Children's Use of Advanced Information in Spatially Compatible and Incompatible Assignments

Abstract

Research on adult populations has shown individuals are faster at processing information, i.e., have faster reaction times, from compatible as compared to incompatible assignments. Additionally, research has shown that reaction times decrease when advanced information, i.e., a precue, is provided to the subject. The present study examined whether children would exhibit results similar to those of adults. Subjects were 18 fourth graders ( M age 9 yr.) who responded to compatible and incompatible assignments across four precue intervals (0-no precue, 1500, 3000, and 4500 msec.) Analysis of the data indicated that similar to adults, children had faster reaction times to compatible (667 msec., SD=176) than to incompatible assignments (798 ·msec., SD=218). Results also indicated that as the precue interval increased, reaction times decreased (885, 711, 679, and 660 msec. for the 0-no precue, 1500-, 3000-, and 4500-msec intervals, respectively). These findings suggest that children exhibit typical compatibility effects and are capable of processing advanced information to enhance motor performance.