Current Search: Executive Functioning (x)
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(1 - 12 of 12)
- Title
- DOES CHRONIC STRESS ACCELERATE LATE-AGING COGNITIVE DECLINE IN MEMORY AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING?.
- Creator
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Robinson, Diane, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Few studies exist examining the relationship between self-reported stress and cognitive function in healthy nonpsychiatric older adults, and even less studies have examined whether high levels of self-reported stress accelerate the cognitive decline found in normal late-aging populations. A group of older nonpsychiatric adults, ages 54 years and above, were asked to complete three measures assessing their self-perceived stress over the past month, past year, and their lifetime. Sixty-one...
Show moreFew studies exist examining the relationship between self-reported stress and cognitive function in healthy nonpsychiatric older adults, and even less studies have examined whether high levels of self-reported stress accelerate the cognitive decline found in normal late-aging populations. A group of older nonpsychiatric adults, ages 54 years and above, were asked to complete three measures assessing their self-perceived stress over the past month, past year, and their lifetime. Sixty-one adults between the ages of 54 and 88 (52% female) participated in a second phase in which neuropsychological tasks were administered to assess three cognitive domains; memory, learning, and executive functioning. A hierarchical regression examined each of the three domain scores to explore whether self-perceived acute and chronic stress, after covaring for state anxiety, was related to neuropsychological performance. No statistically significant regressions were found, which was predicted for the learning domain, but contrary to the hypotheses for the memory and executive functioning domain. The potential influence of age in this study was explored in a series of ANOVAs examining the interactions between the three stress measures with state anxiety and age on the three cognitive domains. A statistically significant interaction was found between age and perceived lifetime stress when examining the memory domain score. In the young-old participants an increase in stress showed a non-significant relationship with a decrease in memory performance, while in the older-old participants the opposite non-significant tendency was found. The current study also partially replicated an earlier report of a relationship between an increase in recent self-reported stress and a decrease in performance on a specific divided attention task, and extended this finding to include older adults. While the majority of the studyÂÂ's hypotheses were not supported, these preliminary findings provide the field with interesting areas to explore in future studies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003256, ucf:48515
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003256
- Title
- Psychometric Issues Related to the Tinker Toy Test.
- Creator
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Guzman, Daniel, Fouty, Ed, Berman, Steven, Damato-Kubiet, Leslee, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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An evaluation of executive functioning is a critical component of a comprehensive assessment of higher cerebral functioning. The Tinker Toy Test (TTT) was introduced in 1982. This test allows an individual to demonstrate the extent of their executive capacities by permitting them to initiate, plan, and structure a potentially complex activity and carry it out independently in an unstructured fashion and administration is simple. This is a departure from more complex and structured tests of...
Show moreAn evaluation of executive functioning is a critical component of a comprehensive assessment of higher cerebral functioning. The Tinker Toy Test (TTT) was introduced in 1982. This test allows an individual to demonstrate the extent of their executive capacities by permitting them to initiate, plan, and structure a potentially complex activity and carry it out independently in an unstructured fashion and administration is simple. This is a departure from more complex and structured tests of executive function. There is a dearth of research on the TTT and this study seeks to examine some of the psychometric properties of this instrument; i.e., working time minimum, gender effects, convergent and divergent validity, and potential intellectual correlates. Participants included 10 male and 30 female student volunteers from a large university in Central Florida. Participants had no history of neurologic disease/trauma or conditions that would affect motor functioning of the upper extremities. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the WASI-II, and the TTT. A two-way mixed-design ANOVA examining TTT scores as a function of work time and gender revealed a non-significant gender main effect, F(1, 21) = .09, p = .767. The work time main effect was not significant, , F(1, 21) = .324, p = .575. A significant work time x gender interaction was observed, F(1, 21) = 4.983, p = .037. Convergent validity was assessed by comparing the TTT scores with the Matrix Reasoning subtest, r(38) = .32, p = .044, and the Similarities, r(38) = .34, p = .03, subtest on the WASI-II. Divergent validity was assessed by comparing TTT scores to the Block Design subtest of the WASI-II, r(38) = .245, p = .127. No significant correlation was found between intelligence and TTT (VCI, r(38) = -.16, p = .335; PRI, r(38) = .15, p = .344; and FSIQ, r(38) = -.02, p = .928). The data supports the continued use of the 5-minute working time minimum presented by Lezak, as this temporal index was a more accurate representation of executive functioning. This study demonstrated no association between TTT scores and intellectual functioning. The findings of this study support the validity of this underutilized test of executive functioning and its inclusion in neuropsychological test batteries.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- Identifier
- CFE0005802, ucf:50044
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005802
- Title
- METACOGNITIVE COACHING AS A MEANS TO ENHANCE COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS FOR STUDENTS WITH EXECUTIVE FUNCTION DISORDERS.
