Development of information-movement couplings in a rhythmical ball-bouncing task: from space- to time-related information.

We studied the development of information-movement couplings in a ball-bouncing task with a special interest in how space- and time-related information is used by people of different ages. Participants from four age groups (children aged 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12 years, and adults) performed a virtual ball-bouncing task in which space- and time-related information were independently manipulated. Task performance and information-movement couplings were analyzed. Our results confirm a clear use of time-related information in adults, while children demonstrated a predominant relationship between space-related information and the period of movement. In the course of development, however, the children become progressively more capable of using time-related information in order to control the rhythmic ball-bouncing task. A second and weaker coupling, between ball height information and racket velocity at impact, also appears in the course of development. The data seem to show that the development of children follows the freezing-freeing-exploiting sequence proposed by Savelsbergh and Van der Kamp (Int J Sport Psychol 31:467-484, 2000), with a significant change in how information is used to control movement related to age.