The effects of gross-motor and fine-motor skill training on the perceptual-motor skills and the intelligence scores of kindergarten children

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the effects of a gross-motor skill training program and a fine-motor skill training program on the intelligence scores and perceptual-motor skills of kindergarten children. Procedure The subjects in this study were sixty-two kindergarten boys and girls from the Edna Lansberry Elementary School, Trinity, Texas. The total population of the two kindergarten classes was stratified on the basis of sex and race, and were randomly assigned to one of the following treatment groups: Group I, Gross-Motor Skill Training; Group II, Fine-Motor Skill Training; and Group III, Control Group. The motor skill training program used for Group I consisted of selected activities from Kephart's Training Activities and other gross-motor training programs. Group II used selected activities from Kephart's Training Activities, Frostig's Program for the Development of Visual Perception and other fine-motor training programs. Group III, the Control Group, had only the activities that were regularly offered in kindergarten. The training sessions consisted of thirty minutes per day, five days a week, for twelve weeks. Two regular kindergarten teachers, with special training and supervision from the investigator, conducted the two training programs, and a teacher's aide under the direction of the kindergarten teachers conducted the Control Group activities. All the subjects were given a pretest on the Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey at the beginning of the study. Post tests on the Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey and Slosson Intelligence Test were given to each subject at the end of the experimental period. ...