The Effect Of Physical Activity On Children’s Executive Function: The Mediating Role Of Cognitive Participation

Executive function,as an advanced cognitive process,is a psychological process that achieves complex cognitive goals by regulating and controlling other cognitive processes.It mainly consists of three parts: cognitive flexibility,inhibitory control and working memory.Executive function is a key predictor of children’s physical and mental health,academic success,public safety,quality of life,and future marital happiness.Physical activities are called sports,which promote the development of students’ physical and mental health,increase the enjoyment of life,relieve fatigue,cultivate noble sentiments,and strengthen interpersonal relationships.The "cognitive participation hypothesis" holds that,compared with traditional aerobic exercise,physical activity with individual cognitive effort can enhance cognitive ability mainly focused on executive function.On the basis of previous studies,this paper objectively explores the specific characteristics of children in sports,cognitive participation and executive function,and analyzes the differences among the three in demographic variables.To explore the relationship between children’s physical activity and executive function and the role of cognitive participation.This paper examines the mediating model of cognitive participation in sports on children’s executive function and reveals the mediating role of cognitive participation in the relationship between sports and children’s executive function.To further reveal the role of cognitive participation in physical exercise on executive function,we conducted physical exercise intervention for children.In the first study,a total of 622 valid questionnaires were collected for specific analysis,and descriptive analysis of demographic variables was carried out on the basis of in-depth exploration of the overall status quo of children’s sports,cognitive participation and executive function.In the second study,439 valid questionnaires were collected to investigate the influence of sports and cognitive participation on children’s executive function,and the correlation analysis of pial variables and the test of mediating effect were conducted.In study 3,we conducted three acute aerobic exercise interventions with cognitive participation on fifth grade children to test the impact of physical activity type(with or without cognitive participation)on children’s executive function,and to further understand the effect of cognitive participation on executive function.The study found that cognitive participation level constituted the complete mediating effect of sports on children’s executive function.Sports intervention can play a positive role in promoting children’s executive function,and traditional sports can play a positive role in promoting children’s executive function in the short term.Cognitive participation in sports did not promote or impair children’s executive function in the short term.