Children with autism spectrum disorder often demonstrate difficulties with self-regulation, although studies of this construct in young children with autism spectrum disorder are limited. In this study, developmental changes were examined using a measure of self-regulation appropriate for young children, resistance to temptation. At 22, 28, and 34…

This experiment examined how multiple planning constraints affect grasp posture planning in 6- to 10-year-old children (n = 16 in each group) by manipulating the intended object end-orientation (left end-down, right end-down) and initial precision demands (standard, initial precision) of a bar transport task. Results indicated that grasp posture…

Adult humans process communicative interactions by recognizing that information is being communicated through speech (linguistic ability) and simultaneously evaluating how to respond appropriately (social-pragmatic ability). These abilities may originate in infancy. Infants understand how speech communicates in social interactions, helping them…

Age-related increases of speaking rate are not fully understood, but have been attributed to gains in biologic factors and learned skills that support speech production. This study investigated developmental changes in speaking rate and articulatory kinematics of participants aged 4 ("N" = 7), 7 ("N" = 10), 10…

Few studies have explored the development of response selection processes in children in the case of object manipulation. In the current research, we studied the "end-state comfort effect," the tendency to ensure a comfortable position at the end rather than at the beginning of simple object manipulation tasks. We used two versions of the…

This article addresses how kinesiological research on children should advance. Using the study of motor development as a backdrop, the article is divided into three sections. The first section relates the four fundamental questions in motor development that have been asked throughout its history. The second section describes four areas of…

Purpose: This investigation aimed to examine the development of tongue-jaw coordination during speech from childhood to adolescence. Method: Electromagnetic articulography was used to track tongue and jaw motion in 48 children and adults (aged 6-38 years) during productions of /t/ and /k/ embedded in sentences. Results: The coordinative…

A test of motor stage theory was conducted to screen cross-sectionally for the existence of "horizontal structure" among motor sequences within four movement components of overarm throwing and overarm striking for force. Subjects were 58 preschool and elementary school boys. Findings are discussed. (Author/MT)

This preliminary investigation of stuttering development and maturation of speech motor processes recorded the electromyographic activity of the orofacial muscles of nine children who stuttered. Results suggest that the emergence of tremor-like instabilities in the speech motor processes of stuttering children may coincide with aspects of general…

Evaluation of 195 normal children (aged 1-5 years), 160 normal children (aged 3-24 months), and 41 autistic children (aged 5-11 years) on the eight psychological variables of the Behavioral Rating Instrument for Autistic and Other Atypical Children indicated certain autistic behaviors are not normal at any stage of development. (Author/CB)

Four experiments investigated the development of visuomotor control in sequential pointing in tasks varying in difficulty among 6- to 10-year-olds and adults. Comparisons across difficulty levels and ages suggest that motor development is not a uniform fine-tuning of stable strategies. Findings raise argument for stage characteristics of…

Sports-related tool use abilities in children were investigated within a neo-Piagetian framework of development. The object was to establish whether development in the motor domain proceeds in a "stage-like" fashion. A model was developed which suggested how general and precise structural changes might manifest themselves in the sub-domain of tool…

This paper describes the development of the senses of speech and thought and identifies the physical organs associated with those senses. The child's word sense is born only after the development of the ability to walk. From direct experience, communicated to them by the speech sense, children know that words are different from any other sounds…

A study of 16 children (ages 4 and 7 years) and 8 young adults used an "Optotrak" system to study patterning and stability of speech movements in developing speech motor systems. Results indicate that nonlinear and nonuniform changes occur in components of the speech motor system during development. (Author/CR)

A study investigated the motor development in 99 Australian children (ages 10-16) with Down syndrome. Results showed that the children's motor proficiency continued to progress into adolescence and that there were a wide range of inter- and intra-individual differences in their skill levels and rates of progress. (Author/CR)