THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEHAVIOR CONTROL

“Persistence of inhi-bition” of hand movement on the horizontal plane

Abstract

The present experiment was to investigate the development of behavior control as “persistence of inhibition” of hand movement on an horizontal plane. Sixty-nine preschool children were asked to move the ASCII Mouse on an horizontal plane as slowly as possible. Factor designs were 2 lateral movements of the hand: dominant hand, nondominant hand with 3 oriental movements: horizontal, vertical and diagonal, by 4 different levels of developmental age: 3, 4, 5, 6 years. Each condition consisted of two trials: a Base trial requiring to move the Mouse without any instruction about speed ; a Slow trial requiring to move the Mouse as slowly as possible. The main result were as follows: (a) In the Slow trial, 6-year-old children moved more slowly than the 5 years.(b) 4 years can modify “persistence of inhibition” in Slow trial in comparison with that in Base trial more than 3 years. In the discussion, 4 years can control the movement by holding Base trial and Slow trial in the relation of a pair. 6 years can control the movement and persist of inhibition by seriating the speed (ex. fast, middle, slower, slo west).