After-effects of adaptation persist through washout in the youngest children, whereas older children and adults return toward baseline by the end of washout¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? All age groups showed after-effects in clamp and washout; the 3–4-year-olds' initial angle remained significantly larger than baseline in early clamp, early washout and late washout, while older groups returned to baseline by end of washout. → Malone 2025

Evidence¶

Malone 2025¶

Malone, L. A., Hill, N. M., Tripp, H., Zipunnikov, V., Wolpert, D. M. & Bastian, A. J. (2025). The control of movement gradually transitions from feedback control to feedforward adaptation throughout childhood. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-025-00304-7

q3 · i? · causal · r2

Post-hoc comparison of initial angle against baseline across clamp and washout in the Push ball task, collapsed and per age group. At end of washout most older age groups no longer differed from baseline (e.g., 5–6yo, p = 0.08; adults, p = 1), whereas the youngest persisted.

"When compared to baseline, the youngest children’s( 3–4yo) initial angle was significantly larger in the early clamp (p < 0.001), early washout (p = 0.001), and late washout (p = 0.003), indicating that the learned pattern was stored and persisted well after the perturbation was removed."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Age and Developmental Stage — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Initial-angle adaptation in a visuomotor rotation task is not adult-like until roughly 13–14 years of age, with younger children adapting less — related
• Children up to adolescence use more online feedback control (larger compensation angles) to counteract the perturbation, while overall target success is preserved across all ages — related
• Younger children's reliance on feedback control reflects a reliance rather than a preference: when adaptation is the only option (Launch ball), they do not adapt more and simply miss the target more — related