Connection and comparison between development of executive functions and theory of mind in early childhood

Izvršilne funkcije in teorija uma sta dva pomembna in povezana konstrukta, ki se začneta dobro razvijati v zgodnjem otroštvu. Namen magistrskega dela je bil raziskati, kako se pri predšolskih otrocih, starih od tri do šest let, razvijajo izvršilne funkcije in teorija uma ter kakšne so razlike med spoloma, in identificirati pomembne prediktorje za teorijo uma oziroma izvršilne funkcije. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 113 predšolskih otrok in enako število njihovih staršev. Uporabljeni merski pripomočki so bili vprašalnik teorije uma za starše, baterija nalog za merjenje teorije uma, vprašalnik BRIEF-P, naloga slikovnega spomina za merjenje delovnega spomina, »Go/No-go« naloga za merjenje inhibicije in dve nalogi za merjenje verbalne fluentnosti. Rezultati pri vseh nalogah in obeh vprašalnikih so bili statistično pomembno višji pri starejših udeležencih, glede na spol pa pri instrumentih ni bilo zaznati statistično pomembnih razlik v rezultatih. Pokazale so se številne pomembne povezave znotraj nalog izvršilnih funkcij in podpodročij vprašalnika BRIEF-P, nekaj pa jih je bilo tudi med obema pripomočkoma. Kot pomembni prediktorji za rezultat pri nalogah in vprašalniku teorije uma so se pokazali starost, verbalna fluentnost, inhibicija in načrtovanje. Za starost se je izkazalo, da je pomemben napovedovalec nekaterih podpodročij vprašalnika BRIEF-P in rezultatov pri nalogah izvršilnih funkcij, medtem kos sta se pri nekaterih nalogah kot pomembna napovednika za rezultate pri nalogah izvršilnih funkcij pokazala še rezultata pri instrumentih za merjenje teorije uma. Tudi rezultati pri vprašalniku BRIEF-P so se izkazali kot pomemben prediktor za rezultate pri vprašalniku teorije uma za starše.Executive functions and the theory of mind are two important and related constructs, which start to develop properly in the early childhood. The aim of the master’s thesis is to examine how preschool children, aged from three to six, develop executive functions and the theory of mind as well as what the differences between genders are. Moreover, it tries to identify indicators important for the theory of mind and executive functions. The research included 113 preschool children and the same number of their parents. The measurement devices used were the theory of mind inventory, a battery of tasks for measuring the theory of mind, the BRIEF-P questionnaire, an image memory task for measuring working memory, a Go/No-Go task for measuring inhibition and two tasks for measuring verbal fluency. The results of all tasks and both questionnaires were statistically higher in older participantshowever, when it comes to gender, the instruments showed no statistically significant differences. Several significant correlations between tasks of executive functions and subsections of the BRIEF-P questionnaire were discovered, some also between both tools. Important result indicators in tasks and the theory of mind inventory turned out to be age, verbal fluency, inhibition and planning. Age also functions as an important indicator in some subsections of the BRIEF-P questionnaire and the results in tasks of executive functions, while the results of instruments for measuring the theory of mind proved to be important result indicators of some other tasks. Furthermore, the results of the BRIEF-P questionnaire turned out to be an important indicator for results in the theory of mind inventory