Erken matematik becerilerinde farklı düzeylerde başarı gösteren çocukların çalışma belleği performanslarının karşılaştırılması
Özet
Early mathematical knowledge and skills predict children's mathematics achievement at school and academic achievement. Children can perform at different levels in these early math skills developed in preschool period. Although there are many factors effective on performance differences, working memory skills, which are one of the basic structures of learning, strongly explain the differences in early mathematics performance. In this study, it is aimed to compare the working memory performances of children who have early mathematics skills at different levels and to examine the relationships between these skills areas. The study included 100 typically developing children who were in kindergarten. Color Progressive Matrices Test (CPM) was used to determine non-verbal intelligence levels of children, Test of Early Mathematical Ability (TEMA-3) was used to evaluate early mathematics skills and mathematics achievement levels, and Working Memory Scale (WMS) was applied to determine working memory performance. The data were analyzed using Kruskal Wallis test for group comparisons and Spearman's Rank Differential Correlation Coefficient for the relationships between skill areas. The results of the analyzes showed that the working memory performances of children with low, medium and high level of mathematics achievement differ significantly. It was found that children with low success in early mathematics skills showed lower working memory performances than their peers with medium and high success. When the relationships between early mathematics skills and working memory were examined, it was seen that early mathematics skills and all the working memory sub-components except for visual short-term memory were found to be low and medium level in general in the study group. The findings were discussed within the framework of the literatüre. Advanced researches and suggestions for application were presented.