The developing mind in action: measuring manual dynamics in childhood

Developmental theory has long emphasized the importance of linking perception, cognition, and action. Techniques designed to record the spatial and temporal characteristics of hand movements (i.e., manual dynamics) present new opportunities to study the nature of these links across development by providing a window into how perceptual, cognitive, and motoric processes interact and unfold over time. Although manual dynamics are commonly used to explore a range of topics with adults, including language processing, numerical cognition, social perception, and cognitive control, comparatively little research has used hand-tracking techniques to explore these topics with children. The current article aims to bring attention to this methodological gap and discuss how and why developmental researchers might want to address it. The article introduces two hand-tracking techniques, contrasts how the techniques have been used with adults relative to children, and explores how manual dynamics might fit into the broader landscape of research in child development.