Preschoolers Demonstrate Similar Learning And Enhanced On-task Behavior Following Physically-active Lessons On Emerging Numeracy Skills

McGowan, Amanda L.; Mansour, Grace M.; Ferguson, David P.; Gerde, Hope K.; Pfeiffer, Karin A.; Pontifex, Matthew B.

doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000680876.90285.ad

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Approximate Number System Task. Acuity of the approximate number system was assessed using a nonsymbolic magnitude comparison paradigm (McGowan et al, 2020(McGowan et al, , 2021. The task was performed on a laptop using PsychoPy 1.83.4 (Peirce, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such an approach ensured children understood which color button corresponded to which school of fish and that children understood the goal of the game was "to catch more fish" prior to administering the faster practice trials and experimental trials. A number of task parameters and stimuli characteristics were controlled to maintain consistency with prior work using this task successfully with preschoolers, which are described in greater detail in McGowan et al (2020McGowan et al ( , 2021. Comparisons were equally distributed across very easy difference ratios (≤ 0.30), easy difference ratios (0.33-0.5), and hard difference ratios (≥ 0.67) where the ratio represents smaller quantity/larger quantity and across congruent (greater surface density for the greater quantity), incongruent (greater surface density for the smaller quantity), and neutral (matching surface density between quantities) trials.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reaction time was quantified using median speed of responding following the onset of the stimuli only for correct trials, ensuring a more representative measure of reaction time in pediatric populations by reducing the effect of trials with outlying times (McGowan et al, 2020(McGowan et al, , 2021.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The benefits of physical activity also extend to classroom behavior, with children exhibiting greater on-task behavior-an index of behavioral self-regulation-when provided increased opportunities to engage in physical activity throughout the school day (Donnelly et al, 2009;Mahar et al, 2006;Szabo-Reed et al, 2017). In this context, physical activity may improve young children's math achievement by enabling gains in aspects of self-regulation that enable better attention while learning novel information (McGowan et al, 2020(McGowan et al, , 2021.…”

Section: Relations Between Physical Activity Early Math Skills and Self-regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consistent with prior investigations in this area, frequency of off-task behavior was used as an ecologically-valid index of children's behavioral self-regulation (McGowan et al, 2020(McGowan et al, , 2021. Off-task behavior defined as motor or verbal behavior that was not relevant to or interrupted the learning situation (e.g., pressing both buttons at the same time, diverting eye contact away from the laptop screen, talking to the experimenter, getting up and walking away from the computer task).…”

Section: Self-regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meeting 24-hour movement behavior guidelines in young children: Improved quantity estimation and self-regulation

McGowan¹,

Hk²,

Ka³

et al. 2021

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Children who exhibit challenging behaviors, including low self-regulation, inattention, and lack of inhibitory control, may miss out on learning opportunities and could even face expulsion. Although physical activity supports academic achievement and self-regulatory skills in older children, the relationship among physical activity, sleep, screen time, aspects of self-regulation, and early academic achievement remain underspecified during early childhood. The present study examined the associations among meeting 24-hour movement behavior recommendations set by the World Health Organization (2019) and young children’s self-regulation and quantity estimation skills in a sample of 123 children (n = 65 female; 4.9 ± 0.7 years). Meeting screen time recommendations alone, meeting physical activity recommendations in combination with either sleep or screen time recommendations, meeting more recommendations overall, and being active more days weekly were associated with superior quantity estimation. Meeting more guidelines and accruing more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily related to better self-regulation. Moreover, self-regulation partially mediated the relationship between physical activity and quantity estimation. Our findings identify benefits for adopting specific physical activity guidelines for children (e.g., physical activity, screen time, and sleep duration) and perhaps integrating these into early learning standards for schools so both families and schools can support children’s capacity to meet 24-hr movement guidelines and thus support cognitive health. An active lifestyle in early childhood may support young children’s self-regulation and early educational outcomes, with physical activity promotion efforts during early childhood serving as a viable means to address growing expulsion rates in preschool-aged children.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%