Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Sparaci, Laura
• Formica, Domenico
• Lasorsa, Francesca Romana
• Mazzone, Luigi
• Valeri, Giovanni
• Vicari, Stefano

Titel

Untrivial Pursuit: Measuring Motor Procedures Learning in Children with Autism

Ist Teil von

• Autism research, 2015-08, Vol.8 (4), p.398-411

Ort / Verlag

United States: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

Wiley-Blackwell Full Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Numerous studies have underscored prevalence of motor impairments in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but only few of them have analyzed motor strategies exploited by ASD children when learning a new motor procedure. To evaluate motor procedure learning and performance strategies in both ASD and typically developing (TD) children, we built a virtual pursuit rotor (VPR) task, requiring tracking a moving target on a computer screen using a digitalized pen and tablet. Procedural learning was measured as increased time on target (TT) across blocks of trials on the same day and consolidation was assessed after a 24‐hour rest. The program and the experimental setting (evaluated in a first experiment considering two groups of TD children) allowed also measures of continuous time on target (CTT), distance from target (DT) and distance from path (DP), as well as 2D reconstructions of children's trajectories. Results showed that the VPR was harder for children with ASD than for TD controls matched for chronological age and intelligence quotient, but both groups displayed comparable motor procedure learning (i.e., similarly incremented their TT). However, closer analysis of CTT, DT, and DP as well as 2D trajectories, showed different motor performance strategies in ASD, highlighting difficulties in overall actions planning. Data underscore the need for deeper investigations of motor strategies exploited by children with ASD when learning a new motor procedure. Autism Res 2015, 8: 398–411. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.