Examining the relationship between preschool interpersonal problem solving skills and perspective taking skills of children attending preschool education programs between 4 to 6 years of age

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving (PIPS) Skills and Perspective Taking Skills of those children attending preschool education programs at the age of 4 to 6. The sample of the research involved 180 children who were attending preschool education programs during 2010 Fall semester and 2011 Spring semester in Ankara. The children were between 4 to 6 years of age and belong to one of three socio-economic classes ? namely lower, middle and upper socio-economic class. There were 20 students from each age group and 60 students from each socio-economic class. The scales of the research were chosen as Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving (PIPS) Skills (Dinçer, 1995) and Perspective Taking Skills (Şener, 1996). In order to examine the relationship between PIPS Skills and Perspective Taking Skills, the data received from the research were analyzed by using Pearson Correlation. The age and socio-economic status effects over PIPS Skills and Perspective Taking Skills were addressed by using one-way analysis of variance. And the question how the sex and sibling factor (whether the child has any sibling(s) or not) affect PIPS Skills and Perspective Taking Skills was answered with the help of T Test. At the end of the research, a moderate positive correlation was found between the scores of Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving Skills and Perspective Taking Skills (Perceptional, Cognitive, Emotional) (p<.05).