Examining the Effectiveness of Group Games in Enhancing Inhibitory Control in Preschoolers

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Promoting inhibitory control in preschoolers could increase the likelihood of positive developmental trajectories. Nevertheless, to date only a limited number of studies have focused on inhibitory control training, reporting mixed results. To examine the efficacy and the transfer effects of the training on preschoolers, seven group games based on body movement were developed and administered across 15 sessions of 30 minutes each at preschool three times a week for over five weeks. Fifty-one children aged four to five years were randomly assigned to either a control group consisting of 14 girls and 13 boys (M_age = 4.58; S.D. = 0.32) or a training group with 13 girls and 11 boys (M_age = 4.60; S.D. = 0.30). The training group had four subgroups consisting of six children each. The pretests and delayed posttests examined executive functions and pre-academic skills while immediate posttests examined only executive functions. There was three months interval between immediate and delayed posttests. Improvements in inhibitory control, other executive functions, and mathematical cognition in the experimental group were greater than those in the control group. Practice or Policy: This design of group games for inhibitory control in preschoolers is effective and it can be improved by expanding game categories and enhancing training environment.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the [Research Program Funds of the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality] under Grant [2016-03-002-BZK01 to XG]; [the General Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province] under Grant [2019SJA0920 to XJ]; and [the Project of Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation by Jiangsu Normal University] under Grant [17XLW003 to XJ].