Potter Nancy L, Kent Raymond D, Lazarus Jo-Anne C
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Washington State University-Spokane, WA 99210-1495, USA.
J Mot Behav. 2009 Jan;41(1):66-81. doi: 10.1080/00222895.2009.10125919.
The authors examined and compared the development of oral and manual force control in preschool-aged children. In all, 50 typically developing children (aged 3-5 years) performed maximal strength tasks and submaximal visually guided tasks using tongue elevation, power, and precision grips. Dependent measures included strength, rate of force rise, initial force overshoot, force variability, and rate of force release. The authors performed age- and performance-related analyses. Results revealed similar changes for tongue, fingers, and hands across age- and performance-related measures for strength, initial force overshoot, and rate of force release. There were no significant changes in rate of force rise with increasing age. Force variability measures showed effector-specific changes with decreases across age- and performance-related measures for the hands and fingers but not for the tongue. Changes common across effector systems likely reflect biological development coupled with cognitive-strategic development. Effector-specific changes in force variability likely reflect experience gained through functional tasks influencing biological and cognitive-strategic development. Lack of change in force variability of the tongue suggests that fine control of the tongue is activity specific; thus, nonfunctional tasks are not likely to be sensitive to experience-related biological development.
作者研究并比较了学龄前儿童口腔和手部力量控制的发展情况。共有50名发育正常的儿童（年龄在3至5岁之间）进行了最大力量任务以及使用舌部抬高、抓握力量和精确抓握的次最大视觉引导任务。相关测量指标包括力量、力量上升速率、初始力量超调、力量变异性和力量释放速率。作者进行了与年龄和表现相关的分析。结果显示，在与年龄和表现相关的力量、初始力量超调以及力量释放速率的测量指标方面，舌部、手指和手部呈现出相似的变化。随着年龄增长，力量上升速率没有显著变化。力量变异性测量显示，手部和手指在与年龄和表现相关的测量指标上呈现出效应器特异性变化，即随着年龄增长而降低，但舌部没有这种变化。效应器系统间的共同变化可能反映了生物发育与认知策略发展的结合。力量变异性方面的效应器特异性变化可能反映了通过功能性任务获得的经验对生物和认知策略发展的影响。舌部力量变异性缺乏变化表明，舌部的精细控制是特定于活动的；因此，非功能性任务可能对与经验相关的生物发育不敏感。
