Evaluation of manual coordination and visuospatial attention using the adapted Fitts test in students with dyslexia in higher education

Abstract

Background: Difficulty in literacy acquisition skills is just one of the symptoms of specific learning disorder (SLD). Children with this disorder demonstrate disturbances in motor coordination. Children, adolescents, and adults with SLD with a deficit in reading (dyslexia), exhibit difficulties performing various manual tasks that require motor skills and precision in timing and control of serial tasks. Fitts' law demonstrated that the average time it takes a performer to hit two targets using the computer mouse increases as the ratio of movement distance to target width increases known also as the inverse speed-precision relationship paradigm. Objective: We thus propose an adapted test keeping target width and distance to target constant to control two key variables in assessing speed-precision. Methods: Twelve subjects, six with dyslexia and six without dyslexia were evaluated using the adapted Fitts test. Each student was asked, to mobilize a mouse and click on a random target displayed on the screen. After clicking on the random target, they would click on the central target as quickly and accurately as they could. This procedure was repeated for five minutes. Results: The group of students with showed higher sample entropy values reflecting less regularity in behavior and a lower performance index in both the horizontal and vertical components of mouse movements. Conclusions: The adapted Fitt's test allowed: a) to differentiate visuospatial attention in college students without and with SLD; b) to quantify the time/number (speed) of clicks during the test; c) to evaluate visuomotor control as well as visual perception, due to the difficulties presented in visualizing close targets that have to be regulated through effective fine motor skills.