Comparing Materials-Based Occupation,Imagery-Based Occupation,and Rote Movement through Kinematic Analysis of Reach

Abstract

This replication research of Wu, Trombly, and Lin (1994) compared the kinematics of reach in materials-based occupationally embedded movement (OEM), imagery-based OEM, and rote movement. Three-dimensional motion analysis equipment was used to test one of the basic premises of occupational therapy: OEM is qualitatively different from movements performed under artificial circumstances. The sample consisted of 60 healthy college women with a mean age of 21.6 years (SD = 1.63). A randomized counterbalanced design was used so that each subject participated in 3 trials of each of the following conditions: reaching for a pencil in a pencil holder, imagining reaching for a pencil in a pencil holder, and rote reaching. Materials-based OEM resulted in quicker reaction time (P = .009), more rapid movement time (P < .001), smoother movement (with fewer movement units) (P < .001), more direct movement (less displacement) (P < .001), and lower peak velocity (P = .001) than the other two conditions. In some ways the imagery-based OEM resembled rote movement; in other ways it resembled materials-based OEM. The findings support the main results reported by Wu et al. (1994) and enhance occupational therapy's research base by demonstrating the distinctiveness of materials-based OEM.

Keywords

occupation occupationally embedded movement motor control imagery

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