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1. Special psychology as a science (definition and basic concepts)
2. Subject and object of study of special psychology
3. Tasks of special psychology
4. The relationship of special psychology with related sciences
5. Subject areas of special psychology
6. Principles of psychological study of abnormal children
7. Methods of psychological study of abnormal children
8. History of the development of special psychology as a science in Russia
9. Current state of special psychology
10. Methodological foundations of special psychology
11. The concepts of “abnormal development”, “abnormal child”, “defect”
12. Theories of defect compensation. L.S. Vygotsky on defect and compensation
13. Modern criteria for deviant development
14. Causes of abnormal mental development
15. Children with mental retardation
16. Forms of mental retardation
17. Training and education of children with severe mental retardation in Russia
18. Oligophrenia (concept, causes)
19. Classification of oligophrenia
20. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with mental retardation
21. Diagnosis of oligophrenia
22. Children with mental retardation
23. Main options for mental retardation
24. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with mental retardation
25. Distorted mental development (the concept of early childhood autism syndrome, the causes of its occurrence
26. Clinical and psychological structure of early childhood autism
as a special form of underdevelopment
27. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of an autistic child
28. Disharmonious mental development. Psychopathy as a form of disharmonious personality
29. Classification of psychopathy. Characteristics of types of psychopathy
30. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with psychopathy
31. Children with hearing impairment (concept and causes of
32. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with hearing impairments
34. Children with visual impairments (concept and causes)
35. Classification of visual impairments
36. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of blind children
37. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of visually impaired children
38. Children with motor impairments. general characteristics
39. Cerebral palsy (CP). Causes and forms of cerebral palsy
40. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with motor impairments
41. Children with speech disorders (concept and causes)
42. Classification of speech disorders
43. Psychological and pedagogical characteristics of children with speech disorders
44. Children with complex defects
45. The problem of integrating abnormal children into society
46. Special pedagogy (definition and basic concepts)
47. Subject and object of special pedagogy
48. Objectives of special pedagogy
49. The relationship of special pedagogy with other sciences
50. Branches of special pedagogy
51. History of the development of special pedagogy in Russia
52. History of the development of special pedagogy abroad
53. Current state of special pedagogy
54. Technologies and methods of special pedagogy
55. Preschool education children with developmental problems
56. School system special education
57. Vocational guidance and adaptation of persons with disabilities vital activity
58. General characteristics of the fundamental principles of special pedagogy
59. The principle of pedagogical optimism and its importance in organizing work with children with developmental problems
60. The principle of early pedagogical assistance children with developmental disabilities and its significance
61. The principle of correctional and compensatory orientation of the pedagogical process of special educational institutions
and his role
62. The essence of the principle of socially adaptive orientation of the special pedagogical process
63. Characteristics of the principle of the activity approach and its significance in special pedagogy
64. The principle of a differentiated and individual approach, its importance in pedagogical work with children with developmental problems
65. General characteristics of teaching methods for children with developmental disorders
66. Method of story and explanation. Features of its use in the educational process of a special (correctional) school
67. Conversation method. The originality of its use in the educational process of a special (correctional) school
68. Method of working with a book. The specifics of its use in the educational process of a special (correctional) school
69. Visual methods. Features of their use in the educational process of a special (correctional) school
70. Practical methods. Their significance and features of use in the educational process of a special (correctional) school
71. Professional activity of a teacher-defectologist
72. Characteristics of forms of organization educational process in a special (correctional) school
73. A lesson is the main form of organizing the educational process. Requirements for a modern lesson in a special (correctional) school
74. Types of lessons in a special (correctional) school, specifics of their implementation
75. The originality of using methods for testing and assessing students’ knowledge
in a special (correctional) school
76. Organization and content of correctional developmental education for children with mental retardation
77. Main directions of correctional pedagogical work with mentally retarded schoolchildren
78. Education system for people with hearing impairments in Russia
79. The uniqueness of the learning process for children with hearing impairments
80. Education system for people with visual impairments in modern Russia
81. Features of teaching children with visual impairments
82. Methods for correcting childhood autism
83. System of assistance to children suffering from cerebral palsy
84. Education of persons with complex developmental disabilities
85. Psychological and pedagogical support for the development of a child with a complex defect
86. The problem of early detection of developmental disorders and ways to solve it in modern Russia
87. System of prevention, diagnosis and provision of early comprehensive assistance to children with developmental disorders in Russia
88. Policy in the field of social and pedagogical assistance to persons with disabilities in Russia
89. The problem of integration in the special education system and ways to solve it in Russia
90. The problem of differentiation in the special education system and ways to solve it in Russia
1. SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE (DEFINITION AND BASIC CONCEPTS)
special psychology defect child education
Special psychology is a branch of psychological science about the patterns of development, education, training and preparation for social adaptation and rehabilitation of various categories of children with developmental disabilities. This deviation is usually associated with a congenital or acquired disorder of the formation of the nervous system. In the system of psychological sciences, special psychology is given a special place. The concept of “special psychology” has many synonyms: correctional psychology, psychology of abnormal development, psychology of children with developmental disabilities, etc.
The main task of special psychology is the formation of an adequate personality as a result of the use of special methods and techniques of education and training, on the basis of which compensation for impaired functions occurs. Based on data from special psychology, a system of training, education and social adaptation of persons with various developmental disabilities is being built. In addition, through special psychology, the most effective methods training of this category of persons, a subsequent system of professional consultation and vocational guidance is built.
In the course of long-term practice of studying the category of persons with developmental disabilities, a body of certain psychological knowledge has accumulated. Special psychology at the early stage of its development did not have its own terminology, and most of the terms were borrowed from medicine. Basically, these were terms denoting various anatomical and physiological deviations in this category. Thus, the terms “defect”, “anomaly”, “diagnosis”, “blind”, “deaf mute”, “correction”, etc. were borrowed from medicine. Establishing the etiology and symptoms of mental and mental disorders physical development became the beginning of the construction of the conceptual-categorical apparatus of special psychology. One of the main concepts of special psychology is the concept of “mental development”. Mental development is understood as a natural change over time in a person’s mental processes, which is expressed in qualitative, quantitative and structural transformations. The famous Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotott established that the mental development of abnormal children obeys the same laws as the mental development of a normal child. Abnormal development is a disruption of the general course of development of a child as a result of physical or mental abnormalities.
The central issue of both special psychology and related sciences is the problem of compensation of functions. Compensation for any defect is understood as compensation for impaired or underdeveloped functions through the use of preserved functions or the restructuring of partially impaired functions, i.e., in the process of compensation for lost or damaged functions, it is quite possible to involve new structures in the work that previously performed a different function or participated in performing other functions.
2. SUBJECT AND OBJECT OF STUDY OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY
The object of modern special psychology is the study of individuals with developmental disabilities. The study of persons with developmental disabilities is one of the most important practical tasks of special psychology. It provides invaluable materials necessary for the differential diagnosis of abnormal development and the development of appropriate psychodiagnostic techniques. The study of persons with developmental disabilities is carried out taking into account a number of principles: the principle of an integrated approach to the study of the child, the principle of his holistic study, the principle of dynamic study of the child, the principle of the unity of qualitative and quantitative approaches in assessing mental development, etc.
The subject of research in special psychology as a branch of scientific knowledge is children with developmental problems, or, as they are also called abnormal children. The category of abnormal children includes children who, as a result of a mental or physiological abnormality, have a disturbance in their general development. In special psychology, in accordance with the historically established system of educational institutions for children with developmental disabilities and with the system of subject areas of special psychology, the classification is traditionally based on the nature of the disorder. There are main categories of abnormal children: children with hearing impairment, with visual impairment, with severe impairments speech development;
with impaired intellectual development, with complex disorders of psychophysiological development, with disorders of the musculoskeletal system.
In addition to the listed groups, there are others, groups of children with developmental disabilities: children with psycho-patho-like forms of behavior, children with difficulties in adapting to school, gifted children suffering from so-called school neuroses and requiring special attention from teachers and psychologists.
There is also a more generalized classification, which is based on the grouping of the above categories of disorders in accordance with the localization of the disorders in a particular system of the body:
1) somatic disorders (chronic diseases, musculoskeletal disorders
2) sensory impairment (hearing and vision);
3) disorders of brain activity (mental retardation, movement disorders, mental and speech disorders).
The composition of the group of children with developmental problems is complex and diverse. Various developmental disorders have different effects on the development of children’s cognitive abilities and labor activity. Disturbances in the mental or physical development of a child affect the entire course of development of his cognitive activity.
3. TASKS OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY
1. General scientific theoretical tasks:
1) disclosure of general patterns of mental development of a normally developing child and an abnormal child;
2) disclosure of general patterns inherent in all groups of abnormal children;
3) study of specific patterns of mental development in different groups of abnormal children;
4) establishing the dependence of mental development on the nature, mechanisms and severity of a particular anomaly.
