Background and Aim : Attention is defined as a set of complex cognitive processes that includes focusing on a goal or working on it, maintaining or sustaining information, and staying vigilant for a long period of time, and encoding the characteristics of a stimulus, as well as shifting focus from one goal to another (Seidman & et al, 2006).
Children with Intellectual Disabilities demonstrate
attention below competence capacities for typically developing children. Debates concerning music training’s impact on general cognitive and perceptual abilities among children. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of
rhythmic exercises with music on
attention among
mentally retarded childrenMethods : For this purpose, a semi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test design with two experimental and control groups was used. The research sample included 30 students educable
mentally retarded children, aged 7-11 years old, experimental group=15 and control group=15. For evaluation of
attention was used to Toulouse-Pieron
attention test. In order to analyze the data was used the mix ANOVA (2×2) at the significance level of 0.05 to examine the differences between the two groups in the pre-test and post-test.Results : The results of mix analysis of variance showed that rhythmic exercise with music (experimental group) had positive and significant effects on
attention (P=.033) among educable
mentally retarded children. When the pre-training and post-training parameters were compared between the groups, an increase was determined in the parameters of attention. As a result;
rhythmic exercises combined with music were found to be effective in faculty of
attention among
mentally retarded children.Conclusion : Findings of this study clearly indicate that
rhythmic exercises with music have an important effect on the
attention as one factor of cognitive development among
mentally retarded children. Given these common mechanisms,
rhythmic exercises with music may be useful for promoting the cognitive development and for improving the efficacy of remedial attempts for individuals with
mentally retarded children.