Access to this full-text is provided by MDPI.
Content available from European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education (EJIHPE)
This content is subject to copyright.
Citation: Kolovelonis, A.; Goudas, M.
The Effects of Cognitively
Challenging Physical Activity Games
versus Health-Related Fitness
Activities on Students’ Executive
Functions and Situational Interest in
Physical Education: A
Group-Randomized Controlled Trial.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ.
2023,13, 796–809. https://doi.org/
10.3390/ejihpe13050060
Academic Editors: María del Mar
Molero Jurado, JoséCarmelo Adsuar,
Roxana Paola Palacios Cartagena,
Carmen Galán Arroyo and Maria
Mendoza-Muñoz
Received: 7 February 2023
Revised: 21 April 2023
Accepted: 24 April 2023
Published: 26 April 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Article
The Effects of Cognitively Challenging Physical Activity Games
versus Health-Related Fitness Activities on Students’ Executive
Functions and Situational Interest in Physical Education:
A Group-Randomized Controlled Trial
Athanasios Kolovelonis * and Marios Goudas
Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, 42100 Trikala, Greece;
mgoudas@pe.uth.gr
*Correspondence: akolov@pe.uth.gr; Tel.: +30-2431047063
Abstract:
This study compared cognitively challenging physical activity games and health-related
fitness activities in terms of their effects on students’ executive functions and situational interest in
physical education. A total of 102 fourth- and fifth-grade students (56 boys, 46 girls) participated
in this study. A group-randomized controlled trial design involving an acute experiment was used.
Two intact classes of students (one fourth-grade and one fifth-grade) were randomly assigned to each
one of the three groups. Students in Group 1 participated in cognitively challenging physical activity
games, students in Group 2 participated in activities for developing their health-related fitness, and
Group 3 students were the control group without physical education. Executive functions were
measured pre- and post-intervention with the design fluency test, whereas situational interest was
only measured post-intervention with the situational interest scale. Group 1 students who played
cognitively challenging physical activity games had increased their executive functions’ scores more
than the Group 2 students involved in health-related fitness activities. Students of both these groups
outperformed control group students. Moreover, Group 1 students reported higher levels of instant
enjoyment and total interest than Group 2 students. The results of this study suggest that cognitively
challenging physical activity games can be an effective means for enhancing executive functions, and
motivate students to be involved in interesting and enjoyable forms of physical activity.
Keywords:
inhibition; cognitive flexibility; design fluency; cognitive engagement; situational interest
1. Introduction
Participating in regular physical activity is related to important health-related benefits,
including physical, mental, and socio-emotional health [
1
,
2
] and academic performance [
3
].
School physical education may play a significant role in enhancing students’ physical
activity levels. Traditionally, the enhancement of students’ physical activity within physical
education involves simple fitness routines, aerobic exercises, resistance-training or aerobic
activities (e.g., running and walking). These kind of activities focus mainly on increasing
energy expenditure and promoting health-related outcomes. Recently, however, a new
approach on designing physical activity programs has emerged. This view is informed
by evidence showing positive relations between participation in physical activity and
functional changes in the brain, and suggests that complex motor tasks with increased
cognitive demands may facilitate cognitive development [
4
,
5
]. This tendency also suggests
that physical activity programs should promote energy expenditure while students are
involved in challenging conditions [
6
]. These challenging conditions are present in novel,
cognitively complex and unpredictable tasks which require problem solving and mental
demands [
7
]. Focusing both on qualitative (e.g., duration and intensity) and quantitative
(e.g., cognitive demands) aspects of physical activity can have beneficial effects on students’
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13, 796–809. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe13050060 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ejihpe
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 797
psychomotor, cognitive and physical development [
5
,
8
,
9
]. From this point of view, physical
activity programs should adopt a shift “from simply moving to moving with thought” [
10
],
and focus on motor and cognitive development, jointly. However, despite its promising
perspectives, the tenets of this approach should be empirically tested.
Executive functions have attracted researchers’ interest in the field of physical and
cognitive development [
6
]. Executive functions are higher-order cognitive processes that
are involved in goal-oriented behavior to facilitate flexibility in cognitively demanding
situations that require increased levels of attention and concentration [
11
]. Inhibition, work-
ing memory and cognitive flexibility are identified as three core executive functions [
10
].
Inhibition enables students to respond to changing situations that block and control ha-
bitual actions or thoughts, in order to act effectively. For example, a student inhibits an
already learned response to act in a way that fits to the new task conditions. Working
memory represents the storage of information that is necessary for effective actions during
learning or performance (e.g., a student holds in their working memory the instructions for
solving a problem). Cognitive flexibility helps students shift their attention among task
demands and change their approaches in problem solving or to be flexible when dealing
with task demands (e.g., a child uses different strategies to solve a problem when those
previously used were ineffective). Executive functions have important implications for
health and quality of life [11]. In particular, executive functions are essential for readiness
in school [
12
], academic [
13
], and sport performance [
14
–
16
]. They are also involved in
learning processes, such as problem solving, planning, decision making, recognizing errors
and correcting them [
17
]. Furthermore, executive functions are related with self-regulated
learning [
18
] governing improvements in students’ self-regulation processes [
19
]. This way,
executive functions can lead to positive outcomes in physical education, such as increased
performance, enjoyment, satisfaction and self-efficacy [20–22].
Executive functions may be enhanced by physical activity [
23
]. Indeed, research evi-
dence in the field of physical activity has suggested that executive functions can benefit from
long-term interventions [
24
,
25
]. Moreover, some systematic reviews and meta-analyses
focused on the effectiveness that different types of physical activity programs had on
children’s executive functions. In particular, these reviews involved programs emphasizing
in the quantity (e.g., high intensity or duration) or the quality (e.g., enriched with cognitive
challenges) of physical activity [
26
], aerobic physical activities or physical activity with
cognitive demands [
23
], and interventions involving aerobic, motor skill, and cognitive
challenging tasks [
27
]. This research showed that the cognitively enriched physical activity
programs were those with the larger effect sizes. However, research evidence regarding
the potential effects of acute bouts of physical activity on students’ executive functions has
generally revealed inconsistent results [
28
]. Some findings supported that acute bouts of
physical activity can have a positive impact on executive functions [
29
,
30
]. For example, it
was found that an acute exergame-based physical activity session with increased cognitive
demands enhanced students’ executive functions (i.e., cognitive flexibility) [
31
]. In contrast,
Bedard et al. [
32
] reported no effects from an acute session of cognitively engaging physical
activity (i.e., children playing a large game of Connect 4) on 6-8-year-old children’s scores
in a flanker task (i.e., accuracy and reaction time). Moreover, Egger et al. [33] found that a
classroom-based intervention, including breaks with cognitively enriched physical activity,
had no effects on updating or inhibition, and had negative effects on shifting. It seems that
several factors, including the duration, the intensity and the cognitive engagement of a
program, may determine the acute effects of physical activity on executive functions [
34
].
