Relation of Kinesthetic Perception to a Selected Motor Skill for Elementary School Children

Abstract

The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether or not selected measures of kinesthesis, involving arm positioning, were related to measures of accuracy in ball rolling, and (b) to discover whether or not there were any differences between elementary school boys and girls in kinesthetic measures and in ball rolling ability measures. Forty-seven first and second grade boys and girls were tested on four arm positioning measures and two ball rolling measures. The results of the study indicated that: (a) there is no significant relationship between ball rolling and positional measures of kinesthesis; (b) there are no real differences between boys and girls in their ability to accurately repeat positional measures of kinesthesis; and (c) boys are significantly superior to girls in their ability to manipulate accurately large and small balls, as measured by the tests used in this study.