Computational thinking as an intervention for cognitive development in the elderly
Elderly, Cognitive Decline, Cognitive Intervention, Unplugged, Computational Thinking
Throughout aging, a reduction in cognitive performance may occur, compromising, for example, executive functions. In daily life, damage to executive functions results in difficulties in the performance of common activities such as driving a car, financial management and fulfilling obligations, leading to a reduction in the number of social relationships, depression and, finally, isolation. It is true that cognitive decline is not just the result of longevity, so that other factors such as hearing loss, depression, hypertension, education level, genetic inheritance and eating habits also enter the list of elements that cooperate for poor performance cognitive. Regardless of the cause of cognitive impairment, there is a growing interest in seeking strategies for maintaining and improving cognitive functions, so that quality of life can be preserved during old age. This study aims to develop cognition in the elderly using Computational Thinking through unplugged activities. To achieve this goal, a bibliographic survey, systematic reviews and the creation of a control and experiment group were carried out, respectively, to apply a cognitive training created by a psychologist and the Computational Thinking activities prepared by the research author. . After interventions with groups, formed by elderly participants, statistical tests were performed on the collected notes. The results obtained demonstrate that there was a statistically significant improvement in performance under the scores of the participants of the experimental group, being an indication of the effectiveness of the cognitive intervention based on unplugged activities of Computational Thinking.