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.
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.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
1,200
Modern Board Games Intervention in Elementary Classrooms
Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work; University of Lleida
Lleida, Spain
Visuospatial keep track task (Tamnes et al., 2010)
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.
Time frame: Baseline and post intervention (after 6 weeks)
Inhibition - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)
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).
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
Shifting - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)
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.
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
PREDISCAL (Pina-Paredes et al., 2020)
Change in academic competences from baseline to post intervention. Screening test that assesses Reading Fluency, Mathematical Fluency and Calculus in three timed written tasks.
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
ATENTO - Family (Luque & Sánchez-Sánchez, 2019)
Change in behavioral executive functions from baseline to post intervention
Time frame: Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)
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