Introduction

Selective attention is basically a mental function that processes part of an information, i.e. it discriminates the interest of the stimulus. This indicates that the process of selection of stimuli is linked to attention, so that when a stimulus is selected for some reason, it will be the one that passes the filter of our attention.

The study carried out during the theoretical-practical activities developed in the classroom could show that one of the problems affecting university students is related to the selective attention difficulties because they tend to be easily distracted, not allowing them to concentrate on specific tasks, thus creating difficulties in the knowledge assimilation and thus in meaningful learning.

Selective attention gains great importance at the academic level (^{Stevens and Bavelier, 2012}, p. 30). Whatever the education level, attention plays a determining role in academic performance. Thus young university students with attention problems can have a very low academic performance - among other consequences (^{Barragán, et al. 2007}, p.23). Leading the student to academic failure has become a serious concern for higher education institutions (^{Khan, et al. 2013}, p.80). Thus the common challenge in the educational field is to reduce this failure (^{Cid-Sillero, et al. 2020}, p.60).

About the arguments defined, selective attention is a tool to be able to interpret and select the available information. In our case, it is in the educational activity that it sets in motion and controls all the processes and mechanisms by which the organism processes only a part of all the information and responds only to those environmental demands that are useful or of great importance for the student.

In the neuroeducation field, executive functions have gained special interest in recent years because their relationship with academic performance has been demonstrated (^{Véglia and González, 2018}, p.28). These functions coordinate the activity of higher mental functions, such as attention, and within their modalities we find selective attention, which requires greater cognitive effort. Indeed, executive functions and attention are essential to carry out successfully any learning (^{Portellano, 2019}, p.112).

It is inferred that selective attention is the ability to focus the mind on a specific stimulus or task, despite other environmental stimuli, and this is where the university student should give preference to certain stimuli able to attend the most relevant and inhibit distractors.

Besides, it is also one of the main concerns of higher education to determine at what point of cognitive processing the action of the selective process occurs in the student. Our subconscious works continuously, without being noticed, discarding automatically all those stimuli considered unimportant.

In relation to the topic, the importance of neuroscience in the educational context should be highlighted, because they allow us to know in a scientific way our brain activity (^{Cherrier, et al. 2020}). And as part of neurosciences, neuroeducation is specifically concerned with studying the optimization of the teaching process - learning based on the functioning of the brain and the neurobiological foundations that support it (^{Gago-Galvagno and Elgier, 2018}, p. 40). Neuroeducation contributes to the innovation and transformation of education and its pedagogical practice, in help of neurodidactics and its methodological strategies to facilitate the learning of the students in order to achieve an education for life (^{Falconi, et al. 2017}, p. 61).

This is the reason for the study to promote game as a strategy to see the selective attention process directly with university students. With the importance of executive functions in learning and therefore in academic performance, it is necessary to implement educational helpful strategies to stimulate these functions. (^{Véglia y González, 2018}, p. 30).

Therefore, game and/or playful techniques in this research become mediators to develop selective attention that would improve learning for university students, through pleasant experiences in order to achieve competences and abilities for the understanding of theoretical concepts in the academic field.

This is why the concern to implement game as a strategy arises, like the "DIMAPA" games to develop the selective attention that is a superior mental function. These games act at the same time as mediators in the teaching learning processes achieving to university students a better understanding of concepts, categories and theories, thus optimizing their academic performance.

The research objective is to determine the influence of game on the development of selective attention for dental medicine students in a Private University of Arequipa, to improve the learning and assimilation of theoretical knowledge.

Theoretical framework

Selective attention

According to ^{Introzzi et al. (2019}), selective attention is "a cognitive function that directs attention to an object or stimulus that is relevant, avoiding distraction to those that are irrelevant" (p. 106).

This means that selective attention allows a person to select and focus on something in particular for further processing, while at the same time it cancels irrelevant or distracting information, this ability to concentrate on the task and to ignore distraction seems to have relevant effects in several important domains to academic foundations, (^{Stevens and Bavelier, 2012}, p. 33).

Then selective attention helps to improve cognitive performance, it improves learning experiences and filters useful information: "Selective attention and executive functions are a combination of mental skills that allow us to solve new situations and problems that we do not have prior knowledge of" (^{Portellano, 2019}, p.110).

These functions coordinate the activity of higher mental functions such as attention. Indeed, the executive functions and attention form an inseparable and indispensable pairing to carry out successfully any learning and without its correct functioning it would be very difficult to obtain an adequate adaptive behavior.

Continuing with the topic, ^{Portellano (2019}) distinguishes two kinds of attention according to the complexity degree: involuntary and voluntary or executive. The latter refers in a very special way to the attention modalities that require a greater cognitive effort, where we find the selective attention, defining it as the ability to maintain a certain response to a stimulus despite the presence of other distracting stimuli that compete simultaneously with each other, allowing to pay attention to relevant stimuli, excluding others.

