Visual and Kinaesthetic Instructional Cues and Deaf People's Motor Learning

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of visual and kinaesthetic instructional cues separately and in combination on the learning of motor skills by individuals with deafness. In addition, whether the mastery level of sign language would affect motor skill learning was also investigated. The task was dart throwing. The sample consisted of 69 students of elementary education, of both sexes, as follows: 43 individuals with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (from moderate/severe to anacusis) and 26 individuals who hear. The design involved three cue groups of instructional cues: visual, kinaesthetic, and visual and kinaesthetic. The study also comprised the following phases: pretest, acquisition; post-test; and transfer test. During the acquisition phase, the cue ‘elbow flexed at 90°’ was through figure (visual), manipulation (kinaesthetic) or both in conjunction. Results showed that the visual group obtained smaller absolute and variable errors in the transfer test than the kinaesthetic and visual-kinaesthetic groups, and no differences were observed among groups of individuals who hear. It was concluded that: (i) the visual cue was more efficient in promoting the motor learning of the individuals with deafness than the kinaesthetic and visual-kinaesthetic cues; (ii) the effects of the visual cue were specific to the learning of the individuals with deafness in comparing to individuals who hear; and (iii) the mastery level of sign language did not affect the occurrence or failure of motor skill learning.