Neuropsychological Parameters of Graphomotor Skills in Typically Developing Children

Abstract

The relevance of the problem of specific learning disorders is becoming greater due to their increase among school-age children. The issue of their prevention is insufficiently discussed, which explains the limited number of studies on preschool children who are about to enter school. Delineating their neuropsychological profiles is important for deriving age norms for the development of basic mental functions, as well as for predicting future obstacles in the literacy process. The reason for this is that the preschool period has a specific sensitivity to the specialization of the cerebral hemispheres and the formation of the morpho-functional basis of higher psychic functions. Graphomotor skills are a basic phenomenon in preschool age, and their development implies a complex integration of programming, executive and spatial functions. According to literature, deficits in graphic functions are part of the developmental dyslexia syndrome. Purpose of the Study: To analyze the dynamics of neuropsychological mechanisms in the formation of motor graphic programs in the preschool period (4-, 5- and 6-year-old children). Hypotheses: 1) The age factor has a leading importance for the development of cerebral mechanisms and for the dynamics of graphomotor functions during the preschool period; 2) Children with typical development demonstrate different levels of graphic skills determined by the influence of social conditions and individual dynamics in the development of brain mechanisms of motor programs. Method: Neuropsychological graphomotor test “Fence”, assessing the serial organization of movements and the ability to master a kinetic program. Participants: The study included 365 children with typical development, divided into three age groups—4-, 5- and 6-year-old. Along with the influence of the age factor, the influence of gender and demographic conditions (type of settlement) is also taken into account. Results: Criteria for outcome assessment included quality of serial movement organization, state of executive functions (mastery, degree of program formation), visual-spatial organization, and motor pauses. The pooled individual group scores were subjected to analysis of variance, which showed statistically significant influence of all three factors: age, demographics, and gender. The hypothesis of positive age dynamics of children’s graphomotor skills, most pronounced at age 5, is confirmed. Despite the trend towards improvement in serial organization and coordination of manual movements, only 18% of children at age 6 years were fully proficient in the graphic test. The large differences in individual results are the basis for separating subgroups by state of graphomotor skills and different level of readiness for schooling. Conclusions: The age period 4 - 6 years is sensitive for the formation of the serial and spatial organization of children’s graphic skills as predictors of successful school learning. The graphomotor test “Fence” is an objective and convenient method for diagnosing complex motor functions in the preschool period and a criterion for identify children at risk of learning difficulties.