The Effects of Yoga Education on the Cognitive Functions of Children in Early Childhood

The aim of this research study is to analyze the effects of yoga education on the cognitive functions in early childhood. This study is a semi- experimental study with Pretest Posttest Control Group Experimental Design. The research sample comprises 28 children between the ages of 4-5 years, 10 in the experimental and 18 in the control group, who are currently enrolled in separate preschool programs in the city of Izmir. "Application of Cognitive Functions Scale (ACFS)" and "Personal Information Form" were used in the research in order to identify the children's cognitive functions. In the study, children in the experimental group were provided with 1 hour a week of yoga education given by a certified, expert yoga instructor for 12 weeks, while the control group children were left without intervention. Mann Whitney-U test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were used for data analysis. The research findings showed that the experimental group's total ACFS scores and average posttest scores for the Tasks Section Subscales were significantly higher than their average total pretest scores. No significant difference was found between the pretest and posttest score averages of the control group. A comparison of the total posttest scores of experimental and control groups showed no statistically significant differentiation in the subscales of short term auditory memory, perspective-taking, and verbal planning; while the differentiation was statistically significant between the subscales of classification, sequential short term auditory memory, short term visual memory, and pattern completion, as well as the total ACFS posttest scores. The research findings are discussed in relation to the literature.