Islamic lifestyle with a focus on health

Islamic lifestyle with a focus on health

Comparison the Effectiveness of Cognitive Games on Executive Functions of Students with Disorder of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

Authors
1 PhD student, Department of Psychology, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Sistan and Baluchistan, Zahedan, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran
Abstract
Purpose: Special learning disorders such as dyslexia and dysgraphia 
disorders are among childhood psychiatric disorders that effect on 
other functions of the individual in childhood and adulthood. 
Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of 
comparison the effectiveness of cognitive games on executive 
functions of students with dyslexia and dysgraphia.
Materials and Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental with a 
pretest and posttest design with four groups (two experimental 
groups and two control groups). The research population was 
elementary school students with dyslexia and dysgraphia who 
referred to the Learning Disabilities Centers of Zahedan city in 
2020-21 years. The research sample was 100 people (25 people in 
each group) who after reviewing the inclusion criteria were selected 
by available sampling method and randomly were replaced in four 
groups. Each of the experimental groups underwent 20 sessions of 
30 to 45 minutes (3 times a week) under cognitive games with the 
help of Sound Smart cognitive software and the control group was 
placed on a waiting list for training. Data were collected by 
executive function scale (Barkley, 2012) and were analyzed by tests 
of chi-square and multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS-24 
software.
Findings: The findings showed that the experimental and control 
groups did not significant difference in terms of gender and 
educational level (P>0.05). Also, teaching cognitive games led to 
improves the executive functions of self-management to time, selforganization/ problem solving, self-restraint/ inhibition, selfmotivation and self-regulation of emotion in both groups of students 
with dyslexia and dysgraphia in compared with the control group 
(P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two 
intervention groups in terms of improving executive functions 
(P>0.05).
Conclusion: The results indicated the effectiveness of cognitive 
games on executive functions of students with dyslexia and 
dysgraphia. Therefore, planning is essential by specialists and 
therapists to improve the executive functions of students with 
dyslexia and dysgraphia through cognitive games. 
Keywords