Indeed, according to recent evidence, not all physical activity types can positively affect ex-
ecutive functions [
4
]. Therefore, considering the mixed results of previous findings, further
evidence regarding the most appropriate types of physical activity for promoting students’
executive functions is warranted. Such information would facilitate the development, as
well as the implementation of effective physical activity programs in physical education.
Physical activity games enriched with cognitive challenges may be a favorable type
of physical activity for helping students to promote their physical activity and cognitive
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 798
involvement in physical education settings. These games can be designed to purposely
involve students in cognitively demanding and challenging conditions that require problem
solving and mental effort [
7
], and include novel and non-automatized tasks [
35
]. Three
principles of facilitating mental involvement (contextual interference, mental control and
discovery) are the basis for designing physical activity games enriched with cognitive chal-
lenges and demands [
36
]. Changing the playing environment, the conditions or the rules of
a game and forcing children to select unpredictable movement sequences are effective ways
of creating contextual interference. Mental control is developed through different types
of games. For example, stopping games require students to react in alternating signals
that force them to stop or to go and to override prior actions. Another type of game, the
updating game, requires keeping or handling information stored in working memory,
whereas in switching games, participants should stop their regular movements to act in a
very different way. To promote discovery, students are involved in solving problems that
have multiple acceptable solutions by participating in games that allow them to find out
how to play and which strategies to use [36].
Very little research has examined the effectiveness of physical activity games that
are cognitively challenging. Recently, Kolovelonis and Goudas [
37
] conducted an acute
experiment in physical education to compare three types of these games that were based
on the three principles of mental involvement, respectively. All types of these games
were effective in triggering children’s executive functions. Kolovelonis and Goudas [
38
]
reported higher scores in an executive functions test for children who played these games,
compared to those who were involved in track and field or soccer skills and to control
group students. An intervention including cognitively enriched physical activity games
in physical education increased students’ executive functions [
39
]. These findings suggest
that these games are a promising means for involving students in cognitively demanding
physical activities within physical education.
Another important characteristic of the content chosen for physical education is to
attract students’ interest to actively participate in the lesson. Indeed, in a physical education
setting, situational interest is considered as a significant motivational variable [
40
], and
increased levels of motivation in physical education are related with higher out-of-school
physical activity participation [
41
]. Furthermore, students’ motivation to participate in
physical activities may be increased if movement skills are delivered using a wide range
of interesting and enjoyable activities or games [
42
]. The students’ situational interest
can be increased through their involvement in tasks perceived as new and challenging,
or tasks offering enjoyment and providing a chance to explore possibilities. For example,
elementary students who played exergames reported higher situational interest compared
to students who participated in a cardiovascular fitness unit [
43
]. In previous research, high
levels of situational interest for the cognitively challenging physical activity games [
37
]
and higher levels of novelty regarding these games compared to teaching track and field or
soccer skills [38] were found.
The Present Study
The characteristics of the exercise, including quantitative (e.g., intensity, duration) and
qualitative (e.g., coordinative or cognitive demands) parameters [
4
,
5
] may play a role in the
mixed results found regarding the effects of acute bouts of physical activity on executive
functions [
31
,
33
]; that is, the type of physical activity may be a critical factor for enhancing
students’ executive functions [
4
]. For example, the degree of cognitive involvement in a
physical activity session may determine its effects on students’ executive functions [
34
],
such as exposing students to developmentally appropriate quality physical education that
involves demanding levels of both physical effort and cognitive involvement, which may
positively affect their executive functions [25,44].
Involving students in physically and cognitively enriched physical activity programs
may be undertaken through the use of cognitively enriched physical activity games. How-
ever, little research has examined the effectiveness of programs including these games.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 799
Some respective evidence from research in physical education has shown that these games
increased children’s executive functions [
37
,
38
]. However, these studies compared these
games with physical education sessions including sport skills [
38
] or with control group
students who were not involved in physical education [
37
]. The current study expanded
Kolovelonis and Goudas’ study [
37
] by combining all three types of these games in a single
session. Moreover, the current study replicated and expanded Kolovelonis and Goudas
study [
38
] by comparing these games with a widely used type of program for promoting
students’ physical activity within physical education. In particular, the students of the
comparison group were involved in a physical education session including activities for
enhancing their health-related fitness components (i.e., muscular strength and endurance,
cardiovascular endurance and flexibility). This comparison would reveal if cognitively
challenging physical activity games can be an equivalent or a better form of physical activity
for enhancing children’s executive functions than other forms of physical activity.
These two approaches (cognitively challenging physical activity games versus activ-
ities for promoting students’ health-related fitness components) were also compared in
terms of their effects on a post-test measure of situational interest, which considers an im-
portant motivational variable in physical education [
40
]. Tasks with different characteristics
may have different effects on students’ situational interest. Preliminary evidence has sug-
gested that cognitively enriched physical activity games can attract children’s situational
interest [
37
]. However, further evidence from studies comparing the effects of these games
on students’ situational interest with other types of physical activities is warranted. Such
information, especially if it comes from research in authentic physical education settings,
may help physical educators to design and implement effective programs for promoting
their students’ physical activity.
This study aimed to compare a single session of cognitively challenging physical
activity games with a session including activities for enhancing students’ health-related
fitness components regarding their effects on executive functions. Post-test comparisons
between the groups regarding situational interest were also involved. A control group
with students who did not participate in physical education was also included. It was
expected that students who would be involved in either the cognitively challenging physical
activity games or the health-related fitness activities would increase their post-test executive
functions scores compared to pre-test, and these improvements would be higher than that
of control group students. Moreover, it was expected that cognitively challenging physical
activity games would engage students in higher cognitive involvement, and thus would
have greater effects on students’ executive functions compared to the health-related fitness
program. Furthermore, students who played the games were expected to report increased
scores in the dimensions of the situational interest scale compared to students who were
involved in health-related fitness activities.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Design
The design of this study involved a group-randomized controlled trial with an acute
field experiment in physical education. Three groups of students were involved: (a) Group 1,
including students who played cognitively challenging physical activity games; (b) Group 2,
including students who participated in a session for developing their health-related fitness
components; and (c) Group 3, a control group without physical education. Executive
functions were measured pre-test and post-test, and situational interest only post-test.
