J. Child Psychol Psychiat. Vol. 33, No. 5, pp. 895-905, 1992 Printed in Great Britain.
002:-9630/92 $5.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd © 1992 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Reaction Time and Movement Time in Children with a Developmental Coordination Disorder Leslie Henderson*, Pamela Rose* and Sheila Henderson^ Abstract—The Test of Motor Impairment (TOMI) was used to select 12 children with a Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and 12 age-matched controls. In a^ aiming task, movement latency, movement duration and its variability were significantly p|rolonged in the DCD group. In a coincidence timing version of the task, absolute timing ^rror was significantly greater in the DCD group. The most robust chronometric ^ffect for differentiating the two groups seemed to be the duration of movement when the target was small. Multiple regression showed that TOMI was a powerful indicator of ndovement duration. Keywords: Clumsiness, Test of Motor Impairment (TOMI), reaction time, movement time
Introduction It has been estimated that up to 10% of school age children may suffer from a Developmental Coordination Disorder (DSM-IIIR: American Psychiatric Association, 1987), exhibiting "clumsiness" that is not accountable for in terms of aiji intellectual deficit or any identifiable physical disorder (e.g. Gubbay, 1975; Keoth, Sugden, Reynard & Calkins, 1979; Henderson & Hall, 1982). Coordination dif iculties may affect fine motor tasks such as writing and buttoning clothes, gross mot )r tasks such as running and jumping, aiming tasks such as throwing, interception tasks such as catching, as well as balance and posture. A fair measure of agreement ca4 be obtained for the identification of such children by teachers' ratings, neuro-ddvelopmental examination and psychometric testing (Henderson & Hall, 1982). Follow-up studies (e.g. Silva & Ross, 1980; Nichols & Chen, 198|; Drillien & Drummond, 1983; Gillberg, Gillberg & Groth, 1989) have shown that iri the absence Accepted manuscript received 2 July 1991
"Hatfield Polytechnic. 'London University Institute of Education. Requests for reprints to: Professor L. Henderson, Psychology Division, Hatfield Polytechnic, Hatfield, Herts ALIO 9AB, U.K.
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that are impaired, in complement to more demanding electromyographic and kinematic recording techniques. Acknowledgements—We are grateful to the Head Teachers, staff and pupils ofthe 12 Hertfordshire schools from which we drew subjects, to Jed Everitt for developing the software used to control the experiments, Wendy Benwell who assisted with psychometric testing, Anna Losse for providing training in the use ofthe test of motor impairment and Reint Geuze for comments on an earlier draft. Professor Henderson's research is supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust.
References American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd Edn, Revised). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Benecke, R., Rothwell, J. C , Dick, J. P. R., Day, B. L. & Marsden, C. D. (1986). Performance of simultaneous movements in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain, 109, 739-757. Bloxham, C. A., Mindel, T. A. & Frith, C. D. (1984). Initiation and execution of predictable and unpredictable movements in Parkinson's disease. Brain, 107, 371-384. Crawford, T., Goodrich, S., Henderson, L. & Kennard, C. (1989). Predictive responses in Parkinson's disease: Manual key-presses and saccadic eye movements to regular stimulus events. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 52, 1033-1042. Crawford, T., Henderson, L. & Kennard, C. (1989). Abnormalities of non-visually guided eye movements in Parkinson's disease. Brain, 112, 1573-1586. Day, B, L., Dick, J. P. L. & Marsden, C. D. (1984). Patients with Parkinson's disease can employ a predictive motor strategy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 47, 1299-1306. Drillien, C. & Drummond, M. (1983). Developmental screening and the child with special needs: a population study of 5000 children. In Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 86. London: Heineman Medical Books Ltd. Forsstrom, A. & Von Hofsten, C. (1982). Visually directed reaching of children with motor impairments. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 24, 653-661. Frith, C. D. & Done, J. D. (1986). Routes to action in reaction time tasks. Psychological Research, 48, 169-177. Gillberg, I. C , Gillberg, C. & Groth, J. (1989). Children with preschool minor neurodevelopmental disorders V: Neurodevelopmental profiles at age 13. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 31, 14-24. Goodrich, S., Henderson, L., Allchin, N. &Jeevaratnam, A. (1990). On the peculiarity of simple reaction time. Quarterly Joumal of Experimental Psychology, 42A, 763-775. Goodrich, S., Henderson L. & Kennard, C. (1989). On the existence of an attention-demanding process peculiar to simple reaction-time: converging evidence from Parkinson's disease. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 6, 309-331. Gubbay, S. S. (1975). The clumsy child, a study of developmental apraxia and agnosic ataxia. London: W. B. Saunders. Hallett, M. & Khoshbin, S. (1980). A physiological mechanism of bradykinesia. Brain, 103, 301-314. Henderson, S. E. & Hall, D. B. M. (1982). Concomitants of clumsiness in young school children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 24, 448-460. Keogh, J. F., Sugden, D. A., Reynard, C. L. & Calkins, J. A. (1979). Identification of clumsy children: comparisons and comments. _/ounia/ of Human Movement Studies, 5, 32-41. Laszlo, J. I., Bairstow, P. J., Bartrip, J. and Rolfe, V. T. (1988). Clumsiness or perceptuo-motor dysfunction? In A. CoUey and J. Beech (Eds), Cognition and action in skilled behaviour. Amsterdam: North Holland. Lord, R. and Hulme, C. (1987). Perceptual judgements of normal and clumsy children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 29, 250-257.
