Age and gender-related differences in the temporal congruence development between motor imagery and motor performance

Temporal congruence between motor imagery and motor performance was evaluated in 30 elementary school children (7 and 8-year-olds) and 61 middle school children (11 and 12-year-olds), using the “Harre's Chase” obstacle-course [Harre, D. (1976). Trainingslehre. Berlin: Sportverlag]. It is made of successive elementary actions including running, rolling forward, changing direction, jumping and crawling. The children were requested to perform the obstacle-course both actually and mentally. Results showed that motor imagery duration was closer to that of actual execution in the middle school children group, as compared to elementary school children. We also found a gender difference, boys being more able than girls to reach the temporal congruency between imagined and physical times. Developmental factors, as well as gender differences in socio-cognitive traits, are discussed as the main factors explaining the development of the isochrony between actual and imagined movements.