Lecture course. Subject, tasks and methods of developmental psychology

The field of psychological research, where knowledge is presented and the processes and patterns of psychological and behavioral development of people in ontogenesis are studied. Dictionary of a practical psychologist. M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998. Psychology... ... Great psychological encyclopedia

One of the branches of psychology that studies not mental states, but the development of the psyche, the genesis of the forms in which spiritual life occurs in children (see Child Psychology), youth (see Youth Psychology), peoples (see Folk... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY- Strictly speaking, the field of psychology that studies the processes of change throughout life. Changes here mean any qualitative and/or quantitative transformation in the structure of a function: the transition from crawling to walking, from babbling to talking... Explanatory dictionary of psychology

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY- one of the branches of psychology that studies the development of the psyche, the genesis of the forms in which the spiritual life takes place in children (see Child Psychology), youth (see Youth Psychology), peoples (see Folk Psychology), etc... Professional education. Dictionary

Developmental psychology- studies age-related changes in people’s behavior and patterns in their acquisition of experience and knowledge throughout life. In other words, it focuses on studying the mechanisms of mental development and answers the question why this is so... ... Human psychology: dictionary of terms

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY- Part psychological science concerning the laws of psychological, in particular age-related, human development... Glossary of terms for psychological counseling

Developmental psychology- a field of psychology that studies age-related transformations of human psychological functions and personality “from cradle to grave” (in the words of Hall, who in the 20th century first declared the right to exist such a discipline) ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

An area of ​​psychology aimed at studying parenthood as a psychological phenomenon. From a psychological point of view, parenthood is seen as part of the personality of the father and mother. The features of its development throughout life are studied (as values ​​... Wikipedia

- (English peace psychology) area of ​​research in psychology associated with the study of mental processes and behavior that generate violence, prevent violence and promote the use of non-violent methods, as well as the creation ... Wikipedia

Labor psychology is a branch of psychology that examines the psychological characteristics of human labor activity and the patterns of development of labor skills. There is an opinion that the description of this science should be divided into broad and narrow... ... Wikipedia

Books

• Developmental Psychology, Bokum Don, Craig Grace. One of the most complete modern textbooks on developmental psychology. Undoubted dignity- careful consideration of all stages of human life: the period of preparation for...
• Developmental Psychology, Chekina L.F.. This textbook discusses the following aspects: the methodological foundations of developmental psychology, reveals the content of the main psychological theories, analyzes driving forces,…

Modern psychology is an extensive system of scientific disciplines, among which a special place is occupied by developmental psychology or, more correctly, the psychology of human development, associated with the study of the age-related dynamics of the development of the human psyche, the ontogenesis of mental processes and the psychological qualities of the personality of a person who qualitatively changes over time. The concept of developmental psychology is, in principle, narrower than the concept of developmental psychology, since development here is considered only as a function of either chronological age or age period. Developmental psychology is associated not only with the study of the age stages of human ontogenesis, but also considers various processes of macro- and micropsychic development in general. Therefore, strictly speaking, developmental psychology can only be a part of developmental psychology, although sometimes they are used interchangeably.

Like any science, developmental psychology has the functions of description, explanation, forecast, and correction. In relation to a specific area of ​​research (in our case, mental development), these functions act as specific scientific tasks, i.e. the general goals that science seeks to achieve.

Description of development presupposes the presentation of the phenomenology of development processes in its entirety (from the point of view of external behavior and internal experiences). Unfortunately, much in developmental psychology is at the level of description.

To explain development means to identify the causes, factors and conditions that led to changes in behavior and experience. The explanation is based on a pattern of cause-and-effect relationships, which can be strictly unambiguous (which is extremely rare), probabilistic (statistical, with varying degrees of deviation) or completely absent. It can be single (which is very rare) or multiple (which is usually the case in the study of development).

If an explanation answers the question “why did this happen?”, revealing the reasons for an existing effect and identifying the factors that caused it, then the forecast answers the question “what will this lead to?”, pointing to the consequences that follow from this cause. Thus, if in explaining development thought moves from effect to cause, then in predicting development we move from cause to effect. This means that when explaining the changes that have occurred, the study begins with their description and continues with the transition to a description of possible causes and their connection with the changes that have occurred. When making a forecast, the study also begins with a description of the changes that have occurred, but they are no longer considered as a consequence, but as a cause of possible changes, the description of which must be compiled. The development forecast is always hypothetical in nature, since it is based on an explanation, on establishing connections between the resulting consequence and possible causes. If this connection is established, then the fact of its existence allows us to assume that the totality of identified causes will necessarily entail a consequence. This, in fact, is the meaning of the forecast.

If a description of development is the creation of its image in the mind of the researcher, an explanation is the establishment of connections between an effect and possible causes, and a forecast of development is a prediction of it based on already established cause-and-effect relationships, then correction of development is the management of it through a change in possible causes. And since development is a branching process that has nodes of qualitative and lines of quantitative changes, the possibilities of correction are theoretically unlimited. The restrictions are imposed here to a greater extent by the possibilities of description, explanation and prediction, which provide information about the nature of the processes taking place and the nature of the object as a whole. It is important to note the special place of developmental prognosis and correction in solving applied problems of developmental psychology.

The result of description, explanation, forecast and correction is a model or theory of development.

Developmental psychology is primarily a fundamental theoretical discipline, but the knowledge gained in it and the methods developed are used in applied areas.

Problem individual development human is one of the fundamental problems of natural science and psychology. This problem has a number of important psychological aspects, especially closely related to issues of personality formation. One of them is the study of age-related characteristics, which are very significant for each individual period of human life.

Age characteristics are interconnected in various ways with sexual, typological and individual characteristics, from which they can only be separated very relatively. All this makes it difficult to identify age characteristics for special research. The only exception is the earliest stages of human life, when age-related characteristics appear in a purer form, and typological and individual modifications of development are still weakly expressed. In the first years of a person's life, age differences are measured in months and half a year. Also noteworthy is the fact that in early periods In a person’s life, the timing of the onset of one or another age stage is more or less general in nature, relatively independent of the characteristics of the constitution, type of nervous system, etc. But already in adolescence, and even more so in adolescence, the change in age periods largely depends not only on the conditions of upbringing, but also on the established individual and typological characteristics of the emerging personality. The processes of growth, maturation and development are increasingly mediated by accumulated life experience and the resulting typological and individual traits.

This situation is especially characteristic of all periods of maturity, the age differences between which seem to be “overlaid” by the type of individual development, the nature of practical activity, etc.

There is no doubt that one of the main questions of the theory of individual human development is precisely the question of the relationship between age, typological and individual characteristics of a person, and the changing and contradictory relationships between them. Individual development with age acquires an increasingly unique and individualized character.

When studying age dynamics, the characteristics of individual periods and the relationships between them, one cannot abstract from a person’s life path, the history of his individual development in various public relations and mediations. Common age periods of life for all people (from infancy to old age) are characterized by relatively constant signs of somatic and neuropsychic development.

Developmental psychology studies how people's behavior and experiences change as they age. Although most developmental theories focus on childhood, their ultimate goal is to uncover patterns of development throughout a person's life. The study, description and explanation of these patterns determines the range of tasks that developmental psychology solves.

Two sources fuel developmental psychology. On the one hand, these are the explanatory principles of biology and evolutionary theory, on the other, methods of socio-cultural influence on the course of development. To explain human development, it is important not only to understand human nature (since development is a natural phenomenon), but also to take into account the various influences that specific social institutions have on the child. Development is as much a process of biological growth as it is a process of a child's appropriation of cultural values. Therefore, all modern theories of human development try to establish a relationship between nature and culture, but they do this with varying degrees of success, focusing either on nature or on culture.

The definition of developmental psychology as the doctrine of periods of psychological development and personality formation in ontogenesis, their changes and transitions from one age to another, as well as the historical analysis of successive stages of ontogenesis indicate that the subject of developmental psychology has changed historically. Currently, the subject of developmental psychology is the disclosure of general patterns of mental development in ontogenesis, the establishment of age periods, the formation and development of activity, consciousness and personality and the reasons for the transition from one period to another, which is impossible without taking into account the influence of cultural, historical, ethnic factors on the individual development of a person. and socio-economic conditions.

Human biological development has come a long way, but its systematic study has a rather short history. Although the phenomena of reproduction and growth have always been observable, clear awareness of the need to study human development most often arose only during periods of social or economic change.

Developmental psychology emerged as an independent field of knowledge by the end of the 19th century. Having emerged as child psychology, developmental psychology was for a long time limited to the study of the patterns of mental development of a child, however, the demands of modern society, new achievements of psychological science, which made it possible to consider each age from a developmental perspective, made obvious the need for a holistic analysis of the ontogenetic process and interdisciplinary research. Currently, the branches of developmental psychology are: child psychology (studying the patterns of stages of mental development from infancy to adolescence inclusive), psychology of youth, psychology of adulthood and gerontopsychology (psychology of old age).

A historical analysis of the concept of “childhood” is given in the works of P.P. Blonsky, L.S. Vygotsky, D.B. Elkonin, where the reasons are revealed why, given similar natural prerequisites, the level of mental development that a child achieves at each historical stage of society is not the same. Childhood is a period that continues
from newborn to full social and, therefore, psychological maturity; This is the period of a child becoming a full-fledged member of human society. Moreover, the duration of childhood in primitive society is not equal to the duration of childhood in the Middle Ages or in our days. The stages of human childhood are a product of history and are as subject to change as they were thousands of years ago. Therefore, it is impossible to study a child’s childhood and the laws of its formation outside the development of human society and the laws that determine its development. The duration of childhood is directly dependent on the level of material and spiritual culture of society. The course of the child’s mental development, according to L.S. Vygotsky, does not obey the eternal laws of nature, the laws of maturation of the organism. Move child development in a class society, he believed, “has a completely definite class meaning.” That is why he emphasized that there is no eternally childish, but only historically childish.

The question of the historical origin of periods of childhood, the connection between the history of childhood and the history of society, the history of childhood as a whole, without solving which it is impossible to formulate a meaningful concept of childhood, was posed in child psychology in the late 20s of the 20th century and continues to be developed to this day. . According to the views of domestic psychologists, studying child development historically means studying the child’s transition from one age stage to another, studying the change in his personality within each age period that occurs in specific historical conditions.

In modern developmental psychology, the historical analysis of the concept of “childhood” is most fully given in the concept of D.I. Feldstein, who considers childhood as a socio-psychological phenomenon of society and a special state of development.

In the concept of D.I. Feldstein provides a meaningful psychological analysis of the system of interaction of functional connections that determine the social state of Childhood in its general understanding in a particular society, and also finds ways to solve the question of what connects different periods of Childhood, what ensures the general state of Childhood, what takes it to another state - into Adulthood.

Defining childhood as a phenomenon of the social world, D.I. Feldstein identifies the following characteristics.

Functionally - Childhood appears as an objectively necessary state in the dynamic system of society, the state of the process of maturation of the younger generation and therefore preparation for the reproduction of the future society.

In its substantive definition, it is a process of constant physical growth, the accumulation of mental new formations, the development of social space, reflection on all relationships in this space, defining oneself in it, one’s own self-organization, which occurs in the constantly expanding and increasingly complex contacts of the child with adults and other children ( younger, peers, older), the adult community as a whole.

Essentially - Childhood is a form of manifestation, a special state of social development, when biological patterns associated with age-related changes in the child largely manifest their effect, “submitting,” however, to an increasing extent to the regulating and determining action of the social.

And the meaning of all meaningful changes lies not only in the child’s acquisition and appropriation of social norms (which, as a rule, is the main focus), but in the very development of social, social properties, qualities that are characteristic of human nature. In practice, this is achieved in achieving a certain level of socialization, which is typical for a specific historical society, more broadly - for a specific historical time, but at the same time it is also a state of development of that social level that characterizes a person of a certain era, in this case a modern person. At the same time, as the child grows older, the social principle more and more actively determines the characteristics of the child’s functioning and the content of the development of his individuality.

Being a complex, independent organism, Childhood represents an integral part of society, acting as a special generalized subject of multifaceted, diverse relationships in which it objectively sets tasks and goals for interaction with adults, determining the directions of their activities with it, and develops its own socially significant World.

According to D.I. Feldstein, the main, internal goal of Childhood in general and each child in particular is growing up - mastering, appropriating, realizing adulthood. But this same goal - the maturation of children, which subjectively has a different focus - to ensure this maturation - is the main one for the Adult world.

The attitude of the Adult community towards Childhood, regardless of the definition of its upper limit, is characterized primarily by stability - this is an attitude towards a special state, as a phenomenon located outside the adult sphere of life. The author of the concept considers the problem of the attitude of the Adult community to Childhood in a broad socio-cultural context and socio-historical plan and highlights the position of the Adult World towards Childhood not as a collection of children of different ages - outside the Adult World (who need to be raised, educated, trained), but as the subject of interaction, as a special state of its own, which society passes through in its constant reproduction. This is not a “social nursery,” but a social state unfolded over time, ranked by density, structures, forms of activity, etc., in which children and adults interact.

In the West, interest in the study of childhood (we are talking about the period from approximately 7 years to adolescence) arose only after the end of the industrial revolution in the 19th century. However, long before this, early childhood was considered as a separate period of the life cycle. At the moment when changes began to occur in the economic organization of society caused by the industrial revolution (such as migration of people from rural areas to the cities), a favorable period has arrived for the study of childhood. The Industrial Revolution meant that factory workers needed basic literacy and numeracy skills that could only be acquired through general education. primary education. Thus, research into the child's psyche received a powerful impetus, since it was they who could make education more effective. There is no doubt that others social factors(such as increased prosperity, improved hygiene, and increased control over childhood diseases) also contributed to a shift in focus towards childhood.

Adolescence, as a separate stage between childhood and adulthood, has also been identified and described in a system of biological, historical and cultural changes. The distinctive biological characteristics of adolescence provided visible landmarks to distinguish this phase of the life cycle. However, it became an object of research in developmental psychology only in the 20th century, when Western society reached a level of well-being that made it possible to remove economic responsibility from the adolescent. This made it possible to delay the entry of adolescents into working life and at the same time increase the time required to obtain an education.

In modern developmental psychology, we will extend historical analysis not only to Childhood as a socio-psychological phenomenon of society, but also to Youth, Maturity, and Old Age. However, until recently, these ages were outside the sphere of current interests of developmental psychology (age psychology), since Maturity was considered as the age of “psychological fossilization”, and Old Age - as the age of total extinction. Thus, developing physically and socially, an adult person was, as it were, excluded from the development process in its socio-psychological meaning and from the history of the development of the specific person himself as a really active subject, the development of his consciousness, self-awareness, and other personal qualities.

Development in adulthood—the life course—has only recently become the focus of research. Social and medical achievements, which have made it possible to live to a very old age and to live long enough after the end of active work, have drawn attention to the problems and real opportunities of older people. Therefore, the question arose about the psychology of aging, also addressed to developmental psychology.

The actualization of the interest of developmental psychology in the study of the periods of Maturity and Old Age is associated with the humanization of society and the beginning of the revival and active development of acmeology (declared in the works of B.G. Ananyev) as a science about the period of maximum flowering of personal growth, the highest moment of manifestation of spiritual forces. These trends and scientific approaches have significantly changed the modern situation of understanding the Adult, opening up a new space for a person, emphasizing the importance of studying the main points of his creative self-development. As D.I. points out. Feldstein, these important and promising directions should in the future reveal the problem of the Adult in development and the problem of his development, which is only possible if all stages of ontogenesis are considered in unity, and old age, including extreme old age, is studied as a moment individual path. In knowing an adult and understanding his personal characteristics, taking into account the historical situation becomes important. Modern man has not only acquired new possibilities of choice, a new level of self-awareness (the existing studies of individuals from antiquity - A.F. Losev, the Middle Ages - Ya.A. Gurevich, etc., indicate a complex way for a person to acquire personality), but the tasks that have now arisen turn of the millennium, demand from him further development in terms of developing relationships, deepening self-determination, “general maturation.” And constantly growing opportunities (determined by the achievements of science, technology, medicine, information technology, etc.) determine a new situation for the development of an adult, expanding the boundaries of his life. And in this regard, the problem of old age, the problem of an elderly person, acquires special significance.

Among the individual branches of developmental psychology, gerontology is the “youngest” area of ​​research. It is now that old ideas about old age are being broken. Its two aspects are increasingly differentiated - physical and psychological. Old age is a natural stage in human development, and the possibilities of extending human life, including through the internal self-development of the individual himself and the development of his psychological resistance against aging, are becoming more and more obvious.

So, at each point in the life cycle there are both biological and cultural aspects of development. Biological processes facilitate development and provide natural “marking” of individual stages. They acquire significance as premises of social history and provide a stimulus for a deeper understanding of the life cycle. Society influences a person’s development throughout his life. It sets a frame of reference against which individual stages or periods of life can be identified and studied.

The tasks of developmental psychology are broad and multifaceted. Currently, this branch of psychology has acquired the status of a scientific and practical discipline, and therefore, among its tasks, theoretical and practical tasks should be highlighted. Theoretical tasks of developmental psychology include the study of the basic psychological criteria and characteristics of Childhood, Youth, Adulthood (Maturity), Old Age as social phenomena and successive states of society, the study of the age-related dynamics of mental processes and personal development depending on cultural-historical, ethnic and social -economic conditions, various types of education and training, research into differential psychological differences (sexually mature and typological properties of a person), research into the process of growing up in its entirety and diverse manifestations.

The scientific and practical tasks facing developmental psychology include the creation of a methodological basis for monitoring the progress, usefulness of content and conditions of mental development at different stages of ontogenesis, the organization of optimal forms of activity and communication in childhood and adolescence, as well as the organization psychological assistance during periods of age-related crises, in adulthood and old age.

L. Montada suggests identifying 6 main tasks related to the scope of application of developmental psychology in practice.

1. Orientation in life's path. This task involves answering the question “what do we have?”, i.e. determining the level of development. The sequence of age-related changes in the form of a description of quantitative developmental functions or qualitative stages of development is a classic issue in developmental psychology. On this basis, statistical age-specific development norms are built, thanks to which it is possible to give a general assessment of the progress of development both in individual cases and in relation to various educational and educational issues. So, for example, knowing what tasks 7-year-old children solve independently, one can determine whether a particular child is below, above, or on par with the norm. At the same time, it is possible to determine whether the educational and educational requirements correspond to this standard of independence.
2. Determining the conditions of development and change. This task involves answering the question “how did this arise?”, i.e. what are the causes and conditions that led to this level of development. Explanatory models of developmental psychology are focused primarily on the analysis of the ontogenesis of personality traits and its disorders, taking into account attitudes, the development environment, interaction with educators, special events, and also, as an ideal case, the interaction of all these variables. At the same time, psychologists are interested not so much in the short-term as in the long-term influence of development factors. The cumulative nature of the influence of development factors and the discrete nature of cause-and-effect relationships are also taken into account. Knowledge of the conditions makes it possible to delay developmental disturbances (prevention) and make appropriate decisions to optimize the course of development. Of particular importance for obtaining the required effect is determining the correspondence of development conditions and possible intervention options to the current level of development of the individual and his personal properties.
3. Prediction of stability and variability of personality properties. This task involves answering the question “what will happen if..?”, i.e. forecast not only of the course of development, but also of the intervention measures taken. Many activities in the practice of educational and educational work - explicitly or implicitly - involve a forecast of further development. For example, the right to care for a child after the parents’ divorce is retained by the mother only if it is considered that this will be best for the further development of the child. To make such predictions, knowledge is needed about the stability or instability of the properties and conditions of development of both the individual himself and the individual in the group. Due to the numerous factors involved, such psychological forecasts are often erroneous.
4. Explanation of development and correction goals. This task involves answering the question “what should be?”, i.e. determines what is possible, real, and what should be excluded. As an empirical science, developmental psychology, unlike pedagogy, is neutral in relation to social order, public and personal opinion. Therefore, she is able and obliged to resist them if this contradicts established facts and laws. At the same time, it performs the function of justifying certain proposals and projects if they are consistent with its knowledge. And finally, she initiates the correction of already made decisions if research shows them to be unfounded. A falsely established norm of development leads to significant distortions in the practice of educational work.
5. Planning of corrective measures. This task involves answering the question “how can goals be achieved?”, i.e. what needs to be done to get the expected effect from the intervention. So, corrective measures are needed only if the set development goals have not been achieved, if the development tasks have not been mastered, or if there is a fact that the development conditions lead to an undesirable course. Here it is necessary to distinguish: 1) the goals of the development of the individual himself; 2) the development potential of the individual himself; 3) social requirements for development; 4) development opportunities. Accordingly, corrective measures should be differentiated according to their purpose. Often there is a discrepancy between these goals, which should be the object of correction. The purpose of planned correction may be the prevention of developmental disorders, correction of development, or optimization of developmental processes. In any case, informed decisions must be made about when an intervention is likely to be successful, where it should be applied, and which method should be selected.
6. Assessment of developmental correction. This task involves answering the question “what did this lead to?”, i.e. what did the corrective measures achieve? Modern developmental psychology refrains from hastily assessing the effectiveness of certain correctional interventions. She believes that a true assessment can only be obtained through long-term observation of an individual, during which both positive effects and side effects must be established. It is also believed that the assessment of effectiveness is largely determined by the scientific paradigm that the psychologist adheres to.

