AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS: INSTRUMENT FOR ASSESSMENT OF EPISODIC MEMORY IMPAIRMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Artha Mahindra Diputera, Gita Noveri Eza (*), Peny Husna Handayani, Srinahyanti

Department of Early Childhood Education Teacher Education, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Medan, Indonesia
*gitanoverieza[at]unimed.ac.id

Abstract

Early childhood memory has an important role in child development, enabling them to recall significant events and demonstrate developmental milestones. This study aims to investigate the factor validity of an instrumen assessment of episodic memory impairment in early childhood. Employing a quantitative research method, we recruited a sample of 109 randomly selected early childhood aged 4 to 6 years participants. The instrument utilized was a researcher-developed 33-item assessment sheet. Data analysis was conducted using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with SPSS v.25. The results revealed nine underlying factors within the episodic memory impairment detection instrument for early childhood: (a) Birthday event memory, (b) Vacation event memory, (c) Spatial information memory, (d) Storybook memory, (e) Time-based temporal information memory, (f) Family-based temporal information memory, (g) School event memory, and (h) Recurrent event temporal information memory. The study concludes that the instrument assessment of episodic memory impairment in early childhood consists of nine factors.

Keywords: Episodic memory, Early childhood, Exploratory factor analysis

Topic: Early childhood Education