Executive functions (EF) are cognitive functions that allow us to control actions and thoughts and adapt to changing environments. They are important for educational and life success and can be improved through cognitive training. For more than fifteen years, our team has implemented Mate Marote, a free access gaming software to train and assess EF in 4-to-8 year-olds. Brief and spaced interventions take place within the classroom, with successful results. There are still open questions about the best way to train them, particularly regarding training order: should basic executive functions be trained first and then move on to more complex ones, or vice versa? We present preliminary results from 23 Spanish aged 6-7 who participated in an intervention consisting of about 13 weekly sessions of 15 minutes each, with evaluations conducted before and after. We used mixed linear regression models to evaluate the effects of the intervention, training order, and other covariates on performance. Overall, we did not find an effect of training order on cognition. We discuss our results in relation to implications for future research interventions, as well as the relevance of the study for the cognitive training field.
Key words: cognitive training, intervention, training order.