2. Study of developmental disorders of specific forms mental activity in different groups of abnormal children.
3. Identification of ways to compensate for disorders of personality development in general and various types of mental processes. Compensation for any defect is the compensation of impaired or underdeveloped functions through the use of intact functions or the restructuring of partially impaired functions. In the process of compensating for lost or damaged psychological functions, it is quite possible to involve new structures that previously performed a different function or participated in the implementation of other functions.
4. Development of basic types of training and education of different groups of abnormal children.
5. Development of methods of psychological correction and diagnostic techniques for various types mental development disorders. Competent diagnosis of developmental disorders is the key to successful psychological correction, targeted training and education within a special educational institution. However, many diagnostic techniques and methods of psychological correction do not meet the modern requirements of special psychology, and therefore their revision, and in some cases the development of new methods, is necessary.
6. Identifying the most effective ways and methods psychological impact on the mental development of children and adults with various developmental disabilities.
7. Study of psychological problems of integration and integrated learning. Integration into society of persons with developmental disabilities means providing such a person with opportunities to take part in all types of social life on an equal basis with other members of society. Integration in education means the opportunity for persons with special educational needs to receive education both in a special educational institution and in a general educational institution. However, as has already been confirmed by experiments, Russian society is not yet ready (primarily psychologically) for this kind of educational innovation.
8. Development of the psychological foundations of the content of education, principles, methods, technologies, organization of the implementation of the conditions of special education.
9. Interaction of special psychology with a number of related sciences, in particular with general psychology and special pedagogy, on problems relating to people with developmental disorders and, as a result, with limited ability to live.
4. RELATIONSHIP OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY WITH RELATED SCIENCES
Special psychology is associated with many other sciences, which can be combined into several blocks:
1) medical block - physiology, anatomy, neuropathology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, etc.;
2) humanitarian block - sociology, philosophy, psychology in all its varieties, etc.;
3) pedagogical block - general pedagogy, methods of teaching various subjects, etc. The relationship of psychology with medicine and pedagogy contributes to the formation of a scientific holistic view of the mental and physical development of a person with disabilities, and also makes it possible to successfully eliminate the one-sided view of each of these disciplines . Special psychology is closely related to medicine and its various industries: human anatomy and physiology of different ages in normal and pathological conditions, neuropathology, neuroanatomy and physiology, psychopathology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, human genetics, pediatrics, orthopedics, otorhinolaryngology and some others. Psychological and medical knowledge are closely intertwined into the same facts, and phenomena receive both medical and psychological interpretation. This approach allows us to obtain a comprehensive, systemic vision of the problem of human physical and mental development, and the ability to overcome negative trends in development.
Special psychology, together with special pedagogy, contributes to the development, consolidation and strengthening of the effect achieved with the help of medicine. The totality of basic knowledge from all medical sciences constitutes the clinical basis for special psychology. In addition, special psychology owes most of its terms to medicine. Basically, these are terms denoting various anatomical and physiological deviations in this category. Thus, the following terms were borrowed from medicine: “psyche”, “anomaly”, “autism”, “dementia”, etc. The establishment of the etiology and symptoms of deviations in mental and physical development became the beginning of the construction of special psychology’s own conceptual and categorical apparatus. Based on data from special psychology, a system of training, education and social adaptation of persons with various types of developmental disorders is being built. Psychological knowledge determines the most effective methods of training for this category of people and the possibility of their further professional guidance.
In the construction of a holistic theory of special psychology, the leading role is given to the block of humanities, such as philosophy, sociology, political science, which allows one to integrate knowledge from different fields. Understanding the current state of special psychology is possible by considering the socio-philosophical aspect, which considers the phenomena of special psychology in a sociocultural context. The most important and conceptual problems, the immediate prospects for the development of special psychology, can only be solved at the philosophical level with the participation of many specialists.
5. SUBJECT AREAS OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Special psychology (from the Latin specialts - “special”) is a branch of psychology that studies people with deviations from the norm in mental development associated with congenital or acquired defects. Based on data from special psychology, a system of training and education of people with mental development anomalies, their professional consultation and professional selection are built. The main task of special psychology is the formation of an adequate personality as a result of the use of special methods and techniques of education and training, on the basis of which compensation for impaired functions occurs. In addition, through special psychology, the most effective methods of training this category of people are determined, and a subsequent system of professional consultation and vocational guidance is built. Special psychology has become the basis for the development of a number of industries. At the moment, they represent developed and independent spheres of practical and scientific pedagogical knowledge. These include the following industries.
1. Typhlopsychology is part of special psychology. This science studies people with visual impairments. The main objectives of typhlopsychology are: a comprehensive comprehensive study of vision and its various disorders, anomalies of physical and mental development in these disorders, ways of correction and compensation, restoration of impaired or underdeveloped functions, creation of conditions for the formation and comprehensive development of the personality in case of development | ^personal visual impairment. "(
2. Deaf psychology is a science that studies the category of people with various hearing impairments. The main objectives of deaf psychology are: a comprehensive study of people with various hearing impairments, identification of the main patterns of mastering this category in special education, principles of work aimed at social adaptation and socio-professional rehabilitation.
3. Oligophrenopsychology is a science that is a system scientific knowledge about mental development and its characteristics of persons with mental retardation. IN Lately New branches of oligophrenopsychology began to develop intensively.
4. The psychology of children with musculoskeletal disorders is based on knowledge in the field of neuropathology, neurophysiology, psychology and other sciences. The main goal of this branch of special psychology is to study the developmental features of persons with cerebral palsy, the formation of their personality in order to create special living conditions, training and subsequent work activities for this category of persons.
5. The psychology of children with mental retardation studies the developmental characteristics of this category of children. This is a large group of children with minimal organic damage or functional failure of the central nervous system.
6. Psychology of children with complex disorders is part of special psychology. Complex developmental disorders include a combination of two or more psychophysical disorders in one child. The main goals of this subject area are to find an alternative way to compensate for the defect and lead the child out of the situation of socio-cultural dead end.
6. PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF ABNORMAL CHILDREN
The psychological study of children with developmental disabilities is one of the most important practical tasks of special psychology. Psychological study provides invaluable materials necessary for the differential diagnosis of abnormal development and the development of appropriate psychodiagnostic techniques. In their practical work, special psychologists, when examining children with developmental disorders, are guided by certain principles.
1. The principle of an integrated approach to the study of a child. This principle involves conducting a comprehensive examination of the developmental features of all types of cognitive activity of the child, his emotional-volitional sphere, abilities, skills and the entire personality as a whole. The examination involves the use of various psychodiagnostic techniques, which is an important part of the overall diagnostic system. The principle of an integrated approach to the study of a child involves not only psychological research, but also an analysis of the state of the child’s nervous system, its sensory and motor spheres. In accordance with the principle of an integrated approach, psychologists, defectologists, teachers of the deaf, neurologists, psychiatrists, etc., examine the child.
2. The principle of holistic study of the child. This principle is based on the position of L.S. Vygotsky about the structure of the defect, which allows for a systematic analysis of the disorder. A holistic analysis when examining a child with a developmental disorder involves not detecting individual manifestations of mental development disorders, but identifying the causes of their occurrence and establishing a connection between them. This helps to identify the main features of the child’s cognitive sphere, his interests, hobbies and personality as a whole.
3. The principle of dynamic study of the child. The basis for highlighting this principle is the position of L.S. Vygotsky on the relationship between learning and child development. L.S. Vygotsky identified the child’s zone of proximal development, which implied the level of difficulty of problems solved by the child independently, and the zone of proximal development, i.e., the level of difficulty of problems solved by the child under the guidance of an adult. In accordance with this principle, when studying a child, it is necessary to find out the knowledge, skills, the child's skills, as well as the potential capabilities of children. The implementation of the principle of dynamic study of a child involves the use, along with diagnostic techniques, of techniques that make it possible to determine the zone of proximal development.
4. The principle of unity of qualitative and quantitative approaches in assessing mental development. When implementing this principle, it is assumed to analyze the process of completing a task (rationality, sequence of operations, logic, persistence in achieving a goal, bringing work on a task to its logical conclusion, etc.) and taking into account the final result of the activity. In this case, the interrelationship of qualitative and quantitative indicators is taken into account.
7. METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF ABNORMAL CHILDREN
Methods of psychological study are those techniques and means by which psychologists and defectologists obtain reliable information about the intellectual, speech and physical development of abnormal children.
