Keeping the line in transition years: Comparison of preschoolers and nine graders

Abstract

The study deals with the graphomotor difficulties of children at the beginning and the end of primary school. The aim is to describe and analyze the occurrence of two manifestations of graphomotor problems: tremor and line continuity. The results of the redrawing of seven graphics were compared. Fifty-one (51) preschoolers and 22 nine graders participated in the research. The tremor was detected at 1/5 to 4/5 of preschoolers and at 1/5 to 3/5 of ninth graders; the prevalence of the tremor decreases with age. Significant differences were found in the number of interruptions in most tasks. Contrary to expectations, more interruptions were found among 9th graders. The result is interpreted based on declining experience with writing and drawing images larger than interlinear differences, experience interference such as writing through discontinuous cursive handwriting, favored by the majority of adolescents, and intervening personality characteristics such as perfectionism, and laziness.

Keywords: Adolescents; graphomotor skills; interruptions; preschool children; tremor