Current problems of the science being studied

The modern nature of the requirements of social practice for developmental psychology determines its rapprochement not only with pedagogy, but also with medicine and engineering psychology, as well as with other related branches of science that study humans.

The emergence of a new issue at the intersection of age and engineering psychology and labor psychology is due to the need to take into account the age factor when constructing effective training regimes for operators and when teaching professional skills in highly automated production conditions, when assessing the reliability of work and the adaptive capabilities of a person under overload conditions. Very little research has been carried out in this direction.

The convergence of medical sciences and developmental psychology occurs on the basis of the increasing requirements of clinical diagnostics for the purpose of more accurate prevention, treatment and labor examination, using deep and comprehensive knowledge about the conditions and capabilities of a person at different periods of his life. Close connection with the clinic, medicine, including geriatrics, contributes to an in-depth development of the main problems of developmental psychology, such as the potential of human development in various age periods, the determination of age-related norms of mental functions.

One of the pressing problems is to expand knowledge on the age-related characteristics of the psychophysiological functions of adults through their micro-age analysis during the period of growth and involution. Carrying out research in this regard on schoolchildren of different ages made it possible to show the effect of complex patterns of age-related variability of some psychophysiological functions at different levels of their organization and to give their theoretical description.

The formation of a person as a person, as a subject of knowledge, social behavior and practical activity is in one way or another connected with age limits, which mediate the process of social influence on a person, the social regulation of his status and behavior in society.

The specificity of the age factor lies not only in the fact that it manifests itself differently in certain periods of the life cycle. Its study is complicated by the fact that it acts in unity with individual characteristics, which are important to take into account when developing age standards.

The problem of age standardization includes not only consideration of average standards, but also the question of individual variability of psychological characteristics. In addition, individual differences act as an independent problem in the structure of developmental psychology. Consideration of age and individual characteristics in their unity creates new opportunities for studying learning ability, for determining the genesis and degree of maturity of psychological functions.

The next cycle of problems in developmental psychology is related to the phenomenon of accelerating the development process. Acceleration during the period of growth and maturation of the body and retardation of aging, pushing back the boundaries of gerontogenesis in modern society under the influence of a whole complex of socio-economic, sanitary-hygienic and biotic factors influence the construction of an age regulation system. At the same time, the issues of acceleration and retardation remain poorly studied precisely due to the fact that the age-related criteria of mental development themselves, in their diversity, turn out to be insufficiently developed.

For further research of one of the main problems of developmental psychology - the classification of periods of life - the structural-genetic approach to human ontogenetic development is of paramount importance.

Based on knowledge of the basic characteristics of the human life cycle, its internal patterns and mechanisms, a synthetic problem about the hidden capabilities and reserves of mental development itself can be developed.

The main problems of developmental psychology include the study of developmental factors, since it is carried out in the interaction of a person with the outside world, in the process of communication, practical and theoretical activity. The determinants and conditions of human development include socio-economic, political and legal, ideological, pedagogical, as well as biotic and abiotic factors.

Thus, a certain hierarchy of topical problems of a more general and specific nature is outlined, the solution of which is subordinated to the main goal - further development of the theory of individual development and expansion of application capabilities scientific knowledge in developmental psychology to solving problems of social and industrial practice, since now scientific research into the patterns of mental development is becoming a necessary condition further improvement of all forms of upbringing and education not only of the younger generation, but also of adults.

Principles and methods of developmental and developmental psychology

Principle - (from Latin Principium - beginning, basis) - the basic starting position of any theory, teaching, science, worldview.

In psychology, there are several methodological principles that have a great influence on the problems it solves and on the ways of studying the spiritual life of people. The most important of them are the principles of determinism, consistency and development. The principle of development is the leading one for that area of ​​psychological science that describes the genesis of the psyche. However, before turning to the analysis of the role and influence of the principle of development, it is necessary to briefly dwell on the description of two other methodological principles and their place in psychology.

The principle of determinism implies that all mental phenomena are connected according to the law of cause-and-effect relationships, i.e. everything that happens in our soul has some reason that can be identified and studied and which explains why this particular consequence arose and not another. In psychology, there were several approaches to explaining the emerging connections.

Back in antiquity, scientists first started talking about determinism, about the existence of a universal law, the Logos, which determines what should happen to man, to nature as a whole. Democritus, who developed a detailed concept of determinism, wrote that people invented the idea of ​​chance to cover up ignorance of the matter and inability to manage.

Later, in the 17th century, Descartes introduced the concept of mechanical determinism, arguing that all processes in the psyche can be explained based on the laws of mechanics. This is how the idea of ​​the mechanical nature of human behavior, which obeys the law of reflex, appeared. Mechanical determinism lasted for almost 200 years. Its influence can also be seen in the theoretical positions of the founder of associative psychology, D. Hartley, who believed that associations in both small (psyche) and large (behavior) circles are formed and develop according to Newton’s laws of mechanics. Echoes of mechanical determinism can be found even in the psychology of the early 20th century, for example, in the theory of energeticism, which was recognized by many famous psychologists, as well as in some postulates of behaviorism, for example, in the idea that positive reinforcement strengthens the response, and negative reinforcement weakens it.

But biological determinism, which arose with the advent of the theory of evolution, had an even greater influence on the development of psychology. In this theory, the development of the psyche is determined by the desire for adaptation, i.e. everything that happens in the psyche is aimed at Living being adapted as best as possible to the conditions in which it lives. The same law applied to the human psyche, and almost all psychological movements accepted this type of determinism as an axiom.

The last type of determinism, which can be called psychological, proceeds from the fact that the development of the psyche is explained and directed by a specific goal. However, in contrast to the understanding of purpose in antiquity, when it was considered a given force external to a person, in this case the purpose is inherent in the very content of the soul, the psyche of a particular living being and determines its desire for self-expression and self-realization - in communication, cognition, and creative activity. Psychological determinism also proceeds from the fact that the environment is not just a condition, a human habitat, but a culture that carries the most important knowledge and experiences that largely change the process of personality formation. Thus, culture is considered one of the most significant factors influencing the development of the psyche, helping to understand oneself as a bearer of unique spiritual values ​​and qualities, as well as as a member of society. Psychological determinism, in addition, assumes that the processes occurring in the soul can be aimed not only at adapting to the environment, but also at resisting it - in the event that the environment interferes with the disclosure of the potential abilities of a given person.

The principle of systematicity describes and explains the main types of connections between different aspects of the psyche, spheres of the psyche. He assumes that individual mental phenomena are internally interconnected, forming an integrity and thereby acquiring new properties. However, as in the study of determinism, the study by psychologists of these connections and their properties has a long history.

The first researchers of the connections that exist between mental phenomena considered the psyche as a sensory mosaic, which consists of several elements - sensations, ideas and feelings. According to certain laws, primarily according to the laws of associations, these elements are connected with each other. This type of connection was called elementarism.

The functional approach, in which the psyche was represented as a set of individual functions aimed at the implementation of various mental acts and processes (vision, learning, etc.), appeared, just like biological determinism, in connection with the theory of evolution. Biological studies have shown that there is a connection between morphology and function, including mental function. Thus it was proven that mental processes(memory, perception, etc.) and acts of behavior can be presented as functional blocks. Depending on the type of determination, these blocks act according to the laws of mechanics (as individual parts of a complex machine) or according to the laws of biological adaptation, linking the organism and the environment into a single whole. However, this principle did not explain how, when a certain function is defective, it is compensated, i.e. how deficiencies in the work of some departments can be compensated for by the normal work of others (for example, poor hearing - the development of tactile or vibration sensations).

This is precisely what explains the principle of systematicity, which represents the psyche as a complex system, the individual blocks (functions) of which are interconnected. Thus, the systemic nature of the psyche presupposes its activity, since only in this case is both self-regulation and compensation inherent in the psyche possible even at the lowest levels of mental development. Systematic understanding of the psyche does not contradict the awareness of its integrity, the idea of ​​“holism,” since each mental system (primarily, of course, the human psyche) is unique and integral.

Let us finally move on to the principle of development, which states that the psyche is constantly changing and developing, therefore the most adequate way to study it is to study the patterns of this genesis, its types and stages. It is not without reason that one of the most common psychological methods is genetic.

It was already mentioned above that the idea of ​​development came to psychology with the theory of evolution, which proves that the psyche changes along with the environment and serves to adapt the body to it. The English psychologist G. Spencer was the first to identify the stages of mental development. He studied the genesis of the psyche, based on the fact that the human psyche is the highest stage of development, which did not appear immediately, but gradually, in the process of complicating the living conditions and activities of living beings. The initial form of mental life, sensation, developed from irritability, and then, from the simplest sensations, diverse forms of the psyche emerged, representing interconnected levels of the development of consciousness and behavior. All of them are unique tools for the survival of the organism, particular forms of adaptation to the environment.

These include:

• consciousness - behavior,

• sensation is a reflex

• feelings are instinct

• memory is a skill

• reason - volitional behavior.

Speaking about the role of each stage, Spencer emphasized the main importance of the mind: it is devoid of those limitations that are inherent in the lower forms of the psyche, and therefore ensures the most adequate adaptation of the individual to the environment. This idea about the connection of the psyche, mainly the intellect, with adaptation became leading for developmental psychology in the first half of the 20th century.

The principle of development says that there are two ways of development of the psyche - phylogenetic and ontogenetic, i.e. development of the psyche in the process of formation of the human race and in the life of a child. Research has shown that these two types of development have a certain correspondence with each other.

As the American psychologist S. Hall suggested, this similarity is due to the fact that the stages of mental development are fixed in nerve cells and are inherited by the child, and therefore no changes in either the pace of development or the sequence of stages are possible. The theory that established this strict connection between phylo and ontogenesis was called the theory of recapitulation, i.e. a brief repetition in ontogenesis of the main stages of phylogenetic development.

Subsequent work proved that such a strict connection does not exist and development can accelerate or slow down depending on the social situation, and some stages may disappear altogether. Thus, the process of mental development is nonlinear and depends on the social environment, the environment and upbringing of the child. At the same time, it is impossible to ignore the similarities found when comparative analysis processes of cognitive development, formation of self-esteem, self-awareness, etc. in young children and primitive peoples.

Therefore, many psychologists (E. Claparède, P.P. Blonsky, etc.) who studied the genesis of the psyche of children came to the conclusion of a logical correspondence, which can be explained by the fact that the logic of the formation of the psyche, its self-development, is the same during the development of the human race and the development of an individual person.

The most important principle of developmental psychology is the principle of historicism, which makes it necessary, in revealing the psychological content of the stages of ontogenesis, to study the connection between the history of childhood and other stages of development with the history of society. The historical principle of developmental psychology also manifests itself in the fact that the chronological framework and characteristics of each age are not static - they are determined by the action of socio-historical factors, the social order of society.

The principle of objectivity. No matter how fair and impartial we try to be, our personal and cultural attitudes can create serious barriers to a proper understanding of human behavior. Whenever we evaluate what people are capable - or not capable of - when we try to predict appropriate behavior - in short, when we judge the behavior of other people, we bring into our conclusions the values ​​and norms that we have formed on the basis of our personal experience and socialization in a particular culture. It is difficult for us to give up our subjective judgments and look at others based on their norms, values ​​and living conditions.

If we try to explain human behavior and development without having the slightest idea of ​​such cultural variations, we will be led into serious confusion and our conclusions will be erroneous.

Unfortunately, complete objectivity can never be achieved. Researchers living in different times, belonging to different cultures, or holding different philosophical views describe human behavior differently. Therefore, it is important for them to identify their own shortcomings and biases and plan the study in such a way that they can detect errors in their constructions.

The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity states that consciousness and activity are in continuous unity. Consciousness forms the internal plan of human activity. If we take the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity as a basis, then we can trace the development of a number of branches of psychology that study specific types of human activity.

The genetic principle in developmental psychology was introduced by L.S. Vygotsky. Pedagogy continually turned to developmental psychology with questions about what the development process is and what its basic laws are. Attempts to explain this process made by developmental psychology have always been conditioned by the general level psychological knowledge. At first, developmental psychology was a descriptive science, not yet capable of revealing the internal laws of development. Gradually, psychology, as well as medicine, moved from symptoms to syndromes, and then to a true causal explanation of the process. Changes in ideas about the mental development of a child have always been associated with the development of new research methods. “The problem of method is the beginning and basis, the alpha and omega of the entire history of the child’s cultural development,” wrote L.S. Vygotsky. And further: “... Really rely on the method, understand its relationship to other methods, establish its strengths and weak sides“, to understand its fundamental justification and to develop the right attitude towards it means, to a certain extent, to develop a correct and scientific approach to all further presentation of the most important problems of developmental psychology in the aspect of cultural development,” It is important to emphasize that we are talking specifically about the method, because a specific methodology , according to L.S. Vygotsky, can take various forms depending on the content of the particular problem, the nature of the research, and the personality of the subject.

In recent decades, developmental psychology has changed both in its content and in its interdisciplinary connections. On the one hand, it influences other scientific disciplines, and on the other, it itself is influenced by them, assimilating everything that expands its subject content.

Biology, genetics, developmental physiology. These disciplines are important primarily for understanding prenatal development, as well as for subsequent stages of ontogenesis from the point of view of its early foundations. They play a significant role in the analysis of the adaptive capabilities of newborns, as well as general physical and motor (motor) development, especially in its relation to subsequent changes in behavior and experience. Of particular interest here is the development of the central nervous system, sensory organs and endocrine glands. In addition, the discoveries of biology are of particular importance for understanding the “subject - environment” problem, i.e. explanations of similarities and differences in the development of different individuals.

Ethology. The importance of ethology, or the comparative study of behavior, has increased significantly in recent years. It shows the biological roots of behavior, providing information about the interaction between the environment and the individual (for example, the study of imprinting). No less valuable is the methodological ability to conduct observations and experiments on animals, and especially in cases where their conduct on humans is prohibited for ethical reasons. The transferability of findings obtained in animals to humans is extremely important for understanding human development.

Cultural anthropology and ethnology. The subject of study of cultural anthropology and ethnology is supracultural universals and intercultural differences in behavior and experience. These disciplines make it possible, on the one hand, to test the patterns identified in the American-European cultural environment in other cultures (for example, East Asian) and, on the other hand, thanks to the expansion of the cultural environment, to identify intercultural differences that determine the different course of development processes. In recent years, the study of children's folklore (subculture) has become especially important.

Sociology and social disciplines. These sciences acquire their significance for developmental psychology both through certain theoretical premises (role theory, socialization theory, theories of the formation of attitudes and norms, etc.) and through the analysis of processes social interaction in the family, school, group of same-year-olds, as well as through research into the socio-economic conditions of development.

Psychological disciplines. The sciences of the psychological cycle are most closely related to developmental psychology. The sciences united under the name “General Psychology” allow us to better understand the mental processes of motivation, emotions, cognition, learning, etc. Educational psychology links developmental psychology to pedagogical practice, the processes of teaching and upbringing. Clinical (medical) psychology helps to understand the development of children with disorders of various aspects of the psyche and merges with developmental psychology along the lines of child psychotherapy, psychoprophylaxis, and mental hygiene. Psychodiagnostics goes hand in hand with developmental psychology in the field of adaptation and application of diagnostic techniques in the comparative analysis of intellectual, personal, etc. development and to determine age norms of development. It is possible to discover connections between developmental psychology and the psychology of creativity and heuristic processes (along the lines of gifted and developmentally advanced children); psychology of individual differences, etc. In recent years, the volume of interaction between developmental psychology and pathopsychology (oligophrenopsychology, childhood neuroses) and defectology (work with hearing-impaired and visually impaired children, children with mental retardation, etc.) has been increasing.

One can find the merging of developmental psychology with psychogenetics, psycholinguistics, psychosemiotics, ethnopsychology, demography, philosophy, etc. Almost all progressive and interesting work in developmental psychology, as a rule, is carried out at the intersection of disciplines.

Over the long period of its existence, developmental psychology has assimilated general psychological methods of observation and experiment, applying them to the study of human development at different age levels.

Observation, as we already know, is the deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of a person’s external behavior for the purpose of its subsequent analysis and explanation. In developmental psychology, this is one of the first and most accessible methods, especially necessary when studying children in the early stages of development, when it is impossible to take a verbal report from the subjects and carrying out any experimental procedure is difficult. And although observation seems to be a simple method, if properly organized, it makes it possible to collect facts about natural human behavior. When observing, a person does not know that someone is watching him and behaves naturally, which is why observation provides vitally true facts. By recording the behavior of a preschooler in play, in communication, a schoolchild - in class, a teenager - among peers, an adult - in the professional sphere, etc., the psychologist receives data about the person as an integral personality and, consequently, intelligence, memory, emotions, personal features are not perceived in isolation, but in connection with actions, statements, and deeds. Observations allow us to systematically analyze the psyche of a developing person.

The limitations of using the observation method are due to several reasons. Firstly, the naturalness and unity of social, physical, physiological and mental processes in human behavior make it difficult to understand each of them separately and prevents the identification of the main, essential. Secondly, observation limits the intervention of the researcher and does not allow him to establish the child’s ability to do something better, faster, more successfully than he did. In observation, the psychologist himself should not cause the phenomenon he wants to study. Thirdly, during observation it is impossible to ensure the repetition of the same fact without changes. Fourthly, observation allows only to record, but not to form mental manifestations. In child psychology, the matter is further complicated by the fact that the psychologist has to record observation data in writing, since cameras, tape recorders, and any equipment affect the naturalness of the child’s behavior, so analysis and generalization of the data is difficult (which is why a separate issue arises of the need to develop and use hidden equipment like the famous Gesell mirror). Here, a serious drawback of the observation method is most clearly revealed - difficult to overcome subjectivity. Since in psychology observation itself is studied, it has been found that it largely depends on the personality of the observer, his individual psychological characteristics, attitudes and attitude towards the observed, as well as on his observation and attentiveness. To make observation results more reliable and stable, it is necessary to use not one, but several researchers to observe the same fact, which reduces the efficiency of the method. Finally, fifthly, observation can never be a single fact; it must be carried out systematically, with repeatability and a large sample of subjects.

