Modified ride-on cars and mastery motivation in young children with disabilities: Effects of environmental modifications.
Ride-on car play in clinic lifts how long toddlers with delays keep working with new toys.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with toddlers who had developmental delays. Half got hospital play sessions with a ride-on car plus social games. The other half got only home education packets.
Both groups came from the same hospital wait-list. Sessions ran for several weeks. Staff filmed the kids to score how long they kept trying new toys.
What they found
The car-plus-social group showed stronger object persistence. They kept playing with new toys longer than the home-only group.
Both groups smiled more and used more toys at home, but only the car group gained extra stick-to-it-ness.
How this fits with other research
Correa et al. (1984) also used step-by-step prompting with toddlers who had severe delays. They taught reach-and-grasp instead of ride-on play, yet the same prompt-and-fade logic worked.
Nickerson et al. (2015) compared packed versus spread-out lessons for kids with autism. They found spreading trials sped learning, just like Hsiang-Han spread car play across weeks.
Audras-Torrent et al. (2021) showed that feeling real objects first boosts pretend play. Ride-on cars give real feel-and-move input, so the motor gain seen here may echo their sensory finding.
Why it matters
You can add cheap ride-on toys to any clinic session. Two minutes of car play before table work may lift a toddler’s drive to keep trying new tasks. No extra staff, no fancy gear—just a small car and a cheer.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Wheel in a ride-on car for the first five minutes of session, then fade to the next task.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Independent mobility is important for children's psychological development. Modified ride-on cars are innovative, alternative options to enhance independent mobility, socialization, and motivation in young children with disabilities. AIM: We compared the effects of combining ride-on car use and a social interaction training program on mastery motivation and home affordances with a home education program in young children with disabilities. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty-nine children with disabilities aged 1-3 years were recruited. The treatment group (n = 15) received two 2-h sessions/week for 9 weeks of ride-on car training in a hospital environment in Taiwan. The control group (n = 14) underwent similar home education programs. No treatment except regular therapy was administered during the 9-week follow-up period. Assessments included the Revised Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire-Chinese version and the Affordance in the Home Environment for Motor Development-Toddler version-Chinese version. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The treatment group (compared to controls) had significantly greater improvements in object persistence during the intervention. Both groups showed significant improvements in mastery pleasure and home affordances during the intervention. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This novel study showed the potential use of modified ride-on cars to enhance mastery motivation in a hospital environment.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.08.001