Improving Executive Functions in Elementary Schoolchildren

Abstract

Executive Functions (EFs) describe a set of cognitive control abilities that help children to develop self-regulated behavior and do well in their schooling. The promotion of EFs in children at social risk is an area of relevance for neurosciences and education. On this basis, the present study set out to analyze a school-based intervention targeted to strengthening EFs in Argentine children at social risk. Participants were 69 children from 8 to 10 years old, from an urban-marginalized federal school in Mendoza. A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design was used, with a control group. The cognitive intervention was embedded in the school curriculum and was carried out for a month and a half. The schoolchildren were evaluated before and after the intervention with EFs' neuropsychological tests. The main results showed that the group cognitive intervention was associated with gains in the schoolchildren's attention processes, although it did not favor other EFs, which could indicate moderate effectiveness. These data provide evidence in favor of ecological interventions as a way to promote attention development trajectories in children at social risk, and in turn, draw up guidelines to reflect on the design and the modalities of school-based interventions.

Strengthening Socio-Cognitive and Emotional Skills in Early Education through a School-Based Program: Preliminary Study

“…The future challenge for this type of research in early childhood is to specify in greater detail in which specific domains such training is most effective. Although some research has been carried out (Diamond et al, 2019;González-Valenzuela & Martín-Ruiz, 2020;Korzeniowski et al, 2020;Traverso et al, 2019), future studies should be proposed and done to consider the different socio-cultural contexts.…”

“…Thus, socio-cognitive functioning is critical to performance in many of the types of learning activities that children participate in, in kindergarten and early elementary school. Several studies have shown that good performance in cognitive control functions favors academic achievement (Korzeniowski et al, 2016;Korzeniowski et al, 2017;Korzeniowski et al, 2020;Segretin et al, 2014;Zelazo et al, 2018). Although socio-cognitive functioning can be improved through training and practice, it can also be diminished by adverse experiences (Alam et al, 2017;Blair & Raver, 2014;Evans & Schamberg, 2009;Ison et al, 2015).…”

“…Throughout our work experience in marginalized urban schools, it has been usual to meet families in situations of psychosocial vulnerability, where boys and girls experience daily situations of socio-family stress, which are conditions that predispose to greater disorganization in family dynamics and in the establishment of an ambivalent socio-affective communication (Ison et al, 2015;Korzeniowski et al, 2020;Morelato et al, 2019). Thus, high levels of stress in childhood are associated with low socio-cognitive performances, and, in turn, low socio-cognitive performances can lead to higher levels of stress manifested in learning situations (Evans & Schamberg, 2009).…”

“…Our research team has been working for years in the application of socio-cognitive and emotional intervention programs in schoolchildren aged 7-to-12 years (Ison, 2009(Ison, , 2010(Ison, , 2015Korzeniowski et al, 2020). Based on this, in 2017, we were summoned by the Directorate of Initial Education, under the General Directorate of Schools (DGE), of the province of Mendoza, Argentina, to design and implement a program to strengthen socio-cognitive and emotional in early childhood.…”

Procesos cognitivos y ejecutivos asociados a la expresión escrita infantil

“…La memoria de trabajo mantiene activa la información en la mente para operar en base a ella. La flexibilidad cognitiva permite cambiar la perspectiva sobre una tarea y ajustar las respuestas a los nuevos requerimientos (Cordeiro et al, 2019;Introzzi et al, 2015;Korzeniowski et al, 2020). Entre las FE complejas, la planificación permite identificar una meta, organizar la secuencia de pasos para alcanzarla, anticipando consecuencias y repasando el mapa mental para dirigir la acción (Díaz et al, 2012).…”