2.2. Participants and Settings
A total of 102 students (Mage = 10.13, SD = 0.57, 56 boys, 46 girls) participated in this
study. Only 44 of these students attended 3 fourth-grade classes, and 56 students attended
3 fifth-grade classes of 3 primary schools. Intact classes were involved in the design of
this study. In particular, 1 fourth-grade and 1 fifth-grade intact class from each school
were randomly assigned to Group 1 (36 students, 18 boys, 18 girls), Group 2 (34 students,
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 800
19 boys, 15 girls), and Group 3 (32 students, 19 boys, 13 girls). Students came from a middle
socioeconomic status.
Greek physical education is mandatory, coeducational, and delivered by specialized
physical education teachers. Fourth-grade students attend three 45 min classes and fifth-
grade students attend two 45 min classes per week. The main content of physical education
for these grades includes team sports (e.g., soccer, volleyball, basketball), individual sports
(e.g., gymnastics and track and field) and dance and rhythm activities. Elementary schools
involved in this study were located in a middle-sized city and had outdoor sport facilities
for team sports (e.g., basketball and volleyball) and a wide school yard for other sport-
related activities.
2.3. Measures
2.3.1. The Design Fluency Test
Executive functions were measured by the design fluency test [
45
]. The advantages
of this test are that it is both appealing to children and can be administrated at class level.
Three different conditions of the test are included, and a sheet including 25 square boxes
with unstructured arrays of dots is available for each one. For each test conditions,
four consecutive straight lines should be used for drawing different designs by connecting
dots with a pencil in 60 s. In the first condition, five solid dots are included in each box and
students should generate novel designs by connecting these dots. In the second condition,
five solid and five blank dots are included in each box and students should generate designs
by connecting only blank dots. In the third condition, five solid and five blank dots are
included in each box and students should generate novel designs by connecting a solid
and a blank dot in turn (starting from a blank or a solid dot). The number of correct and
unique designs in each test condition represented students’ score in the respective test
condition. The first test condition measures design fluency, the second measures inhibition,
and the third measures cognitive flexibility. The total score in the design fluency test was
also calculated by adding the scores of the three conditions [45].
2.3.2. Situational Interest Scale
This scale [
46
] consists of five dimensions of situational interest: novelty (e.g., “What
we were learning was a new activity for me to do, which I did for the first time”); instant
enjoyment (e.g., “What we were learning was appealing/amusing to me”); exploration
intention (e.g., “I’d like to know more about how to do what we were learning”); attention
demand (e.g., “What we were learning demanded my high attention”); and challenge (e.g.,
“What we were learning was hard for me to do”). Each dimension consists of three items.
An overall situational interest subscale with four items is also included (e.g., “What we
were learning attracted me (to participate)”). Students provided their responses using a
five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The Greek
adaptation of the scale [
37
] demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties showing
a good model fit of the sixth-factor solution,
χ2
(137) = 159.82, p= 0.088,
χ2
/df = 1.17,
NNFI = 0.980, CFI = 0.984, RMSEA = 0.034 (90% CI: 0.000–0.055). Satisfactory internal
consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) in this study was found for instant enjoyment (0.82), novelty
(0.94), attention demand (0.78), exploration intention (0.77), challenge (0.68), and total
interest (0.89).
2.4. Study Procedures
The University Ethics Review Committee and Ministry of Education provided the
ethical approval for this study (1522, 5/6/2019). School principals and physical education
teachers provided their own permissions while parental written consent was obtained from
all students participating voluntarily in this study. An experimenter with a bachelor’s and
master’s degree in physical education and extensive experience in delivering interventions
in physical education implemented all sessions of this study. The implementation of the
session for both the experimental conditions was based on written detailed lesson plans.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 801
These plans were tested during a pilot implementation with children not involved in the
present study, which resulted in appropriate adjustments. After the completion of each
session, the experimenter checked if all the components of the session were implemented
appropriately. To facilitate this process, the experimenter was keeping related notes during
the implementation of each session. Moreover, after the end of the session, she kept addi-
tional notes regarding the children’s involvement and the fidelity of the implementation
from each session. All sessions were implemented according to the plan. Group 1 and
2 students completed the executive function test (i.e., design fluency) one week before
the experiment. The test was administered by the experimenter in students’ classrooms.
Students were provided with appropriate instructions for each test condition. The experi-
menter demonstrated the completion of each test condition on the classroom’s blackboard.
Next, students completed the test. After participating in the acute experiment, Group
1 and 2 students were post-tested in executive functions (i.e., design fluency test) and
responded via the situational interest scale. Control group students (Group 3) completed
the pre- and post-test measures of the design fluency test one week apart following the
same procedures as Group 1 and 2. Between pre- and post-test, to avoid possible con-
founds of being involved in regular physical education, students of all groups attended
a similar number of physical education classes without motor, sport activities or games,
and instead focused on the history of modern Olympics and the health-related benefits of
physical activity.
2.5. Description of the Experimental Conditions
Students in Group 1 participated in a 45 min session including 5 cognitively challeng-
ing physical activity games. For designing these games, the three principles of highlighting
contextual interference, promoting mental control and discovery were used [
36
]. In particu-
lar, to create contextual interference, the game conditions changed unpredictably requiring
from students to react in a different series of actions. In other games, students had to appro-
priately manipulate information kept in their memory, in order to respond appropriately
in alternating signals to override prior actions, or to stop their movements in order to
find a different way of acting. Some games focused on promoting discovery by involving
students in problem solving, games requiring multiple solutions or the selection of the
most effective strategies.
Examples of games included in this session were the hop-pop-tag, a modified version
of crazy traffic lights, the mirror and the maps [
36
]. The hop-pop-tag is a modified tag
game based on the principle of contextual interference. In this game, students tried to tag
any other student, and at the same time, had to avoid being tagged themselves. Students
who were tagged sat on the floor and could return to the game when the student who
tagged him/her became tagged. In a modified crazy traffic lights game emphasizing mental
control, students performed specific movements or a series of movements responding to
verbal instructions, directions or signals provided by the experimenter. Contradictory
instructions and signals were also introduced, requiring students to inhibit their routine
actions in order to perform correctly. Similarly, the mirror game required students to
reproduce the movement actions represented by their teammate, which progressively
became longer and more complex. The maps game promoted discovery, requiring students
to move around and select and perform a novel sequence of movements.
