The purpose of the present study was to determine whether infants categorized as demonstrating good or poor neuromuscular integrity (voluntary motor abilities reflecting movement coordination) would show differences in use of sensory motor schemas. Subjects were 26 full-term (10 males, 16 females) and 10 premature infants (6 males, 4 females) between 31 and 37 weeks of age, who were not neurologically impaired. Infants were classified for evidence of good or poor neurological integrity on the basis of their interaction with a single red cube. A total of 11 operationally defined behaviors involved in the infant's initial approach and manipulation of the cube were coded as being a good or poor response using criteria based on clinical judgment, developmental norms, and Halverson's study of grasping. The results of this study indicate that the quality of fine motor behavior influences the way normal 8-month-old infants use objects. The evidence suggests that infants with good neuromuscular integrity tend toward greater use of manipulative schemas, while infants with poor neuromuscular integrity tend toward greater use of visual schemas. (CS)