Influences on the emergence of strategic visuomotor learning mechanisms in school-aged children

Visuomotor development is based on implicit procedural and explicit strategic learning mechanisms. Given that both of these mechanisms are associated with child maturation, we sought to explore the effect of three related variables on adaptation rates: chronological age, intelligence quotient, and motor skills. In our study, 86 healthy school-aged children (grouped in 6-7, 8-9, and 10-11 years) with no reported visual or developmental disorders participated in a prism-throwing task under two different conditions. In the first condition, we introduced a wedge prism that displaces the visual field laterally. Adapting to this kind of visual perturbation relies mainly on procedural mechanisms. In the second condition, we introduced a dove prism, which reverses the visual field horizontally, allowing us to evaluate explicit strategic learning mechanisms. Most of the children managed to adapt to the use of implicit procedures based on the error feedback, regardless of age. However, older children were able to adopt explicit strategies to counteract the optical disturbance generated by the dove prism in greater proportions, irrespective of motor ability scores or intelligence quotient. Our results suggest that adopting strategic mechanisms depends more on chronological development than on intelligence or motor skills. In contrast, implicit error-based visuomotor learning consolidates from an early age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).