Therefore, there are longitudinal (longitudinal) observations that allow observations of one (or several) subjects long time(in this sense, A. Gesell’s observations of 165 children over 12 years are unprecedented). The diary entries of parents, recording the day-by-day development of one child, are of similar value, and historical diaries, memoirs and fiction allow us to better understand the attitude towards children of different ages at different historical stages.

A type of observation is self-observation in the form of a verbal report of what a person sees, feels, experiences, and does - it is best applied only to subjects who are already able to analyze their inner world, understand their experiences, and evaluate their actions. Another observation option is psychological analysis of activity products, which is successfully used at all age levels. In this case, it is not the process of activity that is studied, but its result (children’s drawings and crafts, diaries and poems of teenagers, manuscripts, designs, works of art by adults, etc.). Psychologists often use the method of generalizing independent characteristics obtained by observing an individual in various activities.

Most often, observation is an integral part of experimental psychological research. In particular, this can be done in the form of a biographical method. As an independent method, observation is not of particular value, with the exception of rare cases of its use in relation to infants and non-speaking young children.

For more than 100 years, experimental methods have been used in psychology, involving the active intervention of the researcher in the activity of the subject in order to create conditions in which the desired psychological fact is revealed. Let me remind you that the first experimental methods were developed specifically for children.

Experiment differs from observation in 4 features:

1. in an experiment, the researcher himself causes the phenomenon he is studying, and the observer cannot actively intervene in the observed situations;
2. the experimenter can vary, change the conditions for the occurrence and manifestation of the process being studied;
3. in an experiment, it is possible to alternately exclude individual conditions (variables) in order to establish natural connections that determine the process being studied;
4. The experiment also allows you to vary the quantitative ratio of conditions and allows mathematical processing of the data obtained in the study.

Both are successfully used in developmental psychology. traditional type experiments - natural and laboratory, and most development studies include a ascertaining and formative form of experiment. In the ascertaining experiment, certain psychological characteristics and levels of development of the corresponding mental quality or property are revealed. Nevertheless, the formative experiment (which can have a teaching or educational character) acquires greater importance in developmental psychology. A formative experiment involves targeted influence on the subject in order to create and develop certain qualities and skills. In fact, this is a developmental method in the conditions of a specially created experimental pedagogical process. In a certain sense, similar problems are solved in trainings that are adapted or specially developed for children of different ages (for example, personal growth training for teenagers, communication training for schoolchildren, psycho-gymnastics for preschoolers, etc.), and correctional systems.

Varieties of objective experimental methods of psychology include the twin method, sociometry, analysis of performance results, modeling, questioning and testing (for the purpose of diagnosis or prognosis).

Most of the methods listed are research. They allow us to obtain something new as a result (facts, patterns, mechanisms of mental processes). But sometimes in psychology it is necessary to compare some parameters of personality, human activity with some existing standards, norms, i.e. the purpose of the test is pursued. Then we are talking about diagnostics, in which testing is widely used - a short, standardized, usually time-limited test, designed to establish individual differences in the values ​​being compared.

The advantages of the experimental method are undoubted. It allows the psychologist:

1. do not wait for the feature under study to manifest itself in the activity of the subject, but create the conditions for its maximum manifestation;
2. repeat the experiment the required number of times (for this there are different forms of the same test, for example, several forms of 16-PF Cattell, forms A-B-C of Eysenck, etc.);
3. the identified feature can be measured in different children under the same conditions and in one child in different conditions, which increases the reliability of the data obtained;
4. the experiment is more convenient in terms of standardization of the obtained materials and their quantitative calculation.

However, the experiment also has a number of disadvantages:

1. any experiment is always limited to a certain set of actions, tasks, answers and therefore never gives rise to broad generalizations in terms of a holistic idea of ​​a developing person;
2. An experiment is always just a snapshot of the child’s activity and personality at a given specific moment, so it requires mandatory repetition.

In addition to principles, the formation of developmental psychology was influenced by the formation of its categorical system, i.e. those constant problems (invariant) that constitute its subject and content.

Currently, there are several main categories of psychological science: motive, image, activity, personality, communication, experience. It must be emphasized that these categories are common to all areas of psychology, including developmental psychology. Naturally, in different areas and different schools these categories had different meanings, but they were always, one way or another, present in psychological concepts.

Developmental psychology studies, first of all, the genesis and dynamics of the formation of an image, motive, and activity in children and among different peoples. Thus, various aspects of mental development are highlighted - the development of personality, intelligence, social development, which have their own stages and patterns, which have become the subject of research by many famous psychologists - V. Stern, J. Piaget, L.S. Vygotsky, P.P. Blonsky and others.

One of the first in psychology to appear was the category of image, which became leading in the study of cognition. Even in antiquity, scientists studied how a person’s image of the world is formed; Subsequently, the focus of psychologists' attention was on self-image, its content and structure. If in the first psychological theories self-image was considered primarily as one of the areas of consciousness, then in modern science “Self-Image” has become one of the leading concepts of personality psychology.

The image of an object was considered by many scientists as a signal on the basis of which a reflex and human behavior arises and begins to function. Studying the process of forming ideas about the surrounding reality, I.M. Sechenov came to the conclusion that image is closely related to movement and regulates human activity. He argued that mental development occurs through internalization - transition external images and actions into internal ones, which, gradually collapsing and automating, form the mental qualities of a person. Thus, thought is the internalization of relationships between objects, and self-esteem is the internalization of norms of behavior.

The image as a sensory basis of thought was an unshakable postulate for scientists who considered the psyche as a sensory mosaic consisting of sensations and ideas. The ugly nature of thinking became at the beginning of the 20th century. one of the most important discoveries of the Würzburg school. The image as the basis of perception, which has a holistic and systemic character, has become the leading category in Gestalt psychology.

Considering the genesis of Gestalts, scientists came to the conclusion that the elements of the field are combined into a structure depending on such relationships as proximity, similarity, closedness, and symmetry. There are a number of other factors on which the perfection and stability of a figure or structural association depend - rhythm in the construction of rows, commonality of light and color, etc. The action of all these factors is subject to a basic law, called by Wertheimer the law of pregnancy (the law of “good” form), which is interpreted as a desire (even at the level of electrochemical processes of the cerebral cortex) towards simple and clear forms, uncomplicated and stable states.

Studying the process of development of images, scientists noticed that the basic properties of perception: constancy, correctness, meaningfulness appear gradually, with the maturation of gestalts. These data led Gestalt psychologists to the conclusion that the leading mental process, which actually determines the level of development of the child’s psyche, is perception. Scientists have proven that his behavior and understanding of the situation depend on how a child perceives the world.

Studies of perceptual development in children, which were carried out in Koffka's laboratory, showed that the child is born with a set of vague and not very adequate images of the external world. Gradually these images are differentiated and become more and more accurate. Thus, at birth, children have a vague image of a person, the gestalt of which includes his voice, face, hair, and characteristic movements. Therefore, a small child (one to two months old) may not recognize even a close adult if he suddenly changes his hairstyle or replaces his usual clothes with completely unfamiliar ones. However, by the end of the first half of the year, this vague image is fragmented, turning into a series of clear images: the image of a face, in which the eyes, mouth, and hair stand out as separate gestalts; images of voice, body, etc.

Koffka's research has shown that color perception also develops. At first, children perceive their surroundings only as colored or uncolored, without distinguishing colors. In this case, the uncolored is perceived as a background, and the painted - as a figure. Gradually, what is colored is divided into warm and cold, and in the environment, children already distinguish several sets of “figure - background”. This is uncolored-colored warm, uncolored-colored cold, which are perceived as several different images. For example: colored cold (background) - colored warm (figure) or colored warm (background) - colored cold (figure). Thus, the formerly single gestalt turns into four, which more accurately reflect color. Over time, these images also become fragmented, as several colors stand out in the warm and cold. This process occurs over a long period of time until, finally, the child begins to correctly perceive all colors. Based on these experimental data, Koffka came to the conclusion that the combination of figure and background against which a given object is demonstrated plays an important role in the development of perception.

He argued that the development of color vision is based on contrast in the perception of the figure-ground combination and formulated one of the laws of perception, which was called transduction. This law stated that children do not perceive colors themselves, but their relationships. Thus, in Koffka’s experiment, children were asked to find a piece of candy that was in one of two cups covered with colored cardboard. The candy always lay in a cup, which was covered with a dark gray cardboard, while there was never any candy under the black one. In the control experiment, children had to choose not between a black and a dark gray lid, as they were used to, but between a dark gray and a light gray one. If they perceived pure color, they would have chosen the usual dark gray lid, but the children chose light gray, since they were not guided by the pure color, but by the relationship of colors, choosing a lighter shade. A similar experiment was carried out with animals (chickens), which also perceived only combinations of colors, and not the color itself.

Another representative of this school, G. Volkelt, studied the development of images in children. He paid special attention to the study of children's drawings. Of great interest are his experiments on studying the drawing of geometric shapes by children of different ages. Thus, four- to five-year-old children depicted a cone as a circle and a triangle located next to each other. Volkelt explained this by the fact that they do not yet have an image adequate to this figure, and therefore in the drawing they use two similar gestalts. Over time, integration and clarification of gestalts occurs, thanks to which children begin to draw not only planar, but also three-dimensional figures. Volkelt also conducted a comparative analysis of the drawings of those objects that the children saw and those that they did not see, but only felt. It turned out that when children felt, for example, a cactus covered with a scarf, they drew only the spines, conveying their general feeling of the object, and not its shape. What happened, as Gestalt psychologists proved, was the grasping of a holistic image of an object, its “good” form, and then “enlightenment” and differentiation. These studies by Gestalt psychologists were of great importance for domestic research work visual perception and led psychologists of this school (A.V. Zaporozhets, L.A. Wenger) to the idea that there are certain images - sensory standards that underlie the perception and recognition of objects.

The same transition from grasping the general situation to its differentiation occurs in intellectual development, argued W. Koehler. Explaining the phenomenon of insight, he showed that at the moment when phenomena are viewed from a different angle, they acquire a new function. The combination of objects in new combinations associated with their new functions leads to the formation of a new gestalt, the awareness of which is the essence of thinking. Köhler called this process “gestalt restructuring” and believed that such restructuring occurs instantly and does not depend on the past experience of the subject, but only on the way objects are arranged in the field. It is this “restructuring” that occurs at the moment of insight.

Proving the universality of the problem-solving mechanism he discovered, Köhler conducted a series of experiments to study the thinking process in children. He created problematic situations for children; for example, they were asked to get a typewriter that stood high on the cabinet. To do this, it was necessary to use different objects - a ladder, a box or a chair. It turned out that if there was a staircase in the room, the children quickly solved the proposed problem. It was more difficult to figure out how to use a box, but the greatest difficulty was caused by the option when there were no other objects in the room except a chair, which had to be moved away from the table and used as a stand. Köhler explained these results by the fact that the ladder is recognized from the very beginning functionally as an object that helps to reach something located high. Therefore, its inclusion in the gestalt with the closet does not present any difficulty for the child. The inclusion of the box already needs some rearrangement, since it can be realized in several functions. As for the chair, the child is aware of it not on its own, but already included in another gestalt - with the table, with which it appears to the child as a single whole. Therefore, to solve this problem, children must first break the previously integral image (table - chair) into two, and then combine the chair with the cabinet into a new image, realizing its new functional role. That's why this option is the most difficult to solve.

These experiments, proving the universality of insight, revealed, from Köhler’s point of view, the general direction of mental development and the role of learning in this process. Proving the main position of this school that mental development is associated with an increase in the number of gestalts and their differentiation, i.e. with the transition from grasping the general situation to its differentiation and the formation of a new, more adequate gestalt to the situation, he revealed the conditions contributing to this transition. Such development, Köhler believed, occurs both suddenly and in the process of learning, which also leads to the formation of a new structure and, consequently, to a different perception and awareness of the situation. Under certain conditions, learning can contribute to the development of thinking, and this is not associated with organizing the child’s search activity like trial and error, but with the creation of conditions conducive to insight. Thus, Köhler’s experiments proved the instantaneous, rather than extended in time, nature of thinking, which is based on insight. Somewhat later, K. Bühler, who came to a similar conclusion, called this phenomenon the “aha experience,” emphasizing its suddenness and instantaneousness. Wertheimer, who studied the process, came to similar conclusions about the role of insight in restructuring previous images when solving problems. creative thinking in children and adults.

Work on the genesis of perception and thinking in Gestalt psychology demonstrated the relationship between sensory and mental images. The study of this connection, as well as the combination of mental image and word, has been and remains one of the most important tasks of psychology. Suffice it to say that such great scientists as A.A. Potebnya, L.S. Vygotsky, J. Piaget, D. Bruner and others devoted their most significant works to the study of this particular problem.

Both sensory and mental images are included in the content of consciousness, therefore their totality can be considered as a kind of analogue of the philosophical category “consciousness”. However, for psychology, the question of the degree of awareness of images is also significant, since the unconscious and superconscious play no less important role than consciousness.

J. Piaget, speaking about the genesis of images of the surrounding world, came to the conclusion that mental development is associated with interiorization, since the first mental operations - external, sensorimotor - subsequently move into the internal plane, turning into logical, actually mental operations. He also described the main property of these operations - their reversibility. Describing the concept of reversibility, Piaget cited as an example arithmetic operations - addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, which can be read both from left to right and from right to left.

The study of the process of development of images led D. Bruner to the conclusion that perception is selective and can be distorted under the influence of internal motives, goals, attitudes or defense mechanisms. Thus, the more value children attribute to certain objects, the greater their physical size appears. He also showed that in a situation of frustration, even neutral words are often perceived by children as alarming and threatening, hence their inappropriately aggressive behavior in such cases. Based on these studies, Bruner coined the term social perception, emphasizing the dependence of perception on children's social experiences.

Analyzing the structure of perception, Bruner identified three components in it: ideas about the world around us in the form of actions, in the form of images and in the form of words (linguistic form). From the standpoint of the theory of perceptual hypotheses he created, all cognitive processes are processes of categorization, i.e. objects of the surrounding world are combined with each other on the basis of the rules of association (categories) learned by children. When combining, hypotheses consistently arise about what qualities serve as the basis for combining these items and whether all these items have these qualities. Thus, mastery of conceptual thinking occurs as we learn which properties of the environment are most significant for grouping objects into certain classes.

Another problem that is very significant for developmental psychology is the study of the genesis of activity. Speaking about the category of activity, it is necessary to remember that psychology considers both external activity (behavior) and internal, primarily mental, activity. At the first stages of the development of psychology, scientists did not question the position that behavior is the same psychological concept as thinking. However, over time, psychologists, as mentioned above, began to identify the psyche only with consciousness, and took all external manifestations of activity beyond the scope of the mental itself. Per share psychological research All that remained was the study of internal, mental activity, which hampered the development of objective methods for studying the psyche and experimental psychology.

In the middle of the last century, the English psychologist G. Spencer first stated that the subject of psychology is associations between internal and external, i.e. between consciousness and behavior. Thus, not only was the unique position of psychology recorded, but also the status of external activity as a psychological category was legitimized. In modern psychology, there are several schools that consider the category of activity to be leading - this is both behaviorism and domestic psychology, in which the theory of activity occupies a central place. The study of internal and external activities, their relationship and mutual transitions is one of the central problems of developmental psychology.

Experimental study of conditions that promote or hinder the formation of new types of activities, i.e. the formation of connections between stimuli and reactions was the focus of attention of E. Thorndike, who stood at the origins of the behaviorist movement. He invented special “problem boxes”, which were experimental devices of varying degrees of complexity. An animal placed in such a box had to overcome various obstacles and independently find a way out. Experiments were carried out mainly on cats, less often on dogs and lower monkeys. Later, special devices were designed for children. An animal placed in a box could leave it and receive feeding only by activating a special device - by pressing a spring or pulling a loop.

The behavior of the animals was the same. They made many random movements - rushing in different directions, scratching the box, biting it, etc., until one of the movements accidentally turned out to be successful. With subsequent trials, the number of useless movements decreased, the animal needed less and less time to find a way out, until it began to act without error. The progress of the experiments and the results were depicted graphically in the form of curves, where repeated samples were marked on the abscissa axis, and the time spent (in minutes) was marked on the ordinate axis. The resulting curve (Thorndike called it the learning curve) gave grounds to assert that the animal acts by trial and error. This was seen as a general pattern of behavior, which, as Thorndike believed, was confirmed by his experiments on children.

In his further work, Thorndike focused on studying the dependence of learning on factors such as reward and punishment. Based on the materials received, he derived the basic laws of learning:

1. Law of repetition (exercise). Its essence is that the more often the connection between stimulus and response is repeated, the faster it is consolidated and the stronger it is. According to this law, a reaction to a situation is associated with this situation in proportion to the frequency, strength and duration of repetition of connections.
2. The law of effect, which states that of several reactions to the same situation, other things being equal, those that cause a feeling of satisfaction are more strongly associated with the situation. Later, this law was modified, since it turned out that the result of any of his activities is important for the child, i.e. at the end of a learned response there must be reinforcement, no matter positive or negative.
3. The law of readiness, the essence of which is that the formation of new connections depends on the state of the subject.
4. The law of associative shift, which states that if, with the simultaneous appearance of two stimuli, one of them causes a positive reaction, then the other acquires the ability to cause the same reaction. In other words, a neutral stimulus, associated by association with a significant one, also begins to evoke the desired behavior.

Thorndike also identified additional conditions for successful learning - the ease of distinguishing between stimulus and response and the child’s awareness of the connection between them.

The data obtained by Thorndike led him to the conclusion that learning through trial and error occurs in the formation of not only motor acts, but also intellectual ones, i.e. he, like Sechenov, argued that mental processes are internalized external reactions.

The study of the development of complex forms of behavior was in the center of the scientific interests of another representative of the school of behaviorism - B. Skinner. He sought to understand the reasons for behavior and learn how to manage it. Based on the idea that not only skills, but also knowledge are variations in behavior, Skinner introduced its special type - operant behavior. He believed that the human psyche is based on reflexes of various kinds and varying degrees of complexity. Comparing his approach to the formation of reflexes with Pavlov's approach, he emphasized the significant differences between them. He called the conditioned reflex formed in Pavlov's experiments stimulus behavior, since its formation is associated with the association between different stimuli and does not depend on the subject's own activity. So, the dog is always given meat when called, no matter what he is doing at that moment. Thus, an association arises between the meat and the bell, in response to which salivation is observed. However, Skinner emphasized, such a reaction is quickly formed, but also quickly disappears without reinforcement; it cannot be the basis of the subject’s constant behavior.

In contrast to this approach, with operant learning, only the behavior and operations that the subject performs at the moment are reinforced. Of great importance is the fact that a complex reaction is divided into a number of simple ones, following each other and leading to the desired goal. Thus, when teaching a pigeon a complex reaction (exiting a cage by pressing a lever with its beak), Skinner reinforced every movement of the pigeon in the right direction, ensuring that in the end the pigeon performed this complex operation without error. This approach to forming the desired reaction had great advantages compared to the traditional one. First of all, this behavior was much more stable; the ability to do it faded away very slowly even in the absence of reinforcement. Skinner drew attention to the fact that even one-time reinforcement can have a significant effect, since at least a random connection is established between the reaction and the appearance of the stimulus. If the stimulus was significant for the individual, he will try to repeat the response that brought him success. Skinner called this behavior superstitious, pointing out its significant prevalence.

