A comparison of preschool children’s communication and emotional skills on the basis of their cognitive tempos

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether the communication and emotional skills of preschoolers differ on the basis of their reflection and impulsivity. The sample of the study comprised 227 (5–6 years old) students attending nursery classes and nursery schools in central districts of Konya. Kansas Reflection–Impulsivity Scale for Preschoolers (KRISP)-Form A developed by Wright, J. C. [(1971). KRISP Kansas reflection–impulsivity scale for preschoolers. Lawrence: University of Kansas] was used to determine the reflective–impulsive cognitive tempos of children. Communication skills of the children were measured using the Communication Skills Scale developed by Görgülü, F. [(2009) [Drama destekli kubaşık öğrenme etkinliklerinin okul öncesi 5–6 yaş çocuklarının iletişim becerilerine etkisi. Yayınlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi. Adnan Menderes Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Aydın], and emotional skills were analysed with the Assessment of Children’s Emotions Scale developed by Schultz, D., & Izard, C. E. (1998) [Assessment of children’s emotions scales (ACES). University of Delaware, Newark: Assessment Tool] and adapted to Turkish by Durmuşoğlu Saltalı, N., Deniz, M. E., Çeliköz, N., & Arı, R. (2009) [Altı yaş çocukları için duygusal becerilerin değerlendirilmesi testi’nin (ACES) TTürkçe’ye uyarlanması: Geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 42(1), 403–420]. The results indicated that preschool children’s scores of communication and emotional skills show a difference favouring those who have a reflective–cognitive tempo.

KEYWORDS:

• Cognitive tempo
• communication skills
• expressing emotions
• recognizing emotions
• understanding emotions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Gökhan Kayili is currently Assist. Prof. Dr. at the Department of Child Development. His research interests include social development, emotional skills, cognitive tempo and the Montessori method.

Filiz Erbay is currently Assoc. Prof. Dr. Her research interests include creative drama education and visual reasoning.

ORCID

Gökhan Kayili http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7959-4128

Filiz Erbay http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9766-8570