Exploring the effects of three different types of cognitively challenging physical activity games on students’ executive functions and situational interest in physical education

Abstract

This study compared the effects of three different types of cognitively challenging physical activity games on students’ executive functions and situational interest. Participants were 140 students from four fourth-grade and four fifth-grade classes of four elementary schools. One fourth- and one fifth-grade class from each school were randomly assigned to the three experimental and the control group conditions. A group-randomized controlled trial design was used in this acute experiment including a single physical education session with pre- and post-test measures of executive functions and a post-test measure of situational interest. Students of each experimental group played physical activity games based on a different principle of mental engagement (i.e., contextual interference, mental control, or discovery). Control group students did not participate in physical education. The results showed positive effects of all types of cognitively challenging physical activity games on experimental group students’ executive functions compared to control group students. No differences were found on executive functions and situational interest between the three experimental groups. These results provide supporting evidence regarding the utilization of cognitively challenging physical activity games for involving students in physical activity and triggering their executive functions. © 2022 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.