title: Developmental improvements in reaching correction efficiency are associated with an increased ability to represent action mentally.
abstract: We investigated the purported association between developmental changes in the efficiency of online reaching corrections and improved action representation. Younger children (6-7 years), older children (8-12 years), adolescents (13-17 years), and young adults (18-24 years) completed a double-step reaching paradigm and a motor imagery task. Results showed similar nonlinear performance improvements across both tasks, typified by substantial changes in efficiency after 6 or 7 years followed by incremental improvements. Regression showed that imagery ability significantly predicted reaching efficiency and that this association stayed constant across age. Findings provide the first empirical evidence that more efficient online control through development is predicted, partly, by improved action representation.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia. Electronic address: ian.fuelscher@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fuelscher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport, Exercise, and Active Living, College of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria University, Footscray, VIC 3011, Australia.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia. Electronic address: c.hyde@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hyde
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Action representation; Double-step reaching; Hand rotation; Internal modeling; Motor imagery; Online control