Think Bright is an early intervention program using mediated learning to enhance the cognitive functioning of children with developmental delay. Keung and colleagues conducted a randomized control trial to investigate the effect of the program on Hong Kong preschoolers with developmental delay. The intervention included training activities that focused on three aspects of thinking skills: analogical thinking, sequential thinking, and logical reasoning.
In contrast to teacher-centred direct teaching, mediated learning is a recurring four-step process of “Explore-Try-Mediate-Conclude.” In the process, teachers used mediation skills to facilitate and guide the child to perform the learning task by encouraging the child to think aloud and verbalize his/her approaches and findings. Hence, the researchers hypothesized that mediated learning not only improves thinking skills but also language skills.
A total of 68 preschoolers (48 boys, 20 girls, mean age = 58 months) with cognitive and/or language delay were recruited from 15 rehabilitation service centres in Hong Kong. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n=34) or the control group (n=34).
The experimental group received twelve 60-min sessions of one-on-one cognitive training (Think Bright) over 6 months, while the control group received 12 individual sessions of regular training during this period.
