Poster #177 - Active play, executive function, and math over the prekindergarten year

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - School Readiness/Childcare

Integrative Statement

Early childhood is a crucial time in the development of cognitive skills such as executive function (EF), which involves the conscious control of thought and action (Miyake, Friedman, Emerson, Witzki, & Howerter, 2000), and is highly related to academic achievement (McClelland et al., 2007). Evidence suggests that active forms of play are linked to better EF, and that EF mediates the relationship between active play with math achievement (Becker, McClelland, Loprinzi, & Trost, 2014). Less work however has examined longitudinal connections among active play, EF, and domain specific skills (oral counting, quantity comparison) involved in mathematical processing over the prekindergarten year. Therefore, the present study investigated if 1) natural levels of active play measured during recess in the fall of prekindergarten predict executive function in both the fall and spring of prekindergarten; 2) if active play predicts two domain specific skills involved in the development of numeracy, oral counting and quantity comparison in both the fall and spring of prekindergarten; and 3) if the path between active play with spring oral counting and quantity comparison is mediated by fall EF, oral counting, and quantity comparison scores.

The sample included 108 American preschool children (50% boys) aged 36.78 to 63.41 months (M = 53.22, SD = 5.14), with a median family income of $37,145. Active play, defined as vigorous physical activity, was objectively assessed over two days during outdoor play in the fall of the prekindergarten year using ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers. In both the fall and spring, the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders task (HTKS, McClelland et al., 2014) was used to measure EF, and the Individual Growth & Development Indicators of Early Numeracy (Hojnoski & Floyd, 2013) was used to measure quantity comparison and oral counting.

Results showed that children who spent more time at high levels of active play during the fall of prekindergarten year had higher fall EF and quantity comparison scores, but active play did not predict fall oral counting or spring oral counting and quantity comparison scores. For the indirect path between fall active play and spring math, results showed a significant indirect path from active play through fall and spring EF to oral counting (B = .64, p = .032) (see Figure 1). Further, results showed a significant path from active play through fall quantity comparison to spring quantity comparison scores (B = .16, p = .05) (see Figure 2).

Findings suggest that higher levels of active play relate to early EF and quantity comparison scores, with EF and quantity comparison scores mediating the path between fall active play and spring oral counting (EF) and quantity comparison (fall quantity comparison) scores. This study adds to a growing body of research demonstrating the benefits of physical activity in promoting academic success and sheds new light on the need to allow time for recess for prekindergarten age children.

Authors

• Derek R. Becker, Western Carolina University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cathy Grist, Western Carolina University
  Presenting Author