The Motor-Dexterity Test: Time and Frustration Level

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Time of Task
Frustration Level
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Motor dexterity is an important parameter used to evaluate the psychological state of an individual through the ability to coordinate and synchronize movements. Since the hand is a necessary appendage that humans use to perform functions and coordinate activities, its assessment provides critical information regarding motor dexterity (Andersen, & Siebner, 2018). The two aims of the experiment were to compare the durations and frustration levels of the dominant hand (DH) and non-dominant hand (NDH) among 10 participants. The experiment started by measuring the duration it takes for DH and NDH to collect 15 toothpicks and place them in a mug. Subsequently, the participants were asked to rate the frustration level they experience in performing the motor-dexterity task on a five-point ordinal scale (1 to 5). Ultimately, Minitab was used to generate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics of paired t-test to determine if DH and NDH have a marked influence on the performance of the motor dexterity task.

Time of Task

In the performance of motor dexterity tasks, the kind of hand utilized influences the duration of their completion. The study hypothesized that participants would perform the motor-dexterity task more quickly with their DH than NDH. Thus, the report expressed succeeding null and alternative hypotheses and tested their significance using the paired t-test.

H₀: The participants do not perform the dexterity task with their DH more swiftly than NDH.
H₁: The participants perform the dexterity task with their DH more swiftly than NDH.

According to descriptive statistics (Table 1), DH (M = 7.8, SD = 1.32) takes a shorter time to perform the dexterity task than NDH (M = 9.2, SD = 2.25). A comparison of means depicts the predicted trend that DH performs the dexterity task more swiftly than NDH.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of durations of the dexterity task with DH and NDH

The analysis of paired means shows that their difference is 1.4 seconds (SD = 0.45), with the 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.38 to 2.42 (Table 2).

Table 2. The confidence interval of the paired difference in means of time of the task

μ_d: mean of (Non-Dominant Hand (NDH) – Dominant Hand (DH)).

The outcomes of the paired t-test reject the null hypothesis that the participants do not perform the dexterity task with their DH more swiftly than NDH, t = 3.10, p = 0.013. DH performs tasks fast because it synchronizes and synergizes muscle activity more efficiently than NDH (Andersen & Siebner, 2018). The outcomes support the alternative hypothesis that the participants perform the dexterity task with their DH more swiftly than NDH.

Table 4. Outcomes of paired t-test of the time of the task

Frustration Level

The experiment also used a paired t-test in the comparison of the frustration level of DH and NDH. Şahin, Atalay, Akkaya, and Aksoy (2017) explain that the type of hand not only determines the duration of performing dexterity functions but also difficulties encountered. In this view, the study predicts that the use of NDH experiences a higher level of frustration than DH. To perform analysis using the paired sample t-test, the study expressed the following null and alternative hypotheses.

H₀: In the performance of the dexterity task, DH does not experience a lower level of frustration than NDH.
H₁: In the performance of the dexterity task, DH experiences a lower level of frustration than NDH.

According to the descriptive statistics (Table 4), the participants experienced a lower level of frustration using DH (M = 1.8, SD = 0.79) than NDH (M = 3.2, SD = 1.32) in the performance of dexterity tasks. Next, a paired t-test was undertaken to determine if the difference between means of the level of frustration is statistically significant.

Table 5: Descriptive statistics of frustration level experienced in DH and NDH

The difference between the paired means is 1.4 (SD = 1.51), with the 95% confidence interval ranging from 0.32, 2.48 (Table 5).

Table 5. The confidence interval of the paired difference in means of the frustration level

μ_d: mean of (Frustration Level of NDH – Frustration Level of DH)

The paired t-test rejects the null hypothesis that DH does not experience a lower level of frustration than NDH in the performance of the dexterity task, t = 2.94, p = 0.017. The paired t-test supports the alternative hypothesis that DH causes a lower level of frustration than NDH when performing the dexterity task. In their study, Carment et al. (2018) established that the degree of frustration in hand dexterity indicates the state of cognitive functions in individuals.

Table 6: Outcomes of paired t-test of the frustration level

Conclusion

Comparative analysis of the duration and the level of experience indicated apparent differences in means. Paired t-tests indicated that participants did not only perform the dexterity task with their DH more swiftly but also with less level of frustration than NDH. Therefore, the study reveals that hands influence time and the degree of frustration in the performance of the dexterity task.

References

Andersen, K. W., & Siebner, H. R. (2018). Mapping dexterity and handedness: Recent insights and future challenges. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 20, 123-129.

Carment, L., Abdellatif, A., Lafuente-Lafuente, C., Pariel, S., Maier, M. A., Belmin, J., & Lindberg, P. G. (2018). Manual dexterity and aging: A pilot study disentangling sensorimotor from cognitive decline. Frontiers in Neurology, 9, 1-11.

Şahin, F., Atalay, N. S., Akkaya, N., & Aksoy, S. (2017). Factors affecting the results of the functional dexterity test. Journal of Hand Therapy, 30(1), 74-79.