Sequence preparation is not always associated with a reaction time cost

Abstract The extent to which a sequence of movements is prepared before initiating the first movement is a longstanding question in motor neuroscience. The observation that reaction time (RT) increases for longer sequences has been used as evidence of sequence preparation – reflecting the additional demands of preparing multiple movements before initiating a sequential action. However, many processes contribute to RT, making it unclear whether the observed RT increases specifically reflect sequence preparation. For example, with longer sequences, participants face greater ambiguity in selecting their first movement in the sequence. Here, we test how much of the observed RT increases can be explained by the first-target ambiguity when reaching toward spatial targets. In our paradigm, we independently manipulate: (i) the number of future targets displayed, (ii) the number of targets to be acquired, and (iii) the spatial arrangement of the targets. This approach allows us to vary the demands of sequence preparation and first-target ambiguity, thereby enabling a direct assessment of their respective influence on RT. We report that RT increases with additional sequence elements but that this effect is fully explained by the ambiguity in selecting the first reach target. That is, sequence preparation causes no RT increase. In fact, when first-target ambiguity is eliminated, RT is constant across the number of displayed targets even though kinematic analysis reveals that participants have prepared a sequence. Together, these results indicate that preparing multiple reaches to spatial targets does not impose additional temporal costs relative to preparing a single reach.