New study explains humans’ critical ability to throw long distances
January 24th, 2011 - 3:12 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Jan 24 (ANI): A new study has revealed how humans, unlike any other species on Earth, readily learn to throw long distances.
The study by Indiana University and the University of Wyoming has suggested that this unique evolutionary trait is entangled with language development in a way critical to our very existence.
The study has shown that the well-established size-weight illusion, where a person who is holding two objects of equal weight will consider the larger object to be much lighter, is more than just curious or interesting, but a necessary precursor to humans’ ability to learn to throw-and to throw far.
“These days we celebrate our unique throwing abilities on the football or baseball field or basketball court, but these abilities are a large part of what made us successful as a species,” said Geoffrey Bingham, IU’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
“It was not just language. It was language and throwing that led to the survival of Homo sapiens, and we are now beginning to gain some understanding of how these abilities are rapidly acquired by members of our species,” he said.
Bingham and Qin Zhu, lead author of the study, consider throwing and language in concert, because both require extremely well-coordinated timing and motor skills, which are facilitated by two uniquely developed brain structures-the cerebellum and posterior parietal cortex.
Bingham and Zhu put their theory to the test, recruiting 12 adult men and women to perform various tests related to perception, the size-weight illusion and throwing prowess.
Another way of stating the size-weight illusion is that for someone to perceive that two objects-one larger than the other-weigh the same, the larger object must weigh significantly more than the smaller object.
Their study findings have shown that skilled throwers use this illusion of ‘equal felt’ heaviness to select objects that they are able to throw to the farthest, maximum distance.
The findings appeared in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. (ANI)
- Cooperation, teamwork fathered intelligence, bigger brains - Apr 20, 2012
- Larger brain size not governed by shrinking gut - Nov 10, 2011
- How we see the world around us depends on our brain's architecture - Dec 06, 2010
- Cerebellum offers clues to nature of human intelligence - Mar 09, 2011
- Scientists trick brain into experiencing itself as doll-size - May 27, 2011
- Computer chip used to make rat blink - Sep 25, 2011
- Chernobyl birds 'have 5 percent smaller brains' - Feb 06, 2011
- Birds living in cities have larger brains - Apr 28, 2011
- 'Food hunt makes brains of urban birds larger' - Apr 28, 2011
- Tiny insects could be as intelligent as much bigger animals - Nov 18, 2009
- Tiny cricket possesses world's 'biggest' testicles - Nov 11, 2010
- Chip makes rats move, may help humans too - Oct 04, 2011
- Big babies 'may have helped define the shape of modern human societies' - Jan 12, 2011
- World's reef fish systems threatened by human overpopulation - Apr 06, 2011
- What makes Justin Beiber sound so unique? - Feb 18, 2011
Tags: adult men, baseball field, basketball court, bingham, brain sciences, brain structures, cerebellum, critical ability, equal weight, indiana university, jan 24, language development, long distances, posterior parietal cortex, precursor, prowess, qin, study findings, university of wyoming, various tests