Intact procedural motor sequence learning in developmental coordination disorder

• We explore the procedural learning deficit hypothesis in DCD.
• We use a touch screen version of the serial reaction time task.
• The touch screen reduces the cognitive and perceptuomotor constraints of the task.
• We show that motor specific-sequence learning can be observed in DCD.
• Such learning is possible in DCD provided that the response mode is appropriate.

The purpose of the present study was to explore the possibility of a procedural learning deficit among children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). We tested 34 children aged 6–12 years with and without DCD using the serial reaction time task, in which the standard keyboard was replaced by a touch screen in order to minimize the impact of perceptuomotor coordination difficulties that characterize this disorder. The results showed that children with DCD succeed as well as control children at the procedural sequence learning task. These findings challenge the hypothesis that a procedural learning impairment underlies the difficulties of DCD children in acquiring and automatizing daily activities. We suggest that the previously reported impairment of children with DCD on the serial reaction time task is not due to a sequence learning deficit per se, but rather due to methodological factors such as the response mode used in these studies.