1. The most common and simple method from the point of view of its organization is observation. There are several surveillance options: external, internal, free, standardized, enabled and third-party. When applied to a group of abnormal children, all variants of this method are used, depending on the goal of the special psychologist. External observation is convenient if the researcher collects data on the behavior of an abnormal child, his performance of any tasks, etc. This type of observation is convenient and simple, it allows you to observe an abnormal child from the outside and easily determine deviations in his development. Free observation does not have a pre-established program framework or procedure for its implementation. During free observation, depending on the wishes of the researcher, the subject and object of observation may change. It is used when a special psychologist does not know in advance the signs and course of the phenomenon under consideration, the personality traits of an abnormal child. Standardized observation has a clear plan and program and strictly follows them, regardless of what happens to the abnormal child. Participant observation involves the participation of the psychologist himself in the process. For example, he may interact with an abnormal child or take part in a game organized by children with developmental disabilities. Third-party observation does not imply the personal participation of the researcher in the process he is studying.
2. Conversation as a method of psychological research is used by psychologists in relation to abnormal children quite often. By asking certain questions, analyzing the answers received and the reaction of the anomalous child, the researcher receives information about his ideas about the world around him, himself, about his attitude to certain concepts and phenomena.
3. Testing is a convenient method of psychological study of abnormal children. Using testing during the examination process, it is possible to obtain an accurate quantitative or qualitative characteristic of the intellectual, speech and physical development of an abnormal child. This type of psychological research requires a clear procedure for collecting and processing primary data, as well as the originality of their subsequent interpretation. In addition, testing makes it possible to give differentiated and comparable assessments of the level of formation of various aspects of the personality of an anomalous child, the development of his thinking, speech, etc. The following test options are common in special psychology: questionnaire test, task test and projective test.
4. Experiments as a method of mental research in abnormal children are not used as often as observation, conversation and testing. The peculiarity of this method is that it purposefully and thoughtfully creates an artificial situation in which the studied property of the personality or thinking of an anomalous child is manifested in one way or another.
8. HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE IN RUSSIA
Special psychology as a branch of psychological science began to develop in Russia in the 20s. XX century Before this, medicine studied the psyche of abnormal children. In 1935, the world's first experimental psychological laboratory was created in Russia to study the psyche of abnormal children. It was headed by the famous domestic defectologist D.V. Zaikosh, under whose leadership a study was made of the characteristics of students in a special school, manifested in junior and senior school age, as well as the ways of development of these children in the conditions of a specially organized learning process. Domestic special psychology was formed as a comparative psychology of a normally developing child and a child with developmental disabilities. Research was carried out on the problems of the development of cognitive activity, the emotional-volitional sphere, the personality of an anomalous child, based on clinical data obtained by domestic psychiatrists: I.S. Pvva-Ivr, F. Scheu and others. They studied in detail the issues of etiology and pathogenesis of abnormal development, issues of distinguishing children with developmental disorders from similar conditions, and gave a detailed description of this category of children.
At the end of the 50s. XX century defectologists studied the characteristics of higher nervous activity of children with intellectual disabilities. Research on the cognitive activity of this group of children had a clear pedagogical focus and provided materials for the development of didactic principles and methodological ways of teaching and raising children with developmental disabilities. The works of domestic psychologists have shown that children with developmental disabilities are characterized by immaturity of the entire psyche as a whole. In addition, it was found that the most general patterns of mental development are characteristic of both normally developing and abnormal children. In the works of L.V. Zashsov reflected the following observations: insufficiency of all structural components of thinking, weakness of mental operations, especially generalization and abstraction, gross violation of verbal and logical thinking. According to a number of defectologists, by the end of middle school age, subject to targeted correctional psychological work, the weakness of motivation for mental activity improves. Thanks to the work of famous domestic defectologists V.G. Petrova, G.M. Dulnesh and a number of others, data were obtained on the possibility of speech correction in children with intellectual disabilities during the learning process: increasing the volume of the active vocabulary, correcting the grammatical structure of speech, improving oral and written speech. In the works of domestic defectologists, it has been proven that the mental development of abnormal children is characterized not only by shortcomings, but they also have broad potential for the development of thinking. This is confirmed by the research of L.S. Vygotsky that in the process of correctional education, children with developmental disabilities develop complex types of mental activity.
9. CURRENT STATE OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY
The psychology of a child with developmental disabilities is one of the well-studied branches of special psychology. Researchers from leading scientific centers Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and other cities of Russia. The main problems of modern special psychology are:
1) the problem of early diagnosis of deviations in child development.
Experts believe that the basic patterns of development in a child with a developmental disorder are the same as in a normal child. When detecting abnormalities in a child early, one must be extremely careful and attentive when making a diagnosis, since the presence of any single symptom is not enough for this. Therefore, the diagnosis of developmental disorders must be comprehensive, systemic in nature; records of psychological, pedagogical, neurological and neuropsychological examination data must be kept;
2) issues of differentiated diagnosis of mental retardation and a number of other disorders in mental development.
Along with mental retardation, there are several superficially similar conditions. These are mental retardation, pedagogical neglect, general speech underdevelopment, developmental delay as a result of visual or hearing impairment in children, early childhood autism. All these deviations have manifestations similar to mental retardation, therefore it is important to develop methods that can distinguish between these conditions. This concept was further developed in the works of the domestic defectologist V.I. Lubovsky (" Psychological problems diagnosis of abnormal development of children”, etc.). IN AND. Lubovsky analyzes the history and current state, as well as the prospects for differentiated diagnosis of various forms of disorders of the psychological development of a child. He attached great importance to the development of nonverbal methods for the comparative study of various groups of abnormal children. IN AND. Lubovsky proposed a model for differentiated diagnosis of mental retardation, general speech underdevelopment and mental retardation. The main criterion was the child’s state of speech and thinking, as well as learning ability.
The problem of differentiated diagnosis of various developmental disorders has been highlighted in a number of works. Korobeinikov. He developed a set of experimental tasks for the comparative study of oligophrenia and mental retardation in children 6-7 years old. E.A. Strebeleva proposed experimental diagnostic materials for identifying mental retardation in preschool children at every year of life.
10. METHODOLOGICAL BASIS OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY
History of creation theoretical foundations special psychology and its methodology is closely connected with the name of the outstanding Russian psychologist Ya.S. Vygotsky in the 20s. XX century On the basis of the theory he created for the development of higher mental functions, he formulated and substantiated modern ideas about the nature and essence of abnormal development.
The methodological foundations of special psychology, like all general psychology, are based on the methodological principles of dialectical materialism. They act in relation to psychology as a general philosophical system of explanatory principles. Three principles are most important for understanding abnormal development: the principle of determinism, the principle of development, and the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity. These principles act as general scientific principles of psychology.
1. The principle of determinism is when real natural and mental processes are determined, that is, they arise, develop and are destroyed naturally, as a result of the action of certain causes. Determinism is the fundamental principle of materialism. Determinism is a methodological principle according to which, from the fact that everything in the world is interconnected and caused by a cause, it follows that it is possible to know and predict events that have both a clearly defined and probabilistic nature. It also means that all psychological phenomena are understood as phenomena causally determined by objective reality and are a reflection of objective reality. All mental phenomena are considered to be caused by the activity of the brain. This principle presupposes, when studying mental phenomena, the obligatory establishment of the causes that caused these phenomena.
2. Development principle. This principle is expressed in the fact that all mental phenomena are considered as constantly developing quantitatively and qualitatively. A correct assessment of a child’s mental state is possible by studying the dynamics of his development.
3. The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity means a two-way connection between consciousness and activity. On the one hand, a person’s consciousness, his psyche are formed in activity, on the other hand, activity is a reflection of a person’s level of consciousness. Only in activity can one establish the characteristics of mental properties, states, and processes. This principle requires a defectologist to study the mental development of an abnormal child in the process of various activities. Only in this case is it possible to form new mental processes and correct impaired functions in activity.
Special psychology accumulates theoretical methods of practical work necessary for the development of other areas of psychology. The study of mental characteristics of different categories of children with gross developmental anomalies contributes to the understanding of the patterns of mental ontogenesis in normal conditions. Helping to overcome the difficult problems of teaching and raising children with gross developmental anomalies, special psychology has accumulated means of resolving the learning difficulties of children who do not have such pronounced disorders.
11. CONCEPTS OF “ABNORMAL DEVELOPMENT”, “ABNORMAL CHILD”, “DEFECT”
Abnormal development is a disruption of the general course of human development as a result of any physical or mental defects. The term “anomalous” is based on the Greek word “anomalos”, which translated into Russian means “wrong”.
