The effect of task complexity on handwriting kinetics

Abstract

Background. Knowledge regarding the relationship between writing kinetics and the difference among writing tasks is limited. Purpose. This study examined the differences in handwriting performance when doing tasks with different levels of challenge from both temporal and kinetic perspectives among children in four different age groups. Method. The cross-sectional design introduced a force-acquisition pen to detect differences of pen grip and writing kinetics among 170 school-age children doing writing tasks at different difficulty levels. Data were obtained on the force information of the digits and pen tip and the kinetic parameters to examine the coordination-and-control mechanism between the digits and pen. Statistical analyzes were carried out to indicate the differences in writing performance among groups and tasks. Findings. Statistical differences in the pen-grip forces, force fluctuation, and force ratio between grip and pen-tip forces were found when performing different writing tasks and among different age groups. Implications. The study provides an alternative method to explore how writing performance among school-age children can vary according to the difficulty of the writing tasks.