Specificity of Learning in Adults with and Without Down Syndrome

Adults with Down syndrome (DS), an undifferentiated developmental delay (UnD) and no developmental delay practiced a manual target aiming task either with or without on-line visual feedback. Following acquisition, participants performed a retention test involving the same sensory condition available during practice, followed by a transfer test under the other sensory condition. Although the participants with UnD were highly dependent on visual feedback for movement accuracy, participants with DS relied more on either kinesthetic feedback or feedforward control for spatial precision. Participants in all three groups improved their movement times with practice. This improvement was associated both with an increase in peak velocity and a reduction in the time required to decelerate their aiming movements. Contrary to our expectations, improvements in performance were not specific to the sensory conditions available during practice.