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Intervention in the motor domain: A training study with first‐ and second‐grade slow readers
Author(s) -
Potts Marion,
Leyman Laretha
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(197704)14:2<200::aid-pits2310140215>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - psychology , reading (process) , developmental psychology , test (biology) , motor skill , perception , literacy , pedagogy , paleontology , neuroscience , political science , law , biology
A burgeoning interest in learning disabilities during the past five years has aroused educational interest in the hypothesized sequence of motor, perceptual, and symbolic development. The present research was undertaken to test the effectiveness of beginning training at the motor level for children having difficulty with the symbolic system of reading. First‐ and second grade children were screened on the Gates Primary Reading Test and all motor subtests of the Purdue Perceptual‐Motor Survey. The final sample comprised 35 children randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: Motor Training, Physical Education, and Reading Control. Variables of teacher differences, adult‐child ratio, amount of physical activity, and Hawthorne effect were controlled for in the design. Kruskal‐Wallis analysis of variance and an analysis of covariance on a parallel form of standardized reading test showed a consistent pattern of greater gains following motor training and reading activities, and minimal progress after the physical education treatment. It was hypothesized that this may reflect effects of structured experiences and more equal distribution of teacher‐child interaction. Reading gains of the first‐grade children were significantly greater than those of the second‐graders beyond the 0.01 level, a result not explainable by ceiling effects. Implications of the slower progress of the older children were explored in terms of a need for focus on particular reading subskills across perceptual‐motor‐symbolic systems.