The effectiveness of drama therapy on the attention span of mentally retarded elementary school boys

Psychology and education of exceptional children

Dissertation to receive a master's degree

Abstract

Deficiency of attention is one of the most common problems in mentally retarded children and this issue leads to psychological, academic and social harm. Helping mentally challenged children to increase their attention span will moderate many of their basic problems. Among the many therapeutic methods that have been introduced to intervene in this shortcoming, drama therapy has a special place as a method close to children's nature and in harmony with their characteristics. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of drama therapy on the attention span of educable mentally retarded boys in elementary school. In this quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design along with a control group of 30 people (15 people in each of the experimental and control groups), mentally retarded students were selected from boys' schools using a multi-stage random sampling method. Then, using the Toulouse-Piron test and the attention span subtest of the cognitive-diagnostic test, the students' attention span was measured. The experimental group was divided into two groups of 7 and 8 people and participated in 12 sessions of 45-minute drama therapy for 6 weeks, and the control group did not receive any intervention. At the end of the treatment sessions, the Toulouse-Piron test and the attention span sub-test of the cognitive-diagnostic test were performed on both groups. The obtained data were analyzed using covariance analysis. The results of attention span in Toulouse Piron test (p=0.049) and attention span sub-test of K series (p=0.002) showed a significant difference in experimental and control groups. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that drama therapy is considered as an effective method for improving attention span in mentally retarded children.

Keywords: drama therapy, attention span, mental retardation, elementary school

1-1 Introduction

The undeniable influence of "art[1]" in "education" and the role of moral and psychological cultivation and refinement of art has always been considered by psychologists, psychoanalysts, artists and art scholars (Erezari, 2010). Drama therapy [2] is one of the manifestations of creative art therapy. Art therapy includes book therapy[3], movement/dance[4] therapy, music[5] therapy, poetry[6] therapy, psychodrama therapy[7] and drama therapy (Landi[8], 2006).

Aristotle can be considered the founder of the therapeutic use of drama; In the 4th century BC, he called the show the cause of emptying the soul of negative emotions (Pitrozella [10], 2004). The origin of drama therapy goes back to the 18th century and theater performances in mental hospitals in Europe. The thinking at the time was that pretend play could improve anxiety caused by mental illness. In the early 20th century, Freud and Jung established the theories of psychodrama therapy with their views and work in psychoanalysis. Moreno[11], Laban[12] and Slade[13] are others who have influenced drama therapy. Sue Jennings [14] is perhaps one of the most prolific authors and critics of drama therapy books. Jennings started his work with psychotic patients [15] in 1964, and Marion Lidovist [16] at the Sesame Institute [17] started the first complete course of drama therapy in 1974 (Crimens [18], 2006). These elements appear in dances and rituals as much as in political campaigns, processions, religious ceremonies and even in children's games. It is clear that most of the participants in such activities do not think that they are participating in a theatrical activity (Bracket [19], 2013).

Drama therapy uses improvisation, role playing, puppetry, music and movement, storytelling, masks and rituals, marquee, theater games and play text as therapeutic tools. Drama therapy increases self-confidence, self-awareness, relaxation [20] and responsibility, and encourages different physical, emotional, imaginative and social levels to be active.Drama therapy combines different layers of thought such as anthropology, psychology, sociology, psychodrama therapy and psychotherapy. Drama therapy shows the union between drama and therapy, but it is not a simple harmony, but this combination provides the appropriate use of elements to encourage growth and transformation. Drama therapy, unlike most previous treatments focusing on expression using stories, displays and physical descriptions of materials, uses more intellectual approaches (Crimens, 2006).

The importance of attention in general in learning is obvious. A child must be able to pay attention to what is going on before he can learn (Halahan [21] and Kaufman [22], 1994). Patton [23], Breen [24], Pine [25] and Smith [26] (1974) introduce distraction and lack of attention as two important and normal characteristics in students with intellectual disabilities [27]. Keogh[28] and Margolis[29] (2002) stated that attention disturbances and ineffective attention separate students with and without disabilities from each other. Students with intellectual disabilities have problems in attention, self-regulation[30], activity level, impulse control[31] and concentration. These students, when a specific cognition is involved, cannot easily control their attention shift (Crimens, 2006). Also, attention plays a major role in the social relations of mentally retarded children. For a therapist helping a mentally disabled child who is known for not paying attention to tasks and tasks, mastering this problem and increasing his social and friendly relationships is an important issue (Bortoli [32], 2000). Research has shown that lack of attention is often associated with poor social skills and problem-solving skills, low self-esteem, aggression, academic problems, and other secondary disorders such as depression, isolation, and the like. The set of these problems makes the child's socialization and acceptance of social norms a serious problem. The set of these shortcomings can disrupt all the meaningful relationships of the child with family, peers and teachers and ultimately endanger his/her adaptation (Oland[33], 2006; Henderson[34], Dakoff[35], Schwartz[36] and Liddle[37], 2006).

2-1 Statement of the problem:

Many researchers acknowledge the prevalence of distraction in mentally retarded children. According to the statistics of the American Psychiatric Association[39], the prevalence of attention deficit disorder[38] in the mentally retarded is 9 to 18 times higher than in the normal population (Lem Lan Thayer[40], 2000). Attention is very basic for cognitive functions and is considered essential for learning and acquiring cognitive-behavioral-social and language skills. Paying attention is a combination of internal processes in learning. Many exceptional learners can see and hear, but many cannot do the things we ask them to do. Many of them have the capacity to retain what they learn, but they do not do this because they do not pay attention (Crimens, 2006).

Crimens (2006) quoting Wood[41] and Lazzari[42] (1997) defines attention as: the ability to focus on a stimulus and maintain this attention during a certain period of time; They describe four different categories of lack of attention that are common in mentally retarded students, which are called excessive attention [43], insufficient attention [44], lingering [45] and high sensitivity to information. Excessive attention in which transfer is difficult is when a child cannot easily transfer his attention from one activity to another. Inadequate attention is commonly known as distraction. This means that it cannot differentiate between what is important and what is not. Stagnation involves getting stuck in a repetitive activity, word, or phrase, and information hypersensitivity is when information received by the senses is blocked by other stimuli, making it impossible to focus on the task at hand.[1] .