Motor learning in children and adolescents institutionalized in shelters

Abstract

Introduction: Children and adolescents living in shelters may present with impaired motor development, cognitive function, as well as speech and understanding; psychological alterations; and hyperactivity. All of these factors may be detrimental to motor learning. Objective: To investigate motor learning in children and adolescents living in shelters, and to compare it with that of individuals living in a family context. Methods: We assessed 36 individuals who were divided into groups: an experimental group, composed of institutionalized children and adolescents (EG, n=18), and a control group (CG, n = 18) that was matched by age and sex. Motor learning was assessed using a maze test in three stages: acquisition, retention and transfer. The data were analyzed using the Shapiro Wilk, Wilcoxon, Mann Whitney, Kruskal Wallis tests and Dunn's post-test (p < 5%). Results: The EG had a longer task performance time than the CG. There was a significant reduction in task performance time between the first

Effect of Contextual Interference in the Practicing of a Computer Task in Individuals Poststroke

“…Previous research evaluated motor learning using a computer maze task in individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy [ 37 ], while Prado et al [ 11 ] and De Paula et al [ 55 ] used the same task to evaluate individuals with cerebral palsy. Similarly, Possebom et al [ 56 ] and Menezes et al [ 57 ] studied individuals with Down syndrome, Santos et al [ 58 ] investigated the motor learning effects in individuals institutionalized in shelters, and Souza et al [ 39 ] involved university students in a very similar maze protocol. All the mentioned studies verified that participants in the experimental group (i.e., with the pathology/condition under study) presented a longer time of task execution as compared to their paired controls.…”