Psychological Aspects of Using Digital Devices for the Development of Older Preschoolers with Signs of Giftedness

Revealing children’s abilities and talents in the context of digitalization is one of the urgent problems of modern psychology. The first signs of giftedness may appear early, already at the stage of preschool childhood, when its development largely depends on the conditions of the microenvironment, especially in the family. Digitalization processes set a new direction for the development of the system of family education and training of preschoolers, causing the emergence of both new opportunities and new risks in discovering children’s talents. This is a complex area of scientific research, which still remains little explored. The study was aimed at identifying the psychological characteristics of using digital devices (tablets/computers) as components of a family educational microenvironment for the development of older preschoolers with signs of general giftedness. In accordance with the conceptual provisions put forward by A.M. Matyushkin, giftedness was considered as a prerequisite for the development of a creative personality. The study involved 200 children of senior preschool age (Mage = 6.7, SD = 0.307, including 98 boys) and their parents (mostly mothers - 166). The method for diagnosing intellectual abilities (MEDIA) was used. Intellectual and creative activity as well as creative thinking of the children was studied during a diagnostic game lesson using structured observation and expert assessments. The parents of the preschoolers were surveyed using a specially designed questionnaire containing questions about the use of a tablet/computer (frequency, time, programs/games) at home for the development their children as well as questions about their interests and hobbies. The use of diagnostic techniques made it possible to single out a group (N = 24) of children with signs of giftedness among the preschoolers as well as a group of their peers for subsequent comparative analysis (their intellectual and creative abilities were less pronounced). It was found that almost all the children with signs of giftedness (95.8%), like their peers, had experience of using a tablet/computer at home for developmental purposes. The frequency of using digital devices by the preschoolers with signs of giftedness was less than that of their peers. With the observed variety of developing computer programs/games used, their total number was less in the group of the gifted preschoolers compared to the group of their peers. Partial correspondence of digital content to the interests and hobbies of the children was revealed. Most often, when choosing computer programs/games for them, their parents pursued the goal of preparing them for school. It was recognized as necessary to provide psychological assistance to the parents of the preschoolers in solving the issues of using digital devices to develop children’s abilities and talents. The results of the study can be used to develop practical recommendations based on an integrated approach to the disclosure of giftedness at the stage of preschool childhood, taking into account the digitalization of the family microenvironment.