Age-related changes in the spatiotemporal structure of simple cyclical graphic movements performed at the maximal rate: I. The increase in the movement rate is accounted for by reduction of the number of submovements in a movement cycle

Abstract

Right-handed subjects from four age groups, including children aged 5–6, 8–9, and 11–12 years and adults, performed simple cyclical graphic movements of different degrees of coordination and serial complexity at the maximum possible rate with the right and left hands holding the stylus either with their fingers or in the fist. The period of the cyclical movement decreased with age, the decrease depending on which hand (the right or the left) was used and how the stylus was held. The frequency of submovements only slightly depended on the age, was the same for the right and left hands, but did not depend on the type of movement or the way of holding the stylus. The age-related increase in the maximal rate of graphic movements may have been almost entirely accounted for by a decrease in the number of submovements constituting the movement cycle. The results are discussed in terms of the notion of submovements as “elementary units” of graphic movements.