Children who, as a result of a mental or physiological abnormality, have a disturbance in their general development are considered abnormal. The main categories of abnormal children include children: 1) with hearing impairment (deaf, hard of hearing, late deaf);
2) with visual impairment (blind, visually impaired);
3) with severe speech development disorders;
4) with intellectual development disorders (children with mental retardation, mentally retarded children);
5) with complex disorders of psychophysiological development (deaf-blind, blind, mentally retarded, deaf, mentally retarded, etc.);
6) with musculoskeletal disorders. In addition to the listed groups, there are other groups of children with developmental disabilities:
1) children with psychopathic forms of behavior;
2) children with difficulties in adapting to school, suffering from so-called school neuroses;
3) gifted children who require special attention from teachers and psychologists.
The composition of the group of abnormal children is complex and diverse. Various developmental disorders have different effects on the formation of children's social connections, their cognitive capabilities and work activity. Depending on the nature and time of the disorder, some defects can be completely overcome during the child’s development, others can only be compensated, and others can only be corrected. The nature and level of complexity of a particular defect in the process of normal development of an individual determine the appropriate forms of pedagogical work with it. Disturbances in the mental or physical development of a child affect the entire course of development of his cognitive activity.
The concept of “defect” is based on the Latin word “defectus” - “flaw”. Each defect has its own structure. The concept of “defect structure” was introduced by the famous Russian psychologist D. S. Vypit-spi. Thus, any deviation, for example, impairment of hearing, vision, speech, entails secondary deviations, and in the absence of appropriate corrective work, also tertiary deviations. With different primary causes, some secondary abnormalities have similar manifestations, especially in infancy, early or preschool age. Secondary deviations are systemic in nature and their presence causes changes in the entire structure of the child’s mental development. Overcoming primary defects is possible under the condition of competent medical intervention, when the elimination of secondary deviations occurs through correctional and pedagogical intervention. The need for the earliest possible correction of secondary disorders is due to the characteristics of the mental development of children: changes in the hierarchical relationships between the primary and secondary defects.
12. THEORIES OF DEFECT COMPENSATION. L.S. VYGOTSKY ON DEFECT AND COMPENSATION
Compensation for any defect is understood as compensation for impaired or underdeveloped functions through the use of preserved functions or the restructuring of partially impaired functions, i.e., in the process of compensation for lost or damaged functions, it is quite possible to involve new structures in the work that previously performed a different function or participated in performing other functions. Experts distinguish two types of defect compensation.
1. Compensation for the defect occurs at the intrasystem level and is carried out through the involvement of intact elements of the affected structures.
2. Compensation occurs at the intersystem level and is carried out through the restructuring of systems and the inclusion of completely different structures in the work.
Most often, two types of defect compensation are observed at once, this is especially important in cases of congenital or early acquired defects.
There are several theories of defect compensation. One of the most widespread theories belongs to the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist A. Adler. It is based on the principle of the unity of the psychological life of the individual, assigning the leading place to the social factor in the mental development of a person. The author of this theory believes that the formation of an individual’s personality occurs, as a rule, in the first 5-6 years of life, when their first way of thinking and acting in all subsequent periods of development is determined. Man, according to A. Adler's theory, is the most biologically unadapted creature. (Based on this, he develops a feeling of inferiority, which is aggravated by the presence of any mental or physical defect in the child. At the same time, awareness of his own inferiority becomes in the future for a person a constant incentive for development. A person, trying to overcome his defect and assert himself in society, actualizes all its other capabilities.
In his numerous works, the domestic psychologist L.S. Vngotezh analyzed previously existing views on the problem of compensation for defects. He believed that compensatory capabilities are fully realized if the defect is conscious. The level of compensation is determined by the body's reserve forces and external social conditions. When any function is lost, other organs begin to perform functions that they do not usually perform during the normal functioning of the organ. The main compensatory path of people with various disorders L.S. Vygotsky saw their inclusion in active work. Thanks to this, the possibility of forming higher forms of cooperation is ensured and conditions are created for full integration into society. L.S. Vygotsky highly appreciated the possibilities of compensation in people with sensory impairments. He believed that many types of work activities were available to them, the exception of which were those areas that were directly related to the existing violation. Provisions of L.S. Vygotsky about compensation for defects had great importance for the further development of all branches of special pedagogy.
13. MODERN CRITERIA FOR DEVIANT DEVELOPMENT
In modern defectology it is hardly possible to find comprehensive, unambiguous criteria for deviant development. This is especially necessary when determining the degree and nature of the deviation when answering the question: is it within normal limits or is it pathological. Criteria for assessing deviations in childhood suggested by English psychiatrist I. Rittfr
1. When assessing a child’s development, it is necessary to take into account that the differentiation of normal and abnormal behavior cannot be absolute.
2. It is important to consider the degree of deviation. Individual symptoms are much more common than a whole series of symptoms at the same time. The category of children with multiple mental development disorders requires special attention, when a violation of one area negatively affects the development of other areas.
3. Frequency of occurrence and severity of symptoms. It is necessary to find out the frequency and duration of manifestation of certain adverse symptoms. For children, moderately manifested deviations are considered more typical than serious, frequently recurring disorders.
4. Situational variability of the symptom. When identifying developmental deviations, it is necessary to pay attention to the situation in which the deviation manifests itself. And although this criterion is considered far from the most important, it can provide invaluable assistance in predicting the dynamics of development of a child with developmental disabilities.
5. In the process of analyzing a child’s development, it is necessary to compare the characteristics of his development not only with the characteristics characteristic of all children of a given age group, but also with the characteristics characteristic of this child. Significant attention should be paid to those manifestations in development, the presence of which is difficult to explain by the laws of normal maturation and development.
6. A separate criterion is accounting age characteristics and the child's gender. As experts note, some behavioral features are normal only for children of a certain age.
7. Duration of persistence of a certain developmental deviation. If the observed deviation continues for several months, then under the influence of a certain correction it can be smoothed out. If the deviation lasts more than a year and corrective efforts are ineffective, then this should raise alarm.
8. Child development never goes smoothly: it always has its peaks and its valleys. Also, the manifestation of various developmental disorders depends on the circumstances of the child’s life. A dysfunctional family, the loss of parents, frequent changes of place of residence, a bilingual education system, constant long-term stress - all this can easily cause developmental deviations.
According to M. Rattar, when deciding on deviations from the norm in a child’s development, it is necessary to take into account a combination of all the above criteria. However, in some cases they are not enough.
14. REASONS FOR ANOMAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PSYCHE
The causes of abnormal mental development are numerous and varied and can be caused by various factors. They are usually divided into three large groups: exposures during intrauterine development, at the time of birth and in the postpartum period. In addition, the combination of intrauterine and birth pathology is called perinatal damage. Adverse factors during the perinatal period
1) intrauterine infections of a chronic nature: syphilis, toxoplasmosis, cytomegaly, listeriosis, etc.;
2) intrauterine infections of a viral nature: rubella, measles, influenza, mumps, chicken pox, etc. later pregnancy, acute infectious diseases of the mother can lead to intrauterine infection of the fetus and cause intrauterine encephalitis and meningoscephalitis;
4) application medicines contraindicated during pregnancy, which can cause fetal intoxication; fruit expellants, hormonal drugs, etc.;
7) various physical and mental traumas suffered by a woman during pregnancy: the mother’s work before and during the intrauterine development of the child in hazardous work, unfavorable environmental conditions (for example, increased background radiation, exposure to ultraviolet radiation from certain substances).
Pathology of labor. In the natal period (the moment of birth), pathogenic factors are unskilled obstetric care, rapid, rapid labor, long labor with stimulation, the use of forceps, birth injuries to the brain, asphyxia (entanglement of the child with the umbilical cord, which leads to suffocation), etc. Postnatal pathological effects. In the postnatal period, various neuroinfections can cause abnormal development of the psyche: meningitis, meningoencephalitis, parainfectious encephalitis, brain tumors, infectious diseases with complications on the brain, open and closed skull injuries, concussions, etc. The likelihood of abnormal development of the psyche increases in premature babies who were born ahead of schedule or underweight. Also, developmental disorders can occur with sleep and nutritional disorders in children, with long-term somatic diseases that cause damage to the child’s central nervous system and general exhaustion of the body.
Defects in mental development can be caused by functional reasons, including socio-pedagogical neglect, limited emotional positive communication between adults and a child, limited speech contacts, bilingualism in the family, etc. Disorders due to functional reasons are milder than others, and when unfavorable ones are eliminated factors, and then, with competent correctional work, the child can catch up with his peers.
15. CHILDREN WITH MENTAL RETURN
The category of mentally retarded includes persons with persistent irreversible impairment of cognitive activity due to organic damage to the cerebral cortex. In mental retardation, brain damage is irreversible and diffuse. Another characteristic feature is a violation of higher mental functions. This is expressed in disruption of cognitive processes, emotional-volitional sphere, motor skills and abnormal development of the entire personality as a whole.
