Razlike med spoloma na področju izvršilnih funkcij pri učencih tretjega vzgojno-izobraževalnega obdobja

Prelog, Tjaša (author), Zorc Maver, Darja (mentor), Pečjak, Sonja (co-mentor)

Posameznik ima biološki spol, ki je lahko ženski, moški, nedoločen ali drugo. Skozi družbene in spolne konvencije v svetu razvije lastno reprezentacijo spola, ki se lahko naslanja na biološki spol ali ne in jo drugi interpretirajo glede na spolne okvirje določene kulture. Tradicionalno vidimo družbeni spol kot kulturne ali socialne kvalitete, ki so povezane z biološkim spolom. Teorije spolnih razlik temeljijo na bipolarnem modelu moškost-ženskost, ki ga uporabljamo za pripisovanje določenih vedenj in osebnih lastnosti. Teorija družbenega spola tako trdi, da je človek produkt kulture, ne narave, in skuša dokazati, da sta moškost in ženskost posledica družbe in kulturnega konteksta vsakega obdobja. Na razlike med spoloma lahko tako gledamo z različnih vidikov – biološkega, psihološkega, biosocialnega vidika itd. Razumevanje točne narave izvršilnih funkcij – kot kapacitet namenskega in neodvisnega vedenja, ki se razvijajo od zgodnjega otroštva skupaj z razvojem prefrontalnega korteksa – v šolskem okolju je omejeno zaradi pomanjkanja raziskav, ki bi iskale te razlike med spoloma. Izvršilne funkcije lahko vplivajo na nastanek določenih primanjkljajev in s tem neposredno ali posredno vplivajo tudi na učno uspešnost učencev. Strokovna literatura večinoma izpostavlja prednost deklet pri nalogah verbalnih sposobnosti, fantov pri prostorskih in delovnem spominu. Osrednji problem magistrskega dela je bilo vprašanje razlik med spoloma v izvršilnih funkcijah. V raziskavi sem predvidevala, da obstajajo pomembne razlike med spoloma na tem področju. To sem preverila z merjenjem naslednjih izvršilnih funkcij, kot so verbalna fluentnost, delovni spomin, sposobnost preklapljanja in inhibicija, in sicer pri učencih (n = 101) tretjega vzgojno-izobraževalnega obdobja med 13. in 15. letom starosti. Uporabila sem Testno baterijo preizkusov za merjenje izvršilnih funkcij (Slana, Pečjak in Repovš, 2017) s 4 nalogami za merjenje teh funkcij. Potrdila sem statistično pomembne razlike (p < 0,01) med spoloma. Dekleta so bila uspešnejša pri nalogah verbalne fluentnosti in delovnega spomina, fantje pa pri nalogah inhibicije in sposobnosti preklapljanja. Preverila sem povezanost merjenih izvršilnih funkcij. Statistično pomembno (p < 0,01) sta bili povezani samo leksikalna verbalna fluentnost in delovni spomin. Pregledala sem tudi povezanost povprečnih zaključnih ocen z rezultati na merah izvršilnih funkcij, kjer so rezultati korelacijske analize pokazali povezanost (p < 0,01) z vsemi merami verbalne fluentnosti in delovnega spomina. Razumevanje razlik med spoloma na področju izvršilnih funkcij je na teoretični ravni omogočilo vpogled v močna področja pri učencih, na praktični ravni pa nakazalo možnosti urjenja manj uspešnih učencev pri teh funkcijah za izboljšanje učnih dosežkov.

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: izvršilne funkcije
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Year: 2019
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-113136
• COBISS.SI-ID: 12728137
• Publication date in RUL: 09.12.2019

Secondary language

• Language: English
• Title: Gender differences in executive functions in students in the third triad of elementary school

Abstract

An individual has a biological sex, which can be female, male, undetermined or unspecified. Through social and sexual conventions in society, an individual can develop his or her (or other) own gender representation which can refer to their biological sex or not and is interpreted by others according to the gender framework of a certain culture. Traditionally, we view gender as cultural or societal qualities that are related to biological sex. Theories of gender differences are based on a bipolar model of masculinity-femininity which is used to attribute certain behavioral and personal traits. Gender theory thus argues that a person is a product of culture, not nature, and it seeks to prove that masculinity and femininity traits are a consequence of a certain social and cultural context of each specific period. Gender differences can thus be viewed from different perspectives – from biological, psychological, biosocial perspective, etc. Understanding the exact nature of executive functions – as capacities of intentional and independent behavior that develop from early childhood together with the prefrontal cortex – in a school environment is limited due to lack of research which would examine these differences between the sexes. Executive functions can affect the formation of certain deficits and can directly or indirectly influence the students’ academic achievement as such. Findings in the research mostly highlight girls’ advantage in the verbal tasks and boys’ advantage in the spatial and working memory task. The main problem of my master’s thesis was the question of gender differences in executive functions. I predicted that there are major differences between the sexes in this area which I tested with measuring the following executive functions such as verbal fluency, working memory, switching ability, and inhibition in students (n = 101) in the third triad of elementary school, aged between 13 and 15 years. I used a test battery for measuring executive functions (Slana, Pečjak, and Repovš, 2017) with four tasks to measure these functions. I confirmed statistically significant differences (p < 0,01) between the sexes. Girls performed better in verbal fluency and working memory tasks, and boys in inhibition and switching tasks. I measured the connection between these four executive functions. Only lexical verbal fluency and working memory were connected statistically significantly (p < 0,01). I also examined the association between average final grades and the results of measured executive functions. The results of the correlational analysis showed the connection (p < 0,01) with all the measures of verbal fluency and working memory. Understanding the gender differences in executive functions has provided an insight into students' strengths on the theoretical level and indicated the potential for training less successful students in these functions for improving their academic performance in the practical level.

• Keywords: executive functions