Training to improve manual control in 7-8 and 10-12 year old children: Training eliminates performance differences
Winona Snapp-Childs1, Aaron J Fath1, Carol A Watson1
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, United States.
Human Movement Science
|August 5, 2015
Summary
A new training method significantly improves perceptuo-motor skills in children, enabling younger children to match older children's performance in 3D tracing and showing skill transfer to 2D drawing tasks.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Motor learning
- Perceptual-motor development
Background:
- Children often struggle with motor skill acquisition, impacting perceptuo-motor learning.
- Perceptuo-motor learning requires precise movement control, which can be challenging for many children.
- Previous research indicated a training method enhances perceptuo-motor skills in younger children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the effectiveness of a novel perceptuo-motor training method on 7-8 year olds versus 10-12 year olds.
- To determine if younger children, with appropriate support, can achieve similar perceptuo-motor performance as older children.
- To investigate the transfer of training effects from a 3D tracing task to a 2D drawing task in different age groups.
Main Methods:
- A perceptuo-motor training program focused on active movement generation was implemented.
- Participants completed a 3D tracing task requiring compliance control before and after training.
- Performance was assessed by comparing pre-training and post-training scores across age groups (7-8 vs. 10-12 years).
- Transfer of learning was evaluated by assessing performance on a 2D drawing task post-training.
Main Results:
- Pre-training, 7-8 year olds demonstrated poorer performance than 10-12 year olds.
- Post-training, both age groups showed significant performance improvements.
- Performance differences between the age groups were eliminated after training.
- Training effects on the 3D tracing task transferred to the 2D drawing task for both age groups.
Conclusions:
- The developed training method effectively enhances perceptuo-motor skills in children across different age ranges.
- Appropriate support, as provided by the training method, can bridge performance gaps between younger and older children.
- The training promotes generalizable motor learning, evidenced by skill transfer to related tasks.
