The number of studies examining the connection between motor skills and psychological characteristics is growing, but there are still many unanswered questions in this area. Especially for children who are in a phase of dynamic development, a good understanding of this relationship is essential for formulating meaningful and effective recommendations for physical exercise, which, according to past research, is positively associated with the development of cognition. The data in this master's thesis were collected as part of the SLOfit project, through which the physical development of Slovenian children and adolescents has been systematically monitored since 1996. In 2021, cognitive testing was added to the project for the first time in some elementary schools (5th grade) in Ljubljana, namely the d2 attention test and “Test nizov”, which measures fluid intelligence. 281 children were included in our research, of which 154 were boys and 127 were girls. In addition to the mentioned cognitive tests, we also used the data of the SLOfit project motor tasks, more specifically the tasks that measure endurance, explosiveness, and coordination. We were interested in the connection of motor skills of endurance and coordination with concentration and motor skills of explosiveness and coordination with fluid intelligence. No unambiguous significant correlations between concentration, fluid intelligence, and motor skills were found in the given sample. Some small but significant correlations were found between fluid intelligence and motor tasks based in explosiveness and coordination in girls. Additionally, small but significant correlations were found between psychological variables and motor tasks requiring coordination. Coordinative elements of exercise are potentially associated with cognition, but due to the complexity of the area, low correlations, and relatively small and age-homogeneous sample, additional research is needed.
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