Group 2 students participated in a 45 min session including activities for developing
health-related fitness components. In particular, after an 8 min organization and warm-
up, students performed activities for enhancing their muscular endurance (e.g., curl-
ups, dorsal raises, modified push-ups, modified dips, semi-squats, and lunges). After
that, students practiced in a 9 min section with combined walking and running activities
(alternating between 2 min running and 1 min walking), and the session closed with a 7 min
flexibility activity.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 802
2.6. Statistical Analysis
Considering that entire physical education classes were included in this study, baseline
differences between groups including gender and grade as potential differential factors,
were examined for the three test conditions, and the total design fluency score through a
3 (Group) X 2 (Grade) X 2 (Gender) MANOVA and ANOVA, respectively. Intervention
effects for the first (i.e., fluency), the second condition (i.e., inhibition) and the total design
fluency test score, were examined with separate 3 (Group) X 2 (Time) ANOVA with repeated
measures followed by pre- to post-test comparisons within each group and post-test
comparisons between all of the groups. For cognitive flexibility (i.e., third condition
of the design fluency), a one-way ANCOVA was conducted due to pre-test differences
between groups, followed by between group comparisons. One-way MANOVA was
used to compare groups on their situational interest scores, followed by univariate tests
and between group comparisons. The effects sizes (i.e., partial
η2
and Cohen’s d) were
calculated [
47
]. Values for Cohen’s dbelow 0.50 represent small effects, values between
0.50 and 0.80 represent medium effects, and values above 0.80 represent large effects. For
partial
η2
, values below 0.06 represent small effects, values between 0.06 and 0.14 represent
medium effects, and values above 0.14 represent large effects.
3. Results
3.1. Preliminary Analysis
Pre-test and post-test data for all groups regarding design fluency tests were normally
distributed, meeting the criterion of less than
±
1.96 for skewedness, and kurtosis reflecting
normally distributed data [
48
]. A small deviation was found only in the post-test data
regarding cognitive flexibility in Group 3.
Descriptive statistics for students’ scores in executive functions, for all groups of the
study, are presented in Table 1. Descriptive statistics for students’ scores in situational
interest and correlations among the situational interest subscales are presented in Table 2.
A 3 (Group) X 2 (Grade) X 2 (Gender) MANOVA showed a nonsignificant Group X Grade
X Gender interaction, F(6, 178) = 0.149, p= 0.989, in pre-test scores of fluency, inhibition and
cognitive flexibility. Moreover, all the two-way interactions and the main effects for gender
and grade were nonsignificant. In contrast, a significant main effect for group was found in
cognitive flexibility, F(2, 90) = 4.47, p= 0.014,
η2
= 0.09. Group 2 students had lower pre-test
scores in cognitive flexibility compared to Group 1 and Group 3 students. A nonsignificant
Group X Grade X Gender interaction, F(2, 90) = 0.009, p= 0.991, in the pre-test total score in
the design fluency test was found. All the two-way interactions and the main effects for
gender and grade were also nonsignificant.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics for executive functions.
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Pre-Test Post-Test Pre-Test Post-Test Pre-Test Post-Test
Variable M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD
Fluency 6.39 3.65 12.36 3.24 6.68 3.65 9.08 4.81 7.87 2.72 8.56 3.65
Inhibition 7.00 3.10 11.69 2.80 7.71 3.66 7.76 3.80 7.97 3.00 8.63 3.92
Cognitive
flexibility 5.03 2.82 9.36 3.06 3.24 3.05 4.56 3.08 4.94 2.54 4.31 2.93
DF-total 18.42 8.48 33.42 7.86 17.62 8.68 21.41 10.30 20.78 6.11 21.50 9.18
Note: DF: Design Fluency, Group 1: Cognitively challenging physical activity games; Group 2: Developing
health-related fitness components; Group 3: Control group.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 803
Table 2. Descriptive statistics and correlations for situational interest.
Group 1 Group 2 Correlations
Post-Test Post-Test
Variable M SD M SD 1 2 3 4 5
Total interest 4.06 1.01 3.28 1.18 -
Instant
enjoyment 4.22 0.93 3.25 1.23 0.83 * -
Exploration
intention 3.54 1.14 3.53 1.35 0.58 * 0.63 * -
Attention
demand 4.07 0.90 3.75 1.16 0.71 * 0.73 * 0.68 * -
Challenge 2.27 1.00 2.35 1.27 0.44 * 0.41 * 0.44 * 0.43 * -
Novelty 2.85 1.54 2.53 1.59 0.53 * 0.44 * 0.44 * 0.46 * 0.65 *
Note: Group 1: cognitively challenging physical activity games; Group 2: developing health-related fitness
components. * Significant correlations (p< 0.001).
3.2. Acute Effects on Students’ Executive Functions
3.2.1. Fluency
The 3 (Group) X 2 (Time) repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant Group X
Time interaction for fluency (Figure 1), F(2, 99) = 29.14, p< 0.001,
η2
= 0.37. Significant pre-
test to post-test improvements were found for Group 1, t(35) =
−
13.38, p< 0.001, d= 1.73,
and Group 2, t(33) =
−
4.17, p< 0.001, d= 0.56, but not for Group 3, t(31) =
−
1.46, p= 0.155,
d= 0.21. Post-test comparisons between groups showed that Group 1 outperformed Group 2,
t(68) = 3.35, p< 0.001, d= 0.80, and Group 3, t(66) = 4.54, p< 0.001, d= 1.10. Nonsignificant
differences were found between Groups 2 and 3, t(64) = −0.50, p= 0.621, d= 0.12.
Eur.J.Investig.HealthPsychol.Educ.2023,13,xFORPEERREVIEW8
DF-total18.428.4833.427.8617.628.6821.4110.3020.786.1121.509.18
Note:DF:DesignFluency,Group1:Cognitivelychallengingphysicalactivitygames;Group2:De-
velopinghealth-relatedfitnesscomponents;Group3:Controlgroup.
Tab le2.Descriptivestatisticsandcorrelationsforsituationalinterest.
Group1Group2Correlations
Post-TestPost-Test
VariableMSDMSD12345
Totalinterest4.061.013.281.18-
Instantenjoyment4.220.933.251.230.83*-
Explorationintention3.541.143.531.350.58*0.63*-
Attentiondemand4.070.903.751.160.71*0.73*0.68*-
Challenge2.271.002.351.270.44*0.41*0.44*0.43*-
Novelty2.851.542.531.590.53*0.44*0.44*0.46*0.65*
Note:Group1:cognitivelychallengingphysicalactivitygames;Group2:developinghealth-related
fitnesscomponents.*Significantcorrelations(p<0.001).
