Characterization of drawing movement as schooling advances in primary school

Sun Zengwu, Lin Qiushi, Luo Jianfei, Ren Tingting, Wu Zhongcheng 

COMPUTER MODELLING & NEW TECHNOLOGIES 2014 18(12C) 1249-1253

Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350 Shushanhu Road Hefei, 230031, China

This study was to investigate the development characteristics of several parameters as schooling advances in primary school using computerized movement analyses.Sixty children without handwriting deficits were selected from a Chinese primary school, and they were asked to perform drawing tasks on a digital tablet for kinematic data collecting. In this study four drawing tasks were used: horizontal strokes, vertical strokes, squares and circles. We investigated a series of kinematic parameters such as velocity, acceleration and drawing force, to exam how these parameters change as schooling proceeds. The mean velocity and mean acceleration increase across the grade in all drawing tasks. The mean force of x-axis decreases only in vertical strokes and circles, while the mean force of z-axis decreases across the grade in horizontal strokes and squares. However, there was no significant correlation between grade and the force of y-axis in all tests.The digital tablet is an effective tool to determine the development of hand movement skills of children. This dynamical analysis technique can be used to study the underlying pathology of fine motor disorders.