Kindergarten Children's Working Memory Load White Performing Fine Motor Tasks

The present dual-task study explored kindergarten children's working memory load while performing fine motor tasks. Children were expected to perform lower in the dual-task group, and younger kindergarten children were expected to show higher cognitive and/or motor impairments compared to older children. N = 67 kindergarten children (M = 67.1 months, SD = 5.51, Min = 59, Max = 83) completed the fine motor and working memory tasks either simultaneously (experimental group) or successively (control group). Fine motor performance was assessed with five subtests from the MOVE 4 - 8 (Wyschkon et at., 2018). Working memory performance was measured with a digit span backward task. The results showed lower cognitive performance of the older children in the dual-task condition, implicating the working memory load of fine-motor tasks in older kindergarten children. Implications for early education and the classroom context are discussed.