- Creator
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Parsons, Christine, Marino, Matthew, Ph.D., University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Preparing undergraduate students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields continues to be a national priority. This project analyzed the effects of virtual metacognitive academic coaching between graduate student coaches and undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders at a large, four-year university. The project team analyzed the persistence of the undergraduate students in their major, as well as the graduate students' abilities to...
Show morePreparing undergraduate students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields continues to be a national priority. This project analyzed the effects of virtual metacognitive academic coaching between graduate student coaches and undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders at a large, four-year university. The project team analyzed the persistence of the undergraduate students in their major, as well as the graduate students' abilities to transfer the coaching experiences to K-12 settings. A mixed-methods design evaluated qualitative (i.e. student/coaches' surveys and interviews) outcomes for undergraduate STEM majors and for graduate students. The goal of this project is to develop iteratively a model of scalable supports that can be utilized to support undergraduates with disabilities in STEM majors' at large universities such as UCF. Graduate student coaches paired with undergraduate STEM majors with Executive Function disorders (n=26) worked collaboratively throughout one semester to developed strategies that supported the success of the undergraduate students' coursework. Both coaches and students provided examples of positive effects of the academic coaching process that supported student course work and created experiences that the graduate students could use in a K-12 setting.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFH2000176, ucf:45947
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000176
- Title
- Cognitive and vascular risk factors for depression: Testing an integrated theoretical framework.
- Creator
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Scott, Rosanna, Paulson, Daniel, Rapport, Mark, Dvorak, Robert, Dangiolo, Mariana, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Objective: Theoretical models that have guided the study of later-life depression include the vascular depression hypothesis, depression-executive dysfunction syndrome, and the CaR-FA-X model. Evidence suggests these can be integrated into a single developmental model of disordered mood (and its associated overgeneral memory feature) in later-life to delineate a mechanism of the vascular depression effect and identify modifiable intervention targets.Methods: In older adults, four serial...
Show moreObjective: Theoretical models that have guided the study of later-life depression include the vascular depression hypothesis, depression-executive dysfunction syndrome, and the CaR-FA-X model. Evidence suggests these can be integrated into a single developmental model of disordered mood (and its associated overgeneral memory feature) in later-life to delineate a mechanism of the vascular depression effect and identify modifiable intervention targets.Methods: In older adults, four serial mediation models evaluated the relationships between (1) vascular burden and depressive symptoms via executive control and rumination, and (2) vascular burden and autobiographical memory specificity (AMS) via executive control and rumination. In younger adults, four simple mediation models were conducted to compare results to older adults, including models assessing the relationships between (1) executive control and depressive symptoms via rumination, and (2) executive control and AMS via rumination. Bias-corrected bootstrapping was employed throughout.Results: Older adult n=56; younger adult n=63. Older adult serial mediation models demonstrated significant individual relationships between a working memory measure and depressive symptoms, as well as between rumination and depressive symptoms. The vascular depression effect neared significance. No other direct or indirect effects were supported. In younger adults, rumination was significantly associated with depressive symptoms; all other hypothesized relationships were not significant.Conclusions: Model 1, evaluating the impact of vascular burden on depressive symptoms in older adults via working memory and rumination, respectively, was the most effective in integrating vascular depression, DED, and CaR-FA-X. However, there was not support for a vascular depression mechanism. Null results in this sample could be attributable to inadequate power or measurement error. Clinically, results promote interventions that target older adults presenting with depression, executive dysfunction, or rumination, independently or combined.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007860, ucf:52759
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007860
- Title
- Impulsivity and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Testing competing predictions from the working memory and behavioral inhibition models of ADHD.
