Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore explicit and implicit motor sequence learning in 24 children with Down's syndrome (DS) and 24 matched typically developing (TD) children using a serial reaction time (SRT) task with both random and regular trials. The intervention was consisted of 10 stages (8 blocks for acquisition and 2 blocks for retention) in which the performances of groups were compared. In acquisition phase, our results showed a progress in the performance of SRT task in all groups while performing the SRT task. In addition, in retention phase, the results showed that children with DS succeed as well as TD children at the implicit motor sequence learning task. There were no significant differences between groups. But there was a significant difference between groups for explicit learning and the group of TD explicit children showed a reliable sequence learning pattern compared to DS children. These results are in line with the cognitive and motor features of the DS children and suggest that implicit motor learning is intact in children with DS but explicit motor learning seems to be impaired in these children. Nevertheless, this article provides preliminary data regarding implicit learning in DS children and further empirical research is needed to provide more meticulous and logical explanations. From a practical view, we suggest that during the education and rehabilitation interventions to children with DS, we can make use the benefits of implicit learning, because these children can learn skills implicitly.

Resumen

El propósito del presente estudio fue explorar el aprendizaje de secuencias motoras explícitas e implícitas en 24 niños con síndrome de Down (DS) y 24 niños con un desarrollo típico (TD) pareados utilizando una tarea de tiempo de reacción en serie (SRT) con ensayos aleatorios y regulares. La intervención consistió en 10 etapas (8 bloques para adquisición y 2 bloques para retención) en las que se compararon los rendimientos de los grupos. En la fase de adquisición, nuestros resultados mostraron un progreso en el desempeño de la tarea SRT en todos los grupos al realizar la tarea SRT. Además, en la fase de retención, los resultados mostraron que los niños con SD tienen éxito, así como los niños con TD en la tarea de aprendizaje de la secuencia motora implícita. No hubo diferencias significativas entre los grupos. Pero hubo una diferencia significativa entre los grupos para el aprendizaje explícito y el grupo de niños explícitos con TD mostró un patrón de aprendizaje de secuencia confiable en comparación con los niños con SD. Estos resultados están en línea con las características cognitivas y motoras de los niños con SD y sugieren que el aprendizaje motor implícito está intacto en los niños con SD, pero el aprendizaje motor explícito parece estar afectado en estos niños. Sin embargo, este artículo proporciona datos preliminares sobre el aprendizaje implícito en niños con SD y se necesita más investigación empírica para proporcionar explicaciones más meticulosas y lógicas. Desde un punto de vista práctico, sugerimos que durante las intervenciones de educación y rehabilitación para niños con SD, podamos aprovechar los beneficios del aprendizaje implícito, porque estos niños pueden aprender habilidades de manera implícita.

https://doi.org/10.5232/ricyde2019.05705

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