COMPARING THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS OF TURKISH AND REFUGEE PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: FLEXIBLE ITEM SELECTION TASK (FIST) / OKUL ÖNCESİ DÖNEMDEKİ TÜRK VE MÜLTECİ ÇOCUKLARIN YÜRÜTÜCÜ İŞLEV BECERİLERİNİN KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI: NESNE SEÇİMİNDE ESNEKLİK GÖREVİ (NSEG)

Executive function skills constitute an important basis for learning and adaptation in early childhood. The executive function skills can easily improve in children who uses good practices in preschool. These skills are especially important because they help children overcome all complex tasks required to manage themselves. The aim of the present study was to examine abstraction and cognitive flexibility components, which are important components of executive functions, in 4-6-year-old Turkish children and refugee children attending kindergarten and nursery school using Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST). In addition, the research aimed to compare the abstraction and cognitive flexibility according to gender and age variables using three different sections: Turkish students attending kindergarten, Turkish students attending nursery school and refugee children attending nursery school. The study was a survey type of quantitative research, and a cross-sectional survey approach was used. The participants were 99 Turkish and refugee children who were 4-6-year-old and attended kindergarten and nursery schools in central town of a province in Turkey. The schools where 48-60-month-old children are taught are called kindergarten in Turkey while the schools for 61-72-month-olds are called nursery schools. The study included one kindergarten and two nursery schools. These schools are located in the city center, long distances from each other and in different neighborhoods. The Turkish children in the study were both kindergarten and nursery school children whereas refugee children were only nursery school children who attended to the nursery school together with Turkish children. Children were evaluated by their class-gender and class-age combinations. There were 16 Turkish boys and 16 Turkish girls attending kindergarten, 17 Turkish boys and 19 Turkish girls attending nursery school, and 16 refugee boys and 15 refugee girls attending nursery school. In terms of class-age combinations, there were 15 Turkish students in kindergarten, 16 Turkish students in nursery school and 16 refugee students in nursery school in 48-60-month age group while 61-72 months age group had 17 Turkish students in kindergarten, 20 Turkish students in nursery school and 15 refugee students in nursery school. Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST) was used as the data collection tool in the study. The implementation of the measuring tool was carried out individually with each child by the researcher and took about 10 minutes. The results of the study revealed that there was no significant difference among Turkish kindergarten, nursery school and refugee children nursery school groups for abstraction scores based on gender and age groups. However, a significant difference was found between Turkish and refugee children for the cognitive flexibility scores. While the gender and age groups of Turkish and refugee children attending kindergarten had no significant differences for the abstraction component, there was a significant difference between gender and age groups for cognitive flexibility scores. For a more detailed analysis, studies dealing with high-level cognitive skills and working memory, one of the components of executive functions, are needed. Yurutucu islev becerileri erken cocukluk yillarinda ogrenme ve uyum icin onemli bir temel olusturmaktadir. Okul oncesi donemde iyi uygulamalarla pratik yapan cocuklarin yurutucu islev becerileri kolayca gelisebilmektedir. Bu beceriler cocuklarin ozellikle kendilerini yonetebilmelerini gerektiren tum karmasik gorevleri ustesinden gelmesine yardimci olacagi icin onemlidir. Bu calismanin amaci anaokulu ve anasinifina devam eden 4-6 yas Turk cocuklarla multeci cocuklarin yurutucu islevlerin onemli bilesenlerinden olan soyutlama becerisi ve bilissel esnekligi, Nesne Seciminde Esneklik Gorevi (NSEG) kullanarak incelemektir. Ayni zamanda arastirmada 4-6 yas cocuklari anaokulu, anasinifi ve multeci cocuklar olmak uzere uc farkli kesit alinarak cinsiyet ve yas degiskenlerine gore soyutlama becerisi ve bilissel esnekligi karsilastirmak amaclanmistir. Arastirma nicel arastirma modellerinden tarama modeli niteligindedir. Tarama modellerinden kesitsel tarama modeli olarak tanimlanmaktadir. Arastirmada 4-6 yas arasindaki Turk ve multeci cocuklarin yurutucu islevlerinin karsilastirilmasi orneklemindeki katilimcilar Turkiye'nin bir sehir merkezinde bulunan anaokulu ve anasinifina devam eden Turk ve multeci cocuklardan olusmaktadir. Katilimcilar Turkiye'de bir il merkezinde bulunan anaokulu ve anasinifina giden 4-6 yaslarindaki 99 Turk ve multeci cocuktu. Turkiye'de 48-60 aylik cocuklarin egitim gordugu okullara anaokulu, 61-72 aylik cocuklarin ait okullara ise anasinifi adi verilmektedir. Calismada bir anaokulu ve iki anasinifi iceriyordu. Bu okullar sehir merkezinde, birbirinden uzun mesafelerde ve farkli mahallelerde yer aliyordu. Calismaya katilan Turk cocuklari hem anaokulu hem de anasinifi cocuklari iken, multeci cocuklari sadece, Turk cocuklarla birlikte anasinifina giden cocuklar. Cocuklar sinif-cinsiyet ve sinif-yas kombinasyonlari seklinde degerlendirildi. Calisma, anaokuluna giden 16 Turk erkek ve 16 Turk kizi, anasinifina giden 17 Turk erkek ve 19 Turk kizi, anasinifina giden 16 multeci erkek ve 15 multeci kizi iceriyordu. Sinif-yas kombinasyonlari olarak, 48-60 ay yas grubunda, anaokuluna giden 15 Turk ogrenci, anasinifina giden 16 Turk ogrenci ve anasinifina giden 16 multeci ogrenci varken, 61-72 ay yas grubunda, anaokuluna giden 17 Turk ogrenci, anasinifina giden 20 Turk ogrenci ve anasinifina giden 15 multeci ogrenci bulunuyordu. Calismada veri toplama araci olarak Nesne Seciminde Esneklik Gorevi olcegi kullanilmistir. Olcum aracinin uygulanmasi her cocuk icin arastirmaci tarafindan bireysel olarak gerceklestirilmis ve yaklasik 10 dakika surmustur. Toplamda calisma grubu olarak belirlenen 99 okuloncesi donemi cocugu ile arastirma yurutulmustur. Calismada veri toplama araci olarak Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST) araci kullanilmistir. Yaklasik 10 dakika suren olcme aracinin uygulanmasi arastirmaci tarafindan her bir cocukla bireysel olarak yapilmistir. Calismanin sonunda, calismaya katilan okuloncesi cocuklarinin bulundugu Turk anaokulu anasinifi ve multeci cocuk gruplarina gore soyutlama becerileri puanlarinda, yasa ve cinsiyete gore anlamli bir farklilik olmadigi gorulmustur. Buna karsilik Turk ve multeci cocuklarin bilissel esneklik puanlari arasinda anlamli bir farklilik bulunmustur. Bunun yaninda, anaokuluna devam eden Turk ve multeci cocuklarin cinsiyetlerine ve yaslarina gore soyutlama becerilerinde anlamli bir farkliliga rastlanmazken, bilissel esneklik puanlari arasinda cinsiyet ve yasa gore anlamli bir farklilik oldugu tespit edilmistir. Durumun daha detayli analizi icin ust duzey bilissel becerileri kapsayan ve yurutucu islevlerin bilesenlerinden biri olan calisma belleginin olculdugu calismalara ihtiyac vardir.