Equally important is the fact that learning with operant conditioning is faster and easier. This is due to the fact that the experimenter has the opportunity to observe not only end result(the product), but also the process of performing the action (after all, it is decomposed into components that are implemented in a given sequence). In fact, there is an exteriorization of not only execution, but also orientation and control of action, and what is especially important is that this approach is possible when teaching not only certain skills, but also knowledge. The programmatic teaching method developed by Skinner made it possible to optimize the educational process and develop corrective programs for underachieving and mentally retarded children. These programs had enormous advantages over traditional teaching programs, as they gave the teacher the opportunity to instantly notice a student’s mistake, monitor and, if necessary, correct the process of solving the problem. In addition, the efficiency and accuracy of execution increased the motivation of learning, the activity of students, and also made it possible to individualize the learning process depending on the pace of knowledge acquisition. However, these programs also had a significant drawback. Exteriorization, which plays a positive role at the beginning of learning, inhibits the development of collapsed mental actions and prevents the teacher from internalizing and collapsing the problem solving scheme deployed by the teacher.

A study of the dynamics of the development of cognitive processes and behavior of children has shown the enormous role of communication in the development of their psyche. The words that man is a social being, that is, cannot exist outside of communication with others, belong to Aristotle. Over time, psychology has received more and more data about the important role of other people in the development of the psyche, in the formation of ideas about oneself and the world. With the development of social psychology, a serious study of mutual communication between adults began, especially those belonging to different nations and cultures; the features of mass communications were studied. Different aspects of communication (communicative, perceptual, interactive) were identified and its structure and dynamics were studied. An analysis of the direction of development of psychology shows that the importance of this category and the share of research devoted to various problems of communication will continue to increase.

In developmental psychology, the huge role of the adult and the “adult-child” relationship has become one of the axioms indicating that in isolation the full mental development of a child is impossible. The role of communication in the process of enculturation of children, their mastery of the norms and rules of behavior accepted in a given social group, attitudes and value orientations that are significant for it is also studied.

D.M. was one of the first to talk about the role of communication in the process of socialization of children. Baldwin, who emphasized that interpersonal communication is the most important factor in the development of the human psyche. Many psychoanalysts, especially E. Erikson, also wrote about the importance of communication and the role of an adult as a translator of cultural norms. He called the process of personal development the process of identity formation, emphasizing the importance of preserving and maintaining the integrity of the personality, the integrity of the Ego, which is the main factor in resistance to neuroses. He identified three parts in the identity structure:

1. somatic identity, manifested in the fact that the body strives to maintain its integrity when interacting with the outside world,
2. personal identity, which integrates a person’s external and internal experience,
3. social identity, which consists in the joint creation and maintenance by people of a certain order and stability.

Communication has a significant impact on the development of all types of identity, especially social. Considering the role of the child's environment, culture and social environment, Erikson emphasized the relationship between the child and the family, and more specifically, the child-mother relationship. At the same time, he emphasized that the formation social identity influenced not only by parents and people close to the child, but also by friends, work, and society as a whole. Erikson attached great importance to the external stability of the system in which a person lives, since a violation of this stability, a change in guidelines, social norms and values ​​also violates identity and devalues ​​a person’s life. He considered the “innate drives” of a person to be fragments of aspirations that are collected, acquire meaning and are organized in childhood. The lengthening of the childhood period is precisely due to the need for the socialization of children. Therefore, Erikson argued that the “instinctive weapons” (sexual and aggressive) in humans are much more mobile and plastic than in animals. The organization and direction of development of these innate drives are associated with methods of upbringing and education, which vary from culture to culture and are predetermined by traditions. In other words, each society develops its own institutions of socialization in order to help children with different individual qualities become full-fledged members of a given social group.

The development of communication between adults and children was the focus of attention of M.I. Lisina and her colleagues. Several stages in this process were identified during the first seven years of children’s lives, as well as criteria for their formation and those new formations in the structure of personality and intelligence that are directly related to one or another stage of communication. In this concept, communication is considered as a condition and one of the main factors in the mental and personal development of a child; it ensures his assimilation of the socio-historical experience of mankind. The development of communication with adults occurs as a change in four qualitative stages:

1. situational-personal communication is genetically the first form of communication between a child and an adult (it is typical for children in the first half of life);
2. situational business communication is the second most common form of communication among children, which is typical for young children;
3. extra-situational-cognitive communication that occurs in preschool age;
4. extra-situational-personal communication with adults, which occurs in the second half of the preschool period.

As communication develops, its motivation also changes. In accordance with the above steps, the following motives for children’s communication were identified:

1. need for friendly attention (2-6 months);
2. need for cooperation (6 months - 3 years);
3. need for respect from an adult (3-5 years);
4. need for mutual understanding and empathy (5-7 years).

As studies by M. I. Lisina and A. Ruzskaya have shown, a slightly different motivation is present when communicating with peers:

1. the need for participation in games of peers, their attention and goodwill (2-4 years);
2. need for cooperation and recognition by peers (4-6 years);
3. the need for empathy and mutual understanding (senior preschool age).

In the works of A.S. Zaluzhny and S.S. Molozhavoy, who studied the dynamics and stages of development of children's groups, intra-group differentiation, types of leadership in children's groups, it was shown that endogenous and exogenous factors influence the growth of organization and the increase in the time of existence of the team. Exogenous factors were understood as any influence of the environment, and endogenous factors were understood as the behavior of individual members of the team. One of the most significant internal factors, as shown by studies by A.S. Zaluzhny and A.B. Zalkind, is a phenomenon of leadership. Much experimental work has been devoted to leadership in children's groups and group differentiation, and it has been shown that leaders not only organize the team, but also help direct the group's excess energy in the right direction.

As the team develops, a leader, or leader, is identified, a center is grouped around this leader, and children drop out of the group. According to scientists, unpopular children are either disruptors who interfere with the work of others, or passive children engaged in some extraneous activity. Zalkind and Zaluzhny developed methods for correcting children’s communication, believing that active disruptive children should be placed in groups of older and stronger children, and isolated, anxious children should be placed in groups of younger ones, where they can show their abilities and even become leaders. Zalkind emphasized that all children should go through leadership school, this is especially important during adolescence, as it helps to neutralize the negative effects of puberty.

Thus, the works of scientists of different directions have shown the importance of communication for the development of children’s personality, their assimilation of the norms and rules of the society in which they live, their culture. However, communication is also necessary for the full intellectual development of children, the formation of their thinking and speech, which has also been proven by many psychologists.

Speaking about the fact that there are natural and higher ones, i.e. culturally conditioned, mental functions, L.S. Vygotsky came to the conclusion that the main difference between them is the level of voluntariness. Unlike natural mental processes, which cannot be regulated by humans, people can consciously control higher mental functions. This regulation is associated with the indirect nature of higher mental functions, and they are mediated by a sign, or stimulus-means, X, which creates an additional connection between the influencing stimulus S and the person’s reaction R (both behavioral and mental).

Unlike a stimulus-means, which can be invented by the child himself (for example, a stick instead of a thermometer), signs are not invented by children, but are acquired by them in communication with adults. Thus, the sign first appears on the external plane, the plane of communication, and then passes into the internal plane, the plane of consciousness. Vygotsky wrote that each higher mental function appears on the stage twice: once as external, interpsychic, and the other as internal, intrapsychic.

Signs, being a product of social development, bear the imprint of the culture of the society in which the child grows up. Children learn signs in the process of communication and begin to use them to manage their inner mental life. Thanks to the internalization of signs in children, the sign function of consciousness is formed, the formation of such strictly human mental processes as logical thinking, will, speech.

D. Bruner also wrote about the importance of communication and culture for the intellectual development of children. Based on his cross-cultural research, Bruner defined intelligence as the result of a child’s assimilation of “amplifiers” developed in a given culture, i.e. methods, signs, operations that help the child cope with the tasks facing him. Success is increased by artificially enhancing a person’s motor, sensory and mental capabilities. “Amplifiers” can be either real, technical, or symbolic, and different cultures develop different “amplifiers.”

The category of motive is no less important in psychology. Already in the first psychological theories, scientists considered the source of activity and sought to find the reason that prompts a person to move, i.e. tried to understand the motives that underlie our behavior. There have been attempts to find a material explanation for these motives, with the motives associated with moving atoms and “animal spirits”; There were also theories based on the intangibility of motives. Thus, Plato spoke about the passionate, or lustful, soul, which is the bearer of motives, and Leibniz believed that activity, the urge to action, is a property of the monad soul. However, regardless of the interpretation of the nature of the motive, it was usually associated with emotions and was one of the main problems for all psychologists. Therefore, it is natural that in modern psychology the concept of motive (need, drive, aspiration) has become the leading category for almost all psychological schools.

In Russian psychology, scientists emphasized the connection between the development of motives and the process of personality formation and its socialization. Revealing the dynamics of the formation of motives, the transformation of “known” motives into “really operating” ones, as well as the relationship between motives and goals, A.N. Leontiev argued the leading role of culture and interpersonal communication in the complex process of ascension from the individual to the personality. S.L. wrote about the development of motives that form the orientation of a personality. Rubinstein, the connection between motivation and the relationships that people enter into in the process of their personal development was studied by V.N. Myasishchevsh.

The study of the relationship between the genesis of motives and the process of personality formation was one of the central problems for humanistic psychology. Speaking about personality structure, A. Maslow associated it with the “pyramid of needs” of a person, which looks like this:

• physiological needs - food, water, sleep, etc.;

• need for security - stability, order;

• need for love and belonging - family, friendship;

• need for respect - self-esteem, recognition;

• the need for self-actualization - development of abilities.

Subsequently, while studying the development of needs, Maslow abandoned such a rigid hierarchy, combining all needs into two classes - the needs of need (deficit) and the needs of development (self-actualization). Thus, he identified two levels of human existence - the existential level, focused on personal growth and self-actualization, and the deficit level, focused on satisfying frustrated needs. Subsequently, he identified groups of existential and deficit needs, and also introduced the term metamotivation to denote the actual existential motivation leading to personal growth.

The scientist believed that each person is born with a certain set of qualities and abilities that constitute the essence of his “I”, his “Self” and which a person needs to realize and demonstrate in his life and activities. It is conscious aspirations and motives, and not unconscious instincts, that constitute the essence human personality, distinguish humans from animals. However, the desire for self-actualization encounters various obstacles, misunderstanding of others and one’s own weaknesses and self-doubt. Therefore, the main thing in personal growth is awareness of your needs, especially the need for self-actualization.

One of the most significant concepts of motivation in developmental psychology in recent years has been the theory of attachment, developed by the English psychologist and psychiatrist D. Bowlby. Work with juvenile delinquents led him to the idea that the main problems they experience in the process of socialization are explained by impaired communication with parents, lack of warmth and care at an early age. His idea was that in the first months of life, a close emotional connection is established between mother and child, which is not reducible to either sexuality or instinctive behavior. A sharp break in this connection leads to serious disturbances in the child’s mental development, primarily in the structure of his personality. These disorders may not appear immediately (this is the difference between the phenomena described by Bowlby and hospitalism and similar forms of deviations), but much later, often only in adolescence.

Bowlby argued that mother small child is reliable protection, a kind of base that he leaves from time to time, trying to explore the world around him. However, this research activity is stable and adequate in cases where the child is sure that he can return to the protection of his mother at any time. Thus, the main goal of forming an emotional connection between a child and a mother is to give the child a feeling of security and safety. It is the warmth and affection emanating from the mother in the first years of life that are important for the child, Bowlby emphasized, and not the proper care and training provided by her. His research showed that children who have close emotional contact with their mother have higher levels of cognitive activity than children who grew up in cold families or children who lost their mother in preschool age. He also revealed the fact that adolescents who did not have a stable emotional connection with their mother are more likely to experience depression and develop changes in personality structure.

Bowlby's work, as well as the research of other psychologists, demonstrated the close connection between motivation and people's experiences. Those. The category of motive is closely related to the category of experience, a person’s emotional response to phenomena in the external world, his actions and thoughts. Epicurus also argued that it is experiences that direct and regulate behavior, and modern psychologists also consider them as such. Despite the fact that the problem of the nature and dynamics of emotional processes has not yet received an unambiguous solution in psychology, the very fact of the importance of emotions and experiences not only in the regulation of activity, but also in the appropriation of knowledge, identification with the outside world, including with significant people, does not raises doubts.

Evidence of the lifetime formation of basic experiences was given by D. Watson in his experiments on the formation of emotions. He experimentally proved that it is possible to form a fear reaction in response to a neutral stimulus. In his experiments, children were shown a rabbit, which they picked up and wanted to stroke, but at that moment they received an electric shock. Naturally, the child scaredly threw the rabbit and began to cry. However, the next time he approached the animal again and received an electric shock, so for the third or fourth time, for most children, the appearance of a rabbit, even at a distance from them, caused an emotion of fear. After this negative emotion was consolidated, Watson tried once again to change the emotional attitude of the children, forming an interest and love for the rabbit. In this case, they began to show it to the child when he ate something tasty. The presence of this important primary stimulus was an indispensable condition for the formation of a new reaction. At the first moment, the children stopped eating and began to cry, but since the rabbit did not approach them, remaining far away, at the end of the room, and delicious food was nearby, the child quickly calmed down and continued eating. After the children stopped reacting by crying to the appearance of a rabbit at the end of the room, the experimenter gradually moved it closer and closer to the child, while simultaneously adding tasty things to his plate. Gradually, the children stopped paying attention to the rabbit and in the end they reacted calmly, even when it was located near their plate, picked it up and tried to feed it something tasty. Thus, Watson argued, our emotions are the result of our habits and can change dramatically depending on circumstances.

Watson's observations showed that if the fear reaction formed to a rabbit was not converted into a positive one, then a similar feeling of fear arose in children when they saw other fur-covered objects. Based on this, he sought to prove that persistent affective complexes can be formed in people based on conditioned reflexes according to a given program. Moreover, he believed that the facts he discovered proved the possibility of forming a certain, strictly defined model of behavior in all people. He wrote: “Give me a hundred children of the same age, and after a certain time I will form them into absolutely identical people, with the same tastes and behavior.”

Emotions also play a decisive role in the process of socialization of children. The dynamics of entering social reality presupposes an understanding of the characteristics of this reality, the acceptance of its norms and values ​​as one’s own ideals and guidelines. However, unlike social adaptation, socialization involves not only the passive acceptance of certain norms and rules of behavior, but also their active use, i.e. the development of certain knowledge and skills that are adequately applied by a person in a given social reality. National culture is one of the important components, a positive emotional attitude towards which helps people to form national identity. This aspect of socialization, associated with the development of an active position, with the desire to self-actualize within a specific social situation, causes the greatest difficulties.

Since socialization actually comes down to the adequate internalization of external requirements, their transformation into the “subjective reality of the individual,” the most important question arises about psychological ways of translating these requirements into the internal structure of the personality. One of the most important ways is emotional mediation, the formation of emotions (both positive and negative) in relation to the norms, values ​​and rules accepted in society. These emotions, unlike those that arise in relation to concepts that are vital for a person (food, danger, etc.), can be called social.

The famous Russian scientist G.A. attached great importance to social emotions. Shpet, in whose works this problem acquired a modern resonance. He believed that it is not objective connections and knowledge, but subjective experiences that determine the process of identifying oneself as a member of a given ethnic group or a specific social group. Therefore, if rejected by the previous group, the subject can “change his people”, “enter the composition and spirit of another people”, but this process requires long and hard work and time. In the event that only external assimilation of a new language, culture or norms of behavior occurs, the person remains marginal, since in order to fully identify oneself with the new society, emotional acceptance of those objective elements that make up the content of social consciousness is necessary. Shpet's research led him to the conclusion that one of the main components of mentality is the commonality of emotional experiences and the relationship of a given people to certain historical and social objects.

Social experiences reveal for people the meaning attached to the environment by the social or national group to which they belong. This introduction of the child to social experiences occurs under the influence of others, who convey emotional standards to him. Emotional standards contain certain cultural knowledge, moral and evaluative categories, stereotypes, an adequate emotional attitude towards which optimizes the socialization process. At first, this knowledge is neutral for the child (as well as for an adult entering a new society), but then gradually acquires emotional intensity.

The study of the motivational and emotional development of children, as already mentioned, is directly related to the study of the formation of their personality. However, the category of personality itself, unlike others, appeared in psychology relatively recently, although questions about the essence of man, the development of his self-image and self-assessment were posed in antiquity. However, at that time the concepts of personality and man were considered identical, and the modern concepts of personality, individual and individuality did not exist. For a long time, as already noted, the main issues in psychology were questions of cognition and the categories of image and internal, mental activity remained leading. It is not without reason that the famous scientist W. Wundt spoke about the dictates of “intellectualism” in psychology, contrasting his voluntaristic psychology with the old one, which studied mainly the “knowing person” and not the feeling person. Only with the advent of depth psychology did personality become one of the leading categories and remains so in modern psychology, in which the problem of personality, its structure and genesis is studied by various schools (humanistic, behaviorism, domestic psychology).

At the beginning of the 20th century. one of the few psychologists who interpreted personality as an integrative whole, considering it an extremely important category, was V.M. Bekhterev. He introduced the concepts of individual, individuality and personality into psychology, believing that the individual is the biological basis on which the social sphere of the individual is built. Studying individual characteristics, which, according to Bekhterev, are innate, he argued that individual typology largely predetermines the characteristics of personal development. He included the speed of differentiation and generalization of combined (conditioned) reflexes, the abilities, interests and inclinations of children, and resistance to group pressure as individual qualities.

Of great importance were Bekhterev's studies of the structure of personality (in which he distinguished passive and active, conscious and unconscious parts), their role in various types of activities and their interrelationships. Interestingly, like Freud, he noted the dominant role of unconscious motives in sleep or hypnosis and considered it necessary to study the influence of experience acquired during this time on conscious behavior. When studying the correction of deviant behavior, he proceeded from the limitations of those methods of correction that focused on positive reinforcement of desirable behavior and negative reinforcement of undesirable behavior. He believed that any reinforcement could fix the response. You can get rid of unwanted behavior only by creating a stronger motive that will absorb all the energy spent on unwanted behavior. Thus, for the first time in psychology, ideas about the role of sublimation and canalization of energy in a socially acceptable way appeared, which were subsequently actively developed by psychoanalysis.

In modern psychology, several concepts characterize spiritual world a person, his self-awareness and values, characteristics of aspirations and attitudes towards the outside world. Each of them has a specific meaning, emphasizing a certain aspect in the complex picture of the inner world of people.

The concept of individual presupposes the attribution of a person to a biological class Homo sapiens. Individual properties characterize what all people have in common; they are innate, and some of them are inherited. The qualities of an individual themselves do not contain psychological properties, but they are necessary for the normal development of the psyche, the formation of individual characteristics and personality traits (for example, the cortex cerebral hemispheres necessary for the development of cognitive processes).

Individuality is determined by those special features that are inherent in each individual and distinguish people from each other. Individual characteristics are not inherited, i.e. are not transmitted to children from parents, but are associated with the specifics of the nervous system and therefore appear from birth. The close connection between individuality and brain activity also determines the fact that the influence of the social situation on the formation of individual characteristics is limited. Individual qualities, of course, develop throughout life, becoming more and more pronounced and bright. Therefore, young children are more similar to each other than teenagers or adults. At the same time, some features that are not in demand by the situation, on the contrary, fade away, while others partially change. However, it is impossible to completely change a person's personality.

Modern psychology distinguishes two levels of individuality formation. One of them - associated with the structural features and dynamics of the nervous system - is represented by individual features or qualities, for example, the speed of switching or orientation. Since these traits are associated, as has been said, with dynamics, they are called psychodynamic qualities. The lateral organization of the brain (dominance of the right or left hemisphere) also influences the development of personality.

However, it is not so much these traits themselves that are important, but their connection with each other, the disposition of individual characteristics that develops into a certain type of personality. It is the combination of individual traits that provides the uniqueness of a person’s behavior, communication and cognition, which manifests itself in the individual lifestyle inherent in him.

The concept of subject is associated, first of all, with the understanding of the fact that activity comes from him, and not from the outside. The subject, as a carrier of activity, himself chooses the direction and objects of his activity, since the source of energy is in himself, and not in the external world. The environment, the psychological “field of objects” can only actualize this or that need and expand the ways of satisfying it.