The causes of mental retardation are many and varied. Experts have found that the degree of decline in intelligence depends on the time of exposure to a particular pathogenic factor. If brain damage occurs in the first 3 months of pregnancy, for example due to the mother's illness with rubella, this will cause mental retardation in the child. Disturbances that occur at a later date will be less pronounced and will cause delayed mental and speech development. Mental retardation can be caused by various types of pathogenic factors that have an irreversible effect on the fetus during intrauterine development. These include:
1) intrauterine infections of a chronic nature: syphilis, toxoplasmosis, cytomegaly, listeriosis, etc.;
2) intrauterine viral infections: rubella, measles, influenza, chicken pox, etc.
In late pregnancy, acute infectious diseases of the mother can lead to intrauterine infection of the fetus and cause intrauterine encephalitis and meningoencephalitis;
3) chronic diseases of the mother, such as diseases of the kidneys, cardiovascular system, liver, etc.;
4) the use of medications that are contraindicated during pregnancy and that can cause fetal intoxication: fetal expellants, hormonal drugs, etc.;
5) immunological conflict between the child and mother regarding the Rh factor or blood group antigens;
6) bad habits of the mother: smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.;
7) various physical and mental traumas suffered by a woman during pregnancy: work in hazardous industries, unfavorable environmental conditions (for example, increased background radiation, exposure to ultraviolet radiation, toxic substances).
In the natal period (the moment of birth), pathogenic factors are birth injuries to the brain, asphyxia, etc. In the postnatal period, various neuroinfections can cause mental retardation: meningitis, meningoencephalitis, parainfectious encephalitis.
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Russian special psychology was formed and is based on the general psychological theory developed by A.N. Leontyev, S.L. Rubinstein, P.Ya. Galperin, A.R. Luria and others. In addition, another, no less important component of its foundation are the concepts of mental development created by L.S. Vygotsky, L.I. Bozovic, D.B. Elkonin, A.V. Zaporozhets, V.V. Davydov and others.
The main provisions of these theories are fixed in the categorical apparatus and explanatory principles of special psychology.
The categorical apparatus is a system of concepts that reproduce different aspects of an object studied by science. In the categories used by special psychology, two large groups can be distinguished. The first of them is general psychological concepts that reflect the relationship of this discipline with psychological science as a whole. This group includes such concepts as “mental activity”, “consciousness”, “personality”, “motive”, “semantic sphere”, “image”, “meaning”, “operation”, “interiorization”, “speech mediation” and many others.
The second group constitutes a class of special psychological categories or terms from related disciplines. These include: “dysontogenesis”, “system deviations”, “retardation”, “compensation”, “correction”, “rehabilitation”, “integration”, “asynchrony”, “regression”, “deprivation”, etc.
One of the central concepts in the categorical structure of special psychology is the concept of “higher mental functions,” introduced by L.S. Vygotsky. It is key insofar as thanks to its use it is possible to most fully characterize the various phenomena of impaired development and their structure. The higher mental functions themselves are complex systemic formations, characterized by lifetime formation, mediated structure and an arbitrary method of regulation. Because of this, they have a high degree of plasticity due to the interchangeability of their constituent elements. The goal (task) and the final result remain unchanged. The means of achieving the goal can be varied. The plasticity of higher mental functions, as one of their properties, underlies compensatory processes, the restoration of impaired or lost functions through internal restructuring.
In addition to its own categorical apparatus, each science must also have a system of explanatory principles, extremely general concepts, the use of which allows for a relatively consistent and consistent understanding and explanation of the phenomena being studied. It is these ideas that act as a certain coordinate system that help the researcher navigate huge amounts of empirical data, classify and interpret them.
Applied sciences, which include special psychology, as a rule, use a system of explanatory principles created within the framework of fundamental disciplines. Therefore, the principles formulated in general psychology are common to all branches of psychological science. For the sake of accuracy, it should be noted that the principles are not universal and operate within only one psychological school, within which they were developed. For example, the explanatory criteria of psychoanalysis do not apply to humanistic psychology and vice versa. The postulates discussed below are formulated within the traditions of the Russian psychological school and are based on the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontyeva, B.G. Ananyeva, S.L. Rubinstein and others.
The most general principle is reflectivity. Its essence boils down to the fact that all mental phenomena, in all their diversity, represent a special, higher form of reflection of the surrounding world in the form of images, concepts, and experiences. The fundamental properties of mental reflection are its subjectivity, activity, selectivity and purposefulness.
The process of mental development is, in essence, nothing more than the improvement of the ability to reflect. No, even the most severe pathological disturbances of mental activity will change its reflective essence. We can only talk about reducing the degree of adequacy of reflection, turning an adequate reflection into a false one, as, for example, with hallucinations. The psyche always and everywhere remains a subjective reflection of objective reality, or an objectified reflection of subjective reality.
From this point of view, any forms of deviations in mental development represent difficulties in the process of formation of various aspects of the reflective activity of the psyche. These difficulties may relate to the development of figurative reflection, conceptual (verbal-logical), emotional-semantic, etc.
As already mentioned, the reflection may suffer in terms of completeness, accuracy, depth, but it always remains fundamentally adequate, generally true, correct. Rich experimental material obtained from studying different groups of children with developmental disabilities convincingly proves this position. An example would be cases of severe sensory impairments, such as deaf-blindness, in which the cognitive abilities of the individual are seriously reduced. Nevertheless, under certain learning conditions, children with such disabilities are able to assimilate knowledge, achieve a high level of intellectual development, successfully adapt socially, and become professionally self-determined. This would be impossible in a situation of inadequate reflection. The multifaceted nature of the reflective activity of the psyche makes it possible to compensate for the shortcomings of some forms of reflection at the expense of others, which are more intact.
The next explanatory principle is principle of determinism. From his position, mental phenomena are considered as causally determined, derived from external influences, which are reflected by the psyche. The principle of determinism was formulated most accurately in the dialectical tradition by S.L. Rubinstein: An external cause always acts, refracting through an internal condition. Depending on these internal conditions, the same external influence can lead to different effects. The category of “internal conditions” includes a fairly wide range of phenomena, ranging from age, gender, characteristics of GNI and ending with the current emotional state, education, profession, etc. The simplest understanding of the principle of determinism in special psychology may, at first glance, look very banal - There are no and cannot be causeless deviations in development. The reason may or may not be known, but it objectively exists. In fact, the connection between the cause of a particular deviation and the deviation itself is of a very complex, ambiguous, indirect nature, as discussed above. We pointed out the fact that the same pathogenic factor can lead to different forms of deviations, as well as the fact that different causes can lead to the same type of developmental deviation. The nature of the deviation depends not only on the characteristics of the pathogenic factor, its intensity and duration of action, but also on a number of internal conditions, such as age, the strength of the individual’s defense mechanisms and a number of other characteristics. It is through these internal conditions that the external influence of the pathogenic factor is refracted.
Speaking about the principle of determinism, we must not forget that the nature of causality in conditions of deviant development looks much more complex than in the norm. The fact is that the main disorders, for example, pathology of vision, hearing, speech, motor sphere, etc., being the causes of the corresponding variants of deviant development, should be classified by us into the class of so-called negative determinants, that is, reasons that impede the normal course of psychogenesis. The leading factor in development in general (both normal and deviant) is, as we know, learning. It is precisely this, according to L.S. Vygotsky, should lead the development process, creating optimal conditions for it. Therefore, this factor belongs to the category of positive determinants. For persons with disabilities, training is also the most important way to correct existing impairments. Thus, the development of a special child is, figuratively speaking, the point of application of opposing forces, designated by us as negative (main violation) and positive (training and correction) determinants. Both of them are refracted through the “internal conditions” that we have already discussed. It is the ratio of the strength of the determinants that determines the huge variety of individual options within the same type of deviant development. It is these force proportions that can explain the seemingly strange at first glance, but unusually common cases of different rates of development with the same degree of severity of the same primary disorder in two individuals. The differences in such a situation are determined by the nature and timeliness of the correctional assistance provided to the child, which is largely capable of neutralizing or blocking the influence of the pathogenic factor.
It is interesting to note that the power proportions we have identified for countering negative and positive determinants not only vary from individual to individual, but also have clearly defined historical dynamics. As the methods of psychological, medical and pedagogical assistance are improved, the nature of this resistance changes significantly, positively influencing the specifics of deviant development. For example, just a hundred years ago, the overwhelming majority of deaf-blind children (regardless of the social status of their parents) were considered fundamentally unteachable, and there were no means of teaching them, and they remained deeply retarded throughout their lives. The creation and improvement of a system of educational and correctional work with such children has fundamentally changed the nature of their development.