- Creator
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Raiker, Joseph, Rapport, Mark, Beidel, Deborah, Mouloua, Mustapha, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Impulsivity is a hallmark of two of the three DSM-IV ADHD subtypes and is associated with myriad adverse outcomes. Limited research, however, is available concerning the mechanisms and processes that contribute to impulsive responding by children with ADHD. The current study tested predictions from two competing models of ADHD (-) working memory (WM) and behavioral inhibition (BI) (-) to examine the extent to which ADHD-related impulsive responding was attributable to model-specific...
Show moreImpulsivity is a hallmark of two of the three DSM-IV ADHD subtypes and is associated with myriad adverse outcomes. Limited research, however, is available concerning the mechanisms and processes that contribute to impulsive responding by children with ADHD. The current study tested predictions from two competing models of ADHD (-) working memory (WM) and behavioral inhibition (BI) (-) to examine the extent to which ADHD-related impulsive responding was attributable to model-specific mechanisms and processes. Children with ADHD (n = 21) and typically developing children (n = 20) completed laboratory tasks that provided WM (domain-general central executive [CE], phonological/visuospatial storage/rehearsal) and BI indices (stop-signal reaction time [SSRT], stop-signal delay, mean reaction time). These indices were examined as potential mediators of ADHD-related impulsive responding on two diverse laboratory tasks used commonly to assess impulsive responding (CPT: continuous performance test; VMTS: visual match-to-sample). Bias-corrected, bootstrapped mediation analyses revealed that CE processes significantly attenuated between-group impulsivity differences, such that the initial large-magnitude impulsivity differences were no longer significant on either task after accounting for ADHD-related CE deficits. In contrast, SSRT partially mediated ADHD-related impulsive responding on the CPT but not VMTS. This partial attenuation was no longer significant after accounting for shared variance between CE and SSRT; CE continued to attenuate the ADHD-impulsivity relationship after accounting for SSRT. These findings add to the growing literature implicating CE deficits in core ADHD behavioral and functional impairments, and suggest that cognitive interventions targeting CE rather than storage/rehearsal or BI processes may hold greater promise for alleviating ADHD-related impairments.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004155, ucf:49070
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004155
- Title
- Rumination and executive dysfunction: Risk factors for vascular depression.
- Creator
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Brush, David, Paulson, Daniel, Rapport, Mark, Bohil, Corey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Introduction: The widely-supported vascular depression hypothesis is underspecified with respect to cognitive mechanisms by which high cerebrovascular burden (CVB) and neuropathology relate to depressive symptoms. Integration of the vascular depression hypothesis with the CaR-FA-X model, a framework of affect regulation mechanisms, suggest that Rumination (R) and executive dysfunction (X) may increase due to altered recruitment of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex resulting from high CVB and...
Show moreIntroduction: The widely-supported vascular depression hypothesis is underspecified with respect to cognitive mechanisms by which high cerebrovascular burden (CVB) and neuropathology relate to depressive symptoms. Integration of the vascular depression hypothesis with the CaR-FA-X model, a framework of affect regulation mechanisms, suggest that Rumination (R) and executive dysfunction (X) may increase due to altered recruitment of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex resulting from high CVB and underlying neuropathology. This process would contribute to depressive symptomatology among older adults with high CVB. The progression of examined hypotheses included mediation models examining mechanistic relationships between predictors (CVB, DLPFC activation), cognitive correlates (rumination, executive functioning), and affective outcomes (depressive symptoms). Method: A sample of 52 community-dwelling, stroke-free, individuals over the age of 70, without history of severe mental illness, dementia, or severe cognitive impairment, completed the Ruminative Responses Scale, provided self-reported cerebrovascular burden data (cardiac disease, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol), and completed executive function tasks (Stroop, Flanker) while their hemodynamic response was measured using fNIRS. The Geriatric Depression Scale was used to assess depressive symptomatology. Prefrontal cortical recruitment was assessed using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).Results: A progression of conventional and bootstrapped regression-based models broadly supported relationships between CVB and depressive symptoms, but not between DLPFC activation and depressive symptoms. No mechanistic relationships were found, with respect to analyses testing prospective cognitive mediators.Conclusions: Primary findings from this study indicate that cerebrovascular burden predicts depressive symptomatology among older adults and is related to a reduction in inhibitory control ability. Further, these findings inform CVB measurement and mental health implications of contrasting approaches to CVB measurement. A primary contribution of this thesis is that results appear to support utilization of fNIRS, a low-cost and accessible neuroimaging paradigm, for the study of lateralized cognition among older adults.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0006981, ucf:51648
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006981
- Title
- Applied problem solving in children with ADHD: The mediating roles of working memory and mathematical calculation.
