Abstract: This study conducted the pre-test and post-test experimental design to examine the promotion effect of various forms of play training integrated with teaching on executive function among rural older preschoolers for 3 months. In the intervention group (n = 50, M ± SD = 6.12 ± 0.44), the instructor guided children to perform three game activities training. The first is the “self-control storybook”, in which children were required to take the excellent qualities of the characters in the story as exemplars, and then would improve self-control in the real environment through learning from the situations and imitation or rejection to some typical characters. In this process, children were asked to remember the content of story games and suppress impulsive behaviors in campus activities by themselves or with mutual restraint. The second is the “Focus book” that children were required to master their behavior and focus on the task. The “Focus book” could train children to stay focused and resist distraction. It also requires them to switch their attention between different tasks and goals. The third is the “memory chess” that children were asked to remember the pattern of each piece. The memory chess games also require cooperative participation of working memory (WM), inhibition control (IC), and cognitive flexibility (CF). Routine teaching activities were carried out for children in the control group (n = 50, M ± SD = 6.22 ± 0.34). We used the three classical tasks, i.e., the Tapping Task for IC, the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task (DCCS) for CF, and the Color-naming Span Task for WM, to measure executive function before and after training. Results showed that: (1) No significant differences were depicted between the two groups in the pre-test of the three dimensions of executive function, but the performance of working memory (t = 1.98, p = .05, Cohen's d = 0.40) and cognitive flexibility (t = 2.32, p = .02, Cohen's d = 0.46) in the intervention group were significantly better than that of control group in the post-test. (2) After further dividing the intervention group into high and low executive function, it was found that children in the low executive function group got significant improvement in all the 3 aspects of executive function (tWM = 4.12, p = .001, Cohen's d = 0.99; tIC = 4.93, p < .001, Cohen's d = 1.03; tCF = 4.50, p < .001, Cohen's d = 1.18); but the high executive function group only improved on working memory (t = 3.72, p = .001, Cohen's d = 0.64). Research suggested that short-term game training can promote the executive function of rural older preschoolers, mainly on working memory and cognitive flexibility. Moreover, the promotion effect of game training on children with low executive function was more obvious. There are several important theoretical and practical implications in our study. First of all, the materials we used are economical and easy to obtain, the game is simple to operate, the demand for investment of time and quality of teachers is relatively less, and it is easier to implement and promote in economically backward areas. Secondly, the funny stories and games made children actively participate in activities in a happy atmosphere, and transformed the form of games to add the new and different challenge for the higher demand on executive functions. More importantly, early childhood educators should realize that these training methods and programs are relatively easy to learn and operate for teachers. With the assistance of appropriate toys and books, better training results can be achieved as long as these trainings are kept on. This is undoubtedly an encouraging message for ability improvement and teaching advancement of disadvantaged children.

Key words: rural preschoolers, executive function, play training, intervention

摘要： 本研究采用实验组对照组前测后测设计，对实验组（即干预组）幼儿进行为期3个月的多种形式融于教学的游戏训练（自控力养成、专注力练习、记忆棋游戏）。结果发现：(1) 两组幼儿在执行功能的三个维度（工作记忆、抑制控制和认知灵活性）上的前测成绩均无显著差异，但训练后干预组幼儿的工作记忆和认知灵活性上的增量显著高于对照组；(2) 将干预组幼儿依据执行功能水平进行高、低分组划分，发现低执行功能组幼儿在三个维度都得到了显著提升，而高执行功能组幼儿只在工作记忆上有显著提升。研究证明，短期游戏训练一定程度上可以促进农村幼儿执行功能的进步，尤其对执行功能偏低的幼儿效果更加明显，显示出补偿发展的特征。

关键词: 农村幼儿, 执行功能, 游戏训练, 干预