title: The development of end- and beginning-state comfort in a cup manipulation task.
abstract: End-state comfort (ESC) is the tendency to assume comfortable postures at the end of simple object manipulation rather than at the start; and therefore has been used to assess the behavioral effects of motor planning. Adult-like patterns have been observed at age 9. Observations can extend to joint-action, such that adults consider the beginning-state comfort (BSC) of another, without sacrificing ESC; however, trends in children have yet to be delineated. This study investigated the development of ESC and BSC in a cup manipulation task. Three to 12-year-olds and adults were asked to pick up a cup and (1) pour a glass of water or (2) pass it to the researcher to pour. Paralleling previous findings, adult-like patterns of ESC were observed at age 9. Adding to the literature, adult-like evidence of BSC emerged at the age of 7. Therefore, 7-year-olds consider another's BSC; however, cannot facilitate ESC until age 9.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1; Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. sscharou@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Sara M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Scharoun
authors.forename: Pamela J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Bryden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: beginning-state comfort; end-state comfort; motor development; motor planning