- Creator
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Friedman, Lauren, Rapport, Mark, Beidel, Deborah, Vasquez, Eleazar, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The difficulties children with ADHD experience solving applied math problems (i.e., word problems) are well documented; however, the independent and/or interactive contribution of cognitive processes underlying these difficulties is not fully understood and warrant scrutiny. The current study examines two primary cognitive processes integral to children's ability to solve applied math problems: working memory (WM) and math calculation ability (i.e., the ability to utilize specific facts,...
Show moreThe difficulties children with ADHD experience solving applied math problems (i.e., word problems) are well documented; however, the independent and/or interactive contribution of cognitive processes underlying these difficulties is not fully understood and warrant scrutiny. The current study examines two primary cognitive processes integral to children's ability to solve applied math problems: working memory (WM) and math calculation ability (i.e., the ability to utilize specific facts, skills, or processes related to basic math operations stored in long-term memory). Thirty-six boys with ADHD-combined presentation and 33 typically developing (TD) boys aged 8-12 years old were administered multiple counterbalanced tasks to assess upper (central executive [CE]) and lower level (phonological [PH STM] and visuospatial [VS STM] short-term memory) WM processes, and standardized measures of mathematical abilities. Bias-corrected, bootstrapped mediation analyses revealed that CE ability fully mediated between-group differences in applied problem solving whereas math calculation ability partially mediated the relation. Neither PH STM nor VS STM was a significant mediator. When modeled together via serial mediation analysis, CE in tandem with math calculation ability fully mediated the relation, explained 79% of the variance, and provided a more parsimonious explication of ADHD-related deficits in applied math ability. Results suggest that interventions designed to address applied math difficulties in children with ADHD will likely benefit from targeting basic knowledge of math facts and skills while simultaneously promoting the active interplay among these skills and CE processes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFE0006593, ucf:51300
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006593
- Title
- The Impact of Job Experience Training on Executive Functioning Skills for Students with Language Impairments.
- Creator
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Elliott, Christopher, Martin, Suzanne, Boote, David, Hopp, Carolyn, Whiteman, JoAnn, Cerasale, Mark, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The collaborative efforts of families, educators, and policy makers have mergedvocational training with special education services for students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 introduced mandates for schools to provide transition services for students with disabilities based on three areas of need: a) education, b) employment,and independent living. This legislation has led to more work-based learning programs that meet the postsecondary needs for...
Show moreThe collaborative efforts of families, educators, and policy makers have mergedvocational training with special education services for students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 introduced mandates for schools to provide transition services for students with disabilities based on three areas of need: a) education, b) employment,and independent living. This legislation has led to more work-based learning programs that meet the postsecondary needs for students with disabilities. Despite this increase in work-based learning programs many students with disabilities are still unable to make successful transitions into postsecondary outcomes. Using a mixed method design, this study examined the impact of a Job Experience Training (JET) program on the executive functioning skills of seven young men (15 to 18 years of age) over the course of seven weeks at an assisted living facility. Resultsof the teacher evaluations showed the students were capable of completing tasks, making individual goals, and increasing executive functioning skills while participating in the JET program. Conversely, the results from the parent and student assessments showed little to no change in executive functioning skills once the participants were outside the context of theassisted living facility. Future research is encouraged to examine a longitudinal study across multiple job sites that evaluates and measures the students' ability to transfer executive functioning skills to other contexts and further investigate mentoring as the core teaching strategy of a JET program.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005161, ucf:50714
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005161
- Title
- Reading comprehension deficits in children with ADHD: The mediating roles of working memory and orthographic conversion.
