Procedural Learning in Children With Developmental Coordination, Reading, and Attention Disorders. (October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Magallón, Sara; Crespo-Eguílaz, Nerea; Narbona, Juan
• Is Part Of: Journal of child neurology. Volume 30:Number 11(2015:Oct.)
• Page Start: 1496
• Page End: 1506
• Publication Date: 2015-10
• Subjects: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder -- developmental coordination disorder -- learning through repetition -- motor skills -- procedural memory; Nervous system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; 618.928
• DOI: 10.1177/0883073815572227
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0883-0738

Abstract

The aim is to assess repetition-based learning of procedures in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), reading disorder (RD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants included 187 children, studied in 4 groups: ( a ) DCD comorbid with RD and ADHD (DCD+RD+ADHD) (n = 30); ( b ) RD comorbid with ADHD (RD+ADHD) (n = 48); ( c ) ADHD (n = 19); and typically developing children (control group) (n = 90). Two procedural learning tasks were used: Assembly learning and Mirror drawing. Children were tested on 4 occasions for each task: 3 trials were consecutive and the fourth trial was performed after an interference task. Task performance by DCD+RD+ADHD children improved with training ( P < .05); however, the improvement was significantly lower than that achieved by the other groups (RD+ADHD, ADHD and controls) ( P < .05). In conclusion, children with DCD+RD+ADHD improve in their use of cognitive-motor procedures over a short training period. Aims of intervention in DCD+RD+ADHD should be based on individual learning abilities.