Children's processing of information in motor skill acquisition

Abstract

A self-paced post-KR (knowledge of results) interval was used to assess children's use of response outcome information in learning motor skills of varying difficulty. In Expt 1, 8-, 10-, and 14-year-old children and adults learned a rapid linear timing movement through a specified distance. Typical developmental trends were found: The adults and 14 year olds were more accurate than the younger subjects. However, while the accuracy of the 14 year olds and adults approached an asymptotic level, the 14 year olds required significantly less KR processing time. There was a direct relationship between accuracy and post-KR time, especially during the early trials. In Expt 2, a more difficult task was used. The 11- and 14-year-old children and adults were required to determine both the criterion response time and distance for the task. The results were similar to those obtained in Expt 1, but now the adults required less time to process KR than either of the child groups, particularly during the later trials. The results confirm children's differential use of KR, and suggest that any description of motor skill acquisition must account for the complex interaction between the subjects developmental level and the difficulty of the task at hand.