Games Training Improves Self-control Ability in Preschool Children: Evidences from ERP

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2015, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5) : 1109-1115.

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PDF(735 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2015, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5) : 1109-1115.

Games Training Improves Self-control Ability in Preschool Children: Evidences from ERP

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Abstract

Self-control is to control impulses, resist temptations and avoid interference from irrelevant something. Early childhood is a period of rapid development in self-control. And self-control on early childhood can predict the performance of adolescence and adulthood, so there is considerable interest in the early interventions of self-control. Several studies have reported that self-control ability can be improved by educational games, but seldom demonstrated neurophysiological changes in preschool children in response to games training related with self-control. The present study used educational games to train preschool children's self-control ability, and used ERPs to examine the neurophysiological effect of games training. Fifty preschool children from kindergarten (25 males; mean age: 4.04) were randomly assigned in terms of classes to either the training group (to-be-trained) or the control (untrained) group. The training group (13 males; mean age: 3.92) receives game training of a semester. Control group (12 males; mean age: 4.16) is free when training group is training. The training program includes six self-designed educational games for improving self-control. And all participants completed tests before and after training. Test program is a visual Go/NoGo task that stimulating pictures consist of mouse pictures with white eyes or red eyes, and EEG is recorded. Electrophysiological data are collected from the scalp using a 64-channel system. These data are submitted to repeated-measure analysis of variance (MANOVA) with factors of Session (before and after training), Group (Untrained and Trained)and electrode site (Fc3, Fcz, Fc4 or P3, Pz, P4). The electrode site includes Fc3, Fcz, Fc4 when N2 is examined. The electrode site includes P3, Pz, P4 when P3 is examined. For the behavioral data of the Go/NoGo task, under the condition of NoGo, subjects do not need any respond. Therefore, there is no reaction time. On accuracy, the results of MANOVA showed that the difference of main effect is significant between before and after training. The accuracy is improved compared with before training. However, there is no significant difference in main effects between training and control groups. And there is also no significant difference in interaction effect between group and session. In addition, ERP data of the Go/NoGo task showed significant difference in amplitude between the training group and control group for the before and after training. After training, the amplitudes of NoGo-N2 components in 330-550ms and NoGo-P3 components in 570-650ms were smaller than before training for the training group, but no difference was found in control group. In addition, the amplitudes of the N2 and P3 are related with self-control, which is demonstrated in the references. Meanwhile, the results of ANOVA indicated that there was no significant difference between two groups before training, which demonstrated self-control ability of two groups were consistent before training. The present study is the first to examine the neurophysiological effect of games training, and provides further evidence for the effects of games training on self-control skill. Preschool teacher may apply game activities to the daily teaching, to promote the development of preschool children's self-control.

Key words

game / self-control / ERP / Go/NoGo / N2 / P3

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Games Training Improves Self-control Ability in Preschool Children: Evidences from ERP[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2015, 38(5): 1109-1115
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