ABSTRACT
In recent years, evidence on several aspects of the relationship between speech motor control and the control of voluntary movements of the limbs has become available. The evidence points to similarities in speech and limb systems in their inter-articulator timing patterns with changes in rate (Tuller, Kelso, & Harris, 1982), in their response to suddenly applied perturbations during movement (Folkins & Abbs, 1975), and in their basic kinematic characteristics (Ostry, Keller, & Parush, 1983). To date, the comparisons have been based on relationships between measured patterns of speech articulators and known characteristics of human limb movements. However, com-
pari sons between speech and limb systems have yet to be combined in a single study. Because the issue of similarities as well as differences in the control of the speech articulators and the limbs is significant in determining the basic mechanisms of human motor control, it is important to carry out directly equivalent studies in the two systems.
