Walden University, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Br J Educ Psychol. 2020 Mar;90(1):167-183. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12270. Epub 2019 Mar 3.
Language-based cognitive fitness describes the ability to carry out cognitive tasks with vigour and alertness, to learn, and to adapt.
The purpose of this research was to test the efficacy of a brain fitness training programme to better understand the role played by three precursor abilities for language-based cognitive development-verbal reasoning, visual synthesis, and active analysis-and their impact on academic achievement.
The sample included 92 children from a private school designed to deliver a prescriptive educational model for the spectrum of challenged, average, and gifted students.
Students completed cognitive tests at entry to the program and at the end of each academic year. Students completed daily brain-based exercises. Associative latent variable growth curve modelling using Mplus was used to test growth in all variables. Bayesian estimation analysis was used for missing data imputation. Age and baseline cognitive ability were included as covariates.
Model fit was excellent, χ (104) = 115.98, p = .20, (χ /df) = 1.11, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.04, SRMR = 0.05. Students who started with the lowest ability levels initially grew faster than those students with higher initial two-wave performance levels consistent with a closing of an ability gap. This had a lagged effect on achievement that accelerated in growth after the first 2 years.
Results provide evidence for the importance of interventions that focus on strengthening precursor cognitive abilities directly involved with language and mathematics achievement.
以语言为基础的认知能力描述的是人们以活力和警觉进行认知任务、学习和适应的能力。
本研究旨在测试大脑健身训练计划的功效，以更好地理解三种语言为基础的认知发展前导能力——言语推理、视觉综合和主动分析——的作用及其对学业成绩的影响。
该样本包括来自一所私立学校的 92 名儿童，该学校旨在为有挑战、平均和优秀学生提供一种规范的教育模式。
学生在进入该项目时和每个学年结束时完成认知测试。学生完成基于大脑的日常练习。使用 Mplus 进行关联潜在变量增长曲线建模，以测试所有变量的增长。贝叶斯估计分析用于缺失数据插补。年龄和基线认知能力被用作协变量。
模型拟合非常好，χ（104）= 115.98，p =.20，（χ/df）= 1.11，CFI = 0.98，TLI = 0.98，RMSEA = 0.04，SRMR = 0.05。那些以最低能力水平开始的学生最初的增长速度比那些初始两波表现水平较高的学生更快，这与能力差距的缩小一致。这对成绩有滞后影响，在最初的 2 年后增长速度加快。
结果为关注直接影响语言和数学成绩的前导认知能力的干预措施的重要性提供了证据。
