I've stumbled over the same thing in this video of a "veteran pilot" flying a WW2 aircraft. Notice how he's pointing at the various dials and gears from time to time. I think the first time this might be because he's explaining to the viewer what's going on, but even after that when the motor is running or in the air he's doing a left-to-right sweep through the cockpit from time to time, pointing at things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1F_UJaaP1A
I don't know how common this is in aviation, but I had to think immediately of the Japanese railway workers.
PS: the same thing can be seen in this (admittedly silly and slightly outdated) aircraft carrier operation video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqlwAWuMTg