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Young children's divergent movement ability

F E Cleland1, D L Gallahue

  • 1Department of Physical Education, University of New Hampshire.

Perceptual and Motor Skills
|October 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary

Movement experience and age significantly influence young children's gross motor skill development. These factors explained 45% of the variance in divergent movement abilities in the study.

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Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Motor Learning
  • Kinesiology

Background:

  • Gross motor development is crucial for children's physical literacy.
  • Divergent movement, the ability to perform and adapt fundamental movement patterns, is a key aspect of motor development.
  • Understanding factors influencing divergent movement can inform early childhood physical education and intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between age, gender, movement experience, and gross motor development in young children.
  • To determine the predictive power of these factors on divergent movement scores.
  • To analyze the variance in gross motor skill explained by age and experience.

Main Methods:

  • Forty children aged 4, 6, and 8 years (boys and girls) participated.
  • Divergent movement ability was assessed through three fundamental movement tasks.
  • Movement experience was measured via parental questionnaires, and gross motor skill was evaluated using the Ulrich Test of Gross Motor Development.
  • All testing sessions were videotaped for detailed analysis.

Main Results:

  • Forward stepwise regression analysis indicated that movement experience and age were significant predictors of gross motor skill.
  • Together, age and movement experience accounted for 45% of the variance in children's gross motor skill scores.
  • Gender and other factors not specified did not show significant predictive power in this model.

Conclusions:

  • Age and accumulated movement experience are critical components of gross motor skill acquisition in early childhood.
  • Early intervention and opportunities to enhance movement experience may positively impact children's fundamental movement patterns and overall motor development.
  • Further research could explore the specific types of movement experiences that most benefit divergent movement abilities.

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