- Creator
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Friedman, Lauren, Rapport, Mark, Beidel, Deborah, Vasquez, Eleazar, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Reading comprehension deficits in children with ADHD are well-established; however, limited information exists concerning the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to these deficits and the extent to which they interact with one another. The current study examines two broad cognitive processes known to be involved in children's reading comprehension abilities(-)(a) working memory (i.e., central executive processes [CE], phonological short-term memory [PH STM], and visuospatial short-term...
Show moreReading comprehension deficits in children with ADHD are well-established; however, limited information exists concerning the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to these deficits and the extent to which they interact with one another. The current study examines two broad cognitive processes known to be involved in children's reading comprehension abilities(-)(a) working memory (i.e., central executive processes [CE], phonological short-term memory [PH STM], and visuospatial short-term memory [VS STM]) and (b) orthographic conversion(-)to elucidate their unique and interactive contribution to ADHD-related reading comprehension deficits. Thirty-one children with ADHD and 30 typically developing (TD) children aged 8 to 12 years (M = 9.64, SD = 1.22) were administered multiple counterbalanced tasks assessing WM and orthographic conversion processes. Relative to TD children, children with ADHD exhibited significant deficits in PH STM (d = -0.66), VS STM (d = -0.84), CE (d = -1.24) and orthographic conversion (d = -0.85). Bias-corrected, bootstrapped mediation analyses revealed that CE and orthographic conversion processes modeled separately, partially mediated ADHD-related reading comprehension impairments, whereas PH STM and VS STM did not. CE and orthographic conversion modeled jointly fully mediated ADHD-related reading comprehension deficits wherein orthographic conversion's large magnitude influence on reading comprehension occurred indirectly through CE's impact on the orthographic system. The findings suggest that adaptive cognitive interventions designed to improve reading-related outcomes in children with ADHD may benefit by including modules that train CE and orthographic conversion processes independently and interactively.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006103, ucf:51210
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006103
- Title
- Potential Relationship Between Vascular Depression and Autobiographical Memory Specificity in an Older Adult Population According to the CaR-FA-X Model.
- Creator
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Herrera Legon, Manuel, Paulson, Daniel, Rapport, Mark, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Vascular depression is a type of depression that has its onset later in life, and it has been associated with cardiovascular or metabolic diseases. Depression can be costly and associated with other health problems, which is why it becomes imperative to uncover the multiple mechanisms of action for depression symptomatology. A proposed mechanism of action for the emergence of depressive symptomatology is poor autobiographical memory specificity according to the CaR-FA-X model. However, it...
Show moreVascular depression is a type of depression that has its onset later in life, and it has been associated with cardiovascular or metabolic diseases. Depression can be costly and associated with other health problems, which is why it becomes imperative to uncover the multiple mechanisms of action for depression symptomatology. A proposed mechanism of action for the emergence of depressive symptomatology is poor autobiographical memory specificity according to the CaR-FA-X model. However, it remains unclear whether this mechanism contributes somehow to the vascular depression specific type. The purpose of this research was to determine the potential relationship between the mechanisms proposed by the CaR-FA-X model and the presence of vascular depression, which has not been addressed by previous literature or research. Forty three older adults over the age of seventy from the Orlando area completed multiple measures including the Geriatric Depression Scale, Autobiographical Memory Test, and physiological measures. Results showed no support for a relationship between CaR-FA-X model elements and vascular depression; however, support was found for the relationship between cerebrovascular burden and depression as proposed by the vascular depression theory with rumination serving as a moderator. To our knowledge, this is the first time a study finds the moderating effect of rumination in the development of vascular depression. Further studies will need to address other potential mechanisms that increase risk for this specific type of depression as well as investigate the reasons under which, if any, autobiographical memory specificity might be related to vascular depression by using other measures that might be more sensitive to a non-clinical population.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007014, ucf:52041
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007014
- Title
- Do programs designed to train working memory, other executive functions, and attention benefit children with ADHD? A meta-analytic review of cognitive, academic, and behavioral outcomes.
