Information processing and movement optimization during development: kinematics of cyclical pointing in 5- to 11-year-old children

The authors studied the development of movement control in speed-accuracy tradeoff conditions in children aged 5-11 years and in adults performing cyclical pointings. Twelve difficulty levels (IDs), ranging from 2 to 6.58 bits, were defined (P. M. Fitts, 1954). Peak and time to peak velocity, acceleration, and deceleration, and acceleration profiles as a function of hand position (Hooke's portraits) were analyzed. Movement time decreased with age and was less affected by ID. Peak velocity and acceleration increased, acceleration and deceleration were decreasingly time consuming, and movement profiles turned to increased harmonicity with age and task easiness. Nevertheless, the developmental trends differed between parameters. Gain in velocity seemed chiefly dependent on improved muscular cooperation patterns before 7 years of age and on improved information processing from age 7 onward; achievement of an optimized strategy in the speed-accuracy tradeoff occurred at age 11 years.