Improving Cognitive Skills in Children Aged 7 to 16 with Neuromotor Impairment Using Social Robot Training

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying children and adolescents with neuromotor impairments to improve cognitive functions often affected in this group. The study focuses on enhancing skills like visual-perceptual analysis, selective attention, working memory, narrative organization, logical reasoning, and motor planning. It also aims to assess childrens behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement while interacting with a social robot, and to see if improvements generalize to related cognitive processes such as inhibition and planning. The study involves using a social robot in a unique Learning by Teaching approach, where children help the robot reorder sequences of pictures from figurative stories or actions. The training occurs twice a week for about four months, with tasks increasing in complexity and support provided to encourage learning without mistakes. Eighty children will be randomly assigned to either start the training immediately Experimental Group or continue their usual care and begin training after four months Control Group. Participants will undergo initial assessments of neuropsychological, motor, and school learning skills before starting. Engagement during sessions will be measured using sensors, eye-tracking, and video recordings. Follow-up assessments will occur at the end of the training and four months later to evaluate changes in cognitive and motor planning skills. The study will last about 16 months for each child, including training and observation periods.

A Story for Pepper & Nao