Developmental aspects of timing behavior in children.

This research examined the association of age, sex, and intelligence on the performance of a time production (temporal response differentiation, TRD) task. Variations of this task have been used extensively with both animals and humans to study factors that affect aspects of timing ability. The participants in this study (720 children, ages 5 to 13 years) were required to hold down a response lever for at least 10 s, but no more than 14 s, to receive a nickel. Older children made more correct lever holds and exhibited less variability in the duration of their lever holds than did the younger children. Boys and girls performed similarly on this task, whereas children with higher IQs made more correct lever holds. Young children with below average IQs exhibited increased variability in lever hold duration compared with young children with average and above average IQs. The results of this study illustrate that both age and intelligence influence timing ability. The use of this timing task in children, which also has been widely used in animal models, provides unique opportunities for interspecies comparisons.