Abstract
This study examined the young children’s abilities to switch from rhythm production, with short inter-tap intervals (ITIs), to temporal interval production, with long ITI (>1 s), in a sensorimotor synchronization task. Children aged 3- and 5-year-olds were given six sessions of synchronization. In a control group, they had to synchronize their ITI to an inter-stimulus interval (ISI) of 4 s. In the experimental group, they must progressively increase their ITI for one session to the next (from 0.4 to 4.0-s ISI). Our results showed that the 5-year-olds produced longer ITI that the 3-year-olds in synchronization. However, the value of ITI in the 5-year-olds never exceeded 1.5 s, with more variable ITI in the control than in the experimental group. In addition, at 5 years, boys had more difficulties than girls in changing their tapping rhythm. These results suggest a temporal window in sensorimotor synchronization, beyond which the rhythm is lost and the synchronization becomes difficult.
Highlights
During childhood, one of the most important abilities is to efficiently coordinate actions with external events
In the synchronization phase, very young children, aged from 1- to 3-years-olds, are able to synchronize their taps to an external auditory tempo, but only when it is close to their own spontaneous motor tempo (SMT)
Our results revealed that children succeed in synchronizing their taps with an external tempo when it is close to their own SMT, as indicated by the high percentage of reinforced inter-tap intervals (ITIs), as well as the median ITI in the synchronization phase of the first session of the 0.4/4.0-s group
Summary
One of the most important abilities is to efficiently coordinate actions with external events. Some studies have found that the inter-tap interval (ITI) spontaneously produced by young children aged from 2 to 7 years of age lies between 400 and 500 ms but slows down during childhood to ∼600 ms in early adulthood (Drake et al, 2000; Provasi and Bobin-Bègue, 2003; McAuley et al, 2006; Bobin-Bègue and Provasi, 2008). In the continuation phase, they rapidly return to their initial SMT when the external auditory tempo is farther away from their SMT (Provasi and Bobin-Bègue, 2003; Bobin-Bègue and Provasi, 2008) These findings suggest that young children are able to synchronize their taps with external tempi but only when these are close to their SMT, i.e., to what Jones and Boltz (1989) call the referent period. The aim of the present study was to examine young children’s abilities to progressively learn to synchronize their motor tempo to external auditory tempi with longer ITI than their SMT
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