Scientific publications
Procedural Learning in Children With Developmental Coordination, Reading, and Attention Disorders
Magallón S(1), Crespo-Eguílaz N(2), Narbona J(2).
(1) Department of Learning and Curriculum, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
(2) Department of Learning and Curriculum, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain Pediatric Neurology Unit, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
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.
CITATION J Child Neurol. 2015 Mar 2. pii: 0883073815572227.