ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R

Advances in Psychological Science ›› 2015, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (2): 261-267.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00261

• Regular Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Development of Fine Motor Skills and its Relation to Cognitive Development in Young Children

GENG Da1,2; ZHANG Xingli1,3; SHI Jiannong1,2,3,4   

  1. (1 Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China) (2 University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China) (3 Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China) (4 Department of Learning and Philosophy, Aalborg University, Denmark)
  • Received:2013-12-09 Online:2015-02-14 Published:2015-02-14
  • Contact: ZHANG Xingli, E-mail: zhangxl@psych.ac.cn; SHI Jiannong, E-mail: shijn@psych.ac.cn

Abstract:

Fine motor skills refer to any movement where an individual uses the small muscles or muscle areas of the hands and fingers; these movements serve to development of muscle while also improving the cognitive recognition of the object. Automatic fine motor skills can save limited attention resources for advanced cognition tasks as required by an individual; in the development of fine motor skills and cognition, the two abilities interact, some motor skills are the prerequisite for some cognition and the practice of cognition. Fine motor skills also can predict the academic performance of young students. The two abilities are inter-related because they share common areas of the brain: the prefrontal lobe and the cerebellum. As a result, some cognition disorders could be treated through fine motor skill training and exercises.

Key words: fine motor skill, cognition, relation, development, children