The Effects Of Touch Screen Playing And Substantial Materials Playing On 3-5 Years Old Children’s Executive Function Development

The pre-school age is a critical period for the development of executive function.In recent years,researches on the impact of touch screen devices and children’s executive function development has been going vigorously.These conclusions are important for subsequent research.But on the whole,there are still some issues that can be explored further.First,few studies have investigated the effects of different types of playing materials on preschool children’s executive functions.Secondly,in terms of research objects,research on the factors affecting children’s executive function has mostly been based on foreign samples,and current research generally focuses on children of a certain age group.It is not clear whether different ages would have different effects on children’s executive function.Therefore,this study sought to explore the effects of touch screen playing and substantial materials playing on executive function of children aged 3-5 years old by setting two experimental conditions for children to play the touch screen and play substantial materials.387 children aged 3-5 years who had touch screen experience participated in this research,they were randomly assigned to 4 group:i Pad group,role-playing group,screen drawing group and drawing group.First,the sticker-searching task and the sun&moon Stroop task were used to conduct pre-tests of working memory and inhibition control.After the pre-test,the i Pad group played the i Pad APP named "Dr.Panda Restaurant",the role-playing group played with their friends,the screen drawing group used the i Pad to draw,and the drawing group drew freely.Each group took 9 minutes.Finally,the sticker-searching task and the sun&moon Stroop task were used to conduct post-tests of working memory and inhibition control.Gift-wrap task was used to investigate delayed gratification of children.In conclusion,this research results suggested that(1)delayed gratification is easier for children 3 and 4 years old who played the substantial materials,and there is no difference in delayed gratification time for 5 years old children who played the screen or played the substantial material.(2)Different game materials have different effects on working memory ofchildren aged 3-5 years.Substantial materials playing can improve working memory in children 3-5 years old.The effect of touch screen playing on children’s working memory varies with age.Touch screen playing,whether it is screen game or screen painting,has no effect on the working memory of 3-year-old children;Touch screen playing has a negative effect on the working memory of 4-year-old children;Screen games playing has a negative effect on working memory of 5-year-old children,and screen painting has no effect on5-year-old children’s working memory.(3)Different game materials have different effects on inhibition control of children aged 3-5 years.Substantial materials playing can improve inhibition control in children aged 3-4 years old.The effect of touch screen playing on children’s inhibition control varies with age.Screen games playing has a negative effect on inhibition control of 3-year-old children,and has no effect on children aged 4-5 years;Screen painting has a negative effect on inhibition control of 3-4 years old children,and has a positive effect on 5-year-old children aged 4-5 years.