149 research outputs found
Is learning by observation impaired in children with dyslexia?
No full textNumerous studies have shown that imitating observed actions belongs to the same category of processes involved in planning and executing actions. New competencies may be acquired by actually executing a task or by executing a task after having seen how to do it. The performance of thirty dyslexic children was compared with that of an age- and gender-matched group of thirty normally reading children on tasks of learning a visuo-motor sequence by observation or by trial and error. The children observed an actor detecting a visuo-motor sequence and then performed the task reproducing either the previously observed sequence or a new one (Learning by Observation), or detected a sequence by trial and error (Learning by Doing), or first performed the task by trial and error and then performed it after an observational training (Learning by Observation after Doing). Results demonstrate that the dyslexic children were severely impaired in learning a sequence by observation, were able to detect a sequence by trial and error, and became as efficient as normal readers in reproducing an observed sequence after a task of learning by doing. Thus, the impaired ability to learn by observation could be reversed by agentive experience that supplied dyslexic children with a powerful learning mechanism, which enabled them to efficiently transfer action information across modalities. The beneficial effect of practice on the ability to learn by observation could provide dyslexic children a useful chance to acquire new cognitive abilities through more tuned teaching approach
Observational Learning in Low-Functioning Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Behavioral and Neuroimaging Study
No full textLearning by observation: insights from Williams syndrome
No full textObserving another person performing a complex action accelerates the observer's acquisition of the same action and limits the time-consuming process of learning by trial and error. Observational learning makes an interesting and potentially important topic in the developmental domain, especially when disorders are considered. The implications of studies aimed at clarifying whether and how this form of learning is spared by pathology are manifold. We focused on a specific population with learning and intellectual disabilities, the individuals with Williams syndrome. The performance of twenty-eight individuals with Williams syndrome was compared with that of mental age- and gender-matched thirty-two typically developing children on tasks of learning of a visuo-motor sequence by observation or by trial and error. Regardless of the learning modality, acquiring the correct sequence involved three main phases: a detection phase, in which participants discovered the correct sequence and learned how to perform the task; an exercise phase, in which they reproduced the sequence until performance was error-free; an automatization phase, in which by repeating the error-free sequence they became accurate and speedy. Participants with Williams syndrome beneficiated of observational training (in which they observed an actor detecting the visuo-motor sequence) in the detection phase, while they performed worse than typically developing children in the exercise and automatization phases. Thus, by exploiting competencies learned by observation, individuals with Williams syndrome detected the visuo-motor sequence, putting into action the appropriate procedural strategies. Conversely, their impaired performances in the exercise phases appeared linked to impaired spatial working memory, while their deficits in automatization phases to deficits in processes increasing efficiency and speed of the response. Overall, observational experience was advantageous for acquiring competencies, since it primed subjects' interest in the actions to be performed and functioned as a catalyst for executed action
Clinical application of mindfulness-oriented meditation in children with ADHD: a pilot study.
No full textCorrection to: Insomnia in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study on Clinical Correlates and Parental Stress
No full textCerebellar vermis abnormalities and cognitive functions in individuals with Williams syndrome
No full textIn Williams syndrome (WS) cerebellar measures were only indirectly related to behavioral outcomes. T1-weighted magnetic resonance images and neuropsychological data were acquired to investigate whether cerebellar vermis differences were present in 12 WS individuals compared with 13 chronological age-matched controls and whether WS cerebellar vermis measures were related to cognitive scores. In WS participants, we observed a significant increase in the volume of the posterior superior cerebellar vermis (lobules VI-VII) and an atypical ratio between width and height of the cerebellar vermis. Furthermore, we found an inverse correlation between cerebellar posterior vermis volume and scores on implicit learning, phonological fluency and the verbal short-term memory tasks. The present study supported a role for the posterior cerebellar vermis in higher cognitive processes and indicated that the cerebellar vermis abnormalities (enlargement) in WS individuals have an effect in worsening the cognitive performance in specific domains. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Sleep Disturbances in Children with Attentional Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Specific Learning Disorders
No full textSleep disturbances may be a significant source of distress for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and consequently also for their families. Crucially, sleep disturbances might be influenced by comorbidity. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific learning disorder (SLD) often co-occur, and consequently, investigating sleep disturbances in children with comorbidity of ADHD and SLD is essential. Our study aimed at detecting sleep difficulties in a group of 74 children with ADHD, 78 children with SLD, and 76 children with ADHD and SLD by using the Sleep Disturbances Scale for Children. The results showed that sleep difficulties emerge more clearly in children with comorbid ADHD and SLD compared to children with only ADHD or SLD. These sleep difficulties were not due to differences in ages and behavioral/emotional problems. In conclusion, evaluating sleep disturbances is important when assessing and managing children with ADHD, SLD, and particularly with the two comorbid conditions, to better understand their difficulties and develop tailored interventions
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