Measuring perceived gross motor skill competence in children

Generalizability (G) theory was used to examine the validity of an ecological scale with a pictorial and written instrument for the measurement of perceived physical competence of elementary school-children 6-7 and 10-12 years of age. A 2-facet G-study was conducted with persons crossed with instrument and occasion. The variance component for the person facet was the largest in the analysis of the pictorial and written competence scales. When considering the ecological scale in the analysis, differences in the relative percent of variance of the instrument facet was found to be the largest, The measurements of perceived physical competence using an ecological scale are not equivalent to or exchangeable with those from the pictorial and written scales. Future research on the use of the ecological scale for the measurement of perceived physical competence in elementary school children is encouraged.