Therefore selective attention is the activity that executes and controls all the processes by which the mind selects information, where the time of concentration depends on the interest generated by the task and the difficulty of the task.

Cid, et al., (2020) consider that, among the executive functions, attention deserves a special consideration because it represents the fundamental basis on which all learning rests. For this reason, the student's attention seems to have a direct influence on their academic performance, i.e. those with better executive performance obtain usually better grades (^{Jiménez, et al. 2019}, p. 215). ^{Rojas y Rincón (2015}). It is also the ability to select, among several possibilities, the most relevant information because selective attention processes only part of an information (p.44).

It is inferred that selective attention is more frequently used but not all people achieve adequate concentration. This skill is learned and strategies must be implemented for the efficient use of higher mental functions and cognitive processes.

Methodology

The research method is a scientific one. For ^{Bunge (1976}), "The scientific method is a procedure for dealing with a combination of problems, where each of them requires a combination of special methods and techniques" (p.24), so the problem is formulated with precision about the observed reality and the existing theory, proposing well-defined and well-founded assumptions, and the hypothesis is subjected to hard, not lax, contrast, and inquires because the result is as it is. The level of research is applied, for ^{Arias (2012}) it is necessary to answer why certain phenomena occur and what is the cause. The central questions of this level of study are: what and why these events or phenomena occur. There are two characteristics of study: the observation and the experimental side. Applied research was used and according to Baena (2017) it is necessary to know a concrete reality of social problems so as to modify or generate knowledge, addressing the relationship process between theory and results. The research corresponds to the quantitative approach that is a combination of sequential and evidentiary processe. This experimental research has a quasi-experimental design. For ^{Hernández et al. (2014}), in the quasi-experimental design the subjects are not randomly assigned to the groups or paired, but they are already formed before the experiment. They are two groups with similar characteristics: in the experimental group the intervention is performed, in the control it is not. However, both groups are bound pre and postponing.

The census population consisted of all students of the second semester of Dentistry, enrolled in the course of Histology and General and Applied Embryology, from which a non-probabilistic sample was obtained consisting of 10 women and 3 men for a total of 13 students for the experimental group and of 11 people, all women for the control group to whom the pretest and posttest are applied. Participants' ages of both groups range from 17 to 18 years, so we can affirm that age and sex in both groups are evenly distributed, not influencing these characteristics in the final results. The technique used was the direct observation. The study was carried out entirely in the practice laboratory. At the beginning of the semester, the study measuring instrument was applied in approximately 10 minutes, using the d2 attention test. This is a letter cancellation test, which determines the ability to pay attention to a stimulus or a fact, while it cancels distracting letters (^{Gall et al. 2018}, p. 17). Therefore, it measures selective attention associated with sustained attention and it is applied from 8 years old on (Cedeño and Loor, 2019, p.35).

The "DIMAPA" games are applied in 30 learning sessions, distributed in 4 per week. In each of them, the student was given the respective indications, norms and/or rules of the game (which contribute with the understanding and proper development of each game session), later the development of the activity in the time determined according to each session, then the evaluation of the activities was carried out (attached in a monitoring sheet). After the sessions, the attention test d2 was applied again and the data obtained was processed, using the classic version of the test (pencil and paper). With the numerical data collected, we obtain the three dimensions of the d2 test corresponding to our dependent variable. We refer to:

Following the ^{Brickenkamp’s theory (2009}). Total effectiveness scores (TOT) and concentration index (CON) are directly interpreted, that is: higher the score is, the student’s attention capacity is more important. On the contrary, with the index scores of (VAR) a low score is better than a very high score because it can suggest a weakness in the subject's work. Knowing that the minimum values of the three dimensions is 0 and maximum value for total effectiveness (TOT) is 658, concentration (CON) is 299 and variation (VAR) is 47.

For the statistical analysis, the parametric test t of Student was used, whose purpose is to compare two arithmetic means, being in our study the pretest and posttest, between the study groups.

This research was developed in 2018 with the object of study to improve selective attention through the "DIMAPA" games in dental medicine students of a Private University in the city of Arequipa.

Results

The effectiveness of the "DIMAPA" games was verified by comparing the scores of the students of the control and experimental groups in two moments: before and after the administration of the program applied to the experimental group. For the statistical analysis, the Student T test was used, considering the statistical significance of the values below 0.05, as for the pretest and posttest as the contrast between the two study groups (control and experimental). The results were:

According to table 1, with respect to the pretest selective attention among the control and experimental groups, we can be observed that the students of the control group obtained a score of 413.91 (in terms of total effectiveness), while the students of the experimental group scored 470.15. This difference is not statistically significant. The same thing happens with the concentration, the students of the control group obtained a score of 154 and those of the experimental group 173; from this data it is inferred that the difference of scores is not statistically significant. With respect to the variation, and as it is better a lower the score, the students of the control group scored 19.64 and the students of the experimental group scored 18.62. Even if the students of the experimental group scored better, the difference is not statistically significant (Table 1).

