Anne Bobin-Bègue

Spontaneous motor tempo and rhythmical synchronisation in 2½- and 4-year-old children

Spontaneous motor tempo and rhythmical synchronisation were studied in 2½- to 4-year-old children. Children were tested in three sessions, each of which included three consecutive tasks: first, spontaneous manual tapping tempo, second, synchronisation to external tempo, followed by spontaneous manual tapping tempo again. Results showed that regular spontaneous manual tapping tempo could be observed in children as young as 2½ years. Moreover, children could slow down their tap rhythm when the auditory stimulation became slower. Anticipating sound and adjusting their motor response to time interval was easier for children at the age of 4 years than for younger children. Consequently, it seems easier for the former to estimate the time interval than for the latter. Data referring to different clock models and new perspectives to conduct research on temporal studies in child development will be discussed.

Régulation rythmique avant 4 ans : effet d’un tempo auditif sur le tempo moteur

L’objectif de cette etude est d’analyser les capacites de l’enfant âge de 1 ½ a 3 ½ ans a modifier son tempo moteur spontane (TMS) en fonction de tempi auditifs. Les resultats montrent que le TMS reste constant entre 1 ½ et 3 ½ ans et que, parallelement, il devient plus regulier. Les enfants les plus âges modifient leurs rythmes de frappes si le tempo auditif differe d’au moins 20 % de leurs propres rythmes. La capacite des enfants a ralentir leurs rythmes de frappes se met en place plus tardivement que leur acceleration. Enfin, les modifications du rythme de frappes induisent une modification equivalente du TMS mais transitoire.

Soutenir l’élaboration de la relation parent-enfant en cas de prématurité

The evolution of the care of premature babies is having an effect on a particular difficulty, that of the development of parenthood and the parent-baby relationship hampered by an early birth. The short- and long-term consequences of any disruption to these two dimensions can be considerable and the hospital must take into account the issue when caring for parents and their premature baby.

Young Children's Difficulties in Switching from Rhythm Production to Temporal Interval Production (>1 S)

This study examined the young children’s abilities to switch from rhythm production, with short inter-tap intervals (ITIs), to temporal interval production, with long ITI (>1 s), in a sensorimotor synchronization task. Children aged 3- and 5-year-olds were given six sessions of synchronization. In a control group, they had to synchronize their ITI to an inter-stimulus interval (ISI) of 4 s. In the experimental group, they must progressively increase their ITI for one session to the next (from 0.4 to 4.0-s ISI). Our results showed that the 5-year-olds produced longer ITI that the 3-year-olds in synchronization. However, the value of ITI in the 5-year-olds never exceeded 1.5 s, with more variable ITI in the control than in the experimental group. In addition, at 5 years, boys had more difficulties than girls in changing their tapping rhythm. These results suggest a temporal window in sensorimotor synchronization, beyond which the rhythm is lost and the synchronization becomes difficult.