Examining the Effects of Embodiment on Self-Regulation Skills in Preschoolers

This study determines if principles of embodied cognition can be used to enhance the teaching of self-regulation skills in a sample of preschoolers. The current research replicates Conway and McKinney (2022). In the replication study, 15 participants were recruited at ASU’s Child Study Lab (CSL) for a total of 39 participants (when combined with Conway and McKinney) ages three to six, across the entire experiment. The combined results of both the original study and the replicated study are reported. The participants were matched on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) scores and one from each pair was randomly placed in the embodied group and the other was placed in the traditional group. The structure of the experiment had two phases, with four lesson plans each; the first focuses on sequential thought, and the second focuses on impulse control and how that could relate to emotions (i.e., self-regulation). Because the sequential thought pattern (First, Next, Last) resembles self-monitoring via impulse control (Stop and Think), we expected the sequential thought pattern to transfer across the phases. In Phase 1 of the experiment, the embodied group received four embodied lesson plans (i.e., with physical manipulable items) and the traditional group received four traditional, two-dimensional style lesson plans (i.e., flipbook with pictures). In Phase 2 of the experiment, each participant received four traditional-style impulse control lesson plans. The hypothesis for this study is that the embodied condition would see an increase in overall net scores in Phase 1 and 2 of the experiment compared to the traditional condition. The researchers conducted a two-way factorial ANOVA to analyze both group pre- and post-test scores. While there was no evidence that the effect of condition, either embodied or traditional, influenced pre- and post-test scores, there was evidence that the participants learned in the experiment. This experiment may need to be modified to have more lesson plans and be replicated with a larger sample size to determine any statistically significant effect.