Mean and standard deviation for <i>reciprocal root mean square error</i> (<i>RMSE</i>) whilst Tracking without and with a guide-line, with effect size estimates for between-task differences.

1<p>Effect size for the mean difference between reciprocal RMSE With and Without a Guide-line.</p

Bar-chart of reciprocal penalised path accuracy (<i>pPA</i>) by Age-Group and Sex.

<p>Reciprocal <i>pPA</i> is a unitless measure of spatial accuracy whilst tracing, adjusted to standardise for individual variation in speed. Statistically significant differences between Age-Groups and Sex were found on this outcome (both p<.001), with no significant interaction between them. Performance improved with increasing age and was consistently better (higher) in Females. Note: Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.</p

Frequency parameters for the three pattern speeds, plus resultant durations and velocities.

<p>Frequency parameters for the three pattern speeds, plus resultant durations and velocities.</p

Illustrations of the three manual control battery tasks: (a) Tracking, (b) Aiming and (c) Tracing.

<p>(a) Left is a schematic of first Tracking trial (i.e. without ‘Guideline’), annotated with a dotted line to indicate the trajectory of the moving dot. Right is a schematic of the second Tracking trial, which included the additional Guideline. (b) Schematic of the Aiming subtest, annotated with dotted arrows implying the movements participants would make with their stylus to move off the start position, between target locations and to reach the finish position. On the 4^th panel further annotations indicate the locations in which targets sequentially appeared, with numbers indicating the sequence in which they were cued. (c) Left is a schematic depicting tracing path A and right is a schematic depicting tracing path B. The black shaky lines are an example of the ‘ink trails’ a participant would produce with their stylus in the course of tracing.</p

Line-graph of reciprocal movement time (<i>MT</i>) by Age-Group, Sex and Experimental Condition.

<p>Reciprocal <i>MT</i> (sec⁻¹) is a measure of average time to move from one target to the next in a serial aiming task. In normal Baseline and Embedded-Baseline trials Female participants had a statistically significant advantage over males in the younger age-groups, with this crossing over in the older age-groups (i.e. no sex differences or a male advantage dependent on age-group and Condition). Meanwhile, no significant differences between sexes were observed, irrespective of age, for ‘Jump’ aiming movements that required additional online corrections. This was reflected in statistical analysis finding a significant 3-way interactions between Age-Group, Sex and Condition (p<.05). Note: Point estimates and associated 95% confidence Intervals for each sex group within an age-group have been artificially moved on the horizontal axis so that they display side-by-side, preventing overlaps obscuring interpretation.</p

Mean and standard deviation for <i>reciprocal movement time</i> (<i>MT</i>) whilst Aiming by Sex across Age Bands and Experimental Conditions, with effect size estimates for between-sex differences.

1<p>Effect size for the mean difference between sex for reciprocal MT.</p

Descriptive statistics for <i>movement time</i> (<i>MT</i>) during Tracing trials.

1<p>Participants whose <i>MT</i> was either >41 seconds or <31 seconds (i.e. more than 5 seconds [i.e. 1 ‘pace box’ or more] adrift either side of the expected completion time).</p

Descriptive statistics for age, sex and handedness of whole sample and across age-bands.

1<p>Denominators for percentages are relative to each column's n (see first row of the table).</p