How Do Children Control Rate, Amplitude, and Coordination Stability During Bimanual Circle Drawing?

• Published in: Ecological psychology Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
• Main Authors: (Robertson) Ringenbach, Shannon D., Amazeen, Polemnia G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01-01-2005; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Children & youth; Coordination
• ISSN: 1040-7413; 1532-6969
• DOI: 10.1207/s15326969eco1701_1

Coordination instability (e.g., weak coupling strength) in young children may cause them to control some aspects of coordination in a different manner than adults. This experiment investigated the influence of rate and amplitude on bimanual coordination stability across development (4-, 6-, and 8-year-olds, and adults). Participants traced circles of different amplitudes (5, 10, 15, and 20 cm) while increasing movement rate twice during the trial. The results revealed that 4- and 6-year-olds produced much larger amplitudes than required and increased the amplitude of their movements with increases in rate. Four- and 6-year-olds also produced higher standard deviation of relative phase at all rates than did adults. Discussion examines differences in movement control and the rate-amplitude relation as a consequence of weaker coupling strength in young children than in older children and adults.