article review 42

Children's ability to learn a motor skill is related to handwriting and

reading proficiency

In the current study, 5- to 8-year-old children's handwriting and reading were associated with the production of the ILT, a simple, graphomotor skill learning task. In Phase I of the current study, children's handwriting (speed and legibility) was assessed contemporaneously with the

ILT. The following year, Phase II assessed both handwriting and reading speed. The findings clearly indicate that the performance of the ILT showed strong associations to handwriting and reading. The ILT averaged accuracy score was associated with handwriting legibility, assessed contemporaneously with the ILT, beyond age, SES, and visual-motor skills All four ILT speed-performance measurements were associated with contemporaneous handwriting speed, as well as with handwriting- and reading-speed assessed in the following year, beyond age and SES. Of the four ILT speed-performance measurements, 24 h post-training measurement made the largest associations. While age and SES contributed 60%–70% to the handwriting- and reading speed variance, an additional 10% (or larger) contribution was made by successive ILT speedmeasurements. Finally, the association between ILT speed-performance measurements and following year handwriting speed was mediated by reading speed assessed contemporaneous with handwriting speed.We suggest that the results reflect the role of the underlying procedural learning mechanism in handwriting and reading, as assessed using the ILT.