Reaction time and movement time
905
Losse, A. L., Henderson, S. E., Hall, D. B. M., EUiman, D., Knight, E. & Jongmans, M. (1991). Clumsy at six—still clumsy at sixteen? A follow-up study. DevelopTnental Medicine and Child Neurology, 32, 1099-1122. Losse, A. L. and Henderson, S. E. (in preparation). Buttoning without looking—an experimental study of an everyday action. Lueck, C. J., Crawford, T. C , Henderson, L., Van Gisbergen, J. A. M., Duysens, J. & Kennard, C. (in press). Saccadic eye movements in Parkinson's disease: II. Remembered saccades: Towards a unified hypothesis. Quarterly Joumal Experimental Psychology. Nichols, P. L. &Chen, T. C. (1981). Minimal brain dysfunction: a prospective study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ScheUekens, J. M. H., Scholten, C. A. & Kalverboer, A. F. (1983). Visually guided h^nd movements in children with minor neurological dysfunction: Response time and movement organisation, yourna/ of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2 4 , 89-102.
Schonell, F. (1945). Graded word reading test. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. Sheridan, M. R., Flowers, K. A. & Hurrell, J. (1987). Programming and execution of movement in Parkinson's disease. Brain, 110, 1247-1271. Silva, P. A. & Ross, B. (1980). Gross motor development and delays in development in (fearly childhood: assessment and significance, youma/ of Human Movement Studies, 6, 211-226. Smyth, T. R. and Glencross, D. J. (1986). Information processing deficits in clumsy children. Australian Joumal of Psychology, 3 8 , 13-22. Stott, D . H . , Moyes, F. A. and Henderson, S. E. (1984). The Henderson revision ofthe test of motor impairment.
San Antonio, TX: PsychologiceJ Corporation. Van Dellen, T. (1986). Response processing and movement organisation in clumby children: an experimental approach. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Groningen. Van Dellen, T. & Geuze, R. H. (1988). Motor response processing in clumsy childreni Joumal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2 9 , 489-500.
002:-9630/92 $5.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd © 1992 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Reaction Time and Movement Time in Children with a Developmental Coordination Disorder Leslie Henderson*, Pamela Rose* and Sheila Henderson^ Abstract—The Test of Motor Impairment (TOMI) was used to select 12 children with a Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and 12 age-matched controls. In a^ aiming task, movement latency, movement duration and its variability were significantly p|rolonged in the DCD group. In a coincidence timing version of the task, absolute timing ^rror was significantly greater in the DCD group. The most robust chronometric ^ffect for differentiating the two groups seemed to be the duration of movement when the target was small. Multiple regression showed that TOMI was a powerful indicator of ndovement duration. Keywords: Clumsiness, Test of Motor Impairment (TOMI), reaction time, movement time
Introduction It has been estimated that up to 10% of school age children may suffer from a Developmental Coordination Disorder (DSM-IIIR: American Psychiatric Association, 1987), exhibiting "clumsiness" that is not accountable for in terms of aiji intellectual deficit or any identifiable physical disorder (e.g. Gubbay, 1975; Keoth, Sugden, Reynard & Calkins, 1979; Henderson & Hall, 1982). Coordination dif iculties may affect fine motor tasks such as writing and buttoning clothes, gross mot )r tasks such as running and jumping, aiming tasks such as throwing, interception tasks such as catching, as well as balance and posture. A fair measure of agreement ca4 be obtained for the identification of such children by teachers' ratings, neuro-ddvelopmental examination and psychometric testing (Henderson & Hall, 1982). Follow-up studies (e.g. Silva & Ross, 1980; Nichols & Chen, 198|; Drillien & Drummond, 1983; Gillberg, Gillberg & Groth, 1989) have shown that iri the absence Accepted manuscript received 2 July 1991
"Hatfield Polytechnic. 'London University Institute of Education. Requests for reprints to: Professor L. Henderson, Psychology Division, Hatfield Polytechnic, Hatfield, Herts ALIO 9AB, U.K.
895
904
L. Henderson et al
that are impaired, in complement to more demanding electromyographic and kinematic recording techniques. Acknowledgements—We are grateful to the Head Teachers, staff and pupils ofthe 12 Hertfordshire schools from which we drew subjects, to Jed Everitt for developing the software used to control the experiments, Wendy Benwell who assisted with psychometric testing, Anna Losse for providing training in the use ofthe test of motor impairment and Reint Geuze for comments on an earlier draft. Professor Henderson's research is supported by grants from the Wellcome Trust.