And finally, it should be pointed out that the phenomena of developmental deviations themselves represent a special class of internal conditions through which external influences are refracted. As a result, both behavioral reactions and entire types of activities can be significantly simplified and combined. At the same time, they may lose a certain degree of psychological transparency and intelligibility from the point of view of an external observer.
Genetic, or development principle also acts as the most important for psychology in general, and special psychology in particular. Its essence boils down to the proposition that all mental phenomena must be considered exclusively in a dynamic sense, that is, in the process of development and formation. Development is a universal way of existence of mental phenomena. As one psychologist put it figuratively, the desire to consider the psyche outside of development is reminiscent of an attempt to cut water with scissors.
This principle of development not only determines the approach to understanding and studying mental phenomena, but also constitutes the subject of psychology in general. According to S. L. Rubinstein, mental phenomena are studied by many sciences from different points of view, ranging from philosophy, logic to psychiatry and neurophysiology. From his point of view, psychology should consider the mental, taken in a procedural, dynamic aspect, in terms of the internal mechanisms of its development.
In addition, the genetic principle, setting a certain research perspective, makes it possible to essentially interpret the phenomenon of development itself, which is understood as a permanent (constant) process of quantitative and qualitative changes in the structural organization and functions of the psyche. Since the development process unfolds in time, and time is characterized by irreversibility, then, accordingly, the irreversibility of this process is recognized.
For special psychology, the genetic principle is central due to the very substantive content of this branch - the study of how the development process proceeds in unfavorable conditions, which aspects of the emerging psyche can be disrupted, how compensatory mechanisms develop, etc.
That is why, without exaggeration, we can state that for special psychology the category of development appears to be one of the central ones, because disrupted development itself is understood as a special way of the genesis of the psyche. Despite the presence of certain specifics, designated by the concept “ special way“deviant development is characterized by the same thing that is characteristic of development in general: the permanent formation of quantitative and qualitative new formations, irreversibility, etc. We will dwell in detail below on the uniqueness of deviant development. Now it is important to emphasize that such phenomena, with a greater or lesser degree of convention, can be attributed to the sphere of pathology. But this does not mean that the concepts of “dysontogenesis” and “disease” are equal. However, being opposite in essence, disease and developmental disorders can be in cause-and-effect relationships. As we have already said, the disease and its consequences can act as causes of developmental deviations.
The use of the genetic principle implies consistency in the interpretation of a number of phenomena of deviant development. The uncritical borrowing of terms such as “developmental regression” and “arrest in development” by special psychology from child psychopathology contradicts the essence of the very concept of “development.” As already indicated, this process is fundamentally irreversible and continuous, already due to the time factor. Therefore, the terms “regression” and “cessation” in development are meaningless, because they capture phenomena that are absent in nature in general. However, without allowing for the possibility of reverse development of living systems in the field of biology, we easily recognize the existence of a similar phenomenon in relation to the psyche as a living self-regulating system. But what then stands behind these categories? When they talk about “stopping” development, we are talking about an extreme slowdown of this process to such an extent that the researcher objectively does not have enough time to wait for the appearance of certain changes that indicate progress. By the way, for quite a long time it was believed that mental retardation is a very slow development, which at a certain point in life stops altogether. It took many years of research to prove the opposite - its continuity in conditions of mental retardation. As for the phenomenon of “regression,” in this case we are dealing with decay, disorganization of one or another function against the backdrop of the psyche losing its integrity. It is well known that decay is not uniquely negative. This is a qualitatively different process, in contrast to development. The phenomena of decay themselves are not included in the subject of special psychology, but form the content of such sciences as psychopathology and pathopsychology.
It is also necessary to touch upon the category of “transitory regression”, when the period of “reverse” development is replaced by a continuation of the direct one. Most often, such phenomena are described in children in situations of various diseases or traumatic circumstances. At the same time, it is indicated that the transition to a lower, infantile level of response performs an adaptive, protective function, which, in essence, contradicts the idea of adaptation, which involves mobilization and complication of the structure of activity. It seems to us that behind the phenomenon of transient regression is temporary disintegration, a mismatch in the functioning of individual elements of the psyche while maintaining its integrity, which only superficially resembles decay.
Concluding the description of the genetic principle and its significance for special psychology, one more important point should be emphasized. Deviant development is a very complex formation: some aspects of the developing psyche may remain relatively intact, while others show signs of impairment. In other words, the process of ontogenesis (normal age development) is woven systemogenesis - the process of sequential development of symptoms of deviation in terms of age. These symptoms never appear all at once; they have a certain age-related dynamics. For example, a congenital or early acquired decrease in hearing acuity will in due time lead to a lag in speech development, which will inevitably affect the formation of thinking, voluntary regulation of behavior, and communication skills. A decrease in visual acuity in the first months of life may not manifest itself in any way, but starting from the fourth, it is detected in the peculiarities of orienting activity. Further effects of systemogenesis will be associated with a lag in the development of perception, motor sphere, etc.
Thus, symptoms of deviations should be considered as a dynamic formation - as a natural process in the genetic plan.
The reflective nature of the psyche can be realized more deeply by us with a clear understanding of its functional affiliation. A subjective reflection of objective reality, its very existence is necessary for the regulation of behavior and activity. Another one of the most important explanatory principles of psychology is based on this position - the principle of unity of consciousness (psyche) and activity.
In its most general form, this principle boils down to the following: the psyche develops and manifests itself in the process of external material activity of a person, constituting its internal plan. In their structure (composition), external and internal (mental) activities are fundamentally similar; internal mental activity grows out of external objective activity. At the same time, various mutual transitions are carried out: the objective turns into the mental (interiorization) and vice versa (exteriorization). Extremely simplifying the nature of the connection between the psyche and activity, we can say that the more accurately and deeply consciousness reflects the world, the more flexible a person’s behavior becomes and the more effective his activities. As well as vice versa: the more actively a person acts, the more accurate the nature of his reflection becomes. The activity approach also assumes that mental reality itself is considered as a special form of activity.
Mental phenomena, being subjective and ideal, cannot be directly perceived. This means that their study is not direct, but indirect. The object of perception is not the psyche itself, but only its external manifestations, by analyzing which we study the internal processes behind them. True, the complexity and drama of psychological cognition lies in the fact that the connection between consciousness and activity is not direct character. The same mental phenomenon can have completely different behavioral effects, and the same behavioral act can be caused by completely different internal phenomena.
The same applies to developmental phenomena. If the psyche is not directly perceived, then it is also impossible to directly perceive the process of its development. We can only observe its external manifestations. Essentially, the psychologist mentally reconstructs mental reality and developmental mechanisms, observing the increasingly complex nature of the child’s activity and behavior.
Arguing similarly, we have the right to say that deviations in mental development also cannot be observed directly, nor can they be reduced to external manifestations. It should be added that the deviations in mental development themselves and their behavioral and activity effects reveal an extremely complex, indirect nature of connection with each other. For example, a child has significant difficulties in mastering written language. The fact that certain disruptions in behavior and activity are a consequence of internal psychological reasons is a situation that is as obvious as it is banal. The problem is different. Various forms of external objective activity are provided by complex, multicomponent internal psychological formations. Each of these components makes its own “contribution” to the implementation of a particular type of activity. Therefore, a violation of any of them can lead to disturbances in external objective activity as a whole. Simply put, the most diverse and numerous violations of internal psychological mechanisms can be behind the same observed disorder. Therefore, the characteristics of activity are a criterion for the safety or “failure” of internal psychological mechanisms only if it is accurately determined with the disorder of which or which internal psychological mechanisms the disorganization of external objective activity is associated. The mere fact of whether or not the child coped with the task is not enough. The psychologist must answer the question for what internal reason external disruptions in activity occur. To solve this issue, it is necessary to vary the conditions of activity in a variety of ways. Only in this case can the desired connection be more or less reliably established.
The revealed explanatory principles themselves do not provide a ready-made answer to specific psychological problems; they only indicate the direction of its search. They create a certain framework of science that determines the nature of its content, which is fixed in its categorical structure. It should also be kept in mind that we considered general methodological principles that determine the understanding of mental phenomena in normal and pathological conditions. But every applied discipline, in addition to general postulates, always has more specific ones. In our case we are talking about specific methodological principles that set the direction for the study of deviations in mental development. Specifically, methodological principles will be discussed in the next section, “Methods of special psychology.”
Control questions
1. Give a general description of the basic explanatory (general methodological) principles of psychology and reveal their meaning.
