José Morales *, Luís-Millán González **, Myriam Guerra *, Carles Virgili * and Viswanath Unnithan ***
(*) Facultat de Ciències de l’Esport Blanquerna. Universitat Ramon Llull. Barcelona, Spain
(**) Facultat de Ciències de l’Activitat Física i l’Esport. Universitat de València. València, Spain
(***) Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise, Faculty of Health, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
Citation
Morales, J., González, L., Guerra, M., Virgili, C., Unnithan, V. (2011). Physical activity, perceptual-motor performance, and academic learning in 9-to-16-years-old school children. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 42(4), 401-415.
Abstract
The relationship between physical activity in school children, academic performance and their perceptual-motor skills is unclear. The aim of this study was to look at the relationship between perceptual-motor and cognitive skills. 487 subjects (249 girls, 238 boys) from 6 public centres of primary and secondary schools in the Barcelona area (Spain) volunteered to participate in this study. The participants were divided into two groups (9-12 years old) and (13-16 years old). Four tests were used to evaluate cognitive (Linguistic Skills [LS] and Math Skills [MS]) and perceptual-motor skills (Tower of Cubes [TC] and Target Throwing [TT]). Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that TC and age were significant predictors of Linguistic Skills (LS) and Math Skills (MS) in both age groups. (R2=0.64, 9-12 years old) and (R2=0.45, 13-16 years old). The results from this study suggest that enhanced motor skills are associated with better academic performance.
Keywords: Cognitive skills, extra-curricular physical activity programmes, motor skills