Document Type : Original article
Authors
1
MSc in Motor Behavior, Islamic Azad University, Research Branch, Tehran, Iran
2
PhD, Assistant Professor in Motor Behavior, Institute of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Background and Aims: Children with developmental coordination disorder are at greater risk of physical and mental disorders than regular children, so it is important to timely and effectively undergo preventive and therapeutic interventions to improve motor coordination. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of attending 12 sessions of Nintendo game console training on spatial working memory and perceptual-motor skills (eyebrows-hand coordination) in 6-8 year-old children with developmental coordination disorder.
Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in a pretest-posttest research design with control group. For the purpose of the present study, 20 female students with developmental coordination disorder (DCD-Q), identified by parents and those with suspected developmental coordination disorder, were included in the MABC-2 test. After selecting the research sample, all partcipants in pre-test phase participated in two tests of frosting (eye-hand coordination) and N-Back spatial working memory and scores were recorded. Then, they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group played the Nintendo console for 12 sessions, each for 20 minutes, but the control group did not participate in any training. After the training, both groups participated in the post-test, which was similar to the pre-test. After making sure that the distribution of data was normal using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, analysis of variance with repeated measures was run to test the research hypotheses and dependent t-test was used to examine the exact location of differences.
Results: The results of dependent t-test showed that there was a significant difference between the scores obtained in the pre-test and post-test in the Nintendo game console group (p = 0.001, df = 9, t = 12.10). In post-test, they performed better on eye and hand coordination test, while the results of dependent t-test showed no significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores in the control group (p = 0.555, df = 9, 61.61). 0 t =). So, it is obvious that using the Nintendo game console has improved eye-hand coordination for children with developmental coordination disorder. Also, the dependent t-test results showed that there was a significant difference between the scores obtained in the pre-test and post-test in the Nintendo game console group (p = 0.001, df = 9, t = 10.58). The posttest scores were better in the spatial working memory test compared to the pre-test score, while the dependent t-test results showed that there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores in the control group (p = 0.009, 9 df =, 0.01 t =).
Conclusion: The results showed that using the Nintendo game console has led to improved spatial working memory in children with developmental coordination disorder.
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