Related Experiment Videos
Perceptual-motor development and prevention of clumsiness
1University of Western Australia, Department of Psychology, Nedlands.
Insights
Over 60% of children lack essential kinaesthetic ability for motor skills at school entry. Targeted kinaesthetic training can improve motor skills and prevent perceptual-motor dysfunction in some children.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Motor Control
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Perceptual-motor behaviour is crucial for academic and daily tasks.
- Early identification of perceptual-motor dysfunction (PMD) is key for intervention.
- Kinaesthetic ability underpins the development of motor skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To track developmental trends in kinaesthesis and motor-programming.
- To investigate the link between slow kinaesthetic and motor development.
- To assess the impact of accelerated kinaesthetic development and PMD prevention.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study following primary school children over three years.
- Assessment of kinaesthetic ability and motor-programming processes.
- Evaluation of perceptual-motor abilities and motor function.
Main Results:
- Over 60% of children entering primary school lack adequate kinaesthetic ability.
- Spontaneous improvement in kinaesthetic development occurs in some children.
- Kinaesthetic training effectively alleviates dysfunction in 17% of children.
- Perceptual-motor dysfunction becomes apparent when complex motor skills are required.
Conclusions:
- Many children entering school have underdeveloped kinaesthetic abilities impacting motor skill acquisition.
- Early kinaesthetic intervention can prevent or alleviate perceptual-motor dysfunction.
- The manifestation of PMD is linked to the increasing complexity of motor demands during schooling.
Abstract:
This longitudinal study, following children's development over three years, examines the developmental trends in the processes underlying perceptual-motor behaviour. Entry into the study was at first year of primary school, at age 6. The study has three aims: (1) to obtain developmental trends in kinaesthesis and motor-programming processes; (2) to examine the relationship between slow kinaesthetic and motor development; (3) to establish the effect of accelerated kinaesthetic development and prevention of perceptual-motor dysfunction (clumsiness). The results to date show that over 60% of children entering primary school have not developed the kinaesthetic ability necessary for the acquisition and learning of educationally demanded motor skills. Kinaesthetic development is accelerated spontaneously in some children as a response to educational demands; in others a single exposure to kinaesthetic input triggers significant improvement. In the remaining 17% kinaesthetic training can alleviate the kinaesthetic dysfunction. At age 5-6 years only 25 children (8.1%) performed the Perceptual-Motor Abilities Test at levels indicative of perceptual-motor dysfunction. Of these, 13 children (4.2%) were identified as having motor difficulties. These low incidence rates indicate that a low level of kinaesthetic ability has no effect on general motor function at the beginning of schooling, and that only when competence in complex motor skills is expected, from the third year of schooling, does perceptual-motor dysfunction (PMD) become manifest.