The Effect of Quiet Eye Training Period Manipulation on Interceptive Skill Learning in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract

Background: This study aimed at examining the effect of manipulating the length of quiet eye training on learning an inhibitory skill in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Methods: A quasi-experimental method with a pre-test and a post-test design was utilized during a 14-day follow-up period. The statistical population of the study was the 6-year-old girls with DCD in the kindergarten of Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran. Using tests for assessing children's motor skills - Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (MABC-2) - 45 children with DCD were selected. Based on the pre-test scores (performance), participants were divided into three groups of 15: basic quiet eye training, short-term quiet eye training, and long-term quiet eye training. In the pre-test, participants received 10 attempts at bean bags. The acquisition phase was performed in 18 sessions, with 10 attempts per session. At the end of the last training session, in the post-test and in two weeks of non-training in the follow-up phase, the participants received 10 attempts at bean bags. At each stage, visual information was recorded by an eye tracking device and the accuracy of the throw was recorded by the researcher. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Findings: All three exercises of basic quiet eye, short-term quiet eye, and long-term quiet eye had a significant effect on receiving skills and duration of quiet eye period (P < 0.05). Moreover, long-term quiet eye exercises had a higher effect size compared to short-term and basic quiet eye exercises. Conclusion: In general, the results of the study emphasized the importance of a longer quiet eye period in learning inhibitory skills, which confirms the pre-programming hypothesis.

Keywords

• drug eye
• developmental coordination disorder
• motor skills