Speed—Accuracy Tradeoffs in Aimed Movements: Toward a Theory of Rapid Voluntary Action

Abstract

As the speed of rapid aimed movements increases, their spatial accuracy typically decreases. The mathematic'al form of the speed-accuracy tradeoff depends on the type of movement task being performed. Several alternative hypotheses have been proposed to account for this dependence, including ones that make assumptions about feedback-guided corrective submovements and about the stochastic variability of underlying neuromotor force pulses. A new hybrid class of stochastic optimized-suhmovement models provides a way to integrate these past accounls in a unified theoretical framework. From the vantage point of this framework, the present chapter reviews the evolution of speed-accuracy tradeoff research and shows how a fresh per spective regarding the properties of elementary movement mechanisms may be obtained.