- Creator
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Orban, Sarah, Rapport, Mark, Beidel, Deborah, Cassisi, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Children with ADHD are characterized frequently as possessing underdeveloped executive functions and sustained attentional abilities, and recent commercial claims suggest that computer-based cognitive training can remediate these impairments and provide significant and lasting improvement in their attention, impulse control, social functioning, academic performance, and complex reasoning skills. The present review critically evaluates these claims through meta-analysis of 25 studies of...
Show moreChildren with ADHD are characterized frequently as possessing underdeveloped executive functions and sustained attentional abilities, and recent commercial claims suggest that computer-based cognitive training can remediate these impairments and provide significant and lasting improvement in their attention, impulse control, social functioning, academic performance, and complex reasoning skills. The present review critically evaluates these claims through meta-analysis of 25 studies of facilitative intervention training (i.e., cognitive training) for children with ADHD. Random effects models corrected for publication bias and sampling error revealed that studies training short-term memory alone resulted in moderate magnitude improvements in short-term memory (d= 0.63), whereas training attention did not significantly improve attention and training mixed executive functions did not significantly improve the targeted executive functions (both nonsignificant: 95% confidence intervals include 0.0). Far transfer effects of cognitive training on academic functioning, blinded ratings of behavior (both nonsignificant), and cognitive tests (d= 0.14) were nonsignificant or negligible. Unblinded raters (d= 0.48) reported significantly larger benefits relative to blinded raters and objective tests (both p (<) .05), indicating the likelihood of Hawthorne effects. Critical examination of training targets revealed incongruence with empirical evidence regarding the specific executive functions that are (a) most impaired in ADHD, and (b) functionally related to the behavioral and academic outcomes these training programs are intended to ameliorate. Collectively, meta-analytic results indicate that claims regarding the academic, behavioral, and cognitive benefits associated with extant cognitive training programs are unsupported in ADHD. The methodological limitations of the current evidence base, however, leaves open the possibility that cognitive training techniques designed to improve empirically documented executive function deficits may benefit children with ADHD.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- Identifier
- CFE0005040, ucf:49962
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005040
- Title
- Kindergarten is Not Child's Play: An Exploration of Pedagogical Approaches Related to Learning in a Play-Based and a Contemporary Classroom at a Title I Elementary School.
- Creator
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Allee-Herndon, Karyn, Roberts, Sherron, Lue, Martha, Clark, M. H., Garcia, Jeanette, Hu, Bi Ying, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation is divided into three separate, related, naturalistic, quasi-experimental research studies, all using data from two kindergarten classes at Gator Elementary, a public Title I elementary school in Sunshine District in Central Florida. Each of these studies tested hypotheses that kindergarten children, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, will show greater gains in receptive vocabulary, executive function, and academic achievement when purposeful play is used...
Show moreThis dissertation is divided into three separate, related, naturalistic, quasi-experimental research studies, all using data from two kindergarten classes at Gator Elementary, a public Title I elementary school in Sunshine District in Central Florida. Each of these studies tested hypotheses that kindergarten children, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, will show greater gains in receptive vocabulary, executive function, and academic achievement when purposeful play is used as a pedagogical approach than similar children in typical, contemporary kindergarten classrooms. The first study explored the effects of play-based and contemporary pedagogical approaches on students' receptive vocabulary using the PPVT-4, the second explored students' executive functions using the BRIEF2, and the third explored students' movements using Actigraph GT9X Link accelerometers. All three studies analyzed these data in relation to students' academic achievement as measured by i-Ready Diagnostic assessments. Statistically significant differences were detected in students' receptive vocabulary and reading growth as well as statistically significant differences in students' executive function health as reported by teachers and reading and math academic growth by classroom conditions. A strong association between receptive vocabulary and reading performances was revealed alongside strong negative correlations between levels of executive function concern and reading performance. No statistical differences in math growth between classrooms were found, although there was a moderate effect size, and less of an association between math performance and executive function presented. While strong correlations between academic achievement and total movement by day or movement types were revealed, these associations were inconsistent. Nor were there significant differences in movement by classroom conditions, although there was a moderate effect size suggesting some differences in movement by condition. The findings from this dissertation, while limited, point to a bourgeoning area of research connecting neuroscientific findings with developmentally appropriate practices to explore effective interventions to increase educational equity for vulnerable students.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007596, ucf:52556
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007596
