ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Motor imitation is truly essential for young children to learn new motor skills, social behavior and skilled acts or praxis. The present study aimed to investigate motor imitation ability between typically-developing children and dyspraxic children and to examine the development trends in both children groups. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The comparison ofmotor imitation was studied in 55 typically-developing children and 59 dyspraxic children aged 5 to 8 years. The Motor Imitation subtest consisted of two sections, imitation of postures and imitation of verbal instructions. Typically-developing children and dyspraxic children were examined for developmental trends. The independent samples t-test was used to analyze the differences between both groups. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze inter-age differences for each age group. RESULTS: The results revealed significant differences between dyspraxic and typically-developing children. Both typically-developing and dyspraxic children demonstrated age trends. The older children scored higher than younger children. CONCLUSION: Imitation is a primary learning strategy of young children. It is essential that children with dyspraxia receive early detection and need effective intervention. Typically-developing children and dyspraxic children showed higher mean score on the Imitation of Posture section than the Verbal Instructions section. Motor imitation competency, therefore, changes and improves with age.
Subject(s)
Apraxias/psychology , Child Development/physiology , Imitative Behavior , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Social Behavior , Apraxias/physiopathology , Case-Control Studies , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To develop a Motor Praxis Ability Test (MPAT) and examine its psychometric properties. METHODS: The study consisted of two phases: items and scoring criteria of MPAT were developed in phase I. Content validity was clarified by the expert panel discussion method. The preliminary psychometric properties of the MPAT were examined in phase II. Data were collected with two samples consisting of typically-developing children and dyspraxic children. RESULTS: The results revealed high internal consistency reliability. The inter-rater and test-retest reliability for the total score of both sample groups were excellent. The results also revealed that the MPAT was able to discriminate between typical children and dyspraxic children. CONCLUSION: The current study concluded that the MPAT is a highly valid and reliable assessment tool. It can be also used as an appropriate assessment tool for screening and evaluating dyspraxia in children aged 5-8 years.
