AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
attacked me.” In this part, the last category are also the
statements in which the participants answered “don’t know” or
did not express anything at all – it is the most represented
category.
As with the cognitive component, we proceeded with the scoring
of individual statements to compare them. Based on these scores,
we ranked all participants according to the achieved score. We
also marked PGC (children that were later identified as gifted) in
the table. We further analyzed the obtained data based on this
division, and statistically processed and interpreted the achieved
scores in Table 8, 9, 10, and Graph 4. 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 7: Comparison Table of the Semantic Categories
Representation in the Structural Component Concerning the
Emotional Phenomenon of Success in Kindergartens
Semantic categories
Total
PGC
UC
n
%
n
%
Self-development
5
3
19
2
9
Achieving victory
4
3
19
1
4
Psychological
importance
2
2
13
1
4
Naïve understanding
4
2
13
2
9
No opinion
23
6
38
17
74
*n – total number, % - percentage of the semantic category of
the total number of categories in the group;
In Table 7 we can see that PGC understood the importance of
success as the self-development of an individual and also as
achieving victory, getting awards, or in general, as the existence
of competitions and games. They had the same representation in
both categories, while the UC were slightly less represented in
these categories. It was similar in the category of psychological
importance. The category of naïve understanding was at the
same level in both groups. The big difference is noticeable in the
category with no opinion, where the UC group was represented
by up to 74%, while the PGC by 36% less.
Table 8: Descriptive Statistics of the Achieved Scores of Groups
in the Structural Component of Preconceptions about the
Phenomenon of Success in Kindergartens
M
N
SD
SEM
Min
Max
Median
PGC
14.438
16
5.452
1.363
8
24
15.5
UC
9.826
23
4.519
0.942
3
21
8
*(M – mean, N – children total, SD – standard deviation, SEM –
standard error of the mean, Min – minimum value, Max –
maximum value, Median - median);
Graph 4: Boxplot with the Score of the Structural Component of
Preconceptions of Both Groups in Kindergartens
In Table 8 and Graph 4, we see descriptive statistics of the
achieved score of both groups concerning the structural
component of preconceptions about the phenomenon of success.
The mean of the score of PGC was 14.438 (standard deviation
5.452), the UC averaged 9.826 (standard deviation 4.519).
Table 9: Results of the F-Test for Equality/Inequality of
Variances of the Achieved Score of PGC and UC in the
Structural Component of Preconceptions about the Phenomenon
of Success
M
Df
F
P
PGC
14.438
15
1.456
< 0.206
UC
9.826
22
*(df – degrees of freedom, F – test statistic value, p – p-value
rounded to the nearest thousandth;
Table 9 shows the results of the F-test, which was used to test
the equality of variances in the groups. The test statistic was
1.456 and the corresponding p-value <0,206, which means that
at the level of statistical significance <0.05, there is no
significant difference in the variances of the achieved score
between the PGC and UC.
Table 10: Results of the t-Test for Inequality of Variances of the
Achieved Score of PGC and UC in the Structural Component of
Preconceptions about the Phenomenon of Success
M
Df
t
P
PGC
14.438
37
2.880
< 0.003
UC
9.826
*(df – degrees of freedom, t – test statistic value, p – p-value
rounded to the nearest thousandth;
Table 10 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 2.880 and the corresponding p-value <0.003,
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 groups, we can see that the PGC have also
achieved better scores in this component of preconceptions about
the given phenomenon. The results point out that the PGC group
demonstrated a higher level of the structural component of the
preconceptions on the phenomenon of success. This group of
participants had more relevant and detailed ideas, and most of
the children had no problem answering the questions and
commenting on them.
The children's statements on questions aimed at identifying the
affective component of preconceptions were classified into the
following semantic categories, which are analysed based on
dividing the respondents into two groups:
positive attitude;
other (statements in which a child spontaneously answered
“don't know” or had no comment on any question aimed at
identifying this component of preconceptions).
Table 11: Comparison Table of the Semantic Categories
Representation in the Affective Component Concerning the
Phenomenon of Success in Kindergartens
Semantic categories
Total
PGC
UC
n
%
n
%
Positive attitude
15
8
50
7
30
Other
24
8
50
16
70
*n – total number, % - the percentage of the semantic category
of the total number of categories in the group;
When asked “Do you like success? How do you feel when you
are successful?” with complementary questions “Why do you
like success? What would you like to be successful in?”, children
from both groups showed interest and a positive attitude towards
the phenomenon of success. Children usually answered only
briefly “yes”, and when asked how they feel, they made
statements like (Child 18; 6 y/o) “...good, ...I would like to win
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