Graphomotor skills show the strongest links of the FMS subdomains with academic-cognitive skills, significantly exceeding dexterity¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr2·q3·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i2 Among FMS subdomains, graphomotor skills (r = .338) showed the strongest links with academic-cognitive skills, significantly greater than dexterity (p < .001) and FMS miscellaneous (p = .027), but not significantly different from speed, bimanual, general FMS, or finger gnosia. → Sebastian P. Suggate 2025
Evidence¶
Sebastian P. Suggate 2025¶
Sebastian P. Suggate, Viktoria L. Karle, Tanja Kipfelsberger, Heidrun Stoeger. (2025). Keep the hands in mind: A meta-analysis of correlations between fine motor skills and reading, writing, mathematics, and cognitive development in children and adolescents. Educational Research Review 49 (2025) 100748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2025.100748
q3 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2
Post-hoc ANOVA comparisons within the multilevel meta-regression of FMS subdomains (Table 1: graphomotor r = .338, dexterity r = .289). The article reports "the effect sizes for graphomotor skills were greater compared to dexterity (p < .001)".
"the effect sizes for graphomotor skills were greater compared to dexterity (p < .001), general FMS (p < .001) and FMS miscellaneous (p = .027), but not significantly different to speed (p = .173), bimanual (p = .095), general FMS (p = .099), or finger gnosia (p = .336)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Fine motor skills show a significant moderate overall correlation (r = .329) with academic-cognitive skills in children and adolescents — related
- FMS subdomain correlations vary within academic domains: nonword reading strongest, letter reading weakest, intelligence strongest among cognitive skills — related
- Writing shows the strongest FMS correlation among academic domains, exceeding reading — related
- MASEM suggests cognitive skills partially mediate the link between FMS and academic skills, which drops from r = .334 to .200 — related
- Among motor subskills, general FiMS and graphomotor skills show the strongest links to overall academic-cognitive skills, and miscellaneous GMS and balance the strongest among GMS subskills — related
- Finger gnosia is associated with arithmetic skills in some studies but not others, with age and cognitive profile moderating the relation — related
- Children's baseline motor skills do not correlate with reading-related outcomes or with their use of movement when naming letter-sounds — reports the opposite
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
graphomotor-strongest-fms-subdomain |
title |
Graphomotor skills show the strongest links of the FMS subdomains with academic-cognitive skills, significantly exceeding dexterity |
description |
Graphomotor skills show the strongest links of the FMS subdomains with academic-cognitive skills, significantly exceeding dexterity |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2025 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-21 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — sebastian-p-suggate-2025 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.