References American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd Edn, Revised). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Benecke, R., Rothwell, J. C , Dick, J. P. R., Day, B. L. & Marsden, C. D. (1986). Performance of simultaneous movements in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain, 109, 739-757. Bloxham, C. A., Mindel, T. A. & Frith, C. D. (1984). Initiation and execution of predictable and unpredictable movements in Parkinson's disease. Brain, 107, 371-384. Crawford, T., Goodrich, S., Henderson, L. & Kennard, C. (1989). Predictive responses in Parkinson's disease: Manual key-presses and saccadic eye movements to regular stimulus events. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 52, 1033-1042. Crawford, T., Henderson, L. & Kennard, C. (1989). Abnormalities of non-visually guided eye movements in Parkinson's disease. Brain, 112, 1573-1586. Day, B, L., Dick, J. P. L. & Marsden, C. D. (1984). Patients with Parkinson's disease can employ a predictive motor strategy. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 47, 1299-1306. Drillien, C. & Drummond, M. (1983). Developmental screening and the child with special needs: a population study of 5000 children. In Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 86. London: Heineman Medical Books Ltd. Forsstrom, A. & Von Hofsten, C. (1982). Visually directed reaching of children with motor impairments. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 24, 653-661. Frith, C. D. & Done, J. D. (1986). Routes to action in reaction time tasks. Psychological Research, 48, 169-177. Gillberg, I. C , Gillberg, C. & Groth, J. (1989). Children with preschool minor neurodevelopmental disorders V: Neurodevelopmental profiles at age 13. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 31, 14-24. Goodrich, S., Henderson, L., Allchin, N. &Jeevaratnam, A. (1990). On the peculiarity of simple reaction time. Quarterly Joumal of Experimental Psychology, 42A, 763-775. Goodrich, S., Henderson L. & Kennard, C. (1989). On the existence of an attention-demanding process peculiar to simple reaction-time: converging evidence from Parkinson's disease. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 6, 309-331. Gubbay, S. S. (1975). The clumsy child, a study of developmental apraxia and agnosic ataxia. London: W. B. Saunders. Hallett, M. & Khoshbin, S. (1980). A physiological mechanism of bradykinesia. Brain, 103, 301-314. Henderson, S. E. & Hall, D. B. M. (1982). Concomitants of clumsiness in young school children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 24, 448-460. Keogh, J. F., Sugden, D. A., Reynard, C. L. & Calkins, J. A. (1979). Identification of clumsy children: comparisons and comments. _/ounia/ of Human Movement Studies, 5, 32-41. Laszlo, J. I., Bairstow, P. J., Bartrip, J. and Rolfe, V. T. (1988). Clumsiness or perceptuo-motor dysfunction? In A. CoUey and J. Beech (Eds), Cognition and action in skilled behaviour. Amsterdam: North Holland. Lord, R. and Hulme, C. (1987). Perceptual judgements of normal and clumsy children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 29, 250-257.
Reaction time and movement time
905
Losse, A. L., Henderson, S. E., Hall, D. B. M., EUiman, D., Knight, E. & Jongmans, M. (1991). Clumsy at six—still clumsy at sixteen? A follow-up study. DevelopTnental Medicine and Child Neurology, 32, 1099-1122. Losse, A. L. and Henderson, S. E. (in preparation). Buttoning without looking—an experimental study of an everyday action. Lueck, C. J., Crawford, T. C , Henderson, L., Van Gisbergen, J. A. M., Duysens, J. & Kennard, C. (in press). Saccadic eye movements in Parkinson's disease: II. Remembered saccades: Towards a unified hypothesis. Quarterly Joumal Experimental Psychology. Nichols, P. L. &Chen, T. C. (1981). Minimal brain dysfunction: a prospective study. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ScheUekens, J. M. H., Scholten, C. A. & Kalverboer, A. F. (1983). Visually guided h^nd movements in children with minor neurological dysfunction: Response time and movement organisation, yourna/ of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2 4 , 89-102.
Schonell, F. (1945). Graded word reading test. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. Sheridan, M. R., Flowers, K. A. & Hurrell, J. (1987). Programming and execution of movement in Parkinson's disease. Brain, 110, 1247-1271. Silva, P. A. & Ross, B. (1980). Gross motor development and delays in development in (fearly childhood: assessment and significance, youma/ of Human Movement Studies, 6, 211-226. Smyth, T. R. and Glencross, D. J. (1986). Information processing deficits in clumsy children. Australian Joumal of Psychology, 3 8 , 13-22. Stott, D . H . , Moyes, F. A. and Henderson, S. E. (1984). The Henderson revision ofthe test of motor impairment.
San Antonio, TX: PsychologiceJ Corporation. Van Dellen, T. (1986). Response processing and movement organisation in clumby children: an experimental approach. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Groningen. Van Dellen, T. & Geuze, R. H. (1988). Motor response processing in clumsy childreni Joumal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2 9 , 489-500.
