Influence of Object Size, Speed, Direction, Height, and Distance on Interception of a Moving Object

Abstract

Eighty second graders participated in a study assessing the influence of a moving object's distance, size, direction, height, and speed and the subject's sex on the interception of the object. An experimental apparatus was designed to permit the necessary variations. The child's task was to strike the moving object with a paddle before the object moved the selected distance. Frequencies of object interception were compared for both sexes for all of the object distances, sizes, directions, heights, and speeds within the study. Analysis of variance indicated the following significant interactions: distance by direction, distance by height, size by direction, direction by height, height by speed, distance by direction by speed, size by sex by speed, and distance by direction by height by speed. All the main effects, except object size, were significant.