Scaffolding Executive Function Capabilities via Play-&-Learn Software for Preschoolers

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read More Add to Saved list
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.apa.org
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      13
    • Education Level:
      Preschool Education
      Early Childhood Education
    • Subject Terms:
      Executive Function; Play; Computer Software; Preschool Children; Educational Games; Visual Stimuli; Pretests Posttests; Young Children; Eye Movements; Gender Differences; Foreign Countries; Technology Integration; Technology Uses in Education; Preschool Teachers; Inhibition; Attention; Computer Assisted Instruction; Teaching Methods
    • Subject Terms:
      Sweden
    • Accession Number:
      10.1037/edu0000099
    • ISSN:
      0022-0663
    • Abstract:
      Educational software in the form of games or so called "computer assisted intervention" for young children has become increasingly common receiving a growing interest and support. Currently there are, for instance, more than 1,000 iPad apps tagged for preschool. Thus, it has become increasingly important to empirically investigate whether these kinds of software actually provide educational benefits for such young children. The study presented in the present article investigated whether preschoolers have the cognitive capabilities necessary to benefit from a teachable-agent-based game of which pedagogical benefits have been shown for older children. The role of executive functions in children's attention was explored by letting 36 preschoolers (3;9--6;3 years) play a teachable-agent-based educational game and measure their capabilities to maintain focus on pedagogically relevant screen events in the presence of competing visual stimuli. Even though the participants did not succeed very well in an inhibition pretest, results showed that they nonetheless managed to inhibit distractions during game-play. It is suggested that the game context acts as a motivator that scaffolds more mature cognitive capabilities in young children than they exhibit during a noncontextual standardized test. The results further indicate gender differences in the development of these capabilities.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Number of References:
      88
    • Publication Date:
      2016
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1115495