Relationship between children's understandings of tool use strategies and their motor performance

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26780374
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Educational psychology
• Research Institution: Osaka Seikei College
• Principal Investigator: Shibuya Ikuko 大阪成蹊短期大学, 幼児教育学科, 准教授 (80616938)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 不器用さ / 道具操作 / 方略理解 / 幼児 / 児童 / 運動パフォーマンス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to clarify how children understood some strategies related to tool use and to examine how their understandings related to their actual motor performance. A series of performance tasks which settled on cutting out a circle with scissors were used in this study. Study 1 examined children’s understandings of the relationship between motor speed and accuracy. According to the results, their understandings related to actual motor accuracy, though did not to actual motor speed. In Study 2, the understandings of bimanual coordination such as effective usage of non-dominant hand were examined. The results showed that the children who understood the more effective strategy could accomplish the tasks more quickly and accurately than those who did not. Based on these findings, it seems important to note children’s understandings of tool use strategies, in developing a support program for improving their tool use performance.

Free Research Field

発達心理学、臨床心理学、特別支援教育