Coincident timing behavior of young mentally retarded workers under varying conditions of target velocity and exposure

The degree to which response complexity affects the ability of moderately mentally retarded adults to perform on a coincident timing task was examined. In Experiment 1 subjects were required to depress a key to estimate accurately the arrival of a moving target at a predetermined coincident point. Analyses of both constant and variable error scores suggested that subjects had difficulty inhibiting their responses and that an optimal exposure distance for the task existed. In Experiment 2 subjects were required to make a movement response to the target. Subjects made more constant errors in this experiment but improved when provided maximum target preview. These mixed findings are discussed in terms of subjects' impulsivity and their sensitivity to the characteristics of the display.