Processing speed deficits: A missing link in understanding individual variation in children's interval timing skills?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Interval timing is crucial for motor skills.
• Processing speed's role in interval timing is not fully understood.
• Executive functions and motor skills are linked to interval timing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate processing speed's moderating and mediating effects on children's interval timing.
• To examine the interplay between movement skills, executive functions, and interval timing.
• To identify at-risk profiles for timing-based skill deficits.

Main Methods:

• Children aged 9-11 completed interval timing, executive functioning, and processing speed tasks.
• A movement skills assessment was also administered.
• Statistical analyses explored moderating and mediating roles of processing speed.

Main Results:

• Processing speed moderated the relationship between movement skills and interval timing variability.
• Children with poor movement skills and slow processing speed showed the most variable interval timing.
• Processing speed mediated the link between executive functions (working memory, inhibitory control) and interval timing variability.

Conclusions:

• Slow processing speed may put children with movement difficulties at higher risk for timing-based motor skill deficits.
• Processing speed may interfere with executive functions essential for interval timing.
• Combined deficits in timing, motor ability, and processing speed may indicate a neurodevelopmental risk profile.