Data_Sheet_5_Art of Learning – An Art-Based Intervention Aimed at Improving Children’s Executive Functions.PDF

Executive functions (EFs) can be conceptualized as a mean of behavioral self-regulation, and difficulties with EFs may adversely affect school success, social function, and cognitive and psychological development. Research about EFs and how they are affected by various educational and psychosocial factors is sparse. EFs are of great importance to understand how children can handle the challenges that they meet at various stages of development. There has been an increased focus on programs aimed at improving EFs, either as a primary outcome, or as a supplemental result of a specific activity. In this randomized controlled study, 66 children (31 girls, mean age 7:1 years) were given an arts and culture rich intervention (Art of Learning) aimed at improving EFs. EFs were assessed with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning-teacher version (BRIEF-teacher form) before, immediately after, and 6 months after intervention. Outcome in the intervention group was compared to children from two schools serving as controls (n = 37, 18 girls, mean age 7:3 years). In addition, teachers from intervention schools were also interviewed both individually and in focus groups. The results reveal that both groups improved their EFs, as measured with BRIEF, over time on the global executive composite (GEC) score, the metacognition index, and on behavioral regulation index (BRI). However, the intervention group displayed a significantly greater improvement than the control group on GEC and BRI. The teacher interviews reveal positive effects for the children when it comes to several aspects: collaboration, conflict management, inclusion, vocabulary, and confidence. These factors are regarded as important for EFs development and academic outcome. The results support the notion of best training transfer effects for tasks addressing global executive functioning and specifically behavioral regulation skills (BRI).

执行功能（Executive Functions, EFs）可被视为行为自我调节的一种途径，执行功能受损可能会对学业成就、社会功能以及认知与心理发展产生负面影响。目前针对执行功能及其受各类教育与社会心理因素影响机制的研究仍相对匮乏。明晰执行功能的运作逻辑，对于儿童应对不同发展阶段所面临的各类挑战具有关键意义。当前学界对旨在提升执行功能的干预项目关注度日益提升，这类项目既可以将执行功能提升作为核心研究目标，也可作为特定活动的附加成果。本项随机对照研究共招募66名儿童（31名女孩，平均年龄7岁1个月），为其实施了一项富含艺术与文化元素的干预项目——“学习的艺术”（Art of Learning），以期改善儿童的执行功能。研究分别在干预前、干预即刻后以及干预后6个月，采用教师版执行功能行为评定量表（Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning-Teacher Version, BRIEF-Teacher）对儿童的执行功能进行评估。将干预组儿童的评估结果与来自两所对照学校的37名儿童（18名女孩，平均年龄7岁3个月）进行对比。此外，研究团队还通过个体访谈与焦点小组座谈的形式，对干预学校的教师开展了调研。结果显示，通过教师版执行功能行为评定量表评估，两组儿童的整体执行复合得分（Global Executive Composite, GEC）、元认知指数以及行为调节指数（Behavioral Regulation Index, BRI）均随时间推移有所提升。但在整体执行复合得分与行为调节指数方面，干预组的提升幅度显著高于对照组。教师访谈结果显示，该干预项目在合作能力、冲突管理、包容性、词汇能力与自信心多个维度对儿童产生了积极影响。上述因素均被认为对儿童执行功能发展与学业成果具有重要作用。本研究结果证实，针对整体执行功能尤其是行为调节技能的训练，可实现最优的训练迁移效果。