Effect of a Chess Training Program on the Development of the Executive Functions in Primary School

• Marc Baig ^[1] ; Carles Rostan ^[1] ; Carme Saurina ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat de Girona

     Universitat de Girona

     Gerona, España

     
• Localización: Psicología educativa, ISSN 1135-755X, Vol. 31, Nº. 2, 2025, págs. 83-90
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.5093/psed2025a10
• Títulos paralelos:
  • El efecto de un programa de entrenamiento de ajedrez en el desarrollo de las funciones ejecutivas en Educación Primaria
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo (pdf)
• Resumen
  • español

    Las funciones ejecutivas son capacidades cognitivas superiores que permiten el control del comportamiento, la cognición y las emociones. El presente estudio analiza si un programa de entrenamiento de ajedrez contribuye al desarrollo de las funciones ejecutivas y si estas mejoras son transferibles a actividades de la vida diaria. Para ello, se diseñó un enfoque cuasiexperimental en el que se compararon dos grupos de niños y niñas de edades comprendidas entre 8 y 12 años. El grupo experimental asistió a un taller de ajedrez, mientras que el grupo control participó en otro taller educativo con la misma frecuencia y duración que el grupo experimental. Se aplicó el test BRIEF-2 a las familias y al profesorado de los niños y niñas participantes antes y después de los talleres. Los resultados mostraron que los niños y niñas del grupo experimental mejoraron en las funciones ejecutivas evaluadas según la percepción del profesorado, pero no según la percepción de las familias. El grupo control no presentó mejoras significativas relevantes. En la discusión se comentan estos resultados.

  • English

    Executive functions are higher cognitive abilities that allow the control of behaviour, cognition, and emotions. The present study analyses if a chess training program helps to develop the executive functions, and if these improvements are transferable to activities in daily life. To accomplish this purpose a quasi-experimental approach was designed. Two groups of children aged between 8 and 12 years were compared. The experimental group attended a chess workshop. The control group attended another educational workshop with the same frequency and duration as the experimental group. The BRIEF-2 test was applied to both groups, families and teachers of the boys and girls before and after the workshops. The results showed that the children in the experimental group improved in the executive functions evaluated by teacher perception but not by parental perception, and the control group did not present any relevant significant improvement. In the discussion, we comment on these results.

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