Effects of increased complexity of visuo-motor transformations on children’s arm movements

• Published in: Human movement science Vol. 25; no. 4-5; pp. 553 - 567
• Main Authors: Bo, J., Contreras-Vidal, J.L., Kagerer, F.A., Clark, J.E.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.10.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Internal model; Kinematics; Kinesthesis; Male; Motor development; Motor Skills; Movement planning; Orientation; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Sensorimotor transformation; Sensory Deprivation; Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports; 2330; Sensorimotor transformation; Internal model; Motor development; Movement planning; Kinematics; Human; Models; Arm; Child; Complexity; Motor preparation
• ISSN: 0167-9457; 1872-7646
• DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2006.07.003

The effects of increasing complexity of visuo-motor transformations on movement were examined in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children and adults. Participants performed a ‘center-out’ drawing task under three increasingly complex conditions: (1) Normal transformation: The target, line path and hand position were fully visible, in the horizontal plane, throughout the movement. (2) Aligned transformation: The target and line path were displayed horizontally above the workspace, with vision of the arm/hand occluded. (3) Vertical transformation: The target and line paths were presented on a vertical computer monitor with vision of the arm/hand occluded. Results showed that with increasing age, movements became faster, straighter, and smoother. The 4- and 6-year-old children were more variable in their specification of movement direction than the 8-year-old children and the adults, and were also more affected by the complexity of the transformation. This suggested that besides the complexity of the visual transformation, the familiarity/experienced environment might also play a role in ‘sharpening’ the transformation maps represented in movement planning.