Effect of Cognitive Rehabilitation and Purposeful-Movement Plays on Working Memory among Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Document Type : Original article

Authors

1 Department of Motor Behavior, Central Tehran Branch, Azad Islamic University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD, Assistant Professor in motor behavior, Institute of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Motor Behavior, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Sport Management, Central Tehran Branch, Azad Islamic University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Aims: Children with developmental coordination disorder show deficits in working memory, especially visual-spatial memory. In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of interventions based on the cognitive rehabilitation and purposeful-movement plays in improving working memory performance among 7-10 year-old girls with developmental coordination disorder.
Materials and Methods: The research method was experimental with pre- and post-test design and a control group. A total of 60 girls, aged 7-10 years (mean age 8.43 years), were selected from among all elementary school students in Broujen using multistage cluster sampling and were randomly divided into four groups (three experimental groups and a control, each group including 15 individuals). Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire - Parent Version and Raven’s Intelligence Test were used for initial screening and the N-Back Test was applied to measure the performance of working memory before and after the experimental period (24 sessions, each for 45 minutes, three sessions per week for eight weeks). Experimental protocol for cognitive rehabilitation was designed to improve problem-solving skills, sensory-motor coordination, and hand-eye coordination. Also, purposeful-movement plays were designed to develop fine and gross motor skills with an emphasis on the balance, coordination, and lateralization. Data were analyzed using paired-samples t test and covariance analysis at the confidence level of95%.
Results: The performance of working memory was significantly increased from pre-test to post-test in the groups of cognitive rehabilitation, purposeful play, and combined intervention (p < .001), whereas no significant change was observed in the control group (p > .05). After controlling for differences of groups in the pre-test, the working memory of the combined intervention (M = 98.86) and cognitive rehabilitation (M = 95.63) in the post-test were significantly higher than those of the purposeful play (M = 86.54) and control (M = 57.01) groups and the working memory performance in the group of purposeful play was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < .001).
Conclusion: Combining cognitive rehabilitation with purposeful games based on the perceptual-motor activities can lead to greater efficacy in improving working memory among 7-10 year-old girls with developmental coordination disorder.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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Volume 9, Issue 2
July 2020
Pages 287-297
  • Receive Date: 04 September 2019
  • Revise Date: 17 September 2019
  • Accept Date: 22 September 2019
  • First Publish Date: 21 June 2020