2. What is unique about the use of general methodological principles in special psychology?
3. What is the role of the basic explanatory principles of building a theory of special psychology?
Literature
1. Vygotsky L.S. Collection op. T. 5. M., 1983.
2. Lebedinsky V.V. Mental development disorders in childhood. M., 2003.
3. Lubovsky V.Ya. Psychological problems in diagnosing abnormal development of children. M., 1989.
5. Fundamentals of special psychology / Ed. L.V. Kuznetsova. M., 2002.
6. Semago N.Ya., Semago M.M. Guide to psychological diagnostics. M., 2000.
7. Semago N.Ya., Semago M.M. Problem children. M., 2000.
8. Usanova O.N. Special psychology. M., 1990.
1
2) CAUSAL PRINCIPLE.
3) PRINCIPLE OF COMPLEXITY. Psychological assistance can only be considered in a complex of clinical, psychological and pedagogical influences. Its effectiveness largely depends on taking into account clinical and pedagogical factors in the development of the child. (For example, a psychologist must have complete information about the causes and specifics of the child’s illness, upcoming treatment tactics, length of hospitalization, and prospects for medical rehabilitation).
This principle also requires constant interaction between the psychologist and medical and teaching staff.
4) PRINCIPLE OF ACTIVITY APPROACH. Psychological assistance should be carried out taking into account the leading type of activity of the child. (For example, if this is a preschooler, then in the context play activity, if a student, then in the classroom).
5) PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT. The category of development, which is central in domestic and foreign psychological science, acts as an important methodological principle of psychology. The process of development in psychology is considered as a complex cumulative process. Each subsequent stage of mental development includes the previous one, transforming at the same time. The quantitative accumulation of changes prepares qualitative changes in mental development.
The principle of development should be the basis of any type of activity in working with children with developmental problems, from diagnosis to psychodevelopmental and correctional measures.
The methodology of special psychology is based on the principles of dialectical materialism. They form the philosophical basis of ideas about the cultural and historical conditioning of the human psyche, the formation of mental processes under the influence of social factors, the indirect nature of these processes, and the leading role of speech in their organization.
1. PRINCIPLE OF DETERMINISM very important for understanding developmental disorders. The core of determinism is the position of the existence of causality, i.e. such a connection of phenomena in which one phenomenon (cause), under certain conditions, necessarily gives rise to another phenomenon (effect). In psychology, determination is understood as a natural and necessary dependence of the characteristics of mental development on the factors that generate them.
According to the principle of determinism, each developmental atypia is caused by a specific relationship of biological and social factors and is unique in the mechanisms of its occurrence.
In a general psychological sense, the principle of determinism expresses the idea that mental reflection, its highest level (consciousness) is determined by the way of life and changes depending on external conditions.
The principle of determinism states:
Mental phenomena are conditioned by objective reality and reflect this reality;
Mental phenomena are caused by the activity of the brain;
The study of mental phenomena involves establishing the causes that caused this phenomenon.
Determinism in its philosophical understanding means that an external cause does not directly determine a person’s reaction, but acts through internal conditions (Rubinshtein S.L.). Depending on internal conditions, the same external influence can lead to different consequences. The connection between the cause (biological or social; unfavorable factors of a hereditary, congenital or acquired nature) and the effect (type of developmental deviation) is complex and indirect. As a result, the cause of this or that phenomenon may be events or factors that do not immediately cause consequences, but their accumulation leads to a certain shift. These are so-called cumulative cause-and-effect relationships. It is through such mechanisms that most mental development disorders in children arise.
Mental development is characterized by heterochrony. Therefore, the same factors have different effects on different “components” of development. The same environmental influences can lead to different consequences at different stages of ontogenesis. In any case, the reaction to environmental influences at a particular point in time is determined not only by the current state, but also depends on what environmental influences existed previously. Each new environmental influence “lays down” on the result of previous influences.
It follows that when studying the development of the psyche during its disturbance, it is necessary to take into account:
Various types of determinants;
Their consistency and variability in the process of development, since the relationships between different types of determinants in the process of child development are not constant and especially change during critical and sensitive periods of development.
Deviations in mental development in children, from the standpoint of determinism, look like a process determined by a system of multi-level determinants. These determinants are an interplay of biological, social and psychological factors that have complex macro- and micro-influences. Each type of deviant development has a specific system of determination.
Any mental development is characterized by a change in determinants, the formation of new mental qualities and the transformation of previous qualities.
The study of developmental disorders shows that they are determined by pathological factors. Identifying these factors is one of the diagnostic tasks. All studies indicate that mental development disorders in children have a multifactorial genesis.
2) PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT. It represents the position according to which the psyche can be correctly understood only if it is considered in continuous development. All mental phenomena are constantly changing and developing in quantitative and qualitative terms. L.S. attached great importance to the principle of development. Vygotsky. He, however, spoke about the historical principle, but explained that historical study means the application of the category of development to the study of phenomena. To study something historically means to study it in movement, in development. It is believed that L.S. Vygotsky was the first to introduce the historical principle into the field of child psychology.
A correct characterization of any mental phenomenon is possible only if its characteristic features at a given moment and the prospects for subsequent changes are simultaneously clarified. Thus, the developmental principle focuses on a dynamic approach to describing developmental disorders (as opposed to a statistical approach).
The category of development, which is central in domestic and foreign psychological science, acts as an important methodological principle of psychology. The process of development in psychology is considered as a complex cumulative process. Each subsequent stage of mental development includes the previous one, transforming at the same time. The quantitative accumulation of changes prepares for qualitative changes in mental development.
The principle of development involves the analysis of developmental disorders, taking into account the age stage at which this disorder arose and the previous deviations on which it was layered. When describing the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of a disorder, it is important to take into account its dynamics: a tendency to progression or stabilization.
The principle of development should be the basis of any type of activity in working with children with developmental problems, from diagnosis to psychodevelopmental and correctional measures. With a proper psychological examination of children with developmental disabilities, it is possible to predict the effectiveness of correctional and developmental education and the likelihood of spontaneous normalization.
PRINCIPLE OF THE ACTIVITY APPROACH. This principle is associated with the idea that the psyche is formed in activity. This principle in a broad philosophical sense means the recognition of activity as the essence of human existence. Activity creates and changes the conditions of existence of individuals and society as a whole. In the process of activity, a person satisfies his needs and interests, learns about the world around him. Thus, activity appears as a process that determines the formation of the human personality.
In special psychology, the principle of activity is given great importance; activity is understood as a TRANSFORMATING ACTIVITY generated by needs, during which the process of communication arises and cognition is carried out. Therefore, the content of the operating principle is revealed in 2 BASIC PROVISIONS:
1. activity - interaction of subjects, generating the process of communication;
2. . activity is the interaction of subject and object, ensuring the process of cognition.
In this regard, it is important to specify the activity approach to the analysis of mental development disorders. It is based on the idea that each mental function, developing in the process of activity, acquires a complex structure consisting of a number of links. Violation of the same function occurs in different ways: its nature depends on which link is defective. Then the central task of psychological research into developmental disorders is to identify its specifics. Here the principle of activity merges with the principle UNITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ACTIVITY, which is a statement that their unity is inseparable and that consciousness forms the internal plane of human activity. S.L. Rubinstein interprets this principle as the manifestation and formation of consciousness in activity.
The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity implies that consciousness is the regulator of human behavior. However, the main thing, according to A.N. Leontiev, is not at all to point out the active, controlling role of consciousness. “The main problem is to understand consciousness as a subjective product, as a transformed form of manifestation of those relations that are social in nature, which are carried out by human activity in the objective world.”
Research by A.N. Leontyev and his school showed that the unity of the psyche and external activity lies in the fact that mental processes are also activity.
Following Vygotsky L.S. and Leontiev A.N. P.Ya. Halperin experimentally proved that new types of mental activity are initially assimilated in an external, material form, and then transformed into an internal, mental form. During this process, external objects of activity are replaced by their mental analogues (ideas, concepts), and practical operations are transformed into mental, theoretical operations.
When studying children with disabilities and developmental disabilities, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity is realized in the fact that the child’s activity is considered as an important criterion for the level of his development. In addition, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity is implemented in the methodology of psychocorrectional classes, which are based on the child’s objective and practical actions.
Psychological assistance should be carried out taking into account the leading type of activity of the child. (For example, if this is a preschooler, then in the context of play activities, if a schoolchild, then in educational activities).
In addition, in correctional work it is necessary to focus on that Kind of activity, which is personally significant for a child and adolescent. This is especially important when working with children with severe emotional disturbances.
The effectiveness of psychological assistance depends to a large extent on the use of productive activities of the child (drawing, designing, etc.).
The stated principles serve as the basis for the theoretical concepts and methodology of special psychology, an objective approach to the study of mental development disorders and the justification of correctional and developmental education.
Along with philosophical and general psychological principles, special psychology is based on A NUMBER OF PRINCIPLES WITH A MORE SPECIFIC SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:
1) PRINCIPLE OF PERSONAL APPROACH to a child with developmental problems. In the process of psychological assistance to a child with psychophysical disorders, no particular function or isolated mental phenomenon is taken into account, but the personality as a whole with all its individual characteristics is considered.
