The psychomotor capacity of students with mental disabilities aged 11

Voinea Andreea
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, andreea_voinea1981@yahoo.com tel:000762610637 Abstract: The proposed experiment is based on the hypothesis that the development level of psychomotor capacity of students with mental disability is, in the absence of a psychomotor educational program, below that of their biological age. We evaluated the psychomotor ability by using Guillmain Ozeretsky and Piaget-Head tests, in order to validate the hypothesis and to obtain the psychomotor diagnosis of the students with mental deficiencies. I found by descriptive statistical methods that the research hypothesis was accepted with a probability of 95%.

Keywords: psychomotor level, mental deficiency, students, evaluation

JEL classification: I. Health, Education, and Welfare, I.O. General 1. Introduction Mental deficiency is a global deficiency, 6,3% of all children exhibit this type of deficiency. Its determinants vary from genetics, to environmental and educational influences. The purpose of this study is to highlight the characteristics of the psychomotor organization of students with mental disability; The objectives of this study: Reviewing relevant literature; Establishing the psychomotor level of students with disabilities 2. The research methods Specialized literature review: scientific research cannot exist outside of the analytical method of specialized study documents. ,,Scientific research is a process that is aiming to discover the new, starting from real existing knowledge " [EPURAN, 2005, pg. 131]. The bibliographic documentation was conducted in order to collect the material required for the theoretical and methodological study. The experimental method is characterized essentially by the tendency towards coherence of an experience controlled relational system. ... The purpose of experimentation is to confirm the existence of a relationship between two orders of facts " [FRAISSE, 1968, pg. 74; 92]. Among the experimental forms known in scientific research, in the preliminary study we use the verification experiment used to determine whether the development of the psychomotor ability of children with mental deficiencies is appropriate for their chronological age. Measuring and evaluation method: ,, measuring is the assigning of numbers, to properties and objects, according to certain rules, so that the numerical relationship reflects the relevant relationship between objects " [CIOCOI-POP, 2009, pg. 17]. Scientific research requires precision and

quantification, and measurement satisfies both, leading to the objectification of research data.

We used tests as measuring instruments. Pieron H. defines the test as a ,, predetermined trial, implying
the fulfillment of a task, identically for all test subjects, based on a precise technique in order to assess the success or failure or the numerical notation of success. The task can be related either to the acquired knowledge or to the sensory-motor functions [PIERON, 1968, pg. 186]. According to the Evaluation and assessment guide the evaluation comprises ,, all the activities related to collecting, organizing and interpreting of data, obtained through the application of measurement instruments, in order to issue value judgment of educational decision [SECAR, 2006, pg. 126]. We used the method of evaluation and measurement to determine the psychomotor level characteristic for students with mental deficiencies. Processing and interpretation methods: statistical and mathematical methods - data obtained from measurements and evaluation tests, were recorded in the collective sheets for centralization, processing, comparison and for establishing the relationships between them. The study data obtained from measurements and tests were statistically processed we registered the following statistical indicators: Maximum (L.s.) This is the maximum, or largest, value of the variable; Minimum (L.i.) This is the minimum, or smallest, value of the variable; Mean This is the arithmetic mean across the observations. It is the most widely used measure of central tendency. It is commonly called the average. The mean is sensitive to extremely large or small values.; Standard deviation Standard deviation is the square root of the variance. It measures the spread of a set of observations. The larger the standard deviation is, the more spread out the observations are; Sum - self explanatory Coefficient of variation represents the significance of the data. So, if its value is between 0-15% - the homogeneity is high, the average is representative; 15-35% - the spreading is moderate, the average is sufficiently representative; > 35% - the homogeneity is low, the average is not representative; The single-sample T-test is used in order to validate the hypothesis. The single-sample T-test can be used only when we know the mean of reference population. The single-sample T-test has to demonstrate that the average population studied is sufficiently representative to reject the null hypothesis. Statistical analysis was performed with the program SPSS 15 (Statistical Package for Social Science). 3. The experiment content The study was conducted within the Special School No. 5, Bucharest, during 20.09.2008 09.01.2009 on a number of 34 students aged 11 years old exhibiting mental deficiency. The following table will show the results obtained for Ozeretsky-Guillmain and Piaget-Head tests, sorted by age, in order to achieve the psychomotor diagnosis, the descriptive statistical values and for single sample T-test. Depending on the psychomotor age is established the psychometric diagnosis as follows: 1 year mild motor delay; 1 3 years motor deficiency; 3 5 years - severe motor backwardness;

more than 5 years motor idiocy (ALBU, 2002, pg. 48-49].

Crt. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

Surname, Name M.A.E. P.C. M.G. C.F. M.D. .A. C.G. M.R. G.A. U.A. F.P. K.R. O.I. C.M. T.M. P.M. A.A O.C. A.A.M. I.D.A. C.I.L. B.T.A. G.A.M. G.E. C.N.A. D.F. N.S.N. P.E.L. P.M. T.R. C.A.M. G.C. M.A.M. V.A.F.

Sex

Q.I.