3.2.AcuteEffectsonStudents’ExecutiveFunctions
3.2.1.Fluency
The3(Group)X2(Time)repeatedmeasuresANOVArevealedasignificantGroupX
Timeinteractionforfluency(Figure1),F(2,99)=29.14,p<0.001,η2=0.37.Significantpre-
testtopost-testimprovementswerefoundforGroup1,t(35)=−13.38,p<0.001,d=1.73,
andGroup2,t(33)=−4.17,p<0.001,d=0.56,butnotforGroup3,t(31)=−1.46,p=0.155,d
=0.21.Post-testcomparisonsbetweengroupsshowedthatGroup1outperformedGroup
2,t(68)=3.35,p<0.001,d=0.80,andGroup3,t(66)=4.54,p<0.001,d=1.10.Nonsignificant
differenceswerefoundbetweenGroups2and3,t(64)=−0.50,p=0.621,d=0.12.
Figure 1.
Group and Time interaction in the three conditions (fluency, inhibition, cognitive flexibility)
and in the total score of the design fluency test.
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 804
3.2.2. Inhibition
The 3 (Group) X 2 (Time) repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant Group X
Time interaction for inhibition (Figure 1), F(2, 99) = 26.57, p< 0.001,
η2
= 0.35. A significant
pre-test to post-test improvement was found for Group 1, t(35) =
−
11.62, p< 0.001, d= 1.59,
but not for Group 2, t(33) =
−
0.11, p= 0.913, d= 0.01, and Group 3, t(31) =
−
1.19, p= 0.244,
d= 0.19. Post-test comparisons between groups showed that Group 1 outperformed Group 2,
t(68) = 4.95, p< 0.001, d= 1.18, and Group 3, t(66) = 3.75, p< 0.001, d= 0.90. Nonsignificant
differences between Groups 2 and 3, t(64) = −0.91, p= 0.369, d= 0.23, were found.
3.2.3. Cognitive Flexibility
The one-way ANCOVA showed that after the adjustment of the pre-test differences,
F(1, 98) = 82.06, p< 0.001,
η2
=0.46, the three groups differed significantly in their post-test
scores in cognitive flexibility, F(2, 98) = 44.40, p< 0.001,
η2
= 0.48. Group 1 had higher scores
compared to Group 2, p< 0.001, d= 1.56, and Group 3, p< 0.001, d= 1.69, and Group 2
compared to Group 3, p= 0.032, d= 1.03 (Figure 1).
3.2.4. Total Score in the Design Fluency Test
The 3 (Group) X 2 (Time) repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant Group
X Time interaction for the design fluency total score, F(2, 99) = 67.46, p< 0.001,
η2
= 0.58
(Figure 1). Significant pre-test to post-test improvements were found for Group 1,
t(35) =
−
18.90, p< 0.001, d= 1.83, and Group 2, t(33) =
−
3.48, p< 0.001, d= 0.40, but
not for Group 3, t(31) =
−
0.83, p= 0.412, d= 0.09. Post-test comparisons between groups
showed that Group 1 outperformed Group 2, t(68) = 5.50, p< 0.001, d= 1.31, and Group 3,
t(66) = 5.76, p< 0.001, d= 1.39. Nonsignificant differences between Groups 2 and 3,
t(64) = −0.04, p= 0.971, d= 0.01, were found.
3.3. Differences on Situational Interest
The one-way MANOVA showed a multivariate effect of Group, F(6, 63) = 4.81,
p< 0.001,
η2
= 0.35, on students’ scores in situational interest subscales. Univariate tests
revealed significant Group differences in total interest, F(1, 68) = 8.90, p= 0.004,
η2
= 0.12,
and in instant enjoyment, F(1, 68) = 13.87, p< 0.001,
η2
= 0.17. In particular, Group 1
students compared to Group 2 students scored higher in total interest (p= 0.004, d= 0.71)
and in instant enjoyment (p< 0.001, d= 0.89).
4. Discussion
Cognitively challenging physical activity games is an approach for enhancing students’
physical activity and involving them in cognitively challenging conditions [
6
]. This study
explored the effectiveness of these games as a means for enhancing students’ executive
functions and situational interest. Generally, the findings of the study suggested that these
games can positively affect both students’ executive functions and situational interest.
Consistent with our hypothesis, students who played cognitively enriched physical
activity games or were involved in the session with health-related fitness activities im-
proved their post-test scores in the executive functions compared to pre-test ones, while
the control group did not. These results supported the previous respective evidence in
the field of physical education, regarding the beneficial effects of the cognitively enriched
physical activity games in promoting children’s executive functions [
37
,
38
]. Furthermore,
in the present study, the sizes of the effects from these games were generally substantial for
students’ executive functions.
Although physical activity may positively affect executive functions, not all types of
physical activity are considered equally effective [
4
]. Research findings are rather mixed
regarding the effects of acute bouts of physical activity on students’ executive functions [
28
].
This study provided evidence that a single session with cognitively challenging physical
activity games can have a large acute effect on students’ executive functions. This evidence
supported previously reported findings showing that executive functions can be triggered
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 805
after participating in cognitively enriched physical activity [
29
–
31
]. Moreover, it supported
views that the level of cognitive engagement during physical activity may determine the
magnitude of the effects of the acute bouts of physical activity on students’ executive
functions [
34
]. Within this study, the substantial sizes of the effects of the cognitively
challenging physical activity games suggested that these games are cognitively enriched
and appropriate for triggering students’ executive functions. Such information is important
for developing and implementing effective interventions in physical education.
Moreover, consistent with previous evidence [
26
], inhibition mostly benefited from
these games. Indeed, these games involved students in cognitively challenging and de-
manding conditions that required them to inhibit apparent or routine responses, and to act
in a different way, whereas fitness exercises required specific automatized motor responses.
Gains in cognitive flexibility were found in both experimental groups, although they were
noticeably higher in the group of students who played cognitively challenging physical
activity games, rather than in the group with fitness exercises. Involving students in games
and tasks requiring motor discovery and production of multiple and novel responses may
contribute to these effects. Future research should explore if the cognitively challenging
physical activity games have differential effects on the different aspects of executive func-
tions [
49
]. This research should also include working memory that was not measured in
this study.
Most importantly, the present study showed that the cognitively challenging physical
activity games had stronger effects on executive functions compared to the respective
effects of health-related fitness activities. Consistent with previous evidence [
30
,
50
], the
students who were involved in the health-related fitness activities improved significantly
from pre-test to post-test in their executive functions. However, the size of the effects
of the cognitively challenging physical activity games was two or three times higher
than the effects of the health-related fitness activities. This means that an appropriately
designed physical activity intervention, including physical activity games enriched with
cognitive challenges, can significantly impact students’ executive functions. According to a
recent review, physical activity programs without cognitive demands had lower effects on
executive functions compared to cognitively enriched programs [4].