The concept of personality mainly implies those qualities that were formed in a person under the influence of communication with others and the influence of the social situation. Since all people who have not been subjected to artificial isolation in the first months of life (not children - Mowgli) are influenced by the environment, each person is an individual in this sense, since his individual prerequisites for the development of the psyche change under the influence of culture and society.

Another level of personal development implies the ability of people to act on the basis of their own motivation even in emergency circumstances, to make reasonable and informed choices and to overcome the pressure of the “field”, the situation. As a rule, this happens in cases where the demands of the environment come into conflict with a person’s leading motivation, with his need to remain true to himself, his calling, and self-realization.

Interest in individual characteristics that distinguish people from each other arose in antiquity. The first theories explaining the nature of temperament (as this characteristic of a person was named) date back to the same period. Famous scientists Hippocrates and Galen developed a humoral concept that connects temperament with various body juices - mucus, yellow and black bile and blood. Violation of the harmonious ratio of these juices (akrasia) leads to the dominance of one of the types of temperament - phlegmatic, choleric, melancholic or sanguine. Subsequently, the number of personality types was increased, but the idea that temperament should be based on an objective and organic criterion remained unchanged. In the 19th and 20th centuries. new concepts have appeared that connect temperament with the constitution - the structure of the skull, facial features (E. Kretschmer) or body proportions (W. Sheldon), i.e. the size of the forehead or lips, height and fullness of a person were associated with certain qualities - kindness or anger, mobility or apathy. Although these theories now have purely historical significance, some stereotypes in the perception of people associated with them have remained in everyday psychology to this day.

Experiments by I.P. Pavlov identified the physiological basis of temperament related to the functioning of the nervous system. Subsequently, the works of other physiologists and psychophysiologists made it possible to clarify those dynamic characteristics of the nervous system that determine the characteristics of the appearance of psychological traits. At the same time, research by V.N. Myasishcheva, B.M. Teplova, V.L. Nebylitsyn, G. Eysenck, G. Allport, R. Cattell and other psychologists reliably showed the impossibility of identifying the physiological foundations of temperament with psychological individuality, the degree of activity, emotionality or speed of reaction of people. The materials of these numerous works made it possible to identify the so-called psychodynamic qualities, which make it possible to combine some psychophysiological characteristics with psychological traits.

Abilities have been considered one of the most important characteristics of individuality since antiquity. Initially, they were associated with intelligence and oratory, as well as with the speed of learning material. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. The study of abilities led scientists to the idea that another approach to their definition is possible. From the point of view of the French educators Diderot and Helvetius, it is the environment, training and upbringing that a child receives that determine his fate, mental and personal development, social status and success. However, the influence of the environment is not direct; it is mediated by cognitive processes, i.e. manifests itself mainly in the fact that people receive different information, different education, they develop different abilities and, as a result, different lifestyles from each other. At the same time, abilities were understood as the ability to carry out certain activities. Thus, abilities were studied only during the performance of a specific task and had a qualitative characteristic - the level of performance. At the same time, the speed and ease of learning, the speed of information processing and other parameters that characterize abilities in modern psychology were not taken into account at all. Naturally, with this understanding, Helvetius came to the conclusion that abilities are not innate, but are acquired through the learning process.

This approach reinforced Helvetius’s concept of the universal equality of people, whose individual differences are explained only by different social status and upbringing. But it also led, oddly enough, to fatalism, since a person was perceived as a plaything of fate, which, at its whim, by chance, could place him in one or another environment, determining his social status and life scenario. Thus, the denial of innate characteristics in Helvetius’s concept led to a significant extent to the denial of man’s responsibility for his destiny.

Diderot's works showed the one-sidedness of this understanding of the purely social nature of abilities. The role of innate inclinations in the development of abilities was demonstrated by the work of psychologists and psychophysiologists of the 19th-20th centuries. In modern psychology, when determining abilities, two parameters are taken into account - the level of activity performance, closely related to the social situation, learning, and the pace of learning, the speed of information processing, which is a psychodynamic quality determined by innate inclinations. Since in the activities of children, and even more so of adults, both the speed of assimilation and the level of knowledge are manifested, the quality of learning and abilities, as a rule, are diagnosed in the process of mastering the activity, by how quickly and thoroughly a person masters the methods of its organization and implementation.

Psychodynamic, naturally determined abilities are called fluid. This term, originally used by D. Guilford and R. Cattell, has become widespread in psychology. Fluid abilities are associated, first of all, with the general level of intelligence, with the ability to find connections, identify relationships and dependencies. Their development is influenced by a genetic factor, since the rate of their formation is higher in the early years, and age-related decline can begin relatively early (in the third decade of life). A higher rate of development of fluid abilities than their peers can ensure greater productivity of children, diagnosed as giftedness. However, such heterochronicity of mental development is not giftedness in the full sense of the word, since the quantitative advance of age norms in individual mental processes is not accompanied by qualitative changes in the structure of intelligence. The equalization of the rate of intellectual development with age leads to a decrease and gradual disappearance of signs of giftedness, which often explains the phenomenon of “child prodigies” who did not live up to the hopes they showed in childhood in adulthood.

On the basis of fluid abilities, crystallized ones are formed, their development is determined by the culture to which a person belongs, his activities and interests, as well as his level of education. Genetic factors do not directly affect crystallized abilities, and age-related decline may not appear until very old age.

The identification of different types of abilities is also related to the activities that they organize. Based on this, a distinction is made between general abilities that meet the requirements of not one, but many types of activity and are usually identified with intelligence, and special abilities that meet a narrower range of requirements for a specific activity. Among the special abilities, the best studied are musical and mathematical ones, which manifest themselves very early, often even in preschool age. Talents in fiction, painting, and natural sciences appear later, sometimes already in adolescence. The level and degree of development of both general and special abilities are reflected in the concepts of talent and genius.

Along with ability, giftedness also stands out - a qualitatively unique combination of abilities that allows one to achieve outstanding results in various spheres of human activity. Thus, the basis for the same achievements in performing any activity can be based on different abilities, while at the same time the same ability can be a condition for the success of different types of activities. This provides the opportunity to compensate for the low level of development of one of the abilities at the expense of others that form giftedness, and to individualize the style of the action performed. For example, in a good painting, the design, the color, the psychological accuracy of the image, and the subtlety of the painted details are important. Depending on the combination of abilities that ensure a high level of drawing, painting, and their hierarchy, the shortcomings of the color scheme can be compensated by the boldness and accuracy of the drawing or the expressiveness of the faces of the people depicted in the picture, or the depth and novelty of the concept. Since the hierarchy of individual abilities is unique and never coincides among different people, the results of their activities (paintings, poems, sewn clothes or built houses) are always unique.

An important problem is the correlation of giftedness with the general level of intelligence and creativity. Giftedness is often directly identified with creative abilities, with the speed and ease of finding non-obvious solutions to various problems and the ability to obtain fundamentally new result. The novelty of the product and the solution do not always coincide with each other, which emphasizes the difficulty of correlating purely intellectual abilities with creativity and proves the need to distinguish the concepts of general (intellectual) giftedness and special giftedness, which may not directly correlate with high scores in intelligence tests. For example, exceeding the level of 135 points on the Binet-Simon or Stanford-Binet scale, assessed as a high level of intellectual ability (and general talent), is not necessarily accompanied by high productivity in the creative field. Therefore, recently considerable attention has been paid to the study of “non-intellectual” factors of special talent necessary for creative activity in certain areas.

The psychodynamic aspect of ability and giftedness often manifests itself in characteristics unrelated directly with specific activities, for example in good mechanical memory, curiosity, sense of humor, high plasticity, good distribution and high concentration of attention, sometimes combined with activity and even impulsivity.

Giftedness can be considered as the next level of individuality, associated with the combination of various qualities among themselves. This combination is typical for people who have pronounced laterality in the organization of the brain, i.e. obvious “left-handed” and “right-handed”. If the former are characterized by a higher level of emotivity, imagery and a tendency to creativity in artistic activity, then right-handers have a more pronounced logical, rational principle, weakening emotionality and directing activity to a greater extent to search. the right decision, and not the various ways to achieve it.

The system of individual traits develops into a personality type, i.e. into a structure that has a clear hierarchy of traits that determines a predisposition to a specific, “typical” nature of interaction with the environment. The most common parameter for typology is separation by sex, which is also observed in animals. Modern studies have shown that the masculine type is characterized by a greater variation in the severity of symptoms than the feminine type, and a more pronounced propensity for risk, enterprise, and variability of behavior.

One of the most common typologies is Jung's concept, which is based on two bases - the dominance of extraor introversion and the development of four basic mental processes (thinking, feeling, intuition and sensation). Based on my understanding of the structure of the soul. Jung argued that introverts, in the process of individualization, pay more attention to the inner part of their soul, build their behavior based on own ideas, own norms and beliefs. Extroverts, on the contrary, are more focused on the person, on the outer part of their soul. They are well oriented in the outside world and in their activities proceed mainly from its norms and rules of behavior. If for an introvert the extreme manifestation is a complete severance of contacts with the outside world, which leads to fanaticism, then for extroverts it is the loss of oneself, which is fraught with dogmatism.

However, the desire to preserve the integrity of the personality does not allow one of its sides to completely subordinate the other. Therefore, these two parts of the soul, its two types, “divide their spheres of influence.” As a rule, extroverts build relationships well with a large circle of people, taking into account their opinions and interests, while at the same time, in a narrow circle of people close to them, they open up to another side of their personality, the introverted one. Here they can be despotic, impatient, do not take into account the opinions and positions of other people, trying to insist on their own. Communicating with a wide range of unfamiliar and poorly acquainted people is extremely difficult for an introvert, who proceeds only from his own positions and cannot build an adequate line of behavior or understand the point of view of the interlocutor. He either insists on his own or simply avoids contact. At the same time, in communication with loved ones, on the contrary, he opens up, his extroverted, usually suppressed side of his personality takes over, he is a caring and warm family man. Like Freud, Jung often illustrated his conclusions with references to a particular historical figure. In particular, when describing extraverts and introverts, he mentioned famous Russian writers L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky, classifying Tolstoy as a typical extrovert, and Dostoevsky as an introvert.

Jung also believed that each person is dominated by one or another feature, which, in combination with introversion or extraversion, individualizes his development path. Thinking and feeling are alternative ways of making decisions. Since thinking is focused on logical premises, people belonging to the thinking type value abstract principles, ideals, order and consistency in behavior above all else. Feeling people, on the contrary, make decisions spontaneously, focusing on emotions, preferring any feelings, even negative ones, to boredom and order.

If thinking and feelings characterize active people who are capable of making decisions for one reason or another, then sensation and intuition rather characterize ways of obtaining information, and people of this type are more contemplative. At the same time, sensation is oriented towards direct, immediate experience, and sensing types, as a rule, respond better to the immediate situation, while intuitive types react better to the past or future. For them, what is possible is more important than what is happening in the present. Although all these functions are present in every person, one of them dominates, which is partially complemented by the second function. Moreover, the more conscious and dominant one of these functions is, the more unconscious the others are. Therefore, the data obtained with their help can be perceived by a person not only as alien to him, but also as downright hostile.

Despite the fact that echoes of Jung’s typology can be traced in modern concepts of individuality and personality, the structure of individuality proposed by G. Allport seems to be more perfect and widespread today. Allport's most important merit is that he was one of the first to talk about the specificity of each person, about the inextricable connection between individual typology and the uniqueness of personality. He argued that each person is unique and individual, since he is the bearer of a unique combination of qualities, which Allport called trite - trait. He divided personality traits into basic and instrumental. Basic traits stimulate behavior and are innate, genotypic, while instrumental traits shape behavior and are formed during a person’s life, i.e. belong to phenotypic formations. The set of these traits constitutes the core of the personality, giving it uniqueness and originality.

Although the main features are innate, they can change and develop in the process of a person’s communication with other people. Society stimulates the development of some personality traits and qualities and inhibits the development of others. In this way, that unique set of traits that underlies a person’s “I” is gradually formed. Important for Allport was the position about the autonomy of these traits, which also develops over time. The child does not have this autonomy, since his features are not yet stable and not fully formed. Only in an adult who is aware of himself, his qualities and his individuality, traits become truly autonomous and do not depend on either biological needs or social pressure. This autonomy of a person’s needs, being the most important characteristic of the formation of his personality, allows him, while remaining open to society, to preserve his individuality.

Allport developed not only his theoretical concept of personality, but also his own methods for systematic research of the human psyche. He proceeded from the fact that certain traits exist in the personality of each person, the difference is only in the level of their development, the degree of autonomy and place in the structure. Focusing on this position, he created multifactor questionnaires, with the help of which the peculiarities of the development of personality traits of a particular person are studied. The most famous is the University of Minnesota Inventory (MMPI), which is currently used (with a number of modifications) not only to study personality structure, but also to analyze compatibility, professional suitability, etc. Allport himself constantly refined his questionnaires and created new ones, believing that they should be supplemented with observation data, most often joint.

The hierarchy of traits that determines a personality type may not be very pronounced; the level of various parameters may approach average, optimal. But intensive development of one or another trait (group of traits) is also possible, which determines the specificity of this type - the accentuation of character. This concept, introduced by K. Leonhard, presupposes the excessive expression of certain character traits. Extreme cases of accentuation border on psychopathy, although they do not go beyond the norm. Accentuation clearly demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of each type, their advantages in certain areas of activity and communication, and vulnerability to certain stimuli. In the case of constant and active exposure to these particular stimuli, it is possible to go beyond the norm and the emergence of reactive states and psychopathy.

Although the development of accentuation and the degree of its severity are determined by psychodynamics, this process is greatly influenced by the social situation, style of communication in the family, profession, and culture. As a rule, accentuation develops by adolescence, but nowadays cases of early onset of accentuation are increasingly observed, which can sometimes be diagnosed already by older preschool age.

Combination individual qualities, which is unique for each person, largely determines his behavior, communication with other people and attitude towards himself. It represents the second level in the structure of individuality, that integral individuality (V. Merlin’s term), which underlies the individual lifestyle, mediating the connection between psychodynamic individual traits and personality structure. The tasks of psychotherapy are largely related to helping a person create an individual style of activity and communication based on his integral disposition of psychodynamic features, which uses the positive aspects of his individuality, compensating for the negative ones if possible.

One of the first to study the dynamics of the formation of an individual lifestyle in the process of the genesis of children’s personality was A. Adler, who proceeded from the fact that a child is not born with a ready-made personality structure, but only with its prototype. He considered the lifestyle to be the most important thing in the structure.

Developing the idea of ​​lifestyle, Adler argued that this is the determinant that determines and systematizes a person’s experience. Lifestyle is closely related to the sense of community, one of the three innate unconscious feelings that make up the structure of the self. A sense of community, or public interest, is a kind of core that holds the entire structure of a lifestyle, determines its content and direction. A sense of community, although innate, may remain undeveloped. An underdeveloped sense of community can cause an asocial lifestyle, neuroses and conflicts in a person. The development of a sense of community is associated with close adults who surround the child from childhood, primarily with the mother. Rejected children, growing up with cold, isolated mothers, do not develop a sense of community. It does not develop in spoiled children either, since the sense of community with the mother is not transferred to other people who remain strangers to the child. The level of development of a sense of community determines the system of ideas about oneself and the world that is created by each person. The inadequacy of this reality system hinders personal growth and provokes the development of neuroses.

By forming a life style, a person is actually the creator of his personality, which he creates from the raw material of heredity and experience. The creative “I” that Adler wrote about is a kind of enzyme that influences the surrounding reality and transforms it into a person’s personality, “a personality that is subjective, dynamic, united, individual and has a unique style.” The creative “I,” from Adler’s point of view, gives meaning to a person’s life; it outlines both the very goal of life and the means to achieve it. Thus, for Adler the processes of formation life goal, lifestyles are, in essence, acts of creativity that give the human personality uniqueness, consciousness, and allow a person to control his own destiny. In contrast to Freud, he emphasized that people are not pawns in the hands of external forces, but conscious entities that independently and creatively create their lives.

If the sense of community determines the direction and style of life, then two other innate and unconscious feelings - inferiority and the desire for superiority - serve as sources of energy necessary for the development of personality. Both of these feelings are positive; they are incentives for personal growth and self-improvement. If a feeling of inferiority makes a person want to overcome his shortcoming, then the desire for superiority gives rise to the desire to be better than others, not only to overcome the shortcoming, but also to become the most skillful and knowledgeable. These feelings, from Adler’s point of view, stimulate not only individual development, but also the development of society as a whole, thanks to the self-improvement of the individual and the discoveries made by individuals.

Studying the genesis of personality structure, Rogers came to the conclusion that the inner essence of a person, his Self, is expressed in self-esteem, which reflects the true essence of a given personality, his “I”. In young children, self-esteem is unconscious; it is a sense of self rather than self-esteem. Nevertheless, already at an early age, it guides a person’s behavior, helping to understand the environment and select from it what is inherent in this particular individual, determines his interests, future profession, style of communication with certain people, etc. At an older age, children begin to become aware of themselves, their aspirations and abilities, and build their lives in accordance with their conscious assessment of themselves. In the event that behavior is built from self-esteem, it expresses the true essence of the personality, its abilities and skills, and therefore brings the person the greatest success. The results of the activity satisfy the person and increase his status in the eyes of others; such a person does not need to repress his experience into the unconscious, since his opinion about himself, the opinion of others about him and his real Self correspond to each other, are congruent.

However, already in early childhood, a child may be imposed an assessment that is different from his true self-esteem, his Self. Most often this happens under pressure from adults who have their own idea of ​​the child, his abilities and purpose. They impose their assessment on the child, striving for him to accept it and make it his self-esteem. Some children begin to protest against the actions, interests and ideas imposed on them, leading to conflict with others, negativism and aggression. The desire to defend oneself at all costs, to overcome the pressure of adults can also violate true self-esteem, since in his negativity the child begins to protest against everything that comes from an adult, even if it suits his interests.

However, most often, Rogers notes, children do not try to confront their parents, agreeing with their opinion about themselves. This happens because the child needs affection and acceptance from an adult. He called this desire to earn the love and affection of others the “condition of value,” which in its extreme manifestation sounds like the desire to be loved and respected by everyone with whom a person comes into contact. The “condition of value” becomes a serious obstacle to personal growth, as it interferes with the awareness of a person’s true “I”, true calling, replacing it with an image that is pleasing to others. However, the problem is not only that, trying to earn the love of others, a person abandons himself, his self-actualization, but also that when carrying out activities imposed by others and not corresponding to true, although not realized at the moment, desires and abilities, a person cannot be completely successful, no matter how hard he tries and convinces himself that this activity is his real calling. The need to ignore signals about one’s own failure or lack of success that come to the subject from the outside world is associated with the fear of changing the self-esteem to which a person is accustomed and which he truly considers his own. This leads to the fact that he displaces his aspirations, his fears, and the opinions of others into the unconscious, alienating his experience from consciousness. At the same time, a very limited and rigid scheme of the surrounding world and oneself is built, which little corresponds to reality. This inadequacy, although not realized, causes tension in a person, leading to neurosis.

Research conducted by Rogers has proven that the development of a child’s personality, his successful socialization, satisfaction with his activities and himself have a direct correlation with his level of self-awareness. This connection is more significant for the normal development of the individual than the attitude of parents towards the child, their attachment or alienation from him, the social status of the family and its environment. At the same time, Rogers insisted that self-esteem should not only be adequate, but also flexible, i.e. it must change depending on the environment.

An object

Item

knowledge acquisition

Practical problems

Research strategies in developmental psychology, their historical chronology. Classification of research methods in developmental psychology.

