Children aged 7 to 10 and adults learn graphomotor sequences in a similar way but show differences during transfer: A product and process analysis

This study investigated the learning and transfer of graphomotor skills in children (7-10 years) and adults using a pseudo-letter copying task on a graphic tablet, which enabled both quality and kinematic analyses of handwriting. We created a scale to assess the quality of written production and analyse velocity, fluency, and the number of stops to assess the writing process. With a varied training of limited intensity, we hypothesized that children and adults would perform similarly during the learning phase, but that younger children would have more difficulty transferring their learning. Results showed that children as young as 7 reached adult-like performance during the learning phase but struggled to transfer these skills, particularly when reusing complex motor sequences (chunks). Seven-year-olds displayed decreased letter quality in two transfer tasks, whereas 8- and 9-year-olds maintained good quality but at the cost of reduced fluency and increased number of stops, suggesting higher cognitive demands. By contrast, 10-years-old children and adults were able to efficiently transfer after a short learning phase, as demonstrated by their good performances in both transfer tasks. This suggests that from the age of 10, child can form sufficiently abstract representations to enable effective transfer. These findings indicate that studying transfer, rather than acquisition alone, provides critical insights into the developmental trajectory of graphomotor skills, and that digital tablets offer valuable tools for assessing underlying motor processes.