Interactions of Speech and Manual Movement in a Syncopated Task

The present study examined interactions of speech production and finger-tapping movement, using a syncopated motor task with two movements in 10 male right-handed undergraduate students ( M age = 21.0 yr.; SD =1.4). On the syncopated task, participants were required to produce one movement exactly midway between two other movements (target interresponse interval: 250 msec.). They were divided into two groups, the tap-preceding group and speech-preceding group. The author observed that the right hand showed a more variable peak force and intertap interval than the left hand in the speech-preceding group, indicating an asymmetrical interference of two movements. On the other hand, the mean differences between onsets of speech and tapping movement were shorter than 250 msec. over all conditions (the shortest mean difference was 50 msec.), suggesting a mutual entrainment of two movements. An asymmetry of entrainment was observed in the speech-preceding group, in which speech production was more strongly entrained with movements of the right hand than with those of the left hand.

Relation between Synchronized and Self-Paced Response in Preschoolers' Rhythmic Movement

Regulation of the rhythmic movement of 29 preschoolers ages 3 to 6 years was studied in connection with self-paced response. An Auditory Pulse condition presented the pulse audibly, a Visual Pulse condition presented the pulse visibly, and a Moving Visual Target condition presented the repetitive movement of a visual target. We used a Quick Tempo condition in which the interstimulus interval was slightly different from the average self-paced tapping rate at which each subject felt comfortable, and a Slow Tempo in which the interval was considerably different. The error in the interresponse interval of tapping, i.e., the time gap between the mean interresponse and interstimulus intervals, was calculated as an indicator of regulation. The error in the former decreased across age groups only in the Slow Tempo condition. In the Slow-Tempo Visual-Pulse condition in which the error in the interresponse interval was particularly large, the younger subjects tended to respond at a rate near the self-paced response. In both tempos, the error in the interresponse interval in the Moving Visual Target condition was much the same as in the Auditory Pulse condition and was statistically smaller than in the Visual Pulse condition. These results may suggest that one of the important factors in the development of preschoolers' synchronization with physical rhythm is an ability to modify or restrain the self-paced response and that additional information from movement of the visual target could assist them externally in regulating movement.

Children's Response Speeds and Perseverative Responses following Failure as a Function of Instructions and Interresponse Interval

Nonreward has been found to facilitate subsequent responding in a number of experiments with children whereas failure has consistently resulted in a decrement in performance. Two variables confounding comparisons of nonreward and failure studies are (a) the use of constant interresponse intervals of 5 sec or longer in nonreward studies as compared with the use of 0-sec. intervals in most failure studies and (b) the use of other-blame instructions in nonreward studies and self-blame instructions in failure studies. In the present experiment 18 second- and third-grade children were assigned to each of six conditions formed by the factorial combination of constant interresponse intervals of 0, 4, and 8 sec, and self-blame vs other-blame instructional sets. On each trial the subjects performed a light-switching task followed by a lever-pulling response. They were failed prior to completion of the light-switching task on one-half of the 20 trials. Lever-pulling responses following failure were slower than responses following success in the 0-sec. condition but not in the 4- or 8-sec. condition, and response speeds in the 0-sec. condition on failure trials were slower than speeds on 4- and 8-sec. condition failure trials. Decrements in response speeds following failure were found in both the self-blame and other-blame conditions although the decrement was greater in the former than the latter condition. In addition self-blame subjects made more perseverative responses on the light switching game than other-blame subjects. The results were discussed in terms of the effects of interresponse intervals and instructional set on the extent to which responses produced by failure would occur and interfere with the lever response.