A) At first, the task of child psychology was in the accumulation of facts and their arrangement in time sequence. The observation strategy corresponded to this task. Of course, even then researchers were trying to understand the driving forces of development, and every psychologist dreamed of this. But there were no objective possibilities to solve this problem...

Surveillance strategy the real course of child development in the conditions in which it spontaneously develops, led to the accumulation of various facts that needed to be brought into the system, to highlight the stages and stages of development in order to then identify the main trends and general patterns

the development process itself and ultimately understand its cause.

To solve these problems, psychologists used strategy of natural scientific ascertaining experiment, which allows you to establish the presence or absence of the phenomenon being studied under certain controlled conditions, measure its quantitative characteristics and give

qualitative description Both strategies - observation and ascertaining experiment - are widespread in child psychology. But their limitations become more and more obvious as it becomes clear that they do not lead to an understanding of the driving causes of human mental development. This happens because neither observation nor ascertaining experiment can actively influence the development process, and its study proceeds only passively.

Currently, a new research strategy is being intensively developed - a strategy for the formation of mental processes, active intervention, construction of a process with given properties. It is precisely because the strategy for the formation of mental processes leads to the intended result that one can judge its cause. Thus, the success of the formative experiment can serve as a criterion for identifying the cause of development.

The strategy of forming mental processes eventually became widespread in Soviet psychology. Today there are several ideas for implementing this strategy, which can be summarized as follows:

The cultural-historical concept of L. S. Vygotsky, according to which the interpsychic becomes intrapsychic. The genesis of higher mental functions is associated with the use of a sign by two people in the process of their communication; without fulfilling this role, a sign cannot become a means of individual

mental activity.

A. N. Leontiev’s theory of activity: every activity acts as a conscious action, then as an operation and, as it is formed, becomes a function. The movement here is carried out from top to bottom - from activity to function.

The theory of the formation of mental actions by P. Ya. Galperin: the formation of mental functions occurs on the basis of an objective action and comes from the material execution of the action, and then through its speech form passes into the mental plane. This is the most developed concept of formation. However, everything obtained with its help acts as a laboratory experiment. How do the data from a laboratory experiment compare with real ontogenesis?

The problem of the relationship between experimental genesis and real genesis is one of the most serious and still unresolved. Its importance for child psychology was pointed out by A.V. Zaporozhets

and D.B. Elkonin. A certain weakness of the formation strategy is that it has so far been applied only to the formation of the cognitive sphere of the individual, while emotional-volitional processes and needs have remained outside of experimental research.

The concept of educational activity is the research of D. B. Elkonin and V. V. Davydov, in which a strategy for personality formation was developed not in laboratory conditions, but in real life - through the creation of experimental schools.

The strategy for the formation of mental processes is one of the achievements of Soviet child psychology. This is the most adequate strategy for the modern understanding of the subject of child psychology. Thanks to the strategy of forming mental processes, it is possible to penetrate into the essence of the child’s mental development. But this does not mean that other research methods can be neglected. Any science proceeds from a phenomenon to the discovery of its nature.

B) Classification of Ananyev's research methods B.G.:

1. Organizational: comparative, longitudinal and comprehensive;

2. Empirical: observational (observation and introspection), experiment (laboratory, field, natural), psychodiagnostic, analysis of processes and products of activity, modeling and biographical method.

3. Methods of data processing: mathematical and logical processing - quantitative (static) methods and qualitative analysis (description of cases, differentiation by groups).

4. Interpretive: genetic (vertical connections); and structural methods (classification, typology, etc.).

The essence of key parameters of mental development (conditions, sources, prerequisites, factors, characteristics, mechanisms of mental development).

Theories of child mental development in foreign psychology of the 20th century. Theories of Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, the concept of learning in behaviorism, the concept of Jean Piaget, concepts in Gestalt psychology and humanistic psychology

Z. Freud: The psychological approach to child development is the main source of psychological development - attraction and instincts. The discovery of the unconscious and the discovery of the sexual principle form the basis of the theoretical concept of psychoanalysis. In the personality model, he identified three main components: “It”, “I” and “Super-ego”. “It” is the most primitive component, the carrier of instincts, subject to the principle of pleasure. The “I” instance follows the principle of reality and takes into account the features of the external world. The “super-ego” serves as the bearer of moral standards. Since the demands on the “I” from the “Id”, “Super-Ego” and reality are incompatible, it is inevitable that he will remain in a situation of conflict. 3. Freud reduces all stages of mental development to stages of transformation and movement through various erogenous zones of libidinal, or sexual, energy. Oral stage (0-1 year). The main source of pleasure is concentrated in the area of ​​activity associated with feeding. Anal stage (1-3 years). Libido is concentrated around the anus, which becomes the object of attention of the child, accustomed to neatness. The phallic stage (3-5 years) characterizes the highest degree of childhood sexuality. The genital organs become the leading erogenous zone. Sexuality at this stage is objective and directed towards parents. Libidinal attachment to parents of the opposite sex 3. Freud called the Oedipus complex for boys and the Electra complex for girls. Latent stage (5-12 years). Decreased sexual interest. The energy of libido is transferred to the development of universal human experience. Genital stage (12-18 years). According to Z. Freud, a teenager strives for one goal - normal sexual communication, all erogenous zones are united. If normal sexual communication is difficult, then phenomena of fixation or regression to one of the previous stages can be observed.

Erik Erikson: E. Erikson's theory arose from the practice of psychoanalysis. Accepting Freud's personality structure, he created a psychoanalytic concept about the relationship between the self and society. Drawing attention to the role of the “I” in the development of personality, E. Erikson shifted the emphasis from “It” to “I”. In his opinion, the foundations of the human “I” are rooted in the social organization of society. He devotes his research mainly to socialization processes. The works of E. Erikson mark the beginning of a new path in the study of the psyche - the psychohistorical method, which is the application of psychoanalysis to history. This method requires equal attention to both the psychology of the individual and the nature of the society in which the person lives. E. Erikson conducted ethnographic field studies of child rearing in two Indian tribes and came to the conclusion that the style of motherhood is always determined by what exactly the social group to which he belongs expects from the child in the future. If an individual meets the expectations of society, he is included in it and vice versa. These considerations formed the basis of two important concepts of his concept - “group identity” and “ego identity”.

Group identity is formed due to the fact that from the first day of life, the upbringing of a child is focused on his inclusion in a given social group. Ego identity is formed in parallel with group identity and creates in the subject a sense of stability and continuity of his “I”, despite the changes that occur to a person in the process of his growth and development. E. Erikson identified the stages of a person’s life path, each of them is characterized by a specific task that is put forward by society. Infancy (oral) - trust - distrust. Early age (anal stage) - autonomy - doubt, shame. Age of play (phallic stage) - initiative - feeling of guilt. School age (latent stage) - achievement - inferiority. Adolescence (latent stage) - identity - diffusion of identity. Youth - intimacy - isolation. Maturity - creativity - stagnation. Old age - integration - disappointment in life. The formation of all forms of identity is accompanied by a development crisis.

The concept of learning in behaviorism: The subject of study is BEHAVIOR. At the center of the theory is the ENVIRONMENT, the influence of which shapes a person and is the source of his mental development. The mechanism of formation of connections between Stimulus and Reaction is the basis for explaining behavior.

Jean Piaget: Cognitive development theory - consists of the evolution of mental (psychic) ​​structures or ways of processing information. He identified mechanisms of adaptation to the environment: assimilation is when an individual adapts new information to his existing action patterns without changing them in principle; accommodation is a mechanism when an individual adapts his previously formed reactions to new information, that is, he is forced to rebuild old schemes.

Four stages of intelligence development: sensorimotor (0 to 2 years); preoperative (2 -7 -8 years); specific operations (7-8 to 11-12 years); Period of specific operations (2-11/12 years); period of formal operations (11-12 to 15 years). Within the framework of formal-logical intelligence, mental operations can be performed without relying on sensory perception of specific objects. The presence of this level of thinking allows teenagers to solve problems in their minds, as if “scrolling” in their heads all possible options for solving the problem, and only after that experimentally check the expected results.

Concepts in Gestalt psychology and humanistic psychology:

Gestalt psychology proceeded from the concept of “Gestalt”, an integral structure, and “the emergence of a structure is a spontaneous, instantaneous self-organization of material” in the process of perceiving or remembering material in accordance with the principles of similarity, proximity, “closedness”, operating independently of a person. good continuation", "good form" of the object of perception itself. That's why main task in education is learning to understand, embrace the whole, the general relationship of all parts of the whole, and such understanding comes as a result of the sudden emergence of a decision or insight - “insight”. Repeated meaningless repetition can only bring harm, Gestalt psychologist K. Koffka argued, it is necessary to first understand the essence of the action, its scheme or gestalt, and then repeat this action. Even learning by imitation does not occur through the method of blind, meaningless copying, but in humans predominantly “understanding of the model precedes the imitative action.” Koffka believed that skills such as speaking and writing could only be learned through imitation, and the learning situation was improved by the presence of a clear role model.

7. Cultural-historical concept of human mental development in the works of L.S. Vygotsky. The influence of education on development. Patterns of mental development.

Seven Years Crisis

Loss of childish spontaneity (mannering, clowning, antics - protective functions from traumatic experiences)

Generalization of experiences and the emergence of internal mental life

Challenging, disobedience, cunning, demonstrative “maturity” - the psychological meaning of these behavioral features is the awareness of the rules, in increasing the internal value of actions independently organized by the child himself

Need for social functioning

The child's behavior loses its childish spontaneity. Symptoms of the crisis include mannerisms, clowning, and antics of children, which perform protective functions from traumatic experiences. In preschool age, the child goes through a path from awareness of himself as a physically separate, independent individual to awareness of his feelings and experiences. These experiences are associated primarily with specific activities: “I draw great - I got the roundest apple,” “I can jump over puddles, I’m dexterous,” “I’m so clumsy, I always stumble when trying to catch up.” The child begins to navigate his feelings and experiences, relate to himself on the basis of a generalization of experiences.

But these are not the only signs of the onset of a crisis period. Other new behavioral characteristics that are clearly visible in the home situation:

The appearance of a pause between addressing the child and his response (“as if he doesn’t hear”, “needs to be repeated a hundred times”);

The appearance of a challenge on the part of the child to the need to fulfill a parental request or a delay in the time of its execution;

Disobedience as a refusal of usual activities and responsibilities;

Cunning as a violation of established rules in a hidden form (shows wet hands instead of washed ones);

Demonstrative “maturity”, sometimes even to the point of caricature, behavior;

Increased attention to one's appearance and clothing,

The main thing is not to look “small”.

There are also such manifestations as stubbornness, demandingness, reminders of promises, whims, an aggravated reaction to criticism and the expectation of praise. Positive points may include:

Interest in communicating with adults and introducing new topics into it (about politics, about life in other countries and on other planets, about moral and ethical principles, about school);

Independence in hobbies and in performing individual responsibilities undertaken by one’s own decision;

Reasonableness.

The psychological meaning of these behavioral features lies in the awareness of the rules, in increasing the internal value of the actions independently organized by the child himself. One of the main new formations is the need for social functioning, the ability to occupy a significant social position.

The main forms of helping a child overcome the difficulties of the crisis period of 7 years are an explanation of the causal basis of the requirements (why it is necessary to do something exactly this way and not otherwise); providing opportunities to implement new forms of independent activity; a reminder of the need to complete an assignment, an expression of confidence in the child’s ability to cope with it.

The “erasing” of symptoms of negative behavior and the lack of desire for independence at home slows down the formation of readiness for school learning.

29. Development of communication in primary school age. Psychological neoplasms of primary school age.

Educational institution

· Ineffectiveness of a particular pedagogical system– proposals are being made to make various changes to the educational process: the introduction of individual and group project activities for students, the use of the latest information technologies.

· Unclosed gap in education.

· Much depends on teacher's relationship with a failing student. A student’s reaction to a negative attitude towards him from teachers can be affective and acutely negative.

Lack of continuity

· It is important to establish continuity of transitions at all stages of the educational process, starting from the preschool stage. Then, in primary school, the most important skill is laid - the ability to learn, and basic educational operations are formed. As one moves from class to class, not only the student’s knowledge system becomes more complex. Basic study skills are also undergoing some transformation. This process must be controlled, which means you should become familiar with each stage of the child’s education.

Personality characteristics

· Taking into account the personal characteristics of a student is necessary when identifying the causes of academic failure and determining ways to combat it. Increased level anxiety, inadequate self-esteem, psychological defense mechanisms an underachieving student - all this not only affects grades, but also determines his attitude to this problem and the possibility of overcoming it.

Solutions:

· it is necessary to develop an adequate attitude of teachers, parents and children themselves to this problem. Special consultations, conversations, trainings, pedagogical and psychological literature can help with this.

· When working with underachieving children, you cannot focus only on shortcomings and defects. Each child, without exception, has strengths in addition to weaknesses. It is necessary to rely on them in the process of correctional work.

· Although grades serve as the main external indicator of educational success, they are not the goal in themselves. Individual attention is needed not only to the child’s school achievements, but also to his interests, hobbies, and learning potential.

· It is necessary to expand the repertoire of ways to combat academic failure. They often resort to punishment. At the same time, insufficient attention is paid to developing the child’s skills in analyzing his own mistakes.

Informal groups

Currently, associations of adolescents in informal groups have become more frequent, because for many adolescents, associations in informal groups and an antisocial lifestyle have become a unique form of protest against the usual way of life, guardianship from elders, and satisfaction of the need for communication outside the school system.

Group- this is a really existing formation in which people are brought together, united by some common characteristic, a type of joint activity, or placed in some identical conditions, circumstances, and in a certain way are aware of their belonging to this formation.

In each group, certain mores, customs, habits, and behavioral stereotypes are formed. They are internalized by its members and distinguish this group from others. The group, through its influence on individuals, directs them to achieve group goals and satisfies the adolescent’s need for protection and safety.

Depending on the ideological and moral orientation, style of behavior, informal groups can be classified into three groups:

1. Prosocial, that is, socially positive groups. These are socio-political clubs of international friendship, funds for social initiatives, groups for environmental protection and rescue of cultural monuments, club amateur associations and others. They tend to have a positive orientation;

2. Asocial, that is, groups standing apart from social problems;

3. Antisocial. These groups are the most disadvantaged part of society and cause concern. On the one hand, moral deafness, the inability to understand others, a different point of view, on the other hand, often the own pain and suffering that befalls this category of people contribute to the development of extreme views among its individual representatives

Participation in informal groups is a natural phenomenon for teenagers. It is explained by the following points:

Reorientation of communication with parents to peers, weakening the influence of the family;

Marginal social status (no longer a child, but not yet an adult), which contributes to instability, awkwardness, and anxiety in behavior;

The need to satisfy the teenager’s needs for communication, protection, solidarity in behavior;

The transition of forms of control from children to adults;

Difficulties of adolescence.

B.G. Ananyev: 2 phases

First phase: early adolescence (15-17 years old) characterized by the uncertainty of the young man’s position in society. At this age, the young man realizes that he is no longer a child, but at the same time not yet an adult.

Second phase: adolescence as such (18 - 25 years old)- the initial stage of maturity.

SSR: Yu-Yu

Significant for a senior student isstudy and choice of profession, life path, self-determination. The new social position changes the significance of teaching, its tasks, goals, and content. It is assessed in terms of its usefulness for the future. With age, the range of social roles with their rights and responsibilities expands, and social development becomes multidimensional.Boys and girls enter a qualitatively new social position, in which their conscious attitude towards themselves as a member of society is formed. They strive to gain independence, social maturity, and find their place in life.

VVD: Educational and professional. At senior school age, learning motives related to the professional and life self-determination of schoolchildren prevail. Knowledge is considered not as a value in itself, but as a means of obtaining a good profession that provides a high level of income .

The word “youth” denotes the phase of transition from dependent childhood to independent and responsible adulthood, which presupposes, on the one hand, the completion of physical, in particular sexual, maturation, and on the other, the achievement of social maturity. But in different societies it happens in different ways

In primitive societies, childhood ended early, education and training were predominantly practical in nature: children learned by participating in the form feasible for them in labor and other activities of adults.

In the Middle Ages, the transfer of experience accumulated by elders was carried out mainly through the direct practical inclusion of the child in the activities of adults.

The most important criterion for adulthood was the creation of one’s own family, which was associated with independence and responsibility.

New times have brought important social and psychological changes. Physical, in particular sexual, maturation has noticeably accelerated, forcing us to “lower” the boundaries adolescence.

New generations of young people begin independent working lives much later than their peers in the past, spend longer, and sit at school desks of different sizes.

The extension of youth has its own personal prerequisites, namely, the expansion of the sphere of conscious self-determination and an increase in its independence.

In modern times, the possibilities of individual choice - profession, wife, lifestyle - have expanded significantly. The psychological horizons of a person in the age of printing and mass communications are not limited by the framework of his immediate environment. Greater freedom of choice contributes to the formation of a more flexible social character and provides a greater variety of individual variations. But the flip side of this progress is the complication of the process of self-determination. The choice of possible paths is very large, and only practically, in the course of the activity itself, will it become clear whether it is suitable for a person or not.

Comparing different generations is difficult. In each generation there were, are and will be different people. In addition, people tend to make their own habits and tastes absolute, so external, secondary features often come to the fore.

36. Personality development and socialization in adolescence, the formation of a worldview. Basic psychological neoplasms.

In youth, in connection with the solution of the problem of professional self-determination, rapid personal development occurs, the manifestation of which is emerging worldview, generalized form of self-awareness, discovery of the Self, experienced in the form of a sense of one’s individual integrity and uniqueness.

As I. S. Kon points out, the central psychological process of adolescence is the development of self-awareness, which encourages the individual to measure all his aspirations and actions with certain principles and the image of his own self. The older and more mature the young man, the more his upbringing turns into self-education.

Optimal options personal development involve relative continuity of the past, present and future self combined with productive progressive change, which is not just a movement in the time of life, but an ascent to new qualities; At the same time, a sign of development, as opposed to simply change, is the resolution of certain value-semantic contradictions. In cases where the process of growing up occurs in crisis forms, the dynamics of the Self take on other forms.

An essential feature of adolescence is negative attitude towards imposed authorities, only well-founded argumentation can convince them of the merits of a particular figure. At the same time it may appear "falling in love" with an adult, who managed, with some of his qualities, to attract the young man to himself and conquer him.

In youth they receive intensive development of a variety of feelings. Intensify and become more conscious aesthetic experiences, is receiving new development call of Duty, feeling moral indignation, sympathy for another's misfortune, his grief, elation from a good deed, joy from meeting a work of art, excitement, sadness, young man experiencing the joy of first love, under the influence of which he becomes even better and more humane. Thus, the young man acquires that emotional experience, that “fund” of emotional experiences that he will have significance for its future development. This means that psychologically the paths will already be prepared for receiving significant emotional impressions in other conditions.

Due to the fact that in adolescence, group contacts usually involve competition, the struggle for position and authority, along with the development of companionship, adolescence is characterized by an intense search for friendship as a selective, strong and deep emotional attachment.

Persons of adolescence are already They differentiate well between friendship and camaraderie. Friendly relationships are characterized by great selectivity and resistance to external, situational factors. The latter is explained by a general increase in the stability of interests and preferences with age, as well as the development of intelligence, as a result of which the child’s ability to integrate conflicting information increases, relegating particulars to the background. It is for this reason that, in the sphere of interpersonal relationships, boys and girls are much more tolerant and flexible compared to younger people.

Friendship is a form of emotional attachment. Real or implied personal closeness is more important to her than a commonality of subject interests. Being multifunctional in nature, youthful friendship is characterized by a variety of forms: from simple time spent together to the deepest self-disclosure.

