Developing voluntary attention in primary school children as part of sensorimotor integration program

Abstract

Introduction. In the modern world, rapid development of IT and large volumes of information make attention a leading cognitive process which ensures a student’s learning success. The study aims to research the impact of sensorimotor integration programs on attention development in primary school children. Materials and methods. The study was based in the municipal autonomous educational institution ‘Secondary educational school No. 150’ in Krasnoyarsk (Russian Federation) with 43 children of primary school age (2nd grade). The Bourdon test determined the level of attention properties development in children before and after the experiment. Pearson's chi-squared test was used to statistically process the data. Results. A special methodology was designed for building a curriculum on sensorimotor integration for primary schoolchildren, aimed at developing voluntary attention. The training program comprises cycles of exercises for developing and strengthening the abilities of a specific attention function. A methodology was created for pedagogically assessing the effectiveness of testing a complex sensorimotor integration program meant to develop the basic properties of attention: concentration, stability and volume. After the formative experiment, repeated diagnostics revealed statistically significant progress in all these properties in the experimental group compared with the control group at a significance level of α < 0.05. Conclusion. Along with the development of attention properties indicators in primary school children, the experiment revealed an improvement in indicators of other mental functions, namely, short-term and long-term memory and thinking. The new program for developing attention through sensorimotor integration can be recommended to improve the learning processes for children with physical and developmental disabilities.