Cognitively Enriched Physical Activity May Foster Motor Competence and Executive Function as Early as Preschool Age: A Pilot Trial

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Autor/inn/en	Biino, Valentina; Tinagli, Valeria; Borioni, Federica; Pesce, Caterina
Titel	Cognitively Enriched Physical Activity May Foster Motor Competence and Executive Function as Early as Preschool Age: A Pilot Trial
Quelle	In: Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 28 (2023) 4, S.425-443 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Pesce, Caterina)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1740-8989
DOI	10.1080/17408989.2021.1990249
Schlagwörter	Preschool Children; Preschool Education; Psychomotor Skills; Motor Development; Executive Function; Physical Activities; Cognitive Processes; Enrichment; Skill Development; Instructional Effectiveness; Intervention; After School Programs; Neuropsychology; Psychological Testing; Visual Measures; Control Groups; Aquatic Sports; Student Improvement; Cognitive Development; Play; Games; Peabody Developmental Motor Scales; Trail Making Test + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Psychomotorische Aktivität; Motorische Entwicklung; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Bereicherung; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Unterrichtserfolg; After school education; After-school programs; Program; Programs; Programme; Außerschulische Jugendbildung; Programm; Neuropsychologie; Psychological test; psychological tests; Psychological examination; Psychologischer Test; Water sports; Water sport; Wassersport; Kognitive Entwicklung; Spiel; Game; Spiele
Abstract	Background: The relation between physical activity (PA), motor skills and cognitive function in children is receiving considerable attention. To transition scientific evidence into pedagogical practice, however, we need to further our understanding of which qualitative PA characteristics are best suited to stimulate motor skills and executive functions (EFs) relevant for children to develop their full potential. Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effects of cognitively enriched PA on the development of motor skills and core EFs at preschool age, which is still less investigated than middle childhood in exercise and cognition research. Specific objectives were to also provide detailed information on the intervention for replicability and effect sizes for sample size computation for future well-powered studies. Participants and setting: A sample of 36 children (19 girls; 17 boys) aged 3-6 years was divided in two intervention groups allocated to afterschool PA enriched with cognitive challenges or swimming (45-minute sessions twice a week for 12 weeks) and one control group that did not practise any afterschool PA. Methods: Before and after the intervention period, children were assessed for gross and fine motor skills with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition (PDMS-2) and for core EFs (working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility) with the Forward Word Span Test and Trail Making Test for young children. Intervention effects were explored with two-way Repeated Measures MANOVAs (Group × Time), followed by similar ANOVAs for each dependent variable, planned pairwise comparisons for post-hoc simple effects. Results: Only children assigned to the enriched PA intervention showed significant improvements in "gross" motor skills (p = 0.001, [partial eta-squared] = 0.35) and working memory (p < 0.001, [partial eta-squared] = 0.53) with higher performances at post-test as compared to children assigned to swimming, who showed a marginally significant, less pronounced gross motor improvement, or to the control group, which did not show any improvement. Both intervention groups also showed significant and similar improvements in "fine" motor skills (p = 0.011, [partial eta-squared] = 0.24) but no between-group differences at post-test, as they caught up, reaching the level of the control group at post-test. Conclusions: The results suggest that cognitive enrichment in PA is a viable way to 'fill two needs with one deed' as early as preschool age. The 'two needs' are motor and cognitive development promotion, while the 'one deed' is designed PA that joins physical and cognitive challenges. The results are discussed in the framework of pedagogical approaches to motor and cognitive development promotion through early quality PA experiences and limitations of this pilot study are presented to orient future research. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01