Aims

The present study explored fine motor skill automatization and working memory in kindergarten children with and without potential fine motor impairments. For both groups, lower performance was expected in a cognitive-motor dual-task compared to single-tasks. Children with potential fine motor impairments were expected to show higher dual-task costs (indicating lower automatization) and lower working memory performance compared to children without potential fine motor impairments.

Methods

The sample included 18 kindergarten children (mean age M = 67.17 months, SD = 4.34 months) with potential fine motor impairments (scoring at or below the 9th percentile of the manual dexterity scale of the Movement ABC-2; Petermann, 2011) and 36 children scoring above the 9th percentile of the manual dexterity scale of the Movement ABC-2 (mean age M = 67.56 months; SD = 3.74). All children completed a fine motor task (trail drawing) and a working memory task (digit span backwards) in single- and dual-task conditions.

Results

Results showed an overall lower cognitive but not fine motor performance in the dual-task condition compared to the single-task condition. Overall, the group scoring above the 9th percentile showed a lower error-to-length ratio and higher working memory performance than the group with potential fine motor impairments. The dual-task costs did not differ between the groups.

Conclusions

Although the potential fine motor impaired children did not show an automatization deficit, they might be at risk of academic problems due to their lower fine motor and working memory performance. Implications for school and interventions are discussed.

中文翻译：

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有和没有潜在精细运动障碍的儿童的精细运动技能自动化和工作记忆：一项探索性研究

目标

本研究探讨了有和没有潜在精细运动障碍的幼儿园儿童的精细运动技能自动化和工作记忆。对于这两个小组，与单任务相比，认知运动双任务的预期表现较低。与没有潜在精细运动障碍的儿童相比，有潜在精细运动障碍的儿童预计会表现出更高的双任务成本（表明自动化程度较低）和较低的工作记忆表现。

方法

样本包括 18 名幼儿园儿童（平均年龄M  = 67.17 个月，SD  = 4.34 个月），有潜在的精细运动障碍（得分等于或低于运动 ABC-2 手动灵巧量表的第 9 个百分位数；彼得曼，2011 年）和 36得分高于运动 ABC-2 手动灵巧量表第 9 个百分位数的儿童（平均年龄M  = 67.56 个月；SD  = 3.74）。所有儿童都在单任务和双任务条件下完成了一项精细运动任务（轨迹绘图）和一项工作记忆任务（向后数字跨度）。

结果

结果显示，与单任务条件相比，双任务条件下的整体认知能力较低，但精细运动表现不佳。总体而言，得分高于第 9 个百分位的组显示出比具有潜在精细运动障碍的组更低的错误长度比和更高的工作记忆性能。双任务成本在各组之间没有差异。

结论

尽管潜在的精细运动受损儿童没有表现出自动化缺陷，但由于精细运动和工作记忆能力较低，他们可能面临学业问题的风险。讨论了对学校和干预措施的影响。