Abstract
The present study was designed to determine the relationships between motor ability based on maximum ability exertion tests and pass or fail tests in preschool children. A total of 192 healthy Japanese children aged 4.0 to 6.5 years were selected as subjects for this study. Twelve maximum ability exertion tests measuring motor ability elements and 14 pass or fail performance tests representing the fundamental movement domains were selected, and these tests were administered to the subjects. The factor analytic technique was applied to a correlation matrix, consisting of the 12 test variables to measure motor ability, to clarify the factorial structure of motor ability. To examine the relationships between motor ability factors and pass or fail tests, the theory of Quantification I and the biserial correlation method were used. The main results can be summarized as follows: 1) The motor ability in preschool children aged 4.0 to 6.5 years was considered to be composed of 5 motor ability factors: power, flexibility, muscular strength, balance, and muscular endurance. 2) The pass or fail tests representing the movements of "standing" and "jumping and throwing" were closely related to muscular endurance and power factors, respectively. Most of the tests concerning the movements of "walking and running" were not correlated significantly with any of the above 5 motor ability factors. 3) The pass or fail test battery showed a strong relationship with the motor ability measured by the maximum ability exertion test battery. Therefore it was suggested that the pass or fail test battery can estimate motor ability in preschool children.
