Rhythmic coordination dynamics in children with and without a developmental coordination disorder

The aim of the present thesis is to examine the intrinsic dynamics of rhythmic coordinated actions in children with and without DCD by testing the stability of these patterns. Two basically different coordination systems are examined, namely, rhythmic interlimb coordination and rhythmic perception-action coupling (i.e., coordinating a rhythmically moving limb with periodic perceptual events). Since there is little known about the development of coordination stability in these coordination systems in childhood, the first part of the thesis focuses on age related differences in stability in children in the age range from 6 to 11 years. The second part focuses on differences in stability between a group of children with DCD and age matched controls. The research questions can be formulated as follows: 1. Are there age related differences in the stability bimanual rhythmic coordination and unimanual rhythmic perception-action patterns in school age children? 2. Are there differences between children with DCD and age matched controls in the stability of bimanual rhythmic coordination and unimanual rhythmic perception-action patterns? 3. Can we identify subtypes of children with DCD based on differences in coordination stability