Desempenho das funções executivas em adolescentes: estudo de intervenção com robótica educacional

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the executive functions (FE) of adolescents before and after the practice of Educational Robotics (RE). It is a study of the longitudinal type, of intervention, of predominantly quantitative nature. Participants were 14 adolescents, 15 and 16 years old, students from schools in the city of Natal, divided into Control Group (CG) and Study Group (GE), matched according to socioeconomic status, schooling, gender and age. For the pre and post intervention evaluation, the FE were measured by different instruments in order to measure their different components, such as: Five-digit Test / Five Digits Test - FDT; working memory - Corsi blocks; planning capacity - Tower of London task; cognitive flexibilityWisconsin. According to the inclusion criteria, the Wechsler Abbreviated Intelligence Scale (WASI) was used for the previous evaluation of intellectual performance. The RE intervention occurred with GE through workshops with the LEGO® Mindstorms tool in the school itself, in 36 60-minute meetings. All participants were submitted to the same form of use of the tool with a trained teacher. The results of this study showed a statistically significant improvement in the executive functions of cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control and planning. Operational memory measures were not statistically significant, but in a comparative analysis of difference size, it was possible to observe a positive increase. Future longitudinal surveys may include generalization analysis and follow-up measures for the intervention.