Far transfer to language and math of a short software-based gaming intervention

Abstract

Executive functions (EF) in children can be trained, but it remains unknown whether training-related benefits elicit far transfer to real-life situations. Here, we investigate whether a set of computerized games might yield near and far transfer on an experimental and an active control group of low-SES otherwise typically developing 6-y-olds in a 3-mo pretest-training-posttest design that was ecologically deployed (at school). The intervention elicits transfer to some (but not all) facets of executive function. These changes cascade to real-world measures of school performance. The intervention equalizes academic outcomes across children who regularly attend school and those who do not because of social and familiar circumstances.cognitive training intervention | school grades | Attention Network Test | school attendance | working memory T he efficacy of cognitive training is controversial and constitutes a current challenge for educational neuroscience research (1-4). Although it has been well documented that directed interventions in children can change specific cognitive functions (5-8), it is unknown whether those translate to broader contexts and real-world situations of educational pertinence. Cognitive training has largely focused on executive functions (EF) (6-8), a class of processes critical for purposeful, goal-directed behavior, including working memory (WM), planning, and cognitive control (6). Research has shown that EF capabilities can be improved with practice and gaming interventions (5-7, 9). These results are particularly promising because EF are critical for educational success (10-12) and for mental and physical health (5, 13); furthermore, early self-regulation is indicative of an individual's health and social behavior as an adult (14,15).Because the degree of self-regulation elicited by a child can predict real-life outcomes, it is presumed that an intervention that improves EF should affect a child educational success. However, this hypothesis has never been explicitly examined based on school grades as real-world measurements of educational achievement (16). Instead, current evidence (7, 9, 17, 18) derives from laboratory measures related to school performance (for instance, the time it takes for a child to read a word). Because school performance results from an intertwined process integrating EF with temperament, socioeconomic status (SES), and cognitive skills (19-22) among other environmental factors, examining the direct outcome of an intervention on school grades is necessary to assure its practical pertinence.Our main hypothesis is that a gaming intervention in schoolage children tuned to improve aspects of EF should transfer to real-world manifestations of school performance indexed by children's grades.In the educational system of the City of Buenos Aires, first graders devote an important amount of their school time to language and math. Grading for these subjects is largely based on objective tasks and they are examined extensively. Instead, other subjects (such as foreign la...

Training on Working Memory and Inhibitory Control in Young Adults

“…In our study, we took these factors into account by using different tasks to train the target processes (and to increase the probability of generalization), by introducing two different control conditions (active and passive), and by considering motivational variables associated with training. Thus, the active control group engaged in tasks essentially requiring processing speed (for related approaches see Goldin et al, 2014; Lawlor-Savage and Goghari, 2016), in order to keep participants’ motivation and engagement similar to those from the experimental groups. Importantly, all trained participants (including the AC group) showed a meaningful improvement in the specifically trained process (IC, WM and processing speed).…”

Cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, and education: Interdisciplinary development of an intervention for low socioeconomic status kindergarten children

“…During recent years, several studies have shown that EF can be improved following a systematically-increasing EF-demand schedule [70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79]. However, few of those trainings have been conducted by teachers in classes.…”

Un mapa de los estudios latinoamericanos y españoles sobre videojuegos

“…(Mejía-Rodríguez, 2009;Goldin, 2014;Mainer, 2006). En conjunto con el tópico de las capacidades de la resolución de problemas, comenzará a indagarse el aprendizaje de competencias, así como la activación de esquemas y la memorización con anclaje en el videojuego.…”

“…Como queda reflejado el enfoque de estos análisis excede a los contenidos de los videojuegos, no obstante es significativo que los estudios hayan pasado de la utilización de arcades de rápidos reflejos a los análisis que implementaban videojuegos con gameplay extendida como juegos de simulación, rol, estrategia en tiempo real y otros que destacaban por tener final abierto y, como lo describen diversos autores, fuerte anclaje en una cultura de pares. 13 En Argentina, la línea explicativa que reúne entrenamiento cognitivo y neurociencias ha sido desarrollada por el equipo de Goldin (2014), quienes han documentado modificaciones en funciones cognitivas especificas a través del videojuego (pero no se sabe si las mismas pueden ser trasladadas a otros contextos). Por ello, la validez ecológica de los resultados siempre es un coto infranqueable entre educación, aprendizaje y juego, pero, como veremos en el tercer capítulo, estos umbrales están relacionados con la estratificación de las prácticas lúdicas.…”