Age, Sex, Speed, and Practice in Coincidence-Anticipation Performance of Children

Abstract

The effect of age, sex, speed, and practice on coincidence-anticipation (C/A) performance of elementary school children was investigated. 84 elementary school children, 7 boys and 7 girls at Ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 yr., served as subjects for the study. Subjects were given 24 C/A trials, 6 each at 4 speeds, randomly presented. Subjects were required to lift the foot off a spring switch in coincidence with the arrival of a ball at a target flag. A score was determined as the difference between actual time and the estimate as recorded on separate .01-sec. Lafayette timers. The data were analyzed employing a 6 by 2 by 4 by 3 factorial design. Results indicated that 7-yr.-olds performance was inferior to those of all other age groups, boys were more accurate than girls, and all groups exhibited improvement over practice.