Mentally retarded and normal children's performance on gross motor reaction- and movement-time tasks with varying degrees of uncertainty of movement.
This study evaluated the effect of uncertainty of movement, as a source of environmental stimuli, on the RT and movement time of 8- and 10-yr.-old mildly retarded and normal boys and girls during a 4.6-m run. With uncertainty of movement, retarded subjects (6 boys, 9 girls) displayed significant increases in both RT and movement time. For normal children (10 boys, 10 girls), no change in performance was noted as the task was simple. These results highlighted the notion of skill constancy and the importance of controlling potential stimuli during skill acquisition.
D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D011930:Reaction Time; D012420:Running; D012931:Social Environment