Effect of early perceptual-motor enrichment on later fine motor development process of infants

Background and Aim: There is an agreement on impression of environment on the development in different ways. The environment effect could be passive or active. The environment enrichment is a passive method which is used to show the effect of environment on the development during infancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of early perceptual-motor enrichment on later fine motor development process of infants. Materials and Methods: Fifteen 5 to 8-months-old healthy infants participated randomly in this study. According to their age, participants were divided homogenously in two groups: training (n=8, ages=6.5±2) and non-training (n=8, ages=6.5±2). Training group had 36 training sessions(3 times in a week) for an hour at a perceptual-motor enrichment environment (involve vary manipulation and locomotion tools). After 36 training sessions, at the first assessment stage, infant fine motor skills were evaluated by Peabody motor development scale. Three months later, all infants were kept in similar and normal condition. At the later assessment stage, after this three months, infant fine motor skills were evaluated by same scale. Data were analyzed by mixed ANOVA2 (group) × (stage). Results: Results indicated that in fine motor age equivalent, main effect of group(F(1,10)=10.53 , P=.009 ) and main effect of assessment stages(F(1,10)=96.33 , P=.001) was significant. Interaction between groups and assessment stages (F(1,10)=2.58 , P=.13)was not significant. Also, in fine motor scaled score, main effect of group(F(1,10)=6.65, P=.02) and main effect of assessment stages (F(1,10)=32.93 , P=.001) was significant. Interaction between groups and assessment stages (F(1,10)=.24, P=.63)was not significant. Conclusion: Generally, results show that training and experience have positive effect on later fine motor skills development of infant. Key words: perceptual-motor enrichment, Peabody motor development scale, age equivalent, fine motor skills