Child Development, Cognitive Change
Conditions
Keywords
executive function, modern board games, cognitive training, school-age children
Brief summary
Executive functions are cognitive processes that have been frequently related to adequate academic performance in the scientific literature. Current research aimed at training executive functions has found promising results using the modern board game as a cognitive tool in children. Considering the growing interest of teachers in this playful and possibly educational and cognitive resource, a game program for cognitive purposes has been designed to be used in primary classrooms. The main objective of the present study is to test the efficacy of a cognitive training program in the classroom based on modern board games in primary school students from ordinary schools (6 to 12 years old). For this, there will be an experimental group that will carry out the game program Conectar Jugando in the classroom implemented by the teachers of the participating centers, and a control group that will be on standby and will be compensated by carrying out the game program at the finalize the post-intervention evaluation. The classes of each school stage will be randomly assigned to an experimental group and a passive control group in each of the participating schools.
Detailed description
As hypotheses, it is established that: i) the experimental group will present a significantly greater improvement in the neuropsychological tasks that measure executive functions compared to the passive control group after the intervention; ii) the experimental group will present a significantly greater improvement in the tests evaluated by their parents / teachers after the intervention compared to the passive control group; iii) the experimental group will present a significantly greater improvement in academic tests after the intervention compared to the passive control group. All hypotheses will be controlled for age, estimate of IQ and socioeconomic status, as well as previous experience in board games and other cognitive activities.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALConectar Jugando Classroom Program
Modern Board Games Intervention in Elementary Classrooms
Sponsors
Atención, Familia, Infancia, Mayores (AFIM21)
Mercurio Distribuciones
Brain In Game scientific-technical service
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Intervention model description
Cluster RCT
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
5 Years to 13 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* be enrolled in an ordinary educational center, whether public, private or subsidized * provide informed consent from both parents and the participant's agreement to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
* comprehension difficulties due to language reasons * sensory difficulties that make it impossible to carry out the program activities
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Visuospatial keep track task (Tamnes et al., 2010) | Baseline and post intervention (after 6 weeks) | Change in visuospatial updating from baseline to post intervention. It consists of 9 trials of increasing difficulty in which colored faces move across the screen and it is necessary to remember the last position of each one. |
| PREDISCAL (Pina-Paredes et al., 2020) | Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks) | Change in academic competences from baseline to post intervention. Screening test that assesses Reading Fluency, Mathematical Fluency and Calculus in three timed written tasks. |
| Shifting - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018) | Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks) | Change in shifting from baseline to post intervention. To obtain this measure, a mixed block is included in the fish flanker task in which trials of yellow fish and trials of red fish appear. When the fish are red, the central fish should be fed. When the fish are yellow, the fish from the sides should be fed. For both conditions, congruent and incongruent tests are presented. The subtraction of the reaction time from the standard block (only congruent and incongruent reds) to the mixed block (reds and yellows) gives rise to the shifting measure. |
| Inhibition - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018) | Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks) | Change in inhibition from baseline to post intervention. It is an adaptation of the classic Flanker Task in which fish must be fed by pressing the key that indicates the direction of the central fish. The inhibition measure is obtained by subtracting the reaction time of the pure block of congruent tests (5 fish going in the same direction) from the standard block that includes congruent and incongruent tests (the 4 fish that accompany the central fish can go in the same direction or the opposite). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ATENTO - Family (Luque & Sánchez-Sánchez, 2019) | Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks) | Change in behavioral executive functions from baseline to post intervention |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Reasoning - TONI-4 (Ruíz-Fernández, 2019) | Baseline | It is a reasoning test in which series and matrices are presented that the child must complete with the available options so that the set makes sense. This measure will be used as a control variable. |
| Parent Survey of Typical Child Time Spent in Less-structured Activities (adapted from Barker et al., 2014) | Baseline | In this survey, parents are asked (with the help of their children) about the time their children dedicate to less-structured and recreational activities using a using a 7-point scale (from lowest to highest frequency). High scores on each item mean a higher frequency in that activity. The sum of all the scores on each item (where 1= 'Never' and 7 = 'Daily') results in a typical less-structured activity score. |
| The Parent Play Beliefs Scale (PPBS) (Fogle & Mendez, 2006) | Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks) | It consists of 30 items with 5 response options ranging from 1 (Disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Two subscales have been considered: a) Play support; b) Acedemic focus. The Play Support subscale refers to parents' positive beliefs about the relevance of play for children's development and about their participation in play with children. High scores on this subscale indicate that parents enjoy play, prioritize play, and view it as a means of teaching. The Academic focus subscale is made up of elements about the parents' emphasis on academic skills and the belief that play can promote their development. The Academic focus subscale is made up of elements about the parents' emphasis on academic skills and the belief that play can promote their development. High scores on this subscale would indicate that parents see the academic role of play as important. |
| Hollingshead Index (Hollingshead, 1975) | Baseline | Sociodemographic data (age, sex, school year and socioeconomic status) |
Countries
Spain
Outcome results
None listed