{"id":{"repo_id":"soton","oai_identifier":"oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:52294"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/soton/oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:52294","repository":{"repo_id":"soton","name":"University of Southampton","base_url":"https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"The effects of whole-body vibration on performance of a complex manual control task","abstract":"This thesis investigates continuous manual control performance during exposure to z-axis whole-body vibration at frequencies between 0.5 and 10.0 Hz. The task involved first-order pursuit tracking with a simultaneous discrete target acquisition task. A major aim of the work was to determine the mechanisms underlying any vibration-induced impairment which occurred. The literature is first reviewed (Chapter 2) and a model is presented summarising the mechanisms by which vibration has been suggested to disrupt performance (Chapter 3). Six experiments are then reported. Experiment 1 (Chapter 5) measured vibration-induced activity at the head, hand and the output of the system dynamics. The results are discussed with reference to the mechanisms which could disrupt performance. Experiment 2 (Chapter 6) investigated performance during exposure to vibration at frequencies from 0.5 to 5.0 Hz. The magnitude of performance disruption was approximately constant at vibration frequencies below 2 Hz, and increased with the frequency of vibration to 5.0 Hz. Experiments 3 (Chapter 7) and 4 (Chapter 8) showed that the disruption at frequencies above 2.0 Hz could be attributed to visual impairment arising from relative translational movement between subjects' eyes and the display: collimating the display removed the impairment. Linear spectral analysis techniques were used to separate root-mean-square (rms) tracking error into components linearly and not linearly correlated with movements of the target. Changes in total rms error were mainly accompanied by changes in the linear components: closed-loop system transfer functions showed increased phase lags between movements of the target and the response of the controlled element. In experiment 5 (Chapter 9), three simple tasks were used to isolate non-visual mechanisms of disruption. The results suggested that whole-body vibration at 0.5 and 4.0 Hz could interfere with neuro-muscular processes. The results of experiment 5, and the increased phase lag observed in experiment 4, indicate changes in the way the task was performed during vibration: these are described as secondary vibration effects. Experiment 6 investigated whether the effect of vibration on the system studied would be time-dependent. One-octave-band random vibration centred on 4 Hz was presented at a magnitude considerably above the ISO 2631 (1985) 'fatigue-decreased-proficiency' limit for 180 minute vibration exposures. Performance declined with time, but vibration did not alter the time-dependence. The effect of duration was reduced when the task was performed over the entire duration on a second occasion. It is concluded that impairments in continuous tracking performance during whole-body vibration exposure were mainly caused by interference with visual and neuro-muscular processes. The results also show secondary effects which may represent adaptive change in performance during vibration. The behavioural model developed in Chapter 3 is used to summarise the mechanisms which were shown to be important, and to indicate other effects which could occur. Some suggestions for further research are offered.","abstract_html":"This thesis investigates continuous manual control performance during exposure to z-axis whole-body vibration at frequencies between 0.5 and 10.0 Hz. The task involved first-order pursuit tracking with a simultaneous discrete target acquisition task. A major aim of the work was to determine the mechanisms underlying any vibration-induced impairment which occurred. The literature is first reviewed (Chapter 2) and a model is presented summarising the mechanisms by which vibration has been suggested to disrupt performance (Chapter 3). Six experiments are then reported. Experiment 1 (Chapter 5) measured vibration-induced activity at the head, hand and the output of the system dynamics. The results are discussed with reference to the mechanisms which could disrupt performance. Experiment 2 (Chapter 6) investigated performance during exposure to vibration at frequencies from 0.5 to 5.0 Hz. The magnitude of performance disruption was approximately constant at vibration frequencies below 2 Hz, and increased with the frequency of vibration to 5.0 Hz. Experiments 3 (Chapter 7) and 4 (Chapter 8) showed that the disruption at frequencies above 2.0 Hz could be attributed to visual impairment arising from relative translational movement between subjects' eyes and the display: collimating the display removed the impairment. Linear spectral analysis techniques were used to separate root-mean-square (rms) tracking error into components linearly and not linearly correlated with movements of the target. Changes in total rms error were mainly accompanied by changes in the linear components: closed-loop system transfer functions showed increased phase lags between movements of the target and the response of the controlled element. In experiment 5 (Chapter 9), three simple tasks were used to isolate non-visual mechanisms of disruption. The results suggested that whole-body vibration at 0.5 and 4.0 Hz could interfere with neuro-muscular processes. The results of experiment 5, and the increased phase lag observed in experiment 4, indicate changes in the way the task was performed during vibration: these are described as secondary vibration effects. Experiment 6 investigated whether the effect of vibration on the system studied would be time-dependent. One-octave-band random vibration centred on 4 Hz was presented at a magnitude considerably above the ISO 2631 (1985) 'fatigue-decreased-proficiency' limit for 180 minute vibration exposures. Performance declined with time, but vibration did not alter the time-dependence. The effect of duration was reduced when the task was performed over the entire duration on a second occasion. It is concluded that impairments in continuous tracking performance during whole-body vibration exposure were mainly caused by interference with visual and neuro-muscular processes. The results also show secondary effects which may represent adaptive change in performance during vibration. The behavioural model developed in Chapter 3 is used to summarise the mechanisms which were shown to be important, and to indicate other effects which could occur. Some suggestions for further research are offered.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McLeod, R.W."],"institution":"University of Southampton","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Griffin, M.J."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1986,"date_issued":"1986","date_published":"1986","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:35:54Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Griffin, M.J."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McLeod, R.W."