Spatial-temporal analysis of movements in children.

Hand-eye coordination was studied in 5-, 7-, 9-, and 11-yr-old children in order to test the hypothesis of an evolution in the relationship between the programming system and the guidance system in reaching movement. In the first experiment children had to perform open-loop movements (i.e., without seeing their hands towards visual targets as accurately as possible. The accuracy, time, speed, and patterns of movements were analyze second experiment the reach trajectories of the hand were analyzed in children wearing displacing prisms in order to measure the visually guided part of the trajectory. Charges in the spatial-temporal characteristics of open-loop reaching movements and in the amount of visual guided activity appear from the results. A predominance the programming system at 5 yr and guiding system at 7 yr, followed at 9 11 yr by integration of both systems, is discussed.