{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T22:25:31Z","timestamp":1783463131101,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772409600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772409600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005363","name":"Universidad de Buenos Aires","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005363","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Developmental Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>To achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Goal 4 for equitable quality education, many countries are incorporating computer programming into preschool curricula. The main reason for this educational decision lies in the need for a better understanding of the digital world, and also, in the still not fully explored idea that learning to program could have potential collateral cognitive benefits. This pilot study analyzed whether programming instruction enhances executive functions\u2014both key 21st\u2010century skills\u2014, attention and non\u2010verbal intelligence and whether the improvements vary by socioeconomic status (SES). A cluster\u2010randomized controlled trial was conducted in Argentina with one low\u2010SES and one medium\u2010SES kindergarten. Five\u2010year\u2010old classrooms at each school were randomly assigned to a study group, receiving programming lessons with ScratchJr, or a control group engaging in visual arts activities. Both groups used tablets, and sessions were conducted by regular classroom teachers. Ninety\u2010four children completed computerized cognitive tests before and after the intervention and control activities, yielding 21,801 trials for analysis. We modeled children's trial\u2010by\u2010trial accuracy using a Bernoulli\u2010distributed Generalized Linear Mixed Model that we estimated with Bayesian methods. Our results suggested the programming group showed greater improvement than the control group in most cognitive tasks but the benefits were consistently larger for children in the low\u2010SES school (65%\u201392% greater than controls) with high certainty, while middle\u2010SES children showed only modest improvements (13%\u201336%) with weaker evidence. These findings tentatively suggest that teaching programming, besides its intrinsic educational value, could also potentially contribute to developing critical cognitive processes, particularly among vulnerable children.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/desc.70161","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,8]],"date-time":"2026-03-08T10:03:40Z","timestamp":1772964220000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Can Programming Improve Executive Functions in Preschoolers? A Pilot Study on Low\u2010 and Middle\u2010Socioeconomic Status Schools"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"29","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6835-7864","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M. 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P.","family":"Goldin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y T\u00e9cnicas (CONICET)  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"},{"name":"Laboratorio de Neurociencia, Centro de Inteligencia Artificial y Neurociencia (CIAN) Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4318-9344","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"A.","family":"Perez Santangelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cient\u00edficas y T\u00e9cnicas (CONICET)  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"},{"name":"Laboratorio de Neurociencia, Centro de Inteligencia Artificial y Neurociencia (CIAN) Escuela de Negocios, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"},{"name":"Instituto de Ciencias de la Computaci\u00f3n (ICC) Universidad de Buenos Aires  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5939-4073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S. J.","family":"Lipina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Neurobiolog\u00eda Aplicada (UNA) Centro de Educaci\u00f3n M\u00e9dica e Investigaci\u00f3n Cl\u00ednica Norberto Quirno (CEMIC\u2010CONICET)  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5698-1800","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"F. P.","family":"Schapachnik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Ciencias de la Computaci\u00f3n (ICC) Universidad de Buenos Aires  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"},{"name":"Departamento de Computaci\u00f3n Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires  Ciudad Aut\u00f3noma de Buenos Aires Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.compedu.2020.103807"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10639\u2010024\u201012675\u20102"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.20897\/ejsteme\/3868"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","volume-title":"The Official ScratchJr Book: Help Your Kids Learn to Code","author":"Bers M. U.","year":"2015"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_6_1","volume-title":"Test of Nonverbal Intelligence: ToNI\u20104","author":"Brown L.","year":"2010"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.avb.2020.101414"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v080.i01"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v076.i01"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/mbe.12360"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_11_1","unstructured":"Colombo J. A. andS.Lipina.2005.Hacia un Programa P\u00fablico de Estimulaci\u00f3n Cognitiva Infantil: Fundamentos M\u00e9todos y Resultados de una Experiencia de Intervenci\u00f3n Preescolar Controlada.Paid\u00f3s."},{"key":"e_1_2_10_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15248372.2024.2386032"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Daugherty L. R.Dossani E. 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