The impact of positive encouragement on pre-school children while completing a constructive task

Positive encouragement plays a significant role in parent-child interactions and preschool education, yet its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Therefore, this study aims to explore how positive encouragement affects preschool children's psychological and neurophysiological responses during a block-stacking task. A total of 45 children (average age 5 years) were assigned to either an encouragement group or a non-encouragement group. The facial expressions, heart rate variability, and brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) were spontaneously measured. The results revealed significant differences in oxyhemoglobin levels in the Middle Temporal Gyrus (channel 2), the Frontal Eye Fields (channel 21), and the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (channel 5). The encouragement group exhibited significantly higher proportions of happiness, lower negative emotions, and stronger functional connectivity between specific brain regions compared to the non-encouraged group. Additionally, heart rate variability was more stable, and the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal intervals was significantly lower in the encouraged group. These findings suggest that the positive encouragement may enhance the ability to regulate emotions, improve cognitive performance, and help maintain emotional stability, providing valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying emotional and cognitive responses to positive social interactions in preschool children.