Theoretical explanations for the acute effects of exercise have been proposed including
cognitive, psychological, and physiological mechanisms, as well as the quantitative (e.g.,
intensity and duration) and qualitative (e.g., cognitive demands) characteristics of the
physical exercise [
5
]. Based on that, the positive effects of the cognitively challenging
physical activity games may be attributed to their unique characteristics. The design of these
games follows the principles of establishing contextual interference, highlighting mental
control and enhancing discovery [
36
] to create unpredictable and cognitively complex game
conditions. Thus, by playing these games, students should respond to the changing game
conditions, and react to alternating, and in some cases, contradictory signals, and select
appropriate actions using the information stored in their working memory, or provide
multiple solutions to a problem. All of these conditions increase the coordinative complexity
in the physical tasks and set cognitive challenges to students who are not simply moving
during physical education, but are “moving with thought” [
10
]. Therefore, such games
may be considered appropriate for creating optimal task conditions to trigger children’s
executive functions in physical education.
The present findings also showed that after playing cognitively challenging physical
activity games, students reported higher scores in total interest and in instant enjoyment
compared to students who participated in health-related fitness activities. It seems that
students enjoyed playing these games more than participating in activities for promoting
their health-related fitness. Previous research has also provided preliminary evidence
showing high levels of total interest and enjoyment among students after participating
in cognitively challenging physical activity games [
37
], and increased levels of novelty
compared to teaching track and field or soccer skills [
38
]. Increasing students’ situational
interest and enjoyment can be considered a significant effect of these games. Selecting
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 806
appealing and enjoyable activities is a means for enhancing students’ motivation for
participating in physical activity during physical education. Indeed, tasks with different
characteristics may have different effects on students’ situational interest. For example,
playing exergames resulted in higher situational interest compared to a cardiovascular
fitness unit [
43
]. It has also been suggested that students’ motivation in physical education
can be increased if movement skills, activities and games are enjoyable, and attract students’
interest to participate [
42
]. Moreover, fun and enjoyment have been found to be strong
motivators for involving adolescents and adults in physical activity [
51
]. According to
students, some of the most important benefits of physical activity, except health-related
benefits, were to have fun and feel successful [52].
Enhancing students’ situational interest in physical education can also have a positive
impact on their motivation to participate [
40
], which in turn can positively affect other
important outcomes, such as participating in out-of-school physical activity [
41
]. Cogni-
tively enriched physical activity games can contribute to involving students in intrinsically
motivating physical activities and games that provide immediate gratification, enjoyment,
and fun. Recent research examining students’ views regarding these games provided such
evidence [
53
]. Most importantly, such interventions may be more effective on enhancing
students’ executive functions. Indeed, it has been suggested that making physical activities
enjoyable, personally meaningful, and relevant for students is an important factor for
increasing the effects of physical activity interventions on students’ executive functions [
4
].
The present results supported the new approach for designing and implementing cog-
nitively demanding physical activity interventions [
6
]. Adopting this approach, beneficial
effects for students in multiple domains can be pursued [
9
]. From an applied perspective,
choosing physical activity games that are enriched with cognitive demands in physical edu-
cation programs, can be viewed as an appropriate means for triggering students’ executive
functions. Most importantly, students have fun and enjoy their participation in these games.
This is significant for physical educators who struggle to increase their student’s motivation
for participating in physical activities during physical education. Indeed, there is evidence
that some types or forms of physical activity tasks are not so attractive or appealing for
some students [
54
]. Therefore, physical educators should enrich their physical activity
programs involving physical activity games with cognitive challenges to make them more
appealing and attractive for their students. Furthermore, physical educators may adapt
games or fitness activities by adding cognitive challenges and demands to make them more
appealing and attractive for their students. This can be done by adding new rules in games,
avoiding repetition of automatized movements, changing the conditions of the games,
or asking from students to respond to open-ended problems. For example, adding an
extra ball in a basketball game will introduce students to novel and cognitive-demanding
conditions for responding effectively with this new rule. Moreover, asking students to
produce multiple and novel responses in a movement task rather than to move following
a movement routine can involve them in a problem-solving process requiring cognitive
involvement.
The present study has some limitations. In particular, this study focused on comparing
different types of physical activity in terms of their effects on children’s executive functions
and situational interest. However, measures of actual physical activity, as well as manipula-
tion checks of physical effort and cognitive engagement during these physical education
sessions were not included. Future research may address this limitation by measuring
students’ physical activity when participating in the different types of physical activity, and
examining potential relations between the amount of physical activity during a session and
the development of students’ cognitive functions. Considering that this study compared
cognitively challenging physical activity games against a session including health-related
fitness activities, further research should also examine the effects of other types for pro-
moting students’ physical activity within physical education (e.g., aerobic routines and
different types of dances). These studies should also involve additional socio-motivational
measures, such as participation motivation, self-efficacy, attitudes for physical activity, or
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 807
intentions for participating in out-of-school physical activity. Such research will provide
further evidence for the potential effects of the cognitively challenging physical activity
games and the benefits of their involvement in physical education practice. Moreover,
long-term interventions using retention measures are needed to explore the longitudinal
effects of these games on students’ executive functions and motivational-related variables.
5. Conclusions
This study suggested that participating in cognitively challenging physical activity
games has beneficial effects on children’s executive functions in physical education within
schools. Furthermore, students who played these games reported higher scores in total
interest and in instant enjoyment compared to students who participated in health-related
fitness activities. Thus, these games can be the basis of cognitively enriched physical activity
programs in the field of physical education, focusing on promoting students’ physical and
cognitive development, jointly.
Author Contributions:
Conceptualization, A.K. and M.G.; methodology, A.K.; validation, M.G.;
formal analysis, A.K.; investigation, A.K.; resources, M.G.; data curation, A.K.; writing—original draft
preparation, A.K.; writing—review and editing, M.G.; visualization, A.K.; supervision, M.G.; funding
acquisition, M.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding:
The research was supported by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation
(H.F.R.I.) under the “1st Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Faculty Members & Researchers
and the Procurement of High-and the procurement of high-cost research equipment grant” (Project
Number: 1041).
Institutional Review Board Statement:
The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration
of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL
EDUCATION AND SPORT SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF THESSALY (1522, 5/6/2019).
Informed Consent Statement:
Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in
the study.
