Motor Skill Learning in School-Age Children Tested with a Gamified Mobile Health System

Abstract

Motor skills are critical to a child's physical development, academic success, and social participation. Evidence of motor skill learning requires multiple evaluations across time, posing challenges for traditional laboratory testing. Combining expertise of two labs in rehabilitation and computer science, we implemented a motor learning task within a mobile health iPad application to study unimanual and bimanual skill learning in a school environment. Twenty-five participants ages 5-8 were tested as part of an on-going study investigating differences in motor skill learning between children born preterm or at term age. Testing occurred on three separate days (Day 1, Day 2, Day 7) wherein participants performed 5 blocks (24 trials/block) of a unimanual and bimanual task using a wireless gaming remote fitted with joystick handles. The game objective was to move a visual cursor (ladybug) to a target (flower). Completion time and movement error were calculated and used to evaluate 7-day retention; comparisons were made between tasks (bimanual vs. unimanual) and age (5-6 y/o vs. 7-8 y/o). A greater proportion of 7-8 y/o children (80%) showed retention compared to 5-6 y/o children (33%) for both tasks, however, there were overall fewer children who showed retention of bimanual (19%) compared to unimanual (31%) skills. Movement errors significantly decreased at Day 7 for unimanual compared to bimanual skills (t = −3.134, p = 0.007) demonstrating better unimanual skill retention. Mobile devices may enable precise and objective data collection outside the laboratory, enabling future motor learning research in children with and without developmental disorders.