Researching basic cognitive concepts in preschool children from different cultural environments

Osnovni kognitivni koncepti so osnovne reprezentacije, ki jih uporabljajo otroci v predšolskem obdobju in z njimi gradijo znanje. Nanašajo se na številne situacije v vsakdanjem življenju, zato je razumevanje teh konceptov zelo pomembno, saj z njimi otroci lažje sledijo navodilom v šoli, doma in pri različnih aktivnostih. Ker jih uporabljamo v različnih kontekstih, mnogo otrokom predstavljajo težaveprav tako je različna njihova težavnost (od konkretnega do abstraktnega). Uvrstimo jih lahko k področju kognitivnega razvoja, ki zajema vse spremembe v mišljenju oziroma intelektualnih procesih in je eden izmed najpomembnejših področij razvoja. Namen diplomskega dela je bil raziskati razumevanje osnovnih kognitivnih konceptov pri otrocih, ki živijo v afriški državi Gambiji v slabših socialno-ekonomskih razmerah in v manj razvitem vzgojno-izobraževalnem sistemu. S prirejenim testom za osnovne kognitivne koncepte (Boehm, 2000) smo testirali 30 otrok iz Gambije glede na spol, predhodno izobraževanje (ali so bili predhodno vključeni v izobraževanje in vzgojno ustanovo ali ne) ter glede na pismenost staršev (pismenost oziroma nepismenost očeta ter matere). Rezultati so pokazali, da pri poznavanju in razumevanju kognitivnih konceptov pomembnih razlik med spoloma ni bilo, so se pa pojavile tendence razlik pri otrocih nepismenih in pismenih staršev ter med otroki, ki so bili predhodno že vključeni v izobraževanje, in otroki, ki te možnosti niso imeli. Razlike so se pokazale le na določenih področjih osnovnih kognitivnih konceptov.Basic cognitive concepts are fundamental representations which children use during pre-school and which serve as building blocks of knowledge acquiescence. A child’s comprehensive understanding of these concepts is vital since the situations are from everyday life and can help children to facilitate following instructions in school, at home or when performing other activities. Because of the various contexts in which these concepts are being used, children often present trouble in comprehension. The level of difficulty also varies, from concrete to abstract. Cognitive concepts may be classified as elements of cognitive development, taking into account all reasoning and intellectual processes, and is one of the key parts of a child’s development. The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to research how children living in a less favorable socioeconomic environment and a less developed education system in Gambia understand basic cognitive concepts. We used a modified basic cognitive concept test (Boehm, 2000) while our research group consisted of 30 children from Gambia, divided by sex, prior education (whether they were previously enrolled in an education program or not), and their parents’ literacy (a mother’s and father’s (il)literacy). Results showed that there are no gender-specific differences in recognizing and understanding cognitive concepts. On the other, a trend in differences was noticed between children whose parents were illiterate or literate, and between children who have already attended an education program and those who did not have that option. Differences were found only in some areas of basic cognitive concepts