Reaction Time and Anticipation Time: Effects of Development

Abstract

The developmental nature of reaction time (RT) and anticipation timing (AT) performance, as well as the relationship between them, was investigated using 15 male and 15 female subjects at each of five age levels—7, 9, 11, 13, and 20 yrs. Each subject was given 40 trials for both RT and AT performance with task order counterbalanced. Results indicated that as age increased RT decreased, with males having more rapid RT than females. The two younger age groups differed from the three older groups on AT performance. RT was significantly correlated with AT (|CE| measure) for the 7, 9, and 11 yr old males but not in any other age by gender condition. Apparently neither young males nor young females have a good motor plan in memory to control AT performance. However, the more rapid RT (and thus better response initiation) of the males allows better AT performance at the younger ages. Beginning about 10–11 yrs of age, better motor plans are developed in children's memory system, leading to less reliance on rapid RT for good AT performance, and thus the correlation between RT and AT performance is not present.