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Published on: March 21, 2019
Quiet eye distinguishes children of high and low motor coordination abilities
Mark R Wilson1, Charlotte A L Miles, Samuel J Vine
1Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom. mark.wilson@ex.ac.uk
Insights
Children with better motor coordination exhibit longer quiet eye (QE) durations during visuomotor tasks. This suggests impaired sensory feedback processing in those with coordination difficulties, impacting fundamental movement skill acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric motor development
- Visuomotor control research
- Gaze behavior analysis
Background:
- Motor coordination is crucial for children's development and daily activities.
- Objective measures are needed to understand visuomotor control differences.
- The quiet eye (QE) is a potential objective measure of visuomotor control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the quiet eye (QE) as an objective measure of visuomotor control in children.
- To differentiate motor coordination abilities using QE metrics.
- To explore the relationship between QE and motor coordination in children.
Main Methods:
- Fifty-seven children (9-10 years) completed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (MABC-2).
- Gaze registration system used to record eye movements during a ball-throwing and catching task.
- Participants categorized into high, median, and low motor coordination groups based on MABC-2 scores.
Main Results:
- The high motor coordination group showed significantly higher catching success rates (92%) compared to median (62%) and low (35%) groups.
- The high motor coordination group exhibited longer QE fixations during targeting (500 ms) and tracking (260 ms) phases.
- Tracking QE duration was the sole significant predictor of catching ability differences between groups.
Conclusions:
- Children with movement coordination difficulties may have impaired predictive and calibration abilities based on sensory feedback.
- Findings highlight the role of visuomotor control, specifically QE, in children's motor proficiency.
- Implications for pedagogical approaches in teaching fundamental movement skills to children with coordination challenges.
Purpose:
This is the first study to use the quiet eye (QE) as an objective measure of visuomotor control underpinning proficiency differences in children's motor coordination.
Methods:
Fifty-seven, year 5 primary school children (9-10 yr old) completed the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (MABC-2), while wearing a gaze registration system. Participants were subsequently divided into one of three ability groups: high motor coordination (HMC), median motor coordination (MMC), and low motor coordination (LMC) based on these MABC-2 scores (mean % rank: HMC = 84%, MMC = 51%, LMC = 19%). QE analyses were performed for the fourth task of the MABC-2, which involved throwing a tennis ball against a wall and catching it on the return.
Results:
The HMC group was more successful in the catching task than both other groups (catching percentage: HMC = 92%, MMC = 62%, LMC = 35%) and demonstrated superior visuomotor control throughout the throwing and catching phases of the task. Compared with the other groups, the HMC group demonstrated longer targeting QE fixations before the release of the ball (HMC = 500 ms, MMC = 410 ms, LMC = 260 ms) and longer tracking QE durations before catching (HMC = 260 ms, MMC = 200 ms, LMC = 150 ms). There were no significant differences in ball flight time between the groups. Mediation analyses revealed that only the duration of the tracking QE predicted group differences in catching ability.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest that the ability to predict and calibrate movements based on sensory feedback may be impaired in children with movement coordination difficulties and have implications for how they are taught fundamental movement skills.
