Training to improve manual control in 7-8 and 10-12 year old children: Training eliminates performance differences between ages.

Many children have difficulty producing movements well enough to improve in perceptuo-motor learning. We have developed a training method that supports active movement generation to allow improvement in a 3D tracing task requiring good compliance control. We previously tested 7-8 year old children who exhibited poor performance and performance differences before training.

The relationship between manual coordination and mental health.

Motor coordination impairments frequently co-occur with other developmental disorders and mental health problems in clinically referred populations. But does this reflect a broader dimensional relationship within the general population? A clearer understanding of this relationship might inform improvements in mental health service provision. However, ascertainment and referral bias means that there is limited value in conducting further research with clinically referred samples.

Children's head movements and postural stability as a function of task.

Manual dexterity and postural control develop throughout childhood, leading to changes in the synergistic relationships between head, hand and posture. But the postural developments that support complex manual task performance (i.e.

Training compliance control yields improvements in drawing as a function of Beery scores.

Many children have difficulty producing movements well enough to improve in sensori-motor learning. Previously, we developed a training method that supports active movement generation to allow improvement at a 3D tracing task requiring good compliance control. Here, we tested 7-8 year old children from several 2nd grade classrooms to determine whether 3D tracing performance could be predicted using the Beery VMI.

Manual control age and sex differences in 4 to 11 year old children.

To what degree does being male or female influence the development of manual skills in pre-pubescent children? This question is important because of the emphasis placed on developing important new manual skills during this period of a child's education (e.g. writing, drawing, using computers).

Grasping the changes seen in older adults when reaching for objects of varied texture.

Old age is associated with reduced mobility of the hand. To investigate age related decline when reaching-to-lift an object we used sophisticated kinematic apparatus to record reaches carried out by healthy older and younger participants. Three objects of different widths were placed at three different distances, with objects having either a high or low friction surface (i.

Predicting the effect of surface texture on the qualitative form of prehension.

Reach-to-grasp movements change quantitatively in a lawful (i.e. predictable) manner with changes in object properties.