The Level of Organization of the Motor Schema

Abstract

The interpretations of Piaget and Schmidt on the level on which the motor schema is supposedly effective were evaluated in pre-school children of different ages in a throwing task. In an analysis of variance on the accuracy scores, significant main effects for age, sex, and throwing arm were found. Further, the results showed no relationship between accuracy scores with the preferred and non-preferred arm in the younger group, while in the older group a moderate relationship was found. This result was interpreted in terms of structural development and as a warning for studies where Schmidt’s variability-of-practice hypothesis is tested.