Youthful friendship, as the first, independently chosen, deep individual attachment, not only anticipates love, but partly includes it. At the same time, its structure is dominated by the need to be in agreement with oneself, uncompromisingness, and the thirst for complete and reckless self-disclosure.

Theories of aging and old age.

Old age as a social problem. In the theory of dissociation, the process of consistent destruction of social ties is considered inevitable. The phenomenon of dissociation is expressed in a change in motivation, in a focus on the inner world and a decline in communication. Objectively, “dissociation” manifests itself in the loss of previous social roles, deterioration of health, decrease in income, loss or distance of loved ones.

Old age as a biological problem. Aging is viewed as a biologically programmed process (“programmed aging”) or as a result of damage to the body’s cells (“non-programmed aging”).

Old age as a cognitive problem. Inhibition theory suggests that older people become less skilled because they have difficulty processing external information. The disuse theory links the decline of intellectual skills in later life to underuse.

Determining the chronological boundaries of the onset of old age is very difficult, since the range of individual differences in the appearance of signs of aging is enormous. These signs are expressed in a gradual decrease in the functional capabilities of the human body. However, old age should be characterized not only from a negative side, highlighting the decline of certain abilities in comparison with maturity. It is necessary to establish qualitative differences in the psyche of an elderly person, to identify and show the features of mental development occurring against the background of deteriorating psychophysiology, in conditions of involutional changes in the nervous system.

Developmental psychology as a science: tasks, sections and main problems. Subject of developmental psychology.

Developmental psychology as a science

An object

A developing, normal, healthy person changing in ontogenesis

Item

Age periods of development, causes and mechanisms of transition from one age period to another, general patterns and trends, pace and direction of mental development in ontogenesis

Theoretical Tasks (problems)

The problem of driving forces, sources and mechanisms of mental development throughout a person’s life path

The problem of periodization of mental development in ontogenesis

The problem of age-related characteristics and patterns of mental processes

The problem of age-related capabilities, characteristics, patterns of implementation of various types of activities,

knowledge acquisition

The problem of age-related personality development, etc.

Practical problems

Determination of age norms of mental functions, identification of psychological resources and human creative potential

Age and clinical diagnosis

Monitoring the progress of children’s mental development, providing assistance to parents in problematic situations

Psychological support, assistance during periods of crisis in a person’s life

Organization of the educational process for people of all age categories, etc.

Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology that studies issues of mental development in ontogenesis, patterns of transition from one period of mental development to another based on changes in types of leading activity. The content of developmental psychology is determined by the fact that it deals with a special unit of analysis - age, or the period of development. Age is characterized by those specific tasks of mastering forms of culture that are solved by a person, as well as qualitatively new types of activity and corresponding psychological new formations that arise at a given stage of development and determine a person’s consciousness, his attitude towards himself and the world around him as a whole. Thus, developmental psychology strives to reveal the psychological content of ages throughout human ontogenesis from birth to old age.

Developmental psychology emerged as an independent field of knowledge by the end of the 19th century. Having emerged as child psychology, developmental psychology was for a long time limited to the study of the patterns of mental development of a child, but the demands of modern society, new achievements of psychological science, which made it possible to consider each age from a developmental perspective, made obvious the need for a holistic analysis of the ontogenetic process and interdisciplinary research. Currently, the branches of developmental psychology are: child psychology (studying the patterns of stages of mental development from infancy to adolescence inclusive), psychology of youth, psychology of adulthood and gerontopsychology (psychology of old age).

The most important principle of developmental psychology is the principle of historicism, which makes it necessary, in revealing the psychological content of the stages of ontogenesis, to study the connection between the history of childhood and other stages of development with the history of society. The historical principle of developmental psychology also manifests itself in the fact that the chronological framework and characteristics of each age are not static - they are determined by the action of socio-historical factors, the social order of society.

A historical analysis of the concept of “childhood” is given in the works of P. P. Blonsky, L. S. Vygotsky, D. B. Elkonin, where the reasons are revealed why, under similar natural conditions, the level of mental development that a child achieves at each historical stage of society, not the same. Childhood is a period that lasts from newborn to full social and, therefore, psychological maturity; This is the period of a child becoming a full-fledged member of human society. Moreover, the duration of childhood in primitive society is not equal to the duration of childhood in the Middle Ages or in our days. The stages of human childhood are a product of history and are as subject to change as they were thousands of years ago. Therefore, it is impossible to study a child’s childhood and the laws of its formation outside the development of human society and the laws that determine its development. The duration of childhood is directly dependent on the level of material and spiritual culture of society. The course of a child’s mental development, according to L. S. Vygotsky, does not obey the eternal laws of nature, the laws of maturation of the organism. The course of child development in a class society, he believed, “has a completely definite class meaning.” That is why he emphasized that there is no eternally childish, but only historically childish.

The question of the historical origin of periods of childhood, the connection between the history of childhood and the history of society, the history of childhood as a whole, without solving which it is impossible to formulate a meaningful concept of childhood, was posed in child psychology in the late 20s of the 20th century and continues to be developed to this day. . According to the views of Soviet psychologists, studying child development historically means studying the child’s transition from one age stage to another, studying the change in his personality within each age period that occurs in specific historical conditions.

In modern developmental psychology, the historical analysis of the concept of “childhood” is most fully given in the concept of D. I. Feldstein, who considers childhood as a socio-psychological phenomenon of society and a special state of development.

In the concept of D. I. Feldshtein, a meaningful psychological analysis of the system of interaction of functional connections that determines the social state of Childhood in its general understanding in a particular society is given, and also ways are found to resolve the issue of what connects different periods of Childhood, which ensures the general state of Childhood , which brings him into another state - into Adulthood.

Defining childhood as a phenomenon of the social world, D. I. Feldshtein identifies the following characteristics.

Functionally - Childhood appears as an objectively necessary state in the dynamic system of society, the state of the process of maturation of the younger generation and therefore preparation for the reproduction of the future society.

In its substantive definition, it is a process of constant physical growth, the accumulation of mental new formations, the development of social space, reflection on all relationships in this space, defining oneself in it, one’s own self-organization, which occurs in the constantly expanding and increasingly complex contacts of the child with adults and other children ( younger, peers, older), the adult community as a whole.

Essentially - Childhood is a form of manifestation, a special state of social development, when biological patterns associated with age-related changes in the child largely manifest their effect, “submitting,” however, to an increasing extent to the regulating and determining action of the social.

And the meaning of all meaningful changes lies not only in the child’s acquisition and appropriation of social norms (which, as a rule, is the main focus), but in the very development of social, social properties, qualities that are characteristic of human nature. In practice, this is achieved in achieving a certain level of socialization, which is typical for a specific historical society, more broadly - for a specific historical time, but at the same time it is also a state of development of that social level that characterizes a person of a certain era, in this case a modern person* At the same time As the child grows older, the social principle more and more actively determines the characteristics of the child’s functioning and the content of the development of his individuality.

Being a complex, independent organism, Childhood represents an integral part of society, acting as a special generalized subject of multifaceted, diverse relationships in which it objectively sets tasks and goals for interaction with adults, determining the directions of their activities with it, and develops its own socially significant World.

According to D.I. Feldstein, the main, internal goal of Childhood in general and each child in particular is growing up - mastering, appropriating, realizing adulthood. But this same goal - the maturation of children, which subjectively has a different focus - to ensure this maturation - is the main one for the Adult world.

The attitude of the Adult community towards Childhood, regardless of the definition of its upper limit, is characterized primarily by stability - this is an attitude towards a special state, as a phenomenon located outside the adult sphere of life. The author of the concept considers the problem of the attitude of the Adult community to Childhood in a broad socio-cultural context and socio-historical plan and highlights the position of the Adult World towards Childhood not as a collection of children of different ages - outside the Adult World (who need to be raised, educated, trained), but as the subject of interaction, as a special state of its own, which society passes through in its constant reproduction. This is not a “social nursery,” but a social state unfolded over time, ranked by density, structures, forms of activity, etc., in which children and adults interact.

D.I. Feldshtein emphasizes the importance of the position that adults take in relation to children in general. This is a position of responsibility that includes a wide range of components - from caring for offspring to striving to ensure a normal future for humanity. But in all cases, this is the position of an intermediary in the child’s mastery of the social world, an intermediary without whom the transition of children to the World of Adults is unthinkable.

However, the author of the concept notes, in fulfilling his mediating role, an adult always takes a very specific position in relation to children - leading, organizing, teaching and practically treats the child as an object of influence, and not as a subject of relations. D. I. Feldshtein emphasizes the importance and psychological prospects of studying the problem of interaction between Adults and children and the disclosure at the socio-psychological level of the functional load of Adults in relation to Childhood.

A progressively directed change in the capabilities and needs of children in a stable sequence (objectively set by biological capabilities and the level of social development) of periods, stages, phases of development, fulfilling the single goal of growing up before moving into a new environment of relationships and connections, appears as a special, developing system of Childhood, which is a subsystem Society, an active, moving part of a single society. And the main meaning, the idea of ​​this development is the fulfillment of the goal of growing up, in which both Childhood and Adulthood converge, and awareness, and mastery, and implementation by the growing individual Social World in its specific historical representation through the system of interaction with the World of Adults.

In modern developmental psychology, we will extend historical analysis not only to Childhood as a socio-psychological phenomenon of society, but also to Youth, Maturity, and Old Age. However, until recently, these ages were outside the sphere of current interests of developmental psychology (age psychology), since Maturity was considered as the age of “psychological fossilization”, and Old Age - as the age of total extinction. Thus, developing physically and socially, an adult person was, as it were, excluded from the development process in its socio-psychological meaning and from the history of the development of the specific person himself as a really active subject, the development of his consciousness, self-awareness, and other personal qualities.

The actualization of the interest of developmental psychology in the study of the periods of Maturity and Old Age is associated with the humanization of society and the beginning of the revival and active development of acmeology (declared in the works of B. G. Ananyev) as a science about the period of maximum flowering of personal growth, the highest moment of manifestation of spiritual forces. These trends and scientific approaches have significantly changed the modern situation of understanding the Adult, opening up a new space for a person, emphasizing the importance of studying the main points of his creative self-development. As D.I. Feldshtein points out, these important and promising directions should in the future reveal the problem of the Adult in development and the problem of his development, which is only possible if all stages of ontogenesis are considered in unity, and old age, including extreme , will be studied as a moment of the individual path. In knowing an adult and understanding his personal characteristics, taking into account the historical situation becomes important. Modern man has not only acquired new possibilities of choice, a new level of self-awareness (the existing studies of individuals from antiquity - A.F. Losev, the Middle Ages - Ya. A. Gurevich, etc. indicate a complex path for a person to acquire personality), but the tasks that have now arisen at the turn millennia, require further development from him in terms of developing relationships, deepening self-determination,

"general maturation" And constantly growing opportunities (determined by the achievements of science, technology, medicine, information technology, etc.) determine a new situation for the development of an adult, expanding the boundaries of his life. And in this regard, the problem of old age, the problem of an elderly person, acquires special significance.

Among the individual branches of developmental psychology, gerontology is the “youngest” area of ​​research. It is now that old ideas about old age are being broken. Its two aspects are increasingly differentiated - physical and psychological. Old age is a natural stage in human development, and the possibilities of extending human life, including through the internal self-development of the individual himself and the development of his psychological resistance against aging, are becoming more and more obvious.

The definition of developmental psychology as the doctrine of periods of psychological development and personality formation in ontogenesis, their changes and transitions from one age to another, as well as the historical analysis of successive stages of ontogenesis indicate that the subject of developmental psychology has changed historically. Currently, the subject of developmental psychology is the disclosure of general patterns of mental development in ontogenesis, the establishment of age periods, the formation and development of activity, consciousness and personality and the reasons for the transition from one period to another, which is impossible without taking into account the influence of cultural, historical, ethnic factors on the individual development of a person. and socio-economic conditions.

The tasks of developmental psychology are broad and multifaceted. Currently, this branch of psychology has acquired the status of a scientific and practical discipline, and therefore, among its tasks, theoretical and practical tasks should be highlighted. Theoretical tasks of developmental psychology include the study of the basic psychological criteria and characteristics of Childhood, Youth, Adulthood (Maturity), Old Age as social phenomena and successive states of society, the study of the age-related dynamics of mental processes and personal development depending on cultural-historical, ethnic and social -economic* conditions, various types of education and training, research into differential psychological differences (sexually mature and typological properties of a person), research into the process of growing up in its entirety and diverse manifestations.

The scientific and practical tasks facing developmental psychology include the creation of a methodological basis for monitoring the progress, usefulness of content and conditions of mental development at different stages of ontogenesis, the organization of optimal forms of activity and communication in childhood and adolescence, as well as the organization of psychological assistance during periods age crises, in adulthood and old age.

2. Subject of developmental and age psychology.

3. Tasks of developmental psychology (L. Montada and others).

6. Current problems of developmental psychology at the present stage.

7. Characteristics of childhood according to D. I. Feldstein.

8. Interdisciplinary connections between developmental and developmental psychology.

11. Areas of development.

1. The concept of developmental psychology and age psychology.

Modern psychology is a branched system of scientific disciplines, among which a special place is occupied by developmental psychology or, more correctly, the psychology of human development associated with the study age-related dynamics of the development of the human psyche, ontogenesis of mental processes and psychological qualities of the personality of a person qualitatively changing over time.

The concept of developmental psychology in principle already concepts of developmental psychology, since development here is considered only as a function or chronological age, or age period; focuses on age characteristics psyche.

Developmental psychology is associated not only with the study of the age stages of human ontogenesis, but also considers various processes of macro- and micropsychic development in general, and studies the process of mental development itself. Therefore, strictly speaking, developmental psychology can only be a part of developmental psychology, although sometimes they are used interchangeably.

2. Subject of developmental and age psychology.

Two sources fuel developmental psychology. On the one hand, these are the explanatory principles of biology and evolutionary theory, on the other, methods of socio-cultural influence on the course of development.

The definition of developmental psychology as the doctrine of periods of psychological development and personality formation in ontogenesis, their changes and transitions from one age to another, as well as the historical analysis of successive stages of ontogenesis indicate that the subject of developmental psychology has changed historically. Currently, the subject of developmental psychology is the disclosure of general patterns of mental development in ontogenesis, the establishment of age periods, the formation and development of activity, consciousness and personality and the reasons for the transition from one period to another, which is impossible without taking into account the influence of cultural, historical, ethnic factors on the individual development of a person. and socio-economic conditions.

Components subject of developmental psychology are:

- changes that occur in the psyche and behavior of a person during the transition from one age to another;

In this case, the changes may be different:

Quantitative (increasing vocabulary, memory capacity...)

Evolutionary - accumulate gradually, smoothly, slowly;

Qualitative (complication of grammatical constructs in speech - from situational speech to monologue, from involuntary to voluntary attention)

Revolutionary - deeper, occur quickly (leap in development), appear at the turn of periods;

Situational - associated with a specific social environment, its influence on the child; unstable, reversible and need to be fixed;

- concept of age- is defined as a specific combination of a person’s psyche and behavior.

Age or age period is a cycle of child development that has its own structure and dynamics. Psychological age (L.S. Vygotsky) is a qualitatively unique period of mental development, characterized primarily by the appearance of a new formation, which is prepared by the entire course of previous development.

Psychological age may not be the same as an individual child's chronological age as recorded on their birth certificate and subsequently in their passport. The age period has certain boundaries. But these chronological boundaries can shift, and one child will enter a new age period earlier, and another later. The boundaries of adolescence, associated with the puberty of children, “float” especially strongly.

- patterns, mechanisms and driving forces of mental development;

- childhood- the subject of developmental psychology according to Obukhova - a period of enhanced development, change and learning.

3. Tasks of developmental psychology.

Tasks and functions of developmental psychology broad and multifaceted. Currently, this branch of psychology has acquired the status of a scientific and practical discipline, and therefore, among its tasks, theoretical and practical tasks should be highlighted. Theoretical tasks of developmental psychology include the study of the basic psychological criteria and characteristics of Childhood, Youth, Adulthood (Maturity), Old Age as social phenomena and successive states of society, the study of the age-related dynamics of mental processes and personal development depending on cultural-historical, ethnic and social -economic conditions, various types of education and training, research into differential psychological differences (sexually mature and typological properties of a person), research into the process of growing up in its entirety and diverse manifestations.

The scientific and practical tasks facing developmental psychology include the creation of a methodological basis for monitoring the progress, usefulness of content and conditions of mental development at different stages of ontogenesis, the organization of optimal forms of activity and communication in childhood and adolescence, as well as the organization of psychological assistance during periods age crises, in adulthood and old age.

L. Montada suggests identifying 6 main tasks related to the scope of application of developmental psychology in practice.

1. Orientation in life's path. This task involves answering the question “what do we have?”, i.e. determining the level of development. The sequence of age-related changes in the form of a description of quantitative developmental functions or qualitative stages of development is a classic issue in developmental psychology.

On this basis, statistical age groups are built. development standards, thanks to which it is possible to give a general assessment of the progress of development both in individual cases and in relation to various educational and educational issues. So, for example, knowing what tasks 7-year-old children solve independently, one can determine whether a particular child is below, above, or on par with the norm. At the same time, it is possible to determine whether the educational and educational requirements correspond to this standard of independence.

2. Determining the conditions of development and change. This task involves answering the question “how did this arise?”, i.e. what are the causes and conditions that led to this level of development. Explanatory models of developmental psychology are focused primarily on the analysis of the ontogenesis of personality traits and its disorders, taking into account attitudes, the developmental environment, interaction with educators, special events, and also, as an ideal case, the interaction of all these variables.

At the same time, psychologists are interested not so much in the short-term as in the long-term influence of development factors. The cumulative nature of the influence of development factors and the discrete nature of cause-and-effect relationships are also taken into account. Knowledge of the conditions makes it possible to delay developmental disruptions (prevention) and make appropriate decisions to optimize the progress of development. Of particular importance for obtaining the required effect is determining the correspondence of development conditions and possible intervention options to the current level of development of the individual and his personal properties.

3. Prediction of stability and variability of personality properties. This task involves answering the question “what will happen if..?”, i.e. forecast not only of the course of development, but also of the intervention measures taken. Many activities in the practice of educational work - explicitly or implicitly - imply a forecast of further development. For example, the right to care for a child after the parents’ divorce is retained by the mother only if it is considered that this will be best for the further development of the child. To make such predictions, knowledge is needed about the stability or instability of the properties and conditions of development of both the individual himself and the individual in the group. Due to the numerous factors involved, such psychological forecasts are often erroneous.

4. Explanation of development and correction goals. This task involves answering the question “what should be?”, i.e. determines what is possible, real, and what should be excluded. As an empirical science, developmental psychology, in contrast to pedagogy, neutral in relation to social order, public and personal opinion. Therefore, she is able and obliged to resist them if this contradicts established facts and laws. At the same time, it performs the function of justifying certain proposals and projects if they are consistent with its knowledge. And finally, she initiates the correction of already made decisions if research shows them to be unfounded. A falsely established norm of development leads to significant distortions in the practice of educational work.

5. Planning corrective measures. This task involves answering the question “how can goals be achieved?”, i.e. what needs to be done to get the expected effect from the intervention. So, corrective measures are needed only if the set development goals have not been achieved, if the development tasks have not been mastered, or if there is a fact that the development conditions lead to an undesirable course.

Here it is necessary to distinguish:

1) the development goals of the individual himself;

2) the development potential of the individual himself;

3) social requirements for development;

4) development opportunities.

Accordingly, corrective measures should be differentiated according to their purpose. Often there is a discrepancy between these goals, which should be the object of correction. The purpose of planned correction may be the prevention of developmental disorders, correction of development, or optimization of developmental processes. In any case, informed decisions must be made about when an intervention is likely to be successful, where it should be applied, and which method should be selected.

