Examining the Relation between Exercise and Word Learning in Preschool-Age Children

Purpose: There is evidence suggesting that aerobic exercise immediately after vocabulary training can improve word recall in school-age children. This work examined whether the previously identified word-learning benefits associated with exercise can be extended to preschoolers. Additionally, we evaluated whether the effects of physical activity on vocabulary learning may be influenced by existing language skills that the child possesses. Method: Children ages 3-6 years completed the study (N = 42). Data were collected via a virtual testing session in which participants completed a word-learning task that included two experimental conditions ("exercise" and "resting"). In the resting measure, children were taught names of novel objects and then sat down and colored for 3 min before being tested on their ability to identify the trained words. The exercise condition was identical, except that participants engaged in 3 min of guided aerobic exercise before testing. Additionally, at the end of the visit, participants completed the Quick Interactive Language Screener (QUILS), which measured general language skills. Results: Accuracy of word recognition was significantly higher after the exercise condition compared to the resting condition. Furthermore, this pattern of results was not related to children's existing language skills, as measured by the QUILS. Conclusions: This study is one of the first to closely examine the relation between physical activity and word-learning abilities in children as young as 3-6 years of age. Results align with previous findings stating that aerobic exercise can boost vocabulary learning and suggest that this is the case regardless of existing language skills.