Kenny, Lorcan; Hill, Elisabeth L. and Hamilton, Antonia. 2016. The relationship between social and motor cognition in primary school age-children. Frontiers in Psychology, 7(228), [Article]

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Abstract or Description

There is increased interest in the relationship between motor skills and social skills in child development, with evidence that the mechanisms underlying these behaviors may be linked. We took a cognitive approach to this problem, and examined the relationship between four specific cognitive domains: theory of mind, motor skill, action understanding and imitation. Neuroimaging and adult research suggest that action understanding and imitation are closely linked, but are somewhat independent of theory of mind and low-level motor control. Here we test if a similar pattern is shown in child development. A sample of 101 primary school aged children with a wide ability range completed tests of IQ (Raven’s matrices), theory of mind, motor skill, action understanding and imitation. Parents reported on their children’s social, motor and attention performance as well as developmental concerns. The results showed that action understanding and imitation correlate, with the latter having a weak link to motor control. Theory of mind was independent of the other tasks. These results imply that independent cognitive processes for social interaction (theory of mind) and for motor control can be identified in primary school age children, and challenge approaches that link all these domains together

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00228
Additional Information:	The Waterloo Foundation funded the research presented in this paper.
Keywords:	social cognition, motor skill, theory of mind, imitation, action understanding
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 24 February 2016 UNSPECIFIED
Item ID:	16921
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2016 12:10
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2020 16:14
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/16921

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