2013/04/28 by Abby G. Carlson, Ellen Rowe, Ellen W. Rowe +1 · 1 citation
Mathematics · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Academic achievement #Children's Physical and Motor Development #Cognition #Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills #Cognitive psychology #Copying #Developmental psychology #Motor coordination #Motor skill #Neuroscience #Perception #Population #Psychology #Psychomotor learning #Socioeconomic status #Visual perception #Writing and Handwriting Education
paper · doi:10.1080/00221325.2012.717122
openalex publication_date 2013/04/28 · crossref created 2013/04/28 · crossref issued 2013/09/01 · crossref published 2013/09/01 · crossref published-print 2013/09/01 · crossref deposited 2017/06/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Recent research has established a connection between children's fine motor skills and their academic performance. Previous research has focused on fine motor skills measured prior to elementary school, while the present sample included children ages 5-18 years old, making it possible to examine whether this link remains relevant throughout childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, the majority of research linking fine motor skills and academic achievement has not determined which specific components of fine motor skill are driving this relation. The few studies that have looked at associations of separate fine motor tasks with achievement suggest that copying tasks that tap visual-spatial integration skills are most closely related to achievement. The present study examined two separate elements of fine motor skills--visual-motor coordination and visual-spatial integration--and their associations with various measures of academic achievement. Visual-motor coordination was measured using tracing tasks, while visual-spatial integration was measured using copy-a-figure tasks. After controlling for gender, socioeconomic status, IQ, and visual-motor coordination, and visual-spatial integration explained significant variance in children's math and written expression achievement. Knowing that visual-spatial integration skills are associated with these two achievement domains suggests potential avenues for targeted math and writing interventions for children of all ages.