The Effect of Perceptual - Motor Experience on Motor Development Quotient of Fine and Gross Motor Skills in 5-8-Month-Old Infants

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of perceptual – motor experience on motor development quotient of fine and gross motor skills in infants. Fifteen 5-8-month-old healthy infants participated randomly in this study and were divided homogenously into two groups (experimental and control) according to their age. Experimental group had 36 training sessions, each session an hour at a perceptual – motor enriched environment. Peabody motor development scale was used to evaluate fine and gross motor skills. Data were analyzed by independent t test. Results indicated a significant difference in mean score of motor development quotient between fine motor skills (p=0.004) and gross motor skills (p=0.02). These findings showed that training and experience had a positive effect on motor development generally and on motor development quotient of fine and gross motor skills specifically. In other words, training and experience were positive factors of fundamental and basic motor skills development of the infants in both groups. These results are in line with the perspective of dynamic systems of motor development.