Intervention in executive functions in early childhood education

Abstract

Executive functions defined as the set of higher-order cognitive processes that allow an intentional and directed behavior towards a goal, are vital for success in life, at school, and at work. Improving executive functions in the early stages is very important because problems in executive functioning, in the preschool stage, predict cognitive achievement in later stages and have a central role in school readiness and in the first academic skills acquisition. Recent studies have found positive relationships between executive functioning capacities and math readiness in preschoolers. Likewise, an extensive bibliography suggests an inverse relationship between executive functions and aggressive behavior in humans. For this reason, the objective of this research is to conduct a review of the programs and activities aimed at improving the executive functions in the preschool stage. Various activities and programs have been shown to improve children executive functions, such as computer games, martial arts, yoga, mindfulness and programs included in the school curriculum. The results of studies conducted on the implementation of some of the above activities or programs are promising and suggest that different strategies can be useful in improving executive functions during the preschool years.

Keywords

• funciones ejecutivas
• educación infantil
• intervención
• desarrollo
• control inhibitorio
• memoria de trabajo
• flexibilidad cognitiva