Cross Domain and Interactive Effects Among Visuomotor Skills, Executive Function and Math Between Preschool and Kindergarten

• In Event: 3-047 - Association Between Specific Motor Skills and Executive Functions from Infancy Through Kindergarten age

Integrative Statement

Visuomotor skills (VMS) includes the integration of both fine motor control and perceptual ability and is highly related to academic achievement (Cameron et al., 2012). These skills are also related to executive function (EF) (McClelland and Cameron, 2018) as they require a child to hold, process, and recreate visual stimuli. Studies show children with strong EF and VMS have higher math achievement (Becker et al., 2014), but less work has examined the reciprocal development of EF and VMS over time. It is also not clear how strengths in VMS could buffer the effect of poor EF on math achievement. The present study investigates 1) how EF and VMS are related to each other between the fall of prekindergarten and kindergarten; and 2) if VMS compensates for the effect of low EF on math achievement throughout the prekindergarten and kindergarten year.
The sample included 435 American preschool children (51% boys) aged 35.80 to 76.05 months (M = 56.11, SD = 4.07), with a mean maternal education of 14.38 years (SD = 4.2). In fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten, VMS were assessed using the Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI; Beery, 1997), and EF was measured using the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS; McClelland et al., 2014), the three Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS; Zelazo, 2006) and the Working Memory (WM) subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson-III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III; Woodcock & Mather, 2000). Math was measured using the WJ-III (Woodcock & Mather, 2000) in the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten.
A cross-lagged model tested the effect of EF and VMS for predicting EF and VMS at four time points between fall prekindergarten and spring kindergarten (see Figure 1). In addition, the interaction between EF and VMS was included in the fall and spring of prekindergarten and fall of kindergarten to assess growth in math between fall and spring of the prekindergarten and kindergarten year.
Results showed that VMS measured in the fall of prekindergarten significantly predicted spring prekindergarten EF (HTKS, WM, and DCCS), with spring prekindergarten VMS predicting HTKS and DCCS in the fall of kindergarten. VMS measured in the fall of kindergarten predicted spring kindergarten WM, with fall EF (HTKS and DCCS) predicting spring kindergarten VMS (see Figure 1). Further, VMS compensated for low DCCS and HTKS scores on growth in math between the spring of prekindergarten and fall of kindergarten and between the fall and spring of kindergarten. Between fall and spring of prekindergarten, EF and VMS predicted growth in math, with WM predicting growth between the spring of prekindergarten and fall of kindergarten (see Table 1).
Results suggest that early VMS is a strong predictor of growth in EF between the fall and spring of prekindergarten and kindergarten, with EF predicting VMS at the end of kindergarten. Strong VMS also compensated for low EF on growth in math at the beginning and end of kindergarten, which could suggest early VMS interventions could improve math development for struggling students.

Authors

• Derek R. Becker, Western Carolina University
  Presenting Author

• Megan McClelland, Oregon State University
  Non-Presenting Author