Comparison of the Effectiveness of Play Therapy and Neurofeedback on the Executive Functions of Primary School Female Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of play therapy and neurofeedback on the executive functions of female elementary school students with learning disorders. The research method was experimental with a clinical trial with a multi-group pretest and posttest design. The statistical population was all female elementary school students referred to the Center for Learning Disabilities in Maragheh city in the academic year of 1998-99, from which 30 students were selected by available sampling as a statistical sample. The sample is divided into two experimental groups and one control group. Selected students were randomly assigned to groups. The instrument used for data collection was Connors' (2004) neuropsychological test. Multivariate analysis of covariance and posthoc were used for data analysis. The research results showed that the executive functions of the experimental and control groups are significantly different from each other (P< 0.05). The LSD post hoc test indicated that play therapy and neurofeedback have a significant impact on executive functions. Also, play therapy intervention is more effective in improving the executive functions of elementary students with learning disorders than neurofeedback.