Tablet-based Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure copy task: a novel application to assess spatial, procedural, and kinematic aspects of drawing in children

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 16787 - 12
• Main Authors: Frigeni, Marta, Petilli, Marco A., Gobbo, Silvia, Di Giusto, Valentina, Zorzi, Carla F., Rabuffetti, Marco, Spinelli, Federico, Gower, Valerio, Daini, Roberta, Cavallini, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 22.07.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/114/116; 631/378/2649; 631/477; 692/617; Biomechanical Phenomena; Child; Children; Computers, Handheld; Correlation analysis; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Kinematics; Male; Motor ability; Motor skill; Motor Skills - physiology; Movement control; multidisciplinary; Organizational strategies; Principal Component Analysis; Principal components analysis; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Rey–Osterrieth figure; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tablet-based neuropsychological tests; Visuo-constructional skills; Organizational strategies; Visuo-constructional skills; Tablet-based neuropsychological tests; Rey–Osterrieth figure; Movement control
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67076-9

The paper-and-pencil Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) copy task has been extensively used to assess visuo-constructional skills in children and adults. The scoring systems utilized in clinical practice provide an integrated evaluation of the drawing process, without differentiating between its visuo-constructional, organizational, and motor components. Here, a tablet-based ROCF copy task capable of providing a quantitative assessment of the drawing process, differentiating between visuo-constructional, organizational, and motor skills, is trialed in 94 healthy children, between 7 and 11 years of age. Through previously validated algorithms, 12 indices of performance in the ROCF copy task were obtained for each child. Principal component analysis of the 12 indices identified spatial, procedural, and kinematic components as distinct dimensions of the drawing process. A composite score for each dimension was determined, and correlation analysis between composite scores and conventional paper-and-pencil measures of visuo-constructional, procedural, and motor skills performed. The results obtained confirmed that the constructional, organizational, and motor dimensions underlie complex figure drawing in children; and that each dimension can be measured by a unique composite score. In addition, the composite scores here obtained from children were compared with previsions results from adults, offering a novel insight into how the interplay between the three dimensions of drawing evolves with age.