Movement Makes Meaning: The Role of Fine Motor Skills in an Embodied Reading Comprehension Program
Description
Simulation theory states that text comprehension is achieved by simulating (or imagining) text content using motor, perceptual, and emotional systems. Hence, motor skill should correlate with comprehension skill. In fact, previous research has linked fine motor skills (FMS) with word processing and mathematical skills. I predicted a positive relationship between FMS and reading comprehension. Children enrolled in a reading comprehension intervention were assessed on FMS using the Movement ABC-2. There was a significant correlation between FMS and comprehension of narrative texts, but contrary to the prediction, the correlation was negative. Also unexpected, the control condition performed better on comprehension questions than the intervention conditions. To try to understand these results, we examined the time each child took to answer the comprehension questions. Many children answered the questions quickly, and average time to answer the questions was strongly correlated with comprehension scores. Children may have been answering questions quickly (and randomly) in order to advance to the next story. Nonetheless, the data do not support a relationship between FMS and reading comprehension.
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2018-12
Agent
- Author (aut): Weiss, Julia
- Thesis director: Glenberg, Arthur
- Committee member: Gomez Franco, Ligia
- Committee member: Peter, Beate
- Contributor (ctb): Department of Psychology
- Contributor (ctb): Barrett, The Honors College