Liu Shijie, Chen Si-Tong, Cai Yujun
School of Physical Education and Sport Training, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Institute for Health & Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jun 22;13:875256. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.875256. eCollection 2022.
Considering that motor and cognitive processes are intertwined and inhibit or help each other throughout life and that primary school age is one of the most critical stages of children's cognitive and motor development, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and gross motor skills in Chinese children aged 9-10 years, as well as gender differences. The flanker task, the 1-back task, the more-odd shifting task, and the test of gross motor coordination (Körperkoordinationtest für Kinder) were used to collect data on executive functions and gross motor coordination. The results were as follows. First, there was a weak association between gross motor coordination and the inhibition reaction time in the congruent test and the reaction time of working memory ( = -0.181 to -0.233), but no association was found between gross motor coordination and cognitive flexibility. Second, a weak-to-moderate correlation was presented between the move sideways test and the inhibition reaction time in the congruent test and the reaction time in the refreshing test of the working memory ( = -0.211 to -0.330). Finally, gender influenced on the relationship between gross motor coordination and the reaction time of both inhibition (β = -0.153, < 0.05) and working memory (β = -0.345, < 0.01). To conclude, our results suggest that children with better motor coordination skills require less reaction time, especially girls, and this association was more substantial than in boys. The finding supports the current assertion that there are commonalities between gross motor coordination and cognitive control by showing the relationship between gross motor coordination and complex cognitive processes (executive function) in preadolescent children.
鉴于运动和认知过程相互交织，且在整个生命过程中相互抑制或相互促进，而小学阶段是儿童认知和运动发展的最关键阶段之一，本研究旨在调查9至10岁中国儿童执行功能与大肌肉运动技能之间的关系以及性别差异。使用侧翼任务、1-back任务、更多奇数转换任务和大肌肉运动协调测试（儿童身体协调测试）来收集执行功能和大肌肉运动协调的数据。结果如下。首先，大肌肉运动协调与一致性测试中的抑制反应时间和工作记忆反应时间之间存在弱关联（=-0.181至-0.233），但未发现大肌肉运动协调与认知灵活性之间存在关联。其次，侧向移动测试与一致性测试中的抑制反应时间和工作记忆刷新测试中的反应时间之间呈现弱至中度相关性（=-0.211至-0.330）。最后，性别对大肌肉运动协调与抑制反应时间（β=-0.153，<0.05）和工作记忆反应时间（β=-0.345，<0.01）之间的关系有影响。总之，我们的结果表明，运动协调技能较好的儿童反应时间较短，尤其是女孩，而且这种关联在女孩中比在男孩中更显著。这一发现通过展示青春期前儿童大肌肉运动协调与复杂认知过程（执行功能）之间的关系，支持了当前关于大肌肉运动协调与认知控制之间存在共性的论断。
