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Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

06:48
Lexical Decision Task for Studying Written Word Recognition in Adults with and without Dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment
Published on: June 25, 2019
Cognitive processing and motor execution in the lexical decision task: a developmental study.
Sascha Schroeder1, Julius Verrel
1Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany, sascha.schroeder@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|September 14, 2013
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Lexical decision making (LDT) involves visual word recognition and response selection.
- Understanding cognitive-motor interactions is crucial for developmental studies.
- Previous models may not fully capture developmental changes in LDT.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-related differences in cognitive-motor integration during lexical decision making.
- To quantify cognitive interference on motor performance in children and adults.
- To explore the overlap between cognitive processing and motor execution in the LDT.
Main Methods:
- Movement trajectories were analyzed in three tasks: LDT, a pointing task, and a symbol task.
- Spatiotemporal characteristics (smoothness, speed, curvature) were compared across tasks and age groups.
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Main Results:
- LDT movements were less smooth, slower, and more curved, with interference decreasing with age.
- Older children exhibited greater interference than adults, despite similar reaction times.
- The symbol task did not show comparable interference, suggesting LDT-specific cognitive-motor overlap.
Conclusions:
- Significant overlap exists between cognitive processing and motor execution in children's LDT performance.
- Developmental differences in LDT are not solely explained by response mapping or decision selection.
- Current computational models may need refinement to account for these developmental cognitive-motor interactions.

