Early development of anticipatory control under minimal task constraints

Previous studies have reported reduced anticipatory control (also known as end-state comfort planning) in younger children (3-4 years) for tasks with instructions, such as which hand to use. The present study explores the effects of lifting such instructions on anticipatory control in children of different ages. Children between 3 to 10 years of age, taking part in a public engagement event, were asked to move a plunger between shelves of a bookcase, where they were free to use either hand, swap hands during transport and adopt any body posture. Younger children (3-6 years) more often made use of this extra flexibility by swapping hands and changing hand position. Across all ages, children showed evidence of anticipatory control by adjusting the initial grasp to the target shelf height. They also showed evidence of corrections to their hand position during the movement. The anticipatory effect at the start of the movement was smaller than in previous studies, especially when the larger distance between target shelves was taken into account. More flexibility may therefore mean less planning, as corrections can be made during transport.