The Purdue pegboard: Normative data on 1334 school children

Abstract

The Purdue Pegboard provides an excellent test of fine motor coordination. Unfortunately, extensive data have not been collected from children. Accordingly, most examiners use the instrument subjectively ‐ relying on their impressions and experience regarding normal and abnormal performance. To enhance the efficacy of this valuable instrument, the author and his assistants collected data from 1334 normal school children (663 boys and 671 girls) ages 5–16. The group was divided into half‐year age groups. For each half‐year group means, standard deviations, and percentile ranks are provided, enabling the examiner to quantify a patient's score on this valuable test of fine motor coordination. In order to ascertain whether the instrument's use in the MBD diagnostic battery is justified, the scores of the normal children were compared with those of 212 children (145 boys and 67 girls) with well‐diagnosed neurologically based learning disabilities (MBD)