Rogers, the founder of client-centered therapy,
3 MAIN DIRECTIONS OF THIS PRINCIPLE:
A) each person has unconditional value and deserves respect as such;
B) each person is able to be responsible for himself;
C) every individual has the right to choose values and goals and make independent decisions.
A psychologist must accept any child and his parents as unique, autonomous individuals, for whom the right of free choice, self-determination, and the right to live their own life is recognized and respected.
2) CAUSAL PRINCIPLE. Psychological assistance to children with developmental disorders should be more focused not on the external manifestations of developmental deviations, but on the actual sources that give rise to these deviations. The implementation of this principle helps to eliminate the causes and sources of deviations in the mental development of a sick child.
A complex hierarchy of relationships between symptoms and their causes, the structure of the defect will determine the tasks and goals of psychological assistance.
COMPLEXITY PRINCIPLE. It dictates the need for cooperation between specialists from different fields in the examination of children with atypical development. Each specialist records in the child’s impaired development and the rationale for helping him those features that fall within the scope of his competence. The data is entered into a professional examination scheme and can be compiled into a unifying table, which contains the results of the child’s examination by other specialists. A multidimensional study of a child with atypical development provides a cumulative result that allows us to identify the causes of pathology, approach the interpretation of its mechanisms and justify assistance.
The stated provisions are significant not only for diagnosis, but also for providing psychological assistance to children, developing its strategy and tactics at different stages of work with the child, his family or microgroups of children's institutions where he is studying or being raised.
Psychological assistance can only be considered in a complex of clinical, psychological and pedagogical influences. Its effectiveness largely depends on taking into account clinical and pedagogical factors in the development of the child. (For example, a psychologist must have complete information about the causes and specifics of the child’s illness, upcoming treatment tactics, length of hospitalization, and prospects for medical rehabilitation).
Implementation of the principle of complexity in practice means that specialists from different fields must begin to provide assistance to children with developmental atypia jointly and act in parallel, coordinating solutions to an interrelated range of tasks.
4) PRINCIPLE OF SYSTEM STRUCTURAL-DYNAMIC STUDY. The highlighted principle is based on the ideas of B.G. Ananyeva, B.F. Lomova and others about the systems approach in psychology. Each system presupposes the presence of a system-forming foundation that unites its constituent elements as relatively homogeneous. A necessary feature of a system is a certain connection between its constituent elements.
Historically, this principle is associated with the consideration of L.S. Vygotsky’s hierarchy of defects: identifying primary, secondary, tertiary defects. The views of L. S. Vygotsky largely predetermined the systematic approach to the study of an abnormal child, the need to search for connections between different stages of mental development and the obligation to study the influence of individual disorders on development as a whole. The principle of systemic structural-dynamic study requires determining the hierarchy in mental development disorders, as well as analyzing each of the components of the child’s activity (motivational, orientation, execution and control of the result).
This principle is widely used in Russian neuropsychology by representatives of A.R. Luria’s school. He contributed to the identification of HMF disorder syndromes in brain lesions and the creation of a theory of HMF localization. Disturbances in mental processes can be caused by pathology of various links and structures and manifest themselves at various stages of mental activity. Therefore, when psychologically studying a child, it is important to establish not only disturbances in activity and mental processes, but also which links in their structure turned out to be defective, and which ones contribute to compensating for the defect.
5) PRINCIPLE OF QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. It involves focusing the researcher’s attention on the child’s actions in completing the task and his behavior during the examination (methods of completing the task and making decisions, type of errors, the child’s attitude towards his mistakes and adults’ comments) as opposed to focusing only on the result.
Qualitative analysis allows us to find out what level of organization of mental activity the defect is associated with. Such an analysis makes it possible to determine whether a certain symptom is a sign of a primary disorder in mental development or a consequence of an existing defect.
Qualitative analysis does not oppose quantitative analysis; quantitative indicators only clarify it.
BASIC PRINCIPLES, APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATION
ACTIVITIES OF A SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGIST:
Recently, many authors have turned their attention not only to the principles of special psychology as a science, but also to the activities of psychologists in special educational institutions, thereby emphasizing the importance of understanding and studying the technologies of a psychologist’s activities.
1) The principle of theoretical and methodological “positioning” of the psychologist.
2) The principle of unity of methodology, diagnostic and correctional
activities.
The principle of structural-dynamic integrity.
The principle of terminological adequacy.
Assessing the effectiveness of a psychologist through the adaptation of a child in an educational environment.
Priority of educational objectives.
The principle of interdisciplinarity and the coordinating nature of the psychologist’s activities.
Ethical principles and the associated principle of professional competence.
Before moving on to the analysis of each of these provisions, it should be noted that they are all closely related and follow from one another. Separating their content and subordination presents significant difficulties.
PRINCIPLE OF THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL
POSITIONING- is determined by the need to determine one’s own theoretical position, commitment to a particular theoretical school, scientific concept.
(What theoretical approaches we use, within what theoretical concept our work takes place, on what methodological principles the organization of our activities is built).
This is especially important, since it was at the end of the 20th century that a large number of different methodological approaches and concepts appeared, confirmed by experimental studies, on the basis of which diagnostic and correctional and developmental tools were developed, widely used in real practice. There are often cases when a specialist, declaring his belonging to one theoretical concept in the actual practice of diagnosis and correction, without thinking, uses completely different conceptual approaches, sometimes fundamentally opposite.
All this makes it necessary to place special demands on the theoretical and methodological position of a psychologist, including a psychologist working in the special education system.
2) PRINCIPLE OF UNITY OF METHODOLOGY, DIAGNOSTIC AND CORRECTIONAL ACTIVITIES- comes from the need for the closest connection between the theoretical positions of the psychologist, the corresponding methodology and specific diagnostic tools built on the basis of the same methodology.
The principle of the trinity of theory, diagnosis and correction gives us the opportunity for integrity and integrity in the study of child development and the complexity of psychological assistance. In accordance with this provision, the possibility of using one or another diagnostic procedure or technique to assess the characteristics of the formation of the cognitive, regulatory and affective-emotional spheres of the child is determined, i.e. A DIAGNOSTIC, and subsequently a CORRECTIONAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCENARIO OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WORK is being constructed.
3) THE PRINCIPLE OF STRUCTURAL-DYNAMIC INTEGRITY of studying and working with a child. It is expressed in the idea that individual aspects of mental organization (mental functions and processes, individual spheres) are not isolated, but appear holistically, exist in a single structural organization and respond equally holistically to all external influences, transforming them through the child’s own internal activity to development, to interaction with the surrounding educational environment.
In accordance with this principle, each specific feature of the child’s condition should be studied and assessed both from the point of view of age correlation and in accordance with a certain sequence of development, interaction and heterochrony (multi-time) maturation of certain functions included in a single “ensemble” of the formation of that or other characteristics of the child’s activities.
The application of this principle allows not only to record individual violations or lack of formation in any area, but also to determine the causes and situation of their occurrence, to evaluate the structure and hierarchy of development problems.
4) PRINCIPLE OF TERMINOLOGICAL ADEQUACY.
It is one of the most painful problems of special psychology.
Questions have been repeatedly raised and are being raised: how to more accurately define and designate the various categories of children who are in the field of view of special psychology, how to more correctly (more accurately and humanely) define many concepts in the field of diagnostics, when making a psychological diagnosis, and organizing correctional and developmental work.
Extremely relevant at the present time is the problem associated with the use of adequate terminology in the actual practice of a child psychologist, which can be clearly distinguished from the concepts of related disciplines.
Among specialists working with children with developmental, learning and behavioral problems, today there are significant differences in many concepts and ideas. (For example, what is behind the general concept of “problem child”; how are the boundaries of individual differences within the conventional age norm defined; what are the boundaries of deviations from the norm). Many concepts do not correspond either to modern humanistic principles or to the ethics of a specialist.
Terminological confusion also extends to the content of the activities of a special psychologist with such different categories of children. The adequacy of the terminology of a special psychologist should be extended to all areas of his activity: diagnostic, correctional and developmental, advisory, etc.
To give clear definitions and indicate the content of terms and concepts related to these areas means to reveal the content of the functionality of a special psychologist.
This problem must be solved both in matters of humanization of education, psychological ethics, and as a result of developing psychologically adequate terminology in all aspects of the work of a special psychologist.
5) PRINCIPLE OF EVALUATING PERFORMANCE EFFECTIVENESS
PSYCHOLOGIST THROUGH ADAPTATION OF A CHILD IN EDUCATION
WEDNESDAY.
This principle of organizing the activities of a special psychologist is extremely important in