Conectar Jugando: Board Games in Elementary Classrooms (6-12 Years Old) to Improve Executive Functions

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Cognitive Change; Child Development

• Registration Number: NCT05143294
• Lead Sponsor: Brain In Game scientific-technical service

Brief Summary

Executive functions are cognitive processes that have been frequently related to adequate academic performance in the scientific literature. Current research aimed at training executive functions has found promising results using the modern board game as a cognitive tool in children. Considering the growing interest of teachers in this playful and possibly educational and cognitive resource, a game program for cognitive purposes has been designed to be used in primary classrooms. The main objective of the present study is to test the efficacy of a cognitive training program in the classroom based on modern board games in primary school students from ordinary schools (6 to 12 years old). For this, there will be an experimental group that will carry out the game program "Conectar Jugando" in the classroom implemented by the teachers of the participating centers, and a control group that will be on standby and will be compensated by carrying out the game program at the finalize the post-intervention evaluation. The classes of each school stage will be randomly assigned to an experimental group and a passive control group in each of the participating schools.

Detailed Description

As hypotheses, it is established that: i) the experimental group will present a significantly greater improvement in the neuropsychological tasks that measure executive functions compared to the passive control group after the intervention; ii) the experimental group will present a significantly greater improvement in the tests evaluated by their parents / teachers after the intervention compared to the passive control group; iii) the experimental group will present a significantly greater improvement in academic tests after the intervention compared to the passive control group. All hypotheses will be controlled for age, estimate of IQ and socioeconomic status, as well as previous experience in board games and other cognitive activities.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2021-09-30
• Status Verified: 2021-11
• Study First Submitted: 2021-11-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-11-22
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-11-22
• Study First Posted: 2021-12-03
• Last Update Posted: 2021-12-03
• Primary Completion: 2022-04
• Study Completion: 2022-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: UNKNOWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 1200

Inclusion Criteria

• be enrolled in an ordinary educational center, whether public, private or subsidized
• provide informed consent from both parents and the participant's agreement to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria

• comprehension difficulties due to language reasons
• sensory difficulties that make it impossible to carry out the program activities

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Visuospatial keep track task (Tamnes et al., 2010)	Baseline and post intervention (after 6 weeks)	Change in visuospatial updating from baseline to post intervention. It consists of 9 trials of increasing difficulty in which colored faces move across the screen and it is necessary to remember the last position of each one.
Shifting - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)	Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)	Change in shifting from baseline to post intervention. To obtain this measure, a mixed block is included in the fish flanker task in which trials of yellow fish and trials of red fish appear. When the fish are red, the central fish should be fed. When the fish are yellow, the fish from the sides should be fed. For both conditions, congruent and incongruent tests are presented. The subtraction of the reaction time from the standard block (only congruent and incongruent reds) to the mixed block (reds and yellows) gives rise to the shifting measure.
Inhibition - Child Fish Flanker Task (Benzing et al., 2018)	Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)	Change in inhibition from baseline to post intervention. It is an adaptation of the classic Flanker Task in which fish must be fed by pressing the key that indicates the direction of the central fish. The inhibition measure is obtained by subtracting the reaction time of the pure block of congruent tests (5 fish going in the same direction) from the standard block that includes congruent and incongruent tests (the 4 fish that accompany the central fish can go in the same direction or the opposite).
PREDISCAL (Pina-Paredes et al., 2020)	Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)	Change in academic competences from baseline to post intervention. Screening test that assesses Reading Fluency, Mathematical Fluency and Calculus in three timed written tasks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
ATENTO - Family (Luque & Sánchez-Sánchez, 2019)	Baseline and Post-intervention (after 6 weeks)	Change in behavioral executive functions from baseline to post intervention

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Faculty of Education, Psychology and Social Work; University of Lleida; 🇪🇸 Lleida, Spain