School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Israel; The Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
Res Dev Disabil. 2020 Aug;103:103671. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103671. Epub 2020 Jun 5.
DSM-5 criteria for developmental coordination disorder (DCD) emphasize deficits in the acquisition and execution of coordinated motor skills. Previous studies of motor skill learning in DCD suggest deficits in the execution of motor skills but do not reveal a deficit in learning new skills, possibly because of the heterogeneity of motor deficits in DCD.
In light of the high prevalence of handwriting difficulties among children with DCD, the current study compared motor skill learning in 5-6-year-old children with DCD and their peers using a grapho-motor learning task that resembles a letter-writing practice.
Thirty-two boys, 16 with DCD, learned to produce a new "letter" formed by connecting three dots. Training, following-day consolidation, 1-week post-training retention, and far-transfer to a no-dot condition were tested.
Children with DCD exhibited rates of learning similar to those of their peers, but with overall poorer performance, replicating previous findings. Contrary to reports of intact skill transfer following a consolidation period in DCD, impaired transfer of the learned symbol was observed.
These findings may explain some of the motor difficulties experienced by children with DCD as well as contribute to the discussion on mechanisms involved in skill learning in these children.
DSM-5 发展性协调障碍（DCD）标准强调在协调运动技能的获得和执行方面存在缺陷。先前对 DCD 中运动技能学习的研究表明，在运动技能的执行方面存在缺陷，但并没有揭示出学习新技能的缺陷，这可能是由于 DCD 中运动缺陷的异质性。
鉴于 DCD 儿童普遍存在书写困难，本研究使用类似于字母书写练习的图运动学习任务，比较了 DCD 儿童和同龄儿童的运动技能学习。
32 名男孩，其中 16 名患有 DCD，学习制作由三个点连接而成的新“字母”。测试了训练、次日巩固、训练后 1 周保持和远迁移到无点条件。
DCD 儿童的学习速度与同龄人相似，但总体表现较差，这与之前的研究结果一致。与 DCD 中巩固期后技能转移完整的报告相反，观察到学习符号的转移受损。
这些发现可以解释 DCD 儿童所经历的一些运动困难，并有助于讨论这些儿童在技能学习中涉及的机制。
