Abstract

FREUDENHEIM, Andrea et al. Effect of stimulus velocity on the performance of a complex coincident timing task with children and adolescents. Rev. Port. Cien. Desp. [online]. 2005, vol.5, n.2, pp.160-166. ISSN 1645-0523.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of different stimulus velocities on the performance of a complex coincident timing task. In Experiment 1, 42 children, distributed in groups according to stimulus velocity of 1,11, 0,89 or 0,74 m/s, underwent 25 trials. The set was to touch four keys in conjunction with a visual stimulus. No significant difference (p<0,05) was detected in the absolute error measure. In relation to variable error significant differences were detected between the fast and moderate velocity groups, and between the slow and moderate velocity groups. In Experiment 2, 49 adolescents, distributed in groups according to stimulus velocity of 2,02, 1,70 or 1,48 m/s had 25 trials in a similar task. No significant differences were found. It can be concluded that stimulus velocity does not affect the precision of children and adolescents but affects consistency of children’s performance in a complex coincident timing task. Therefore, the results of this study corroborate the results based on studies with simple coincidence timing tasks reported in literature. Nevertheless, additional studies should explore a broader stimulus velocity spectrum.

Keywords : coincident timing; performance; complex task.

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