Cognitive Strategies During a Reciprocal Tapping Task

Abstract

The purposes of this study were: (1) to describe developmental differences in performance and cognitive strategies during a perceptual-motor task, and (2) to examine the relationships between cognitive strategies and performance. Sixty healthy children, ages 7, 9 and 11, were required to tap reciprocally with a pen between two targets. Cognitive strategies were measured by: pen marks on the paper, pen arc, and trunk movements. Cognitive strategy profiles were reported based on grade and performance level. These profiles help us to understand how children approach the task and guide the motor action. Clinical applications of the findings are described in terms of speed-accuracy tradeoff, shift from discontinuous to continuous approach to the task, use of affordances, and free(z)ing of degrees of freedom.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shelley A. Goodgold-Edwards

Michael Lepp, PT, is in private practice, Associate Instructor of the Upledger Institute, and Clinical Instructor, Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry, Cleveland, OH.