SCREENING OF SIMPLIFYING INDICATORS OF GROSS MOTOR DEVELOPMENT IN PRESCHOOLERS

Abstract. Objective: In order to meet the requirements of large-scale testing in China, the TGMD-2 (Test of Gross Motor Development) was used to screen the simplifying indicators so as to test the gross motor development of preschoolers more accurately, conveniently and efficiently in the future. Methods: A total of 140 children aged 3-6 years (mean 4.8 ± 0.92 years old) from a Beijing kindergarten were selected as participants in the present research. TGMD-2 was used to test and score their gross motor development levels. Firstly, multivariate variance was used to analyse the effects of age and gender. Then, the Pearson coefficient, discrimination D and difficulty coefficient L were used for secondary screening. Finally, the stepwise regression was used to get the optimal equation, and then the reserved data (obtained from testing another 150 children) were substituted to predict the total score. The consistency test was conducted with the actual score to verify the effectiveness of the indicators. Results: Hop was selected as the primary motor indicator, and the equation to predict the total score of TGMD-2 was “TGMD-2 total score = 43.634 + 3.250* Hop score”. Conclusion: The simplifying indicator screened in this study is Hop, which has moderate difficulty and good differentiation, can better predict the total score and can be used for a wide range of tests in China.