AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
according to the number of points achieved. We also marked
PGC (children that were later identified as gifted) in the table.
Based on this division, we further compared and analyzed the
semantic categories created by content analysis and open coding
of the interviews. In Tables 4, 5, 6, and Graph 3, the achieved
scores were also statistically processed and interpreted. To assess
whether the difference in the score achieved by PGC and UC
was statistically significant, we used a two-sample t-test for
equality/inequality variances. To determine the equality of
variances, we first used the F-test for equality of variances.
Table 3: Comparison Table of the Semantic Categories
Representation in the Cognitive Component Concerning the
Emotional Phenomenon of Success in Kindergartens
Semantic categories
Total
PGC
UC
n
%
n
%
Victory
10
9
50
1
4
General above-average skills
4
3
17
1
4
Naïve understanding
4
2
11
2
9
No opinion
23
4
22
19
83
*n – total number, % - the percentage of the semantic category
of the total number of categories in the group;
In Table 3 we can see that half of the PGC understood the
phenomenon of success as victory or winning a certain award,
while only 4% of the children from the UC group had such
ideas. Ideas as above-average skills of a successful individual,
but only at the general level, were represented by 17% in the
PGC group and only 4% in the UC group. The naive
understanding of the phenomenon had an even smaller
percentage in both groups – 22% of the PGC group could not
comment on the questions, but the UC group was the majority,
with as many as 83% of the UC answering with “don't know” or
no comments.
Table 4: Descriptive Statistics of the Achieved Scores of Groups
in the Cognitive Component of Preconceptions about the
Phenomenon of Success in Kindergartens
M
N
SD
SEM
Min
Max
Median
PGC
18.75
16
6.787
1.697
7
26
22
UC
8.565
23
3.628
0.757
3
17
8
*(M – mean, N – children total, SD – standard deviation, SEM –
standard error of the mean, Min – minimum value, Max –
maximum value, Median - median);
Graph 3: Boxplot with the Score of the Cognitive Component of
Preconceptions about the Phenomenon of Success in
Kindergartens
In Table 4 and Graph 3 we see the statistical processing of the
achieved score of both groups concerning the cognitive
component of preconceptions about the phenomenon of success.
The mean of the score of PGC was 18.75 (standard deviation
6.787), GC averaged 8.565 (standard deviation 3.628).
Table 5: Results of the F-Test for Equality/Inequality of
Variances of the Achieved Score of PGC and UC in the
Cognitive Component of Preconceptions about the Phenomenon
of Success
M
df
F
P
PGC
18.75
15
3.499
< 0.004
UC
8.565
22
*(df – degrees of freedom, F – test statistic value, p – p-value
rounded to the nearest thousandth;
Table 5 shows the results of the F-test, which was used to test
the equality of variances in the groups. The test statistic was
3.499 and the corresponding p-value <0.004, which means that
at the level of statistical significance <0.05, there is a significant
difference in the variances of the achieved score between PGC
and UC, so we further used a t-test for inequality of variances.
Table 6: Results of the t-Test for Inequality of Variances of the
Achieved Score of PGC and UC in the Cognitive Component of
Preconceptions about the Phenomenon of Success
M
df
t
P
PGC
18.75
21
5.482
< 0.001
UC
8.565
*(df – degrees of freedom, t – test statistic value, p – p-value
rounded to the nearest thousandth;
Table 6 shows the results of the t-test for inequality of variances,
in which the differences in the achieved score of the PGC and
UC groups were tested and monitored. The value of the test
statistic was 5.482 and the corresponding p-value <0.001, which
means that the differential scores of the PGC and UC are
significantly different, at the level of statistical significance
<0.05.
When comparing the PGC with UC, we can see that the PGC
achieved better scores. Moreover, based on the analysis above,
the PGC had mainly concrete ideas, but they were also to a lesser
extent more general. Only 8% of children from the UC group
had such ideas, and they were more represented in the category
of naive ideas about the phenomenon of success. The PGC had
more relevant answers compared to the UC. In general, most
children in the PGC group expressed their ideas about the
phenomenon of loss, while many UC could not express
themselves. Therefore, we assessed that the cognitive component
of preconceptions of PGC about the phenomenon of success is at
a higher level compared to the UC.
The children's statements on questions aimed at identifying the
structural component of preconceptions were classified into the
following semantic categories:
self-development;
achieving victory;
psychological importance (feeling of satisfaction);
naive understanding;
no opinion.
Concerning the question “Why do we (people, children or you)
have success?” with the complementary questions “What would
happen if no one was ever successful again? What would happen
if success did not exist?”, the children had different ideas about
the meaning of success, and they mentioned the personal
development of the individual in general, such as (Child 3; 5 y/o)
“...to be always good” or (Child 10; 5 y/o) “...that they will be
skilled”, etc. Another category of ideas were statements in which
children expressed their understanding of the importance of
success as winning (Child 17; 5 y/o) “...to win” or winning in a
computer game (Child 16; 6 y/o) “…completed these only on the
computer”, or as competitions and games. Some participants also
had interpretations concerning psychological satisfaction from
the activity performed, with statements like (Child 20; 6 y/o)
“...to be glad” or also (Child 4; 5 y/o) “...to have a great fun”.
There were also individuals with the naïve understanding of
success (Child 21; 6 y/o) “...so that we would not be fat” or so
that we would not be afraid of anything (Child 14; 5 y/o)
“...because then I would not be afraid when a bear or wolf
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