The aim of this study was to investigate whether and which
aspects of a concurrent motor activity can facilitate children’s
and adults’ performance in a dynamic imagery task. Children (5-,
7-, and 9-year-olds) and adults were asked to tilt empty glasses,
filled with varied amounts of imaginary water, so that the imagined
water would reach the rim. Results showed that in a manual
tilting task where glasses could be tilted actively with visual feedback,
even 5-year-olds performed well. However, in a blind tilting
task and in a static judgment task, all age groups showed markedly
lower performance. This implies that visual movement information
facilitates imagery. In a task where the tilting movement was visible
but regulated by means of an on-and-off remote control, a
clear age trend was found, indicating that active motor control
and motor feedback are particularly important in imagery performance
of younger children.