Intraindividual Variability Measurement of Fine Manual Motor Skills in Children Using an Electronic Pegboard: Cohort Study

Abstract

Background Pegboard tests are a powerful technique used by health and education professionals to evaluate manual dexterity and fine motor speed, both in children and adults. Using traditional pegboards in tests, the total time that, for example, a 4-year-old child needs for inserting pegs in a pegboard, with the left or right hand, can be measured. However, these measurements only allow for studying the variability among individuals, whereas no data can be obtained on the intraindividual variability in inserting and removing these pegs with one and the other hand. Objective The aim of this research was to study the intraindividual variabilities in fine manual motor skills of 2- to 3-year-old children during playing activities, using a custom designed electronic pegboard. Methods We have carried out a pilot study with 39 children, aged between 25 and 41 months. The children were observed while performing a task involving removing 10 pegs from 10 holes on one side and inserting them in 10 holes on the other side of a custom-designed sensor-based electronic pegboard, which has been built to be able to measure the times between peg insertions and removals. Results A sensor-based electronic pegboard was successfully developed, enabling the collection of single movement time data. In the piloting, a lower intraindividual variability was found in children with lower placement and removal times, confirming Adolph et al’s hypothesis. Conclusions The developed pegboard allows for studying intraindividual variability using automated wirelessly transmitted data provided by its sensors. This novel technique has been useful in studying and validating the hypothesis that children with lower movement times present lower intraindividual variability. New research is necessary to confirm these findings. Research with larger sample sizes and age ranges that include additional testing of children’s motor development level is currently in preparation.

Assessing Children’s Fine Motor Skills With Sensor-Augmented Toys: Machine Learning Approach

“…Two out of 3 subtests of the fine MABC-2 are time-sensitive. These findings correspond to the results of Rivera et al [ 18 ], who showed that the time for completing a task was an important component for intraindividual variability with their tested sensor-augmented toy.…”

“…To the best of our knowledge, only 3 studies involved smart toys for assessing children's fine motor skills [17][18][19]. Vega-Barbas et al [17] only performed a usability and feasibility test with smart toys that are potentially helpful for assessing motor skills, but they have not used it for assessment yet.…”

“…Moreover, they did not build a classification model that might predict the outcome of current motor skill assessment tests. Rivera et al [ 18 ] studied the intraindividual variability. Guitiérrez García et al [ 19 ] did build a regression model, but this model has not been tested and used to classify the fine motor skill level based on the sensor data yet.…”

Do preliterate children spontaneously employ spatial coding for serial order in working memory?

“…As long as conventions from literacy have not yet drilled the system into consistent spatial coding across individuals, within‐subject systematicity in orientation will be largely determined by, for example, visuomotor experiences (e.g., finger counting, hand dominance, counting directions while pointing objects, and organizing objects in rows or piles) that come with large individual differences 35–37 . Systematicity in orientation may potentially even be lacking within the preliterate child—in line with the idea that at a young age, many intraindividual differences in motor tasks exist 38,39 . Interestingly, adults lacking literacy conventions also demonstrate more variable orientations in serial order processes 18 .…”

“…[35][36][37] Systematicity in orientation may potentially even be lacking within the preliterate child-in line with the idea that at a young age, many intraindividual differences in motor tasks exist. 38,39 Interestingly, adults lacking literacy conventions also demonstrate more variable orientations in serial order processes. 18 Once literacy is being acquired, it shapes the orientation of spontaneous spatial coding in WM such that the orientation normalizes across individuals.…”