We conclude that the control group and the experimental one start with the same conditions in the three evaluated dimensions before the application of the program of the "DIMAPA" games.

According to table 2, regarding the comparison of posttest selective attention between the control and experimental groups, the students of the control group obtained a score of 479 (with respect to total effectiveness), while the students of the experimental group scored 533.23. This difference in scores is statistically significant.

With respect to concentration, the students of the control group obtained a score of 177.91 and those of the experimental group 212.46, this difference in scores is statistically significant.

Regarding the variation, the students of the control group obtained a score of 16 and those of the experimental group 13.62, this difference is statistically significant.

We conclude that, at the end of the study, the experimental group obtained a decrease in variation and higher scores in both total effectiveness and concentration with respect to the control group. The difference is statistically significant, i.e. the use of "DIMAPA" games allows to increase the total effectiveness and concentration and therefore to develop the selective attention.

The results are similar to the ^{Del Toro's ones, et al. (2016}). They conclude that the implementation of different recreational activities managed to increase the selective attention of the students.

Discussion

In relation to the hypothesis, the results demonstrated the efficacy of the "DIMAPA" games to develop selective attention for the dental medicine students with attentional problems.

The recreational activities designed for learning of Histology and Embryology subjects managed to develop significantly selective attention by increasing its total effectiveness after the evaluation of the "d2" test: TOT 0.034 (P < 0.05) S.S. and raising its concentration level: CON 0.023 (P < 0.05) S.S.. In the same way the index of variation had a substantial variation: VAR 0.048 (P < 0.05) S.S.. In the results found in the experimental group, according to the arithmetic mean, the difference between the pretest (479.00) and posttest (533.23), the former one with the highest level.

We can affirm that the game improves the selective attention of the dental medicine students with the results obtained from the d2 test thanks to the comparison between the pretest and posttest as we can see in tables 1 and 2. We can interprete that before applying the "DIMAPA" games in the pretest, they do not show significant differences. However, in the posttest there are significant differences between the control and experimental groups after the execution of playful activities.

These activities were evaluated with the d2 test. According to ^{Brickenkamp (2009}). The test that measured these results is the d2 one and belongs to the category of tools to measure the basic processes required to succeed in complex tasks. These processes have been denominated with the terms like attention, mental concentration, effort or attentional control. Therefore, this evaluation tool is a concise measure of selective attention and mental concentration. As described in the d2 test manual, it alludes to a selection of stimuli focused continuously on a result.

From the results obtained, it is inferred that the students of the experimental group, during the application of the program of activities with the "DIMAPA" games, skills had been developing that make up the competition to attend, such as: a) The speed or the amount of work, which is represented by the number of stimuli that have been processed in a given time (motivational aspect or intensity of attention). b) The quality of work, which is given by the degree of precision (attention control aspect), and c) The relationship between speed and accuracy, which allows to obtain conclusions on the behavior, the degree of activity, the stability and the consistency, the fatigue and the effectiveness of attentional inhibition.

The present research based on the results allows us to establish comparisons with other studies, such as the research conducted by ^{Lemus (2016}) who made an effectiveness study about a program on children's attention of 6th grade of primary education in a Guatemalan institution. The sample took into account 20 students of both sexes among 11-12 year olds, with a middle socioeconomic level. To measure selective attention the Brickencamp d2 test was used. In a creative way, the designer applied the "attentive" program, whose the purpose was to improve selective attention. In the results analysis, he compared the average with the statistical test of T of Student through the Excel program. Concluding that the students of the research increased significantly their selective attention level due to the effects of the "attentive" program.

There is another research like ^{Joao's one (2010}) which applied the educational intervention program to increase attention and reflexivity PIAAR-R in 37 children between 10 and 12 years old with attention deficit, high impulsivity and hyperactivity. As he did not find significant effects on attention and reflexivity, he indicated that these results could be related to the evaluation measures of the program, time factors (frequency and rhythm of sessions), inherent factors to the technician (lack of intervention quality control strategies), the appearance of parasitic variables such as the appearance of social influence phenomena, aspects that concern external observers/evaluators and aspects related to the theoretical basis of the program.

Finally, the improvement of selective attention of the experimental group, statistically demonstrated, is due to the effectiveness of the "DIMAPA" games that develop selective attention in dental medicine students. This research can be seen as a contribution to further studies about attention.

Conclusions

The results showed that the application of the "DIMAPA" games has a favourable and significant influence on the selective attention development among the students in the experimental group. These games act also as mediators in the learning teaching processes, achieving in the students a better understanding of theoretical concepts, thus optimizing their competences in the academic field.