Comparative Analysis of Developmental Levels of Mental Abilities in Modern Preschoolers and Their Peers Who Attended Kindergartens in the Last Third of the Twentieth Century

The article describes results of a study on the level of mental abilities in mod- ern children and in their peers from the last third of the 20th century. It was assumed that the mental abilities of modern preschoolers differ from those of their peers who were brought up in the pre-digital era. Developmental levels of sensory and intellectual abilities of preschool children aged 6-7 years (N=156) (studies from the 1970s), preschool children aged 5-6 years (N=100) (studies from the 1990s) were compared to those of children aged 5-6 years (N=184) and children aged 6-7 years (N=236) who attended preschool departments in Moscow, Moscow region, Smolensk and Ivanovo in 2015-2020. The level of development of sensory and intellectual abilities was assessed using specific tests (“Standards”, “Perceptual modeling”, “Schematization”, “Systematization”). The data was processed using statistical methods: descriptive statistics, the Fisher test, the Student’s t-test for samples with equal variances and samples with different variances. The results of the study show that the level of some sensory abilities of 21st-century preschoolers is lower than that of their 20th-century peers. On the other side, the level of intellectual abilities of preschoolers who were brought up in the early 21st century is higher than that of their peers from the 20th century.