BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.8, No.2, 2021 1150 

 

 

 

 

Can Physical Exercise Promote the Development of 

Teenagers’ Cognitive Ability? 

By Fang, C., & Huang, B. 
Correspondence to: Huang, B., School of Public Administration, Nanjing Uni-

versity of Finance & Economics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China 210023. Email: 

James7526@163.com  

STUDY published in Journal of East China Normal University (Educa-

tional Sciences) explored the relationship between physical exercise 

and the student’s cognitive ability. The study selected variables related to the 

student’s cognitive ability from the China Education Panel Study (CEPS), 

taking the daily average exercise duration of students as the core independent 

variable, and setting the cognitive ability test score of students as the de-

pendent variable. The researchers used techniques such as the Least Square 

Regression, Propensity Score Matching, Quantile Regression to explore the 

influence of physical exercise on students’ cognitive ability. The results are 

as follows: 

 The result of the Least Square Regression shows that the standard 

score on the cognitive ability test of the adolescents who exercise 

more than 3 days a week was 0.149 points higher than those who 

exercise less. While after controlling the pre-ability, the standard 

score on the cognitive ability test increases 0.049 points every 

time the exercising time increases per unit. 

 Quantile Regression indicates that engaging in physical exercise 

has the most significant promoting effects on teenagers with a 

median score, and spending more time exercising will not widen 

the gap of low-high cognitive with the same group. What’s more, 

encourage teenagers with the low cognitive ability to actively par-

ticipate in physical exercise is helpful to narrow the gap of teen-

agers’ cognitive ability within the group. 

 According to the Propensity Score Matching results, frequently 

participate in physical exercise improves 0.095-0.117 points on 

the test, which was lower than the 0.149 in the baseline regression, 

suggesting that the net effect of physical exercise would be over-

estimated if the selective bias was ignored. 

Based on this, the researchers believe that physical exercise can not 

only help build a strong body for teenagers but also improve their 

A 

mailto:James7526@163.com


 

Vol.8, No.2, 2021 1151 

cognitive ability to some extent. In family education, parents should 

abandon the traditional concept of “academics comes first” and form a 

beneficial closed-loop of “encouragement, support, guidance and 

feedback” for teenagers to participate in physical exercises. 

 

Source: Journal of East China Normal University (Educational Sciences), 

2021; 39(03):84-98.