in the patterns of the net joint moment and in the contributions of the muscular and motion-dependent moments to the net moments. Practice also brought about a growing opposition between the directions of the two moments. These changes seemed to be important for improving the dynamic equilibrium of the movements.

Adult↗