Pensamento computacional como intervenção para desenvolvimento cognitivo em idosos

Abstract

Cognitive performance may decrease throughout aging, affecting, for example, executive functions. In daily life, the damage to executive functions result in difficulties in performing ordinary activities such as driving a car, in the financial management, and in the fulfillment of obligations, leading to a reduction in social relationships, depression, and finally isolation. It is a fact that cognitive decline is not just a result of longevity, so other factors such as hearing loss, depression, hypertension, educational level, genetic heritage, and eating habits are also among the elements that contribute to poor cognitive performance. Regardless of the cause of cognitive involvement, there is growing interest in seeking strategies for maintaining and improving cognitive functions so that quality of life can be preserved during the old age. One possibility for this purpose is the use of computational thinking which, despite using concepts from Computer Science, is considered a logical and creative thinking process to solve problems. The present study aims to develop a cognition in the elderly people using computational thinking through unplugged activities. To achieve this goal, it was performed a bibliographic survey, the execution of systematic reviews and the creation of a control and experiment group to, respectively, apply a cognitive training created by a psychologist and the computational thinking activities developed by the research author. After the interventions in the groups, formed of elderly participants, the collected notes were subjected to statistical tests. The results obtained demonstrate that there was a statistically significant improvement in the notes of the participants in the experimental group, being an indication of the effectiveness of the cognitive intervention based on unplugged activities of computational thinking.