Data Availability Statement:
The data underlying the results presented in the study are part of a
research program and are available on request from the second author (M.G.; mgoudas@pe.uth.gr).
Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design
of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or
in the decision to publish the results.
References
1.
Pascoe, M.; Bailey, A.P.; Craike, M.; Carter, T.; Patten, R.; Stepto, N.; Parker, A. Physical activity and exercise in youth mental
health promotion: A scoping review. BMJ Open Sport Exerc. Med. 2020,6, e000677. [CrossRef]
2.
Poitras, V.J.; Gray, C.E.; Borghese, M.M.; Carson, V.; Chaput, J.P.; Janssen, I.; Katzmarzyk, P.T.; Pate, R.R.; Gorber, S.C.; Kho, M.E.;
et al. Systematic review of the relationships between objectively measured physical activity and health indicators in school-aged
children and youth. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 2016,41 (Suppl. S3), S197–S239. [CrossRef]
3.
Rodriguez, C.C.; Camargo, E.M.D.; Rodriguez-Añez, C.R.; Reis, R.S. Physical activity, physical fitness and academic achievement
in adolescents: A systematic review. Rev. Bras. Med. Esporte 2020,26, 441–448. [CrossRef]
4.
Diamond, A.; Ling, D. Review of the evidence on, and fundamental questions about, efforts to improve executive functions,
including working memory. In Cognitive and Working Memory Training: Perspectives from Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human
Development; Novick, J.M., Bunting, M.F., Dougherty, M.R., Engle, R.W., Eds.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2020;
pp. 145–389. [CrossRef]
5.
Pesce, C. Shifting the focus from quantitative to qualitative exercise characteristics in exercise and cognition research. J. Sport
Exerc. Psychol. 2012,34, 766–786. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
6.
Pesce, C.; Faigenbaum, A.; Goudas, M.; Tomporowski, P. Coupling our plough of thoughtful moving to the star of children’s right
to play: From neuroscience to multi-sectoral promotion. In Physical Activity and Educational Achievement: Insights from Exercise
Neuroscience; Meeusen, R., Schaefer, S., Tomporowski, P., Bailey, R., Eds.; Routledge: London, UK, 2018; pp. 247–274.
7.
Tomporowski, P.D.; Lambourne, K.; Okumura, M.S. Physical activity interventions and children’s mental function: An introduc-
tion and overview. Prev. Med. 2011,52, S3–S9. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
8.
Best, J.R. Effects of physical activity on children’s executive function: Contributions of experimental research on aerobic exercise.
Dev. Rev. 2010,30, 331–551. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 808
9.
Tomporowski, P.D.; McCullick, B.; Pendelton, D.M.; Pesce, C. Exercise and children’s cognition: The role of exercise characteristics
and a place for metacognition. J. Sport Health Sci. 2015,4, 47–55. [CrossRef]
10.
Diamond, A. Effects of physical exercise on executive functions: Going beyond simply moving to moving with thought. Annu.
Sport. Med. Res. 2015,2, 1011.
11. Diamond, A. Executive functions. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2013,64, 135–168. [CrossRef]
12.
Roebers, C.M.; Röthlisberger, M.; Neuenschwander, R.; Cimeli, P.; Michel, E.; Jager, K. The relation between cognitive and motor
performance and their relevance for children’s transition to school: A latent variable approach. Hum. Mov. Sci.
2014
,33, 284–297.
[CrossRef]
13.
Mazzocco, M.M.; Kover, S.T. A longitudinal assessment of executive function skills and their association with math performance.
Child Neuropsychol. 2007,13, 18–45. [CrossRef]
14.
Contreras-Osorio, F.; Campos-Jara, C.; Martínez-Salazar, C.; Chirosa-Ríos, L.; Martínez-García, D. Effects of sport-based interven-
tions on children’s executive function: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain Sci. 2021,11, 755. [CrossRef]
15.
Heilmann, F.; Weinberg, W.; Wollny, R. The impact of practicing open- vs. closed-skill sports on executive functions—An updated
meta-analytic review with focus on characteristics of sports. Brain Sci. 2022,12, 1071. [CrossRef]
16.
Vestberg, T.; Gustafson, R.; Maurex, L.; Ingvar, M.; Petrovic, P. Executive functions predict the success of top-soccer players. PLoS
ONE 2012,7, e34731. [CrossRef]
17.
Carlson, S.M. Executive function in context: Development, measurement, theory, and experience. Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev.
2003,68, 138–151. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18.
Roebers, C.M. Executive function and metacognition: Towards a unifying framework of cognitive self-regulation. Dev. Rev.
2017
,
45, 31–51. [CrossRef]
19.
Blair, C.; Diamond, A. Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self-regulation as a means of
preventing school failure. Dev. Psychopathol. 2008,20, 899–911. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
20.
Kitsantas, A.; Zimmerman, B.J. Self-regulation of motor learning: A strategic cycle view. J. Appl. Sport Psychol.
1998
,10, 220–239.
[CrossRef]
21.
Kolovelonis, A.; Goudas, M.; Dermitzaki, I. Self-regulated learning of a motor skill through emulation and self-control levels in a
physical education setting. J. Appl. Sport Psychol. 2010,22, 198–212. [CrossRef]
22.
Kolovelonis, A.; Goudas, M.; Dermitzaki, I.; Kitsantas, A. Self-regulated learning and performance calibration among elementary
physical education students. Eur. J. Psychol. Educ. 2013,28, 685–701. [CrossRef]
23.
de Greeff, J.W.; Bosker, R.J.; Oosterlaan, J.; Visscher, C.; Hartman, E. Effects of physical activity on executive functions, attention
and academic performance in preadolescent children: A meta-analysis. J. Sci. Med. Sport
2018
,21, 501–507. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
24.
Erickson, K.; Hillman, C.; Stillman, C.; Ballard, R.; Bloodgood, B.; Conroy, D.; Macko, R.; Marquez, D.; Petruzzello, S.; Powell, K.
Physical activity, cognition, and brain outcomes: A review of the 2018 physical activity guidelines. Med. Sci. Sport. Exerc.
2019
,51,
1242–1251. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
25.
Pesce, C.; Vazou, S.; Benzing, V.; Alvarez-Bueno, C.; Anzeneder, S.; Mavilidi, M.; Leone, L.; Schmidt, M. Effects of chronic physical
activity on cognition across the lifespan: A systematic meta-review of randomized controlled trials and realist synthesis of
contextualized mechanisms. Int. Rev. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 2021, 1–39. [CrossRef]
26.
