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Effects of the model’s handedness and observer’s viewpoint on observational learning

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Abstract

Observation promotes motor skill learning. However, little is known about the type of model and conditions of observation that can optimize learning. In this study, we investigated the effects of the model’s handedness and the observer’s viewpoint on the learning of a complex spatiotemporal task. Four groups of right-handed participants observed, from either a first- or third-person viewpoint, right- or left-handed models performing the task. Observation resulted in significant learning. More importantly, observation of same-handed models resulted in improved learning as compared with observation of opposite-handed models, regardless of the observer’s viewpoint. This suggests that the action observation network (AON) is more sensitive to the model’s handedness than to the observer’s viewpoint. Our results are consistent with recent studies that suggest that the AON is linked to or involves sensorimotor regions of the brain that simulate motor programming as if the observed movement was performed with one’s own dominant hand.

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Notes

  1. It should be noted that our study differs from previous work addressing the question of whether observational learning is effector dependent or independent (Boutin, Fries, Panzer, Blandin & Shea, 2010; Gruetzmacher, Panzer, Blandin, & Shea, 2011, Osman, Bird, & Heyes, 2005). In the present study, we want to determine whether a right-handed observer performing the task with his or her right hand (which is usually the case in most real-life situations, such as learning how to bowl, play golf, and tennis) can learn better from a right-handed or left-handed model depending on the observer’s perspective and not whether this learning can be transferred so that the observers can perform the task with both right and left hands.

  2. It could be argued that because participants in the L-1st and L-3rd groups observed a left-handed model but performed the task using their right hand, a more appropriate label for these tests would be “transfer” rather than “retention”. However, because a transfer test evaluates the performance of the participants at a task that was different from what they specifically wanted to learn, we opted to use the “retention” label.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a Discovery grant (L.P.) provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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  1. Département de kinésiologie, Université de Montréal, P.O. Box 6128, Station Downtown, Montréal, QC, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Hassan Rohbanfard & Luc Proteau

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  1. Hassan Rohbanfard
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  2. Luc Proteau
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Correspondence to Luc Proteau.

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Rohbanfard, H., Proteau, L. Effects of the model’s handedness and observer’s viewpoint on observational learning. Exp Brain Res 214, 567–576 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2856-z

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