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["1986"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1986"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Institute of Sound & Vibration Research (pre 2011 reorg)","Institute of Sound and Vibration Research"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Southampton"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/52294/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/52294/1/000801.PDF"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis investigates continuous manual control performance during exposure to z-axis whole-body vibration at frequencies between 0.5 and 10.0 Hz. The task involved first-order pursuit tracking with a simultaneous discrete target acquisition task. A major aim of the work was to determine the mechanisms underlying any vibration-induced impairment which occurred. The literature is first reviewed (Chapter 2) and a model is presented summarising the mechanisms by which vibration has been suggested to disrupt performance (Chapter 3). Six experiments are then reported. Experiment 1 (Chapter 5) measured vibration-induced activity at the head, hand and the output of the system dynamics. The results are discussed with reference to the mechanisms which could disrupt performance. Experiment 2 (Chapter 6) investigated performance during exposure to vibration at frequencies from 0.5 to 5.0 Hz. The magnitude of performance disruption was approximately constant at vibration frequencies below 2 Hz, and increased with the frequency of vibration to 5.0 Hz. Experiments 3 (Chapter 7) and 4 (Chapter 8) showed that the disruption at frequencies above 2.0 Hz could be attributed to visual impairment arising from relative translational movement between subjects' eyes and the display: collimating the display removed the impairment. Linear spectral analysis techniques were used to separate root-mean-square (rms) tracking error into components linearly and not linearly correlated with movements of the target. Changes in total rms error were mainly accompanied by changes in the linear components: closed-loop system transfer functions showed increased phase lags between movements of the target and the response of the controlled element. In experiment 5 (Chapter 9), three simple tasks were used to isolate non-visual mechanisms of disruption. The results suggested that whole-body vibration at 0.5 and 4.0 Hz could interfere with neuro-muscular processes. The results of experiment 5, and the increased phase lag observed in experiment 4, indicate changes in the way the task was performed during vibration: these are described as secondary vibration effects. Experiment 6 investigated whether the effect of vibration on the system studied would be time-dependent. One-octave-band random vibration centred on 4 Hz was presented at a magnitude considerably above the ISO 2631 (1985) 'fatigue-decreased-proficiency' limit for 180 minute vibration exposures. Performance declined with time, but vibration did not alter the time-dependence. The effect of duration was reduced when the task was performed over the entire duration on a second occasion. It is concluded that impairments in continuous tracking performance during whole-body vibration exposure were mainly caused by interference with visual and neuro-muscular processes. The results also show secondary effects which may represent adaptive change in performance during vibration. The behavioural model developed in Chapter 3 is used to summarise the mechanisms which were shown to be important, and to indicate other effects which could occur. Some suggestions for further research are offered."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/octet-stream"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The effects of whole-body vibration on performance of a complex manual control task"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Griffin, M.J."],"dc:creator":["McLeod, R.W."],"dc:date":["1986"],"dc:date.issued":["1986"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates continuous manual control performance during exposure to z-axis whole-body vibration at frequencies between 0.5 and 10.0 Hz. The task involved first-order pursuit tracking with a simultaneous discrete target acquisition task. A major aim of the work was to determine the mechanisms underlying any vibration-induced impairment which occurred. The literature is first reviewed (Chapter 2) and a model is presented summarising the mechanisms by which vibration has been suggested to disrupt performance (Chapter 3). Six experiments are then reported. Experiment 1 (Chapter 5) measured vibration-induced activity at the head, hand and the output of the system dynamics. The results are discussed with reference to the mechanisms which could disrupt performance. Experiment 2 (Chapter 6) investigated performance during exposure to vibration at frequencies from 0.5 to 5.0 Hz. The magnitude of performance disruption was approximately constant at vibration frequencies below 2 Hz, and increased with the frequency of vibration to 5.0 Hz. Experiments 3 (Chapter 7) and 4 (Chapter 8) showed that the disruption at frequencies above 2.0 Hz could be attributed to visual impairment arising from relative translational movement between subjects' eyes and the display: collimating the display removed the impairment. Linear spectral analysis techniques were used to separate root-mean-square (rms) tracking error into components linearly and not linearly correlated with movements of the target. Changes in total rms error were mainly accompanied by changes in the linear components: closed-loop system transfer functions showed increased phase lags between movements of the target and the response of the controlled element. In experiment 5 (Chapter 9), three simple tasks were used to isolate non-visual mechanisms of disruption. The results suggested that whole-body vibration at 0.5 and 4.0 Hz could interfere with neuro-muscular processes. The results of experiment 5, and the increased phase lag observed in experiment 4, indicate changes in the way the task was performed during vibration: these are described as secondary vibration effects. Experiment 6 investigated whether the effect of vibration on the system studied would be time-dependent. One-octave-band random vibration centred on 4 Hz was presented at a magnitude considerably above the ISO 2631 (1985) 'fatigue-decreased-proficiency' limit for 180 minute vibration exposures. Performance declined with time, but vibration did not alter the time-dependence. The effect of duration was reduced when the task was performed over the entire duration on a second occasion. It is concluded that impairments in continuous tracking performance during whole-body vibration exposure were mainly caused by interference with visual and neuro-muscular processes. The results also show secondary effects which may represent adaptive change in performance during vibration. The behavioural model developed in Chapter 3 is used to summarise the mechanisms which were shown to be important, and to indicate other effects which could occur. Some suggestions for further research are offered."],"dc:format":["application/octet-stream"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/52294/1/000801.PDF"],"dc:publisher.department":["Institute of Sound & Vibration Research (pre 2011 reorg)","Institute of Sound and Vibration Research"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Southampton"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/52294/"],"dc:title":["The effects of whole-body vibration on performance of a complex manual control task"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["Ph.D."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:35:54Z"}