The effects of role-playing on children’s attention and inhibitory control skills

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of role- playing on children’s inhibitory control and attention. To achieve this goal, a posttest-only experimental group design was used. The study included five and six-year-old children who were randomly assigned to one of three study conditions; Story- Only Condition, Role-Playing Condition, or Control Condition (N = 90). Children in the Story-Only Group were exposed to a story with a high-skilled character. Children in the Role-Playing Group were given the same story with a high-skilled character but also were given a cloak of the character to take on. Finally, the control group was exposed to a story without high- skilled characters or role-playing manipulations yet including similar items and the same characters with a descriptive story of children playing in the same setting. In each group, children were given the Frankfurter Attention Test (Raarz & Mihling, 1971) and the Day and Night Stroop Task (Gerstadt, Hong, & Diamond, 1994) to examine their attention and inhibitory control. Results of the study showed that children in the Role-Playing condition demonstrated higher inhibitory control scores than those who were in Story-Only condition or control condition. When children’s attention scores were analyzed, the role-playing condition had the highest mean score, as expected, for attention; however, the results did not reach the conventional levels of significance.