Motor skills are represented as abstract form by action programs that once formed constitutes modules that ease the demand of motor control in complex tasks. The present study investigated whether modules are formed in the acquisition of motor skills in normal individuals and individuals with Down syndrome. Twelve individuals took part in the study, they were assigned equally to three groups: children, adults and adults with Down syndrome. They practiced the manual reproduction of a graphic pattern composed by five linear strokes that was added to another graphic pattern after 100 trials. Down syndrome individuals had difficult to form modules and their performance was similar to that of the children. The lack of modularity in the behavior of Down syndrome individuals may explain the difficulty they face many times while performing motor skills.
Motor development; motor learning; Down syndrome; modularity; cognition