Age

Oseretsky-Guillmain Test c.d.m . c.d.g. 5 11 10 9 7 8 11 11 7 5 10 8 10 11 9 11 9 10 4 5 11 9 5 9 8 9 9 9 7 9 7 9 5 8 echil. 5 10 10 10 5 8 9 10 7 5 9 9 10 9 11 10 11 10 5 8 10 10 5 9 10 7 10 6 5 10 8 8 5 8 rapid. 9 10 11 11 9 9 9 11 7 7 11 9 10 10 11 11 10 9 7 7 9 9 7 10 9 9 9 9 9 10 8 8 7 8

Piaget Head sample 6 8 8 8 4 8 7 8 4 4 7 6 9 8 9 9 8 7 4 4 7 8 4 7 7 6 6 6 7 8 6 7 6 6

Psychom otor age 6,2 9,6 10 9,6 6,2 8 9,4 9,8 6,2 5 9,2 7,8 10 9,6 10,2 9,8 9,8 8,8 4,8 6,2 9,2 9 5,2 8,8 8,2 7,6 8,2 7,6 7,4 9,2 7,4 8 6,4 7,4

m f f m f m f m m m m m m m m m m f f m m m f m m m f f m m f f f f

40 69 61 58 49 52 69 69 53 40 69 48 65 69 68 68 70 58 37 54 68 69 35 68 68 69 66 60 57 67 38 69 38 60

11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

6 9 11 10 6 7 11 9 6 4 9 7 11 10 11 9 11 8 4 7 9 9 5 9 7 7 7 8 9 9 8 8 9 7

Oseretsky-Guillmain Test d.c.h W Li Ls X S S2 C.V. T crt T calculat 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference lower 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference upper Validating the hypothesis 7 4 11 277 8,15 1,92 3,70 23,55 1,95 5,61 2,52 1,18 g.d.c. 7 4 11 285 8,38 2,06 4,24 24,58 1,95 4,58 2,34 0,9 ballan ce 6 5 11 282 8,29 2,04 4,15 24,60 1,95 4,88 2,42 0,99 speed 4 7 11 309 9,09 1,31 1,72 14,41 1,95 4,06 1,37 0,45

Piaget Head sample 5 4 9 227 6,68 1,55 2,41 23,20 1,95 12,49 3,86 2,78

Psychom otor age 5,4 4,8 10,2 275 8,11 1,58 2,50 19,48 1,95 6,96 2,44 1,33

hypothesis is accepted.

hypothesis is accepted.

hypothesis is accepted.

hypothesis is accepted.

hypothesis is accepted.

The coefficient of variation indicates a moderate dispersion for the tests of dynamic coordination of the hands, general dynamic coordination, balance, Piaget-Head sample - average being sufficiently representative, and a small spreading for speed test - average being representative. The results of averages ( X 8,15; 8,38; 8,29; 9,09; 6,68; 8,11) were lower than biological age by 11 years, with a t Statistic > t Critical = 1,95, for the a significant threshold of p = 0.05 and d. f =30 degrees on each test. In conclusion, the null hypothesis is rejected with a probability of 95%, the research hypothesis is accepted. 4. Conclusions The collected data supports the hypothesis that psychomotor ability of students with mental deficiency is under their biological age. We observed an average difference of 3 years between biological age and psychomotor age at students with mental deficiencies. Optimizing the psychomotor ability leads to improve quality of life for this category of children. The absence of a psychomotor educational program, requires a suitable therapeutical program.

The study can serve as a support for the future development of the psychomotor educational programs .
5. Proposals We recommend the psychomotor therapy implementation in special schools as a necessary fact.

hypothesis is accepted.

the research

the research

the research

the research

the research

the research

The introduction of psychomotor education in the sport sciences, together with physical education, sports training, competition, leisure activities, activities of body expression, physical therapy. Masters of specialization in psychomotor education in the college faculties of physical education and sport, thus should be form specialists with expertise, able to increase efficiency of educational process. Increasing the number of hours allocated to discipline Specific therapies and activities will cover the needs of students. REFERENCES

CIOCOI-POP, D. R., (2009), Metodologia cercetrii activitilor corporale - suport de curs .Facultatea de Educaie Fizic i Sport, Universitatea Babe-Bolay, Cluj-Napoca. EPURAN, M., (2005), Metodologia cercetrii activitilor corporale - Exerciii fizice, sport, fitness (Ediia a 2a). Ed. Fest, Bucureti. FRAISSE, P. (1968), Manuel pratique de psychologie exprimentale. Ed. PUF, Paris. Iacobini Andreea (2011), Optimizarea capacitatii psihomotrice la elevii cu deficienta mintala, Pitesti, PhD thesis

PIERON, H., (1968), Vocabulaire de la psyhologie. Ed.PUF, Paris.

SECAR, L., DAMIAN, I., MACARIE, G.F., TEBEANU, A.V., (2006). Psihopedagogia n sinteze pentru examenele de definitivare i gradul didactic II. Ed. Edusoft , Bacu.