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Assessment of Motor Functioning in the Preschool Period

Abstract  

The assessment of motor functioning in young children has become increasingly important in recent years with the acknowledgement
that motor impairment is linked with cognitive, language, social and emotional difficulties. However, there is no one gold standard assessment tool to investigate motor ability in children. The aim of the current paper was to discuss the issues related
to the assessment of motor ability in young pre-school children and to provide guidelines on the best approach for motor assessment.
The paper discusses the maturational changes in brain development at the preschool level in relation to motor ability. Other
issues include sex differences in motor ability at this young age, and evidence for this in relation to sociological versus
biological influences. From the previous literature it is unclear what needs to be assessed in relation to motor functioning.
Should the focus be underlying motor processes or movement skill assessment? Several key assessment tools are discussed that
produce a general measure of motor performance followed by a description of tools that assess specific skills, such as fine
and gross motor, ball and graphomotor skills. The paper concludes with recommendations on the best approach in assessing motor
function in pre-school children.

  • Content Type Journal Article
  • Category Review
  • Pages 1-12
  • DOI 10.1007/s11065-012-9211-4
  • Authors
    • Jan P. Piek, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, GPO, Box U1987, Perth, 6845 Western Australia, Australia
    • Beth Hands, Institute for Health and Rehabilitation Science, University of Notre Dame Australia, PO Box 1225, Fremantle, 6959 Western Australia, Australia
    • Melissa K. Licari, School of Sport Science, Exercise & Health, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, 6009 Western Australia, Australia
    • Journal Neuropsychology Review
    • Online ISSN 1573-6660
    • Print ISSN 1040-7308
Posted in: Journal Article Abstracts on 07/30/2012 | Link to this post on IFP |
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