Álvarez-Bueno, C.; Pesce, C.; Cavero-Redondo, I.; Sánchez-López, M.; Martínez-Hortelano, J.; Martínez-Vizcaíno, V. The effect of
physical exercise activity interventions on children’s cognition and metacognition: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J. Am.
Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 2017,56, 729–738. [CrossRef]
27.
Vazou, S.; Pesce, C.; Lakes, K.; Smiley-Oyen, A. More than one road leads to Rome: A narrative review and meta-analysis of
physical activity intervention effects on cognition in youth. Int. J. Sport Exerc. Psychol. 2019,17, 153–178. [CrossRef]
28.
Paschen, L.; Lehmann, T.; Kehne, M.; Baumeister, J. Effects of acute physical exercise with low and high cognitive demands on
executive functions in children: A systematic review. Pediatr. Exerc. Sci. 2019,31, 267–281. [CrossRef]
29.
Pontifex, M.; McGowan, A.; Chandler, M.; Gwizdala, K.; Parks, A.; Fenn, K.; Kamijo, K. A primer on investigating the after effects
of acute bouts of physical activity on cognition. Psychol. Sport Exerc. 2019,40, 1–22. [CrossRef]
30.
Weng, T.B.; Pierce, G.L.; Darling, W.G.; Voss, M.W. Differential effects of acute exercise on distinct aspects of executive function.
Med. Sci. Sport. Exerc. 2015,47, 1460–1469. [CrossRef]
31.
Benzing, V.; Heinks, T.; Eggenberger, N.; Schmidt, M.; Hall, E.; Kramer, A.; Martinez-Gomez, D. Acute cognitively engaging
exergame-based physical activity enhances executive functions in adolescents. PLoS ONE 2016,11, e0167501. [CrossRef]
32.
Bedard, C.; Bremer, E.; Graham, J.D.; Chirico, D.; Cairney, J. Examining the effects of acute cognitively engaging physical activity
on cognition in children. Front. Psychol. 2021,12, 653133. [CrossRef]
33.
Egger, F.; Conzelmann, A.; Schmidt, M. The effect of acute cognitively engaging physical activity breaks on children’s executive
functions: Too much of a good thing? Psychol. Sport Exerc. 2018,36, 178–186. [CrossRef]
34.
Pesce, C.; Ballester, R.; Benzing, V. Giving physical activity and cognition research ‘some soul’: Focus on children and adolescents.
Eur. J. Hum. Mov. 2021,47, 1–7. [CrossRef]
35.
Pesce, C.; Masci, C.; Marchetti, R.; Vazou, S.; Saakslahti, A.; Tomporowski, P.D. Deliberate play jointly benefits motor and
cognitive development: Direct and indirect effects of cognitive stimulation by movement. Front. Psychol.
2016
,7, 349. [CrossRef]
[PubMed]
Eur. J. Investig. Health Psychol. Educ. 2023,13 809
36.
Tomporowski, P.; McCullick, B.; Pesce, C. Enhancing Children’s Cognition with Physical Activity Games; Human Kinetics: Champaign,
IL, USA, 2015.
37.
Kolovelonis, A.; Goudas, M. Exploring the effects of three different types of cognitively challenging physical activity games on
students’ executive functions and situational interest in physical education. Cogent Educ. 2022,9, 2148448. [CrossRef]
38.
Kolovelonis, A.; Goudas, M. Acute enhancement of executive functions through cognitively challenging physical activity games
in elementary physical education. Eur. Phys. Educ. Rev. 2022,29, 268–285. [CrossRef]
39.
Kolovelonis, A.; Pesce, C.; Goudas, M. The effects of a cognitively challenging physical activity intervention on school children’s
executive functions and motivational regulations. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022,19, 12742. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
40.
Roure, C.; Pasco, D. Exploring situational interest sources in the French physical education context. Eur. Phys. Educ. Rev.
2018
,24,
3–20. [CrossRef]
41.
Ntoumanis, N. A self-determination approach to the understanding of motivation in physical education. Br. J. Educ. Psychol.
2001,71, 225–242. [CrossRef]
42.
Corbin, C.B.; Pangrazi, R.P. Guidelines for Appropriate Physical Activity for Elementary School Children: 2003 Update; NASPE
Publications: Reston, VA, USA, 2003.
43.
Sun, H. Exergaming impact on physical activity and interest in elementary school children. Res. Q. Exerc. Sport
2012
,83, 212–220.
[CrossRef]
44.
García-Hermoso, A.; Ramírez-Vélez, R.; Lubans, D.R.; Izquierdo, M. Effects of physical education interventions on cognition and
academic performance outcomes in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br. J. Sport. Med.
2021
,55,
1224–1232. [CrossRef]
45.
Delis, D.C.; Kaplan, E.; Kramer, J.H. Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS); The Psychological Corporation: San Antonio,
TX, USA, 2001.
46.
Roure, C.; Pasco, D.; Kermarrec, G. Validation de l’echelle francaise mesurant l’interet en situation, en education physique [French
validation of the situational interest scale in physical education]. Can. J. Behav. Sci. 2016,48, 112–120. [CrossRef]
47. Cohen, J. Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed.; Lawrence Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ, USA, 1988.
48. Field, A. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, 2nd ed.; SAGE: London, UK, 2005.
49.
Lubans, D.; Leahy, A.; Mavilidi, M.; Valkenborghs, S. Physical activity, fitness, and executive functions in youth: Effects,
moderators, and mechanisms. Curr. Top. Behav. Neurosci. 2022,53, 103–130. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
50.
Sibley, B.A.; Etnier, J.L.; Le Masurier, G.C. Effects of an acute bout of exercise on cognitive aspects of Stroop performance. J. Sport
Exerc. Psychol. 2006,28, 285–299. [CrossRef]
51.
Bragg, M.A.; Tucker, C.M.; Kaye, L.B.; Desmond, F. Motivators of and barriers to engaging in physical activity. Am. J. Health Educ.
2009,40, 146–154. [CrossRef]
52.
Hohepa, M.; Schofield, G.; Kolt, G.S. Physical activity: What do high school students think? J. Adolesc. Health
2006
,39, 328–336.
[CrossRef]
53.
Kolovelonis, A.; Samara, E.; Digelidis, N.; Goudas, M. Elementary students’ perceptions of cognitively challenging physical
activity games in physical education. Children 2022,9, 1738. [CrossRef]
54.
Dalle Grave, R.; Calugi, S.; Centis, E.; El Ghoch, M.; Marchesini, G. Cognitive-behavioral strategies to increase the adherence to
exercise in the management of obesity. J. Obes. 2011,11, 348293. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note:
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual
author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to
people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
Available via license: CC BY 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
