Early Development of Academic Skills in the Classroom: Short- and Mid-term Effects of a Tablet-based Game That Stimulates Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Skills for Pre-kindergarten Children

General background information:

The literature suggests that children born to low-income families can begin the preschool stage with less developed academic skills (such as pre-calculation and initial literacy learning) and non-academic skills (such as emotional and social competence) compared to children from higher-income families. These differences appear to increase socioemotional, educational, and health-related disparities in the long term. Furthermore, the available evidence indicates that several landmarks of human development take place between 3 and 7 years of age, including the emergence of emotion recognition, control over one's behavior, and executive functions. Therefore, it is essential to work with children who are more economically vulnerable, stimulating these skills at an early age.

Working memory and inhibitory control (executive functions) have been identified as key components in the development of academic skills such as early literacy learning and pre-calculation, with evidence that participants can be stimulated at an early age. Furthermore, a meta-analysis conducted by Blewitt et al. (2018), which examined programs for children aged 2 - 6 years, found that children exposed to social and emotional stimulation programs exhibited significant improvements in social and emotional competences, learning outcomes, and behavioral regulation, while their emotional and behavioral problems were reduced. Several skill-building initiatives aimed at children which involve the use of tactile devices have been reported. For example, Herodotou (2017) conducted a systematic review in order to examine how using tactile screen devices impacted on the learning of children aged 2 to 5 years, finding that most studies evaluated cognitive aspects and largely overlooked socioemotional aspects. However, to the best of our knowledge, no effectiveness evaluations of a program combining cognitive and socioemotional stimulation have been conducted, let alone of a tablet-based program for preschoolers that involves mid-term follow-up.

Specific background information:

Several successful experiences of early cognitive skill stimulation exist, including COGMED for children with ADHD aged 7-17 years (Klingberg et al., 2005) and Memory Booster for children aged 5-8 years (St Clair-Thompson et al., 2010). Examples of socioemotional skill stimulation include PATHS, which involves verbalizing feelings and the usage of self-control strategies. However, our search yielded no effectiveness evaluations of a program combining cognitive and socioemotional stimulation, let alone of a tablet-based program for preschoolers featuring mid-term follow-up. The experience of our research team stems which found results favoring the intervention group in children aged 4-5 years (with a delta greater than 10%), both when stimulating working memory (Rojas-Barahona et al., 2015) and inhibitory control and planning (Rojas-Barahona et al., 2021). The intervention was conducted using a tablet computer in establishments with a high index of school vulnerability (ISV; Spanish: índice de vulnerabilidad escolar, IVE). Therefore, there is evidence in Chile, with socioeconomically disadvantaged preschool-age children, showing that the stimulation of cognitive skills (such as executive functions: working memory and inhibitory control) improves cognitive development and academic skills such as initial literacy learning and pre-calculation. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a program that jointly stimulates the cognitive and socioemotional skills of preschoolers in order to boost the development of their academic skills, controlling for gender, mental health, and baseline skills.