Does General Motor Imagery Ability (via Questionnaire) Predict Estimation of Reachability in Children?

摘要

With the present study we addressed the question of whether general motor imagery abilityn(MIA), as determined by questionnaire, predicts estimation of reachability in children ages 6 ton12 years of age. Estimation of reachability involves the use of motor (kinesthetic) imagery tonderive a perceptual/cognitive (verbal) estimate of whether an object is within or out of reach.nOur initial prediction was that older children would score higher than their younger counterpartsnin MIA, resulting in more accurate reach responses. Results indicated that, although youngernchildren’s MIA scores were significantly lower than their older counterparts, reach responses werensimilar. Moreover, relationship analysis indicated a non-significant association between MIA andnestimation of reachability. Explanations for the MIA difference focus on differences in cognitivenability and movement experience. Furthermore, we speculated that with the visual informationnprovided by the reach task, the younger children were able to imagine reachability at a levelncomparable to their older counterparts. In essence, the results suggest that the MIA questionnairenand estimation of reach task tap different processing modes, which account for the differentialnoutcome.