The present study examined sensitivity to kinaesthetic information for fifty-one girls aged 9 to 10 years. Girls with competitive sporting experience were divided into a gymnastics group, ball-skills group and a combined (gymnastic and ball-skills) group. A non-athlete control group was also included. Baseline measures of general motor ability were obtained using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Henderson and Sugden, 1992) and measures of sensitivity to kinaesthetic information were obtained using the Kinaesthetic Acuity Test (KAT) [Livesey and Parkes, 1995]. Results revealed a moderate but significant correlation between motor proficiency and kinaesthetic acuity. A stronger finding was the ability of the Kinaesthetic Acuity Test (KAT) to predict the motor performance of girls with high and low kinaesthetic acuity within the sample. High kinaesthetic acuity predicted significantly better motor proficiency and low kinaesthetic acuity predicted significantly poorer motor proficiency. Results further indicated that kinaesthetic acuity did not differ as a function of specific sporting experience.

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study examining the impact of congenital visual impairment on the development of motor skills and kinaesthetic acuity. Studies of children with a visual impairment have consistently noted deficits in motor development. It was hypothesised that these deficits may be linked with poor kinaesthetic sensitivity. Six preschool children with a visual impairment (mean age 55.17 months) were compared to nine classmates (mean age 56.67 months) matched for age, gender, and general verbal ability, on modified tasks from the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) and the Kinaesthetic Acuity Test (KAT). Although the difference between groups was significant for one task only (static balance), it was noted that all differences observed were in the hypothesised direction. Further longitudinal or cross-sectional data are required to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the relationship between vision impairment, kinaesthetic development, and motor skills.

The current study examined kinaesthetic acuity and Performance IQ in preprimary children (aged 4-5 years) at risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Individual assessment of 317 children over four sessions at their pre-primary centre identified 31 children at risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder. These children were matched with 31 control children on age, gender, and Verbal IQ. The two groups were assessed using three Performance IQ subtests of the WPPSI-R and the Kinaesthetic Acuity Test (KAT, Livesey & Parkes, 1995). The results indicate that kinaesthetic acuity and Performance IQ subtests significantly differentiate children at risk of DCD from control children. These results suggest a need to assess the efficacy of kinaesthetic training in young children at risk of DCD. Furthermore, psychologists may be able to assist in the early detection of children at-risk of DCD via the WPPSI-R assessment results routinely obtained for young children.