Timing and Motor Control in Clumsy Children

The study examined timing control in clumsy children and employed the Wing-Kristofferson (1973) model of repetitive movements in an attempt to identify the locus of timing control difficulties in clumsy children. Two groups of children classified as normal and clumsy (ages 6-7 and 9-10) performed tapping and perception of duration and loudness tasks. Results indicated that clumsy children were significantly more variable than normal children in maintaining a set rate of tapping and in accurately judging time intervals. Evidence indicated that the source of timing control problems in clumsy children may be in a central timekeeping mechanism, possibly the cerebellum.