Coincidence Anticipation of Young Normal and Handicapped Children

Abstract

Two coincident-timing experiments examined the role of three different target velocities and display extents and three age levels of normal and retarded children. Subjects made a ballistic response to a target moving horizontally across their visual field. In the first experiment there were generally no clear differences between normal and retarded children on the task, with subjects having difficulty for both the slow and fast target speeds. In the second experiment, with target velocity held constant, no significant differences were reported between normal and handicapped children, although the longer the subjects were allowed to view the target the more accurate they were. The data were discussed in terms of the response strategies to perform anticipatory ballistic movements. An ecological issue was raised which suggested that children as well as adults make their most accurate anticipations when confronted with velocity problems that have been experienced in their everyday world.