Thibodeau Rachel B, Gilpin Ansley T, Brown Melissa M, Meyer Brooke A
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA.
J Exp Child Psychol. 2016 May;145:120-38. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.01.001. Epub 2016 Feb 5.
Although recent correlational studies have found a relationship between fantasy orientation (FO; i.e., a child's propensity to play in a fantastical realm) and higher order cognitive skills called executive functions (EFs), no work has addressed the causality and directionality of this relationship. The current study experimentally examined the directionality of the observed relationship between FO and EF development in preschool-aged children through an innovative play intervention employing a randomized controlled design. A sample of 110 children between the ages of 3 and 5years were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: fantastical pretend-play intervention, non-imaginative play intervention, or business-as-usual control. Results revealed that children who participated in a 5-week fantastical pretend-play intervention showed improvements in EFs, whereas children in the other two conditions did not. Within the fantastical pretend-play condition, children who were highly engaged in the play and those who were highly fantastical demonstrated the greatest gains in EFs. These data provide evidence for the equifinal relationship between fantasy-oriented play and EF development, such that engaging in fantasy-oriented play may be one of many ways to directly enhance EF development.
尽管最近的相关性研究发现幻想倾向（FO；即儿童在幻想领域玩耍的倾向）与被称为执行功能（EFs）的高阶认知技能之间存在关联，但尚无研究探讨这种关系的因果性和方向性。本研究通过一项采用随机对照设计的创新性游戏干预实验，检验了学龄前儿童中观察到的FO与EF发展之间关系的方向性。110名3至5岁的儿童被随机分配到三个条件之一：奇幻假装游戏干预、非想象性游戏干预或常规对照组。结果显示，参与为期5周的奇幻假装游戏干预的儿童在EFs方面有改善，而其他两个条件下的儿童则没有。在奇幻假装游戏条件下，高度投入游戏和高度奇幻的儿童在EFs方面的进步最大。这些数据为以幻想为导向的游戏与EF发展之间的等效关系提供了证据，即参与以幻想为导向的游戏可能是直接促进EF发展的众多方式之一。
