(3) THE EFFECT OF AGE ON THE EYE-HAND COORDINATION OF ADOLESCENTS

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of age on the hand-eye coordination of adolescents. Methods: One hundred twenty-five (125) adolescents attending a summer sports camp participated in the study, including 59 females (F) and 66 males (M). The age groups include the following: age 9, N=28 (10 F, 8 M); age 10, N=26 (16 F, 10 M); age 11, N= 27 (17 F, 10 M); age 12, N=16 (5 F, 11 M); age 13, N=9 (2 F, 7 M); age 14, N=9 (6 F, 3 M); age 15, N=6 (0 F, 6 M); age 16, N=4 (3 F, 1 M). Hand-eye coordination was measured as reaction time (RT) in seconds (s), by the Dynavision D2, a commercial assessment system that measures hand-eye coordination, visual perception, spatial awareness, and reaction time. Results: Descriptive statistics were calculated for reaction time. Means and standard deviations were as follows: age 9 (N=28) 1.088 ± .127 s, age 10 (N=26) 1.022 ± .130 s, age 11 (N=27) .963 ± .144 s, age 12 (N=16) .948 ± .106 s, age 13 (N=9) 909 ± .140 s, age 14 (N=9) .817 ± .088 s, age 15 (N=6) .806 ± .114 s, and age 16 (N=4) .765 ± .064 s). Means and standard deviations were also calculated for age groups as follows: age 9/10 (N=54) 1.056 ± .132 s, age 11/12 (N=43) .958 ± .131 s, age 13/14 (N=18) .863 ± .122 s, age 15/16 (N=10) .790 ± .095 s. One-way ANOVA was used to examine the mean RT of four age groups (9/10, 11/12, 13/14, and 15/16). Tukey’s post-hoc analysis determined significant differences between the RT of the following age groups: 9/10 and 13/14 (p=.00003), 9/10 and 15/16 (p=.000003), and 11/12 and 15/16 (p=.00033). Conclusions: The results of this investigation indicate that age levels have a significant impact on the reaction time of adolescents. Practical Applications: This study provides valuable descriptive data that can be utilized to generate detailed normative reference values for adolescent reaction times measured by the Dynavision D2. Acknowledgements: None