A comparison in perceptual motor performance in early childhood of a motor/music program with a motor/beat program

This six weeks study was conducted on a Headstart population of forty children in the spring of 1997 for the purpose of comparing the effect of a motor/music and a motor/beat program on perceptual motor development as measured by the ESI-K (revised, 1997).; Forty children from two randomly selected classrooms, were randomly selected to be the music group, the remaining children became the beat group. The groups received a twenty-five minute lesson four days a week for six weeks. The music group received motor/music training. The beat group received motor/beat training and heard no music. All the children were pre and posttested. Data from 35 of the 40 children were used in the analysis. A mixed design analysis of variance (ANOVA) resulted in impressive gains for the combined scores of the 35 children from pretest to posttest scoring, well above the designated.05 level of significance. No main effect for training or interaction effect was demonstrated in the analysis. Both methods of teaching perceptual motor development are impressively effective with no significant level of difference between the two methods.