Einsatz des Marburger Konzentrationstests für Vorschulkinder (MKVK) zur Bewertung der Untersuchungszeit bei 3- bis 6- jährigen Vorschulkindern.

Undisturbed concentration is one of the essential basic principles for successful learning. First of all the ability to concentrate, that means to be interested and focused in one thing, is important for the uptake and storage of information. The balance between uptake and storage results in a learning process [38]. Particularly children during the first years of primary education are observed to see if their ability to concentrate is in the normal range. This raises the question, whether children, who suffered from inattention in primary school could have already been diagnosed at preschool age, if adequate tests would have existed. Many of the already existing concentration tests for children are designed for the 2nd to 6th class (German school system) [12]. For example, there is the „Konzentrationstest für die 3. und 4. Klasse (Revision) (KT3-4R)“ investigated by BRETZ, NELL and SNIEHOTTA or the „Testreihe zur Überprüfung der Konzentrationsfähigkeit (TPK)“ by KURTH and BÜTTNER [12]. For a successful completion of these tests children have to be able to read and to solve simple calculations on their own. Therefore, these tests are not suitable for preschool children. Due to a lack of adequate tests for preschool children, the “Marburg concentration test for preschool children” (Marburger Konzentrationstest für Vorschulkinder, MKVK) was established. This test was developed according to a method of Koch and Pleissner. The MKVK has already been tested successfully in highly deaf children, in language impaired children and in healthy children at the age of 5 to 7 years. Previous studies have shown the good practicability of the test and its ability to show significant differences between language impaired children and normal, healthy children. Children from the ages 3;5 to 6;0 years, without pathological findings in their hitherto development were still missing in the existing investigations. Their results for the MKVK are presented in this dissertation and thus complete the previous investigations. The aim of this dissertation was to define the test conditions for a standard group of children ages 3;5 to 6;0. This includes to define the length of time for solving the test and the number of errors while processing the test, which can be considered as normal. 53 children participated in our test, whereof three children had terminated the test prematurely. These 53 children were randomized from three different kindergartens and day- care centers. All these children were without pathological findings in their development. The number of errors and time for solving the test were recorded. The time was divided into two parts: faster or slower than 8 minutes. The processing time of the test in itself was not limited. In previous tests with healthy children at the age group from 5 to 7 years a possible cut-off of 8 minutes was set. Our test revealed that this cut-off time is unrealistic for children at the age group from 3;5 to 6;0 years. However, the results of this study point out that the MKVK is well suitable for preschool children, too. It is a simple and inexpensive test whose accomplishment can be learned very quickly. In addition, most of the children also had great pleasure in working on the test and did not consider it as a burden. The results showed a low negative correlation between age and time. Younger children generally require more time to process the tests than older children. In addition, the limit of 8 minutes, which was initially appointed,, could not be realized for the entire age group of 3;5 to 6;0 years in the median and the mean. To avoid the indexing of too many healthy children into the group of conspicuous children we suggest to increase the cut-off time for the age group of 3;5 to 6;0. We also recommend splitting the participants into two groups with their own different cut-off times: For the age group 1, children under 5 years, we recommend a limit of 12 minutes. For the age group 2, children aged 5 years and older, we recommend a limit of 9 minutes. With a nationwide use of MKVK, such as a compulsory test before starting primary school, children could be easily and effectively identified with the suspicion of a lack of concentration. Hence, these children could be adequately and individually supported before getting problems at school.