The effect of quiet eye training on muscle activity and targeting-interceptive skill accuracy in children with learning disorder

Children with learning disorder have more inefficient use of gaze strategies in various tasks. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of quiet eye training on muscle activity and targeting-interceptive skill accuracy in children with learning disorder. In this semi- experimental study with a repeated-measure design, 30 boys aged 7-10 years with learning disorder were divided into quiet eye and control groups . In the pre-test phase, participants performed 10 trails to throw and catch task the ball. Acquisition phase have done in eight weeks and three sessions in per weeks. In per session after the video-gaze exercises, 10 trials were performed to throw and catch task in accordance with the gaze exercises instructions. At the end of the last training session, in the post-test phase, in two weeks of detraining in the retention and transfer phases, the participants performed 10 trials to throw and catch task the ball. At each phase, the selected muscle electrical activity was recorded by electromyography and the throw and catch task performance was recorded by the researcher. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance with repeated measures with 0.05 significant levels. The results indicated that quiet eye training have a significant effect on increasing the learning of targeting-interceptive skills and on reducing the muscles electrical activity. The results of this study support the pre-programming hypothesis on the importance of planning and choosing the correct answer.