6. Assessment of developmental correction. This task involves answering the question “what did this lead to?”, i.e. what did the corrective measures achieve? Modern developmental psychology refrains from hastily assessing the effectiveness of certain correctional interventions. She believes that a true assessment can only be obtained through long-term observation of an individual, during which both positive effects and side effects must be established. It is also believed that the assessment of effectiveness is largely determined by the scientific paradigm that the psychologist adheres to.

4. The main functions of developmental and age psychology.

Like any science, developmental psychology has the functions descriptions, explanations, forecasts, corrections. In relation to a certain area of ​​research (in our case - to mental development), these functions act as specific scientific tasks, those. the general goals that science seeks to achieve.

Description of development presupposes the presentation of the phenomenology of development processes in its entirety (from the point of view of external behavior and internal experiences). Unfortunately, much in developmental psychology is at the level of description.

To explain development means to identify the causes, factors and conditions that led to changes in behavior and experience. The explanation is based on a pattern of cause-and-effect relationships, which can be strictly unambiguous (which is extremely rare), probabilistic (statistical, with varying degrees of deviation) or completely absent. It can be single (which is very rare) or multiple (which is usually the case in the study of development).

If an explanation answers the question “why did this happen?”, revealing the reasons for an existing effect and identifying the factors that caused it, then the forecast answers the question “what will this lead to?”, pointing to the consequences that follow from this cause. Thus, if in the explanation of development thought moves from effect to cause, then in the development forecast we go from cause to effect. This means that when explaining the changes that have occurred, the study begins with their description and continues with the transition to a description of possible causes and their connection with the changes that have occurred.

When making a forecast, the study also begins with a description of the changes that have occurred, but they are no longer considered as a consequence, but as a cause of possible changes, the description of which must be compiled. The development forecast is always hypothetical nature, since it is based on explanation, on establishing connections between the resulting effect and possible causes. If this connection is established, then the fact of its existence allows us to assume that the totality of identified causes will necessarily entail a consequence. This, in fact, is the meaning of the forecast.

If there is a description of the development creating his image in the mind of the researcher, the explanation is networking consequences with possible causes, and the development forecast - prediction it, based on already established cause-and-effect relationships, then developmental correction is managing it through changing possible causes. And since development is a branching process that has nodes of qualitative and lines of quantitative changes, the possibilities of correction are theoretically unlimited. The restrictions are imposed here to a greater extent by the possibilities of description, explanation and prediction, which provide information about the nature of the processes taking place and the nature of the object as a whole. It is important to note the special place of developmental prognosis and correction in solving applied problems of developmental psychology.

The result of description, explanation, forecast and correction is model or theory development.

There is no doubt that one of the main questions of the theory of individual human development is precisely the question of the relationship between age, typological and individual characteristics of a person, and the changing and contradictory relationships between them. Individual development with age acquires an increasingly unique and individualized character.

When studying age dynamics, the characteristics of individual periods and the relationships between them, one cannot abstract from a person’s life path, the history of his individual development in various social connections and mediations. Common age periods of life for all people (from infancy to old age) are characterized by relatively constant signs of somatic and neuropsychic development.

Developmental psychology studies how people's behavior and experiences change as they age. Although most developmental theories focus on childhood, their ultimate goal is to uncover patterns of development throughout a person's life. The study, description and explanation of these patterns determines the range of tasks that developmental psychology solves.

5. Sections of developmental psychology and their features.

Structure of developmental and age psychology:

Developmental psychology studies the process of development of mental functions and personality throughout a person’s life.

There are 3 sections of developmental psychology:

1. Child psychology (from birth to 17 years);

2. Psychology of adults, mature ages;

3. Gerontology or psychology of old age.

In the West, interest in the study of childhood (we are talking about the period from approximately 7 years to adolescence) arose only after the end of the industrial revolution in the 19th century. However, long before this, early childhood was considered as a separate period of the life cycle. At the moment when changes in the economic organization of society caused by the industrial revolution began to occur (such as the migration of people from rural areas to cities), a favorable period began for the study of childhood.

The Industrial Revolution meant that factory workers needed basic literacy and numeracy skills that could only be acquired through general primary education. Thus, research into the child's psyche received a powerful impetus, since it was they who could make education more effective. There is no doubt that other social factors (such as increased prosperity, improved hygiene, increased control over childhood diseases) also contributed to a shift in focus towards childhood.

Adolescence, as a separate stage between childhood and adulthood, has also been identified and described in a system of biological, historical and cultural changes. The distinctive biological characteristics of adolescence provided visible landmarks to distinguish this phase of the life cycle. However, it became an object of research in developmental psychology only in the 20th century, when Western society reached a level of well-being that made it possible to remove economic responsibility from the adolescent. This made it possible to delay the entry of adolescents into working life and at the same time increase the time required to obtain an education.

In modern developmental psychology, we will extend historical analysis not only to Childhood as a socio-psychological phenomenon of society, but also to Youth, Maturity, and Old Age. However, until recently, these ages were outside the sphere of current interests of developmental psychology (age psychology), since Maturity was considered as the age of “psychological fossilization”, and Old Age - as the age of total extinction. Thus, developing physically and socially, an adult person was, as it were, excluded from the development process in its socio-psychological meaning and from the history of the development of the specific person himself as a really active subject, the development of his consciousness, self-awareness, and other personal qualities.

Development in adulthood - life path - only recently has it become the object of research. Social and medical achievements, which have made it possible to live to a very old age and to live long enough after the end of active work, have drawn attention to the problems and real opportunities of older people. Therefore, the question arose about the psychology of aging, also addressed to developmental psychology.

The actualization of the interest of developmental psychology in the study of the periods of Maturity and Old Age is associated with the humanization of society and the beginning of the revival and active development of acmeology (declared in the works of B. G. Ananyev) as a science about the period of maximum flowering of personal growth, the highest moment of manifestation of spiritual forces. These trends and scientific approaches have significantly changed the modern situation of understanding the Adult, opening up a new space for a person, emphasizing the importance of studying the main points of his creative self-development.

Sociology and social disciplines. These sciences acquire their significance for developmental psychology both through certain theoretical premises (role theory, socialization theory, theories of the formation of attitudes and norms, etc.), and through the analysis of the processes of social interaction in the family, school, group of same-age children, and also through research into the socio-economic conditions of development.

Psychological disciplines. The sciences of the psychological cycle are most closely related to developmental psychology. Sciences united by the name "General Psychology" allow us to better understand the mental processes of motivation, emotions, cognition, learning, etc. Pedagogical psychology connects developmental psychology to pedagogical practice, processes of training and education.

Clinical (medical) psychology helps to understand the development of children with disorders of various aspects of the psyche and connects with developmental psychology along the lines of child psychotherapy, psychoprophylaxis, and mental hygiene. Psychodiagnostics goes hand in hand with developmental psychology in the field of adaptation and application of diagnostic techniques in the comparative analysis of intellectual, personal, etc. development and to determine age norms of development. It is possible to discover connections between developmental psychology and psychology of creativity and heuristic processes(in the line of gifted and developmentally advanced children); psychology of individual differences, etc.

In recent years, the volume of interaction between developmental psychology and pathopsychology(oligophrenopsychology, childhood neuroses) and defectology (work with hearing-impaired and visually impaired children, children with mental retardation, etc.). One can find the merging of developmental psychology with psychogenetics, psycholinguistics, psychosemiotics, ethnopsychology, demography, philosophy, etc. Almost all progressive and interesting work in developmental psychology, as a rule, is carried out at the intersection of disciplines.

Over the long period of its existence, developmental psychology has assimilated general psychological methods observation and experiment, applying them to the study of human development at different age levels. Developmental psychology is closely related to other areas of psychology: general psychology, human psychology, social, pedagogical And differential psychology. As is known, in general psychology mental functions are studied - perception, thinking, speech, memory, attention, imagination. In developmental psychology, the process of development of each mental function at different age stages is traced.

IN human psychology such personal formations as motivation, self-esteem and level of aspirations, value orientations, worldview, etc. are considered, and developmental psychology answers the questions of when these formations appear in a child, what are their characteristics at a certain age. The connection between developmental psychology and social psychology shows the dependence of the child’s development and behavior on the characteristics of the groups to which he belongs: the family, kindergarten group, school class, teenage groups. Developmental and educational psychology seem to look at the process of interaction between a child and an adult from different sides: developmental psychology from the point of view of the child, pedagogical psychology from the point of view of the educator, teacher.

In addition to age-related patterns of development, there are also individual differences that are studied. differential psychology: Children of the same age may have different levels of intelligence and different personality traits. Developmental psychology studies age-related patterns that are common to all children. But at the same time, possible deviations in one direction or another from the general lines of development are also noted. In addition to the sciences of the psychological cycle, developmental psychology is associated with philosophy, anatomy, physiology, and pedagogy.

9. Definition of the concept of development.

Developmental psychology as subject studies the natural changes of a person over time and the related facts and phenomena of mental life. Almost all researchers agree that development can be defined as change over time: the idea of ​​change and its course in time undeniable. Another thing is to answer questions What And How changes. This is where the differences begin. (Sapogova E.E., 2001)

Development as growth. Such an understanding is almost never found in modern science. Under height process is understood quantitative changes (accumulations) external signs object measured in height, length, width, thickness, weight, etc. This means that, firstly, growth is just one of the aspects of development, i.e. remain and other; secondly, that growth is only external an indicator of development that says nothing about its essence; thirdly, growth can only be quantitative characteristics of development.

Development as maturation. This definition of development is used primarily in everyday thinking. Under maturation refers to reduction, curtailment of development to morphological changes, occurring under the direct control of the genetic apparatus. This means that such a definition exaggerates the importance of biological heredity and, accordingly, understates the importance of other aspects of development.

Development as improvement. This definition is often used in pedagogy and is teleological character, those. it initially assumes the presence of a goal (teleo), which is a certain "perfect" those. the best, exemplary, ideal form of development. In this case, firstly, it is not clear Who such a goal can be set: is it externally(God, education, external environment) or internally given (through the hereditary apparatus). And secondly, it's not clear why exactly like this the form of development should be considered as the best, most perfect, and not any other (who sets the criteria for “perfection”?).

Development as universal change. One of the criteria for determining development is the requirement generality, universality changes taking place. It means that the same changes must take place among people of different cultures, religions, languages, and levels of development. While this requirement is clearly obvious, it turns out to be not feasible. Firstly, it is impossible to really establish which changes are classified as general, universal, and which are considered as particular. And, secondly, with such an approach, a large mass of particular changes will generally be denied consideration as a subject of developmental psychology.

Development as a qualitative, structural change. The definition of development through qualitative changes is associated with understanding the object as systems. If the definition is based on the essential improvement(deterioration) of its structure, then we thereby return to the definition of development through improvement, maintaining its shortcomings. The only difference is that the subject of improvement is narrowed. If the question of improvement (deterioration) is not raised, then it is not clear where development is directed. And finally, if earlier we were talking about improving the object as a whole, now it’s only about improving only it structures. In other words, the quantitative measure of improvement is excluded and only the qualitative one is retained.

Development as a quantitative and qualitative change. In the previous case, the qualitative nature of the changes was taken as a basis, and the quantitative nature was leveled out. However, the very idea of ​​their connection is present in all versions of definitions. So, for example, growth can be considered as a quantitative change, but it also contains some qualitative transitions. Maturation is closer to a qualitative change, but it also contains a quantitative aspect. Limiting only quantitative changes, we take an unconditional step back in understanding development. However, by excluding quantitative changes from the definition of development, we lose the opportunity to establish what caused these qualitative changes themselves.

Development as change entailing new changes. Dissatisfaction with existing definitions of development stimulated the search and emergence of new ideas. So, G.-D. Schmidt postulates a close, existential connection between the changes that follow one after another. A. Flammer writes that development should be considered only those changes that entail new changes (“avalanche of changes”). This definition carries the idea evolutionary continuity changes.

Developmental changes may be:

1) quantitative / qualitative;

2) continuous / discrete, discontinuous;

3) universal / individual;

4) reversible / irreversible;

5) targeted / undirected;

6) isolated / integrated;

7) progressive (evolutionary) / regressive (involutionary).

In addition, development can be considered in different time dimensions, forming changes at the phylo-, anthropo-, onto- and micro levels.

10. Categories of development: growth, maturation, differentiation.

For a general integral characteristic of development processes, categories are used that relate not to individual characteristics, but to development as a whole. These are the categories of growth, maturation, differentiation, learning, imprinting, socialization (cultural sociogenesis).

Height. Changes that occur during development can be quantitative or qualitative. An increase in body height or an increase in vocabulary represent quantitative changes. Physiological changes at the age of puberty or gaining an understanding of the polysemy of words in sayings are, on the contrary, qualitative changes. Therefore, in the paired category “quantity - quality,” the concept of growth refers to the quantitative aspect of development.

Growth represents only a separate aspect of the course of development, namely, a one-dimensional quantitative consideration of development processes. Considering development in terms of growth means limiting ourselves to the study of purely quantitative changes, when knowledge, skills, memory, content of feelings, interests, etc. are considered only from the point of view of the increase in their volume.

Maturation. The maturational approach to development has dominated psychology for quite some time. Biological maturation usually includes all processes that occur spontaneously under the influence of endogenously programmed, i.e. hereditarily determined and internally controlled growth impulses.

Such processes include physical changes that are important for mental development - maturation of the brain, nervous and muscular systems, endocrine glands, etc. Based on the psychophysical unity of man, i.e. connections between somatic and mental processes, biologically oriented models of development represented mental development by analogy with anatomical and physiological maturation as an internally regulated maturation process.

Maturation is usually spoken of when past experience, learning or exercise (exogenous factors) do not have an influence (or have an insignificant effect) on the nature of the changes that occur.

Along with the limitation of external development conditions, a number of signs are identified that indicate the presence of maturation processes:

1) similarity of occurrence and course;

2) occurrence at a strictly defined age;

3) catch-up;

4) irreversibility.

Differentiation. If we understand development as the dependence of qualitative changes on maturation, then it is necessary to turn to the concept of differentiation. In a narrow sense, differentiation means the progressive separation of heterogeneous parts from the original undifferentiated whole, following the example of such somatic processes as cell division and the formation of tissues and organs.

It leads to an increase, on the one hand, in structural complexity, and on the other, to variability and flexibility of behavior. This also includes increasing diversity, specialization and autonomy of individual structures and functions. In a broad sense, differentiation simply means the general content of the progressive fragmentation, expansion and structuring of mental functions and modes of behavior.

11. Areas of development.

Development occurs in three areas: physical, cognitive and psychosocial. TO physical area include physical characteristics such as the size and shape of the body and organs, changes in brain structure, sensory capabilities, and motor (or movement) skills. Cognitive domain(from lat. "cognition" -“knowledge”, “cognition”) covers all mental abilities and mental processes, including even the specific organization of thinking. This area includes processes such as perception, reasoning, memory, problem solving, language, judgment, and imagination.

IN psychosocial area includes personality traits and social skills. It includes the individual style of behavior and emotional response inherent in each of us, that is, the way people perceive social reality and react to it. Human development in these three areas occurs simultaneously and interconnectedly. In table 1 provides a description of the three main areas of development.

Table 1.

There is a complex interaction between different areas of human development. Thus, development is not a sequence of individual changes that are not coordinated with each other, but is holistic, systemic in nature, as a result of which changes in one area entail changes in others.

Biological development processes. All living organisms develop according to their genetic code, or blueprint. Psychologists, speaking about the process of development in accordance with the genetic plan, use the term maturation. The process of maturation consists of a sequence of preprogrammed changes not only in the appearance of the organism, but also in its complexity, integration, organization and function.

Poor nutrition or illness may retard maturation, but this does not mean that proper nutrition, good health, or even special stimulation and training should significantly speed it up. This appears to be true both throughout a person's life and in relation to processes such as motor development in infancy or the development of secondary sexual characteristics in adolescence.

The maturation of body organs and motor abilities occurs at different rates. Each organ or ability usually has its own point of optimal maturity. Term growth, typically indicates an increase in size, functionality, or complexity to that point. The term aging refers to the biological changes that occur after the point of optimal maturity has been passed. At the same time, the aging process does not necessarily imply a decline in activity or wear and tear of the body. Aging can increase a person's judgment and insight. In addition, it should be noted that the aging process of some body tissues begins already in adolescence and even in childhood.

12. The influence of the environment on human development.

Every moment we are exposed to the environment. Light, sound, warmth, food, medicine, anger, kindness, severity - all these and much more can serve to satisfy basic biological and psychological needs, cause serious harm, attract attention or become components of learning. Some environmental influences are temporary and limited to one situation, such as the flu at age 22.

However, many other environmental influences may be persistent, as in the case of uninterrupted interaction with parents or periodic visits from restless and authoritative grandparents who interfere in the lives of their children and grandchildren. Environmental influences can delay or stimulate growth, create persistent anxiety, or promote the formation of complex skills.

The environment influences human development through the processes of learning and socialization. In addition, many environmental changes in behavior occur through the interaction of maturation and learning, and the effect of such interaction may depend significantly on the synchronization of these processes.

Learning. The basic process by which the environment produces lasting changes in behavior is called learning. Learning occurs as a result of a single personal experience or a series of exercises. It can be observed in almost all human actions (decision algebraic equations, practicing the technique of moving with the ball on the football field, etc.). Every time a person forms attitudes, opinions, prejudices, values ​​or thought patterns, he acquires skills and gains knowledge.

Despite the fact that the opinions of psychologists differ on some particular issues of learning theories, the majority agree that one of the main learning processes is conditioning. Conditioning is the establishment of connections between various events occurring in a person's environment. For example, a child may become afraid of spiders simply by watching how his friend reacts to them.

Socialization. Socialization - This is the process through which a person becomes a member of a social group: family, community, clan. Socialization includes the assimilation of all attitudes, opinions, customs, life values, roles and expectations of a particular social group. This process lasts a lifetime, helping people find peace of mind and feel like full members of society or some cultural group within that society.

As children, we take on some roles immediately, others only over time. A girl can play many roles every day: student, neighbor, older sister, daughter, member sports team, bosom friend, etc. When she becomes a teenager, the number of roles will increase. Each new role will require her to adapt to the behavior, social attitudes, expectations and values ​​of nearby social groups.

Socialization is usually understood as a two-way process. Previously, scientists believed that children's behavior was determined almost entirely by how parents and teachers behave. It was believed, for example, that children first passively identify with certain significant adults in their lives and then imitate them in their behavior. More recent research has focused mainly on the mutual influence of children and parents on each other's behavior. The infant's socialization occurs through the experiences he acquires within the family, but his very presence forces family members to learn new roles.

In general, the process of socialization occurs at all stages of life, and not just in childhood or adolescence. Adults strive to master new roles in order to prepare for expected changes in life. However, it is in childhood that socialization processes develop behavioral stereotypes that persist in later life. Socialization contributes to the creation of a core of values, attitudes, skills and expectations, the totality of which shapes a child into an adult.

Interaction of development processes. There is ongoing debate among scientists about how much of our behavior is determined by maturation and how much by learning. The baby first sits down, then stands up and finally walks - maturation processes are of paramount importance here. But the development of such behavior can be prevented by medications, poor nutrition, fatigue, illness, inhibitions or emotional stress.

Some skills, such as the performance skills of a musician or the motor skills of an athlete, are maintained and improved only through experience and constant practice. There are also types of behavior that are difficult to categorize at all. Children have congenital ability to speak, but to use it they must learn language. Babies will spontaneously express emotions such as anger or distress, but they will have to learn manage their feelings in accordance with the norms accepted in their culture.

Thus, behavior is a product of the interaction of maturation and learning processes. A number of restrictions or features of behavior are embedded in the genetic code, but all behavior develops within the specific environment characteristic of each biological species.

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