The developmental process of the “foresee-movement” among young children in catching a bouncing ball：data from a two-year longitudinal survey

The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal developmental process of the “foresee-movement” in young children（3-4 year and 4-5 year old）over the period of two years. Forty-five young children participated in this study and completed a parabolic-line task. In this task, an experimenter threw the ball to a height of about 1.6 m from the floor toward a drop point 2 m in front of the participant. The participant was told to move forward 1 m and catch the ball after the first bounce. The participants' catching movements were video recorded from the right. The catching movement was classified into six patterns：（1） no movement；（2）the ball bounced once and passed over the head；（3）the ball was caught after two bounces；（4）an attempt was made to catch the ball after one bounce, but the ball could not be touched；（5） an attempt was made to catch the ball after one bounce, but the ball was knocked away；and（6）the ball was caught after one bounce.As a result, the catching rate increased with age. “Total motion time” and “Movement time” shortened with participant's age. The movement-patterns of the 3 and 4-year-old children were classified into Patterns 1-3. Many of the movement-patterns among the 5-year-old children, on the other hand, were classified as Pattern 5. Motion-Pattern 6 increased significantly between the ages of 4 and 5.Obviously, young children are able to increasingly anticipate the track of the ball and estimate their own movements as they age. Foresee-movement gradually develops with age, even if the catching movement is classified as a failure.