Design and Effectiveness of Philosophizing on Cognitive Flexibility and Proactive Inhibition of Preschool Children

Aims: The present study aimed at designing the training program of philosophizing and investigating its effects on cognitive flexibility as executive function and proactive inhibition in preschool children. Materials & Methods: The methodology used in this study was experimental with pretest-posttest and control group. The statistical population consisted of all preschool children in Mashhad. Forty subjects were selected by the two stages cluster random sampling method and were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and Stroop test were used to investigating the executive functions. The training program of philosophizing was designed, and children in the experimental group participated in a ۲۰-session program (each session ۲۵ minutes). The children in the control group received no training. Findings: The results of covariance analysis on the scores of cognitive flexibility and proactive inhibition of the posttests of the experimental and control groups showed a significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in cognitive flexibility (p<۰.۰۱). The rate of these changes was ۵۷% based on the chi-square. Conclusion: Therefore, it is considered that the training program of philosophizing can be an important factor for promoting the level of cognitive flexibility and proactive inhibition of preschool children and make them enable to understand the concepts in new and different ways.

Keywords:

Philosophy , Cognition , Executive Functions , Proactive Inhibition , Preschool Children