Procedures
To ensure RJPS was affected only by
mechanoreceptors within the ankle, subjects were
blindfolded and asked to wear headphones playing
white noise to ensure both visual and auditory cues
did not affect the results. In attempts to limit
undesired cutaneous feedback, no straps were used
to hold the subject’s foot to the platform. RJPS was
then assessed in conditions of no ankle tape (notape)
and kinesio taped (taped) ankle in the motions
of plantar flexion and inversion with 20º plantar
flexion. All subjects were placed in a seated position
with the foot resting on the footplate of the
apparatus.
RJPS measures were taken by passively
placing the dominant ankle to a random target angle
and asking the subject to actively reposition their
ankle to the target angle from a neutral starting
position. Target angle positions in the plantar flexion
rang varied from only 1º to 35º in attempts to
eliminate extreme ranges of plantar flexion.
Inversion with 20º of plantar flexion had an angular
position range from 1º to 10º. Five trails were given
at each range of motion with absolute and constant
error recorded for each.
Subjects were allowed to sit comfortably with
their foot on the testing apparatus. They were then
passively placed to a random target position. The
subjects were held in that position for five seconds,
asked to remember the target angle, and then
passively returned to their neutral starting position.
Subjects were then asked to actively reposition their
foot as closely to the target angle as possible.
Through headphone communication, audio mixed
over the white noise, subjects were instructed to
press an indicator button placed in their right hand,
signaling the completion of their target-reposition
task (Figure 2). Data was recorded in the Bioware
system after passive target positioning (by the
researcher), and following the subject’s signal of
completion of the target-repositioning task.
Figure 2. Subject positioning during data collection.
A cross-over design was employed with
respect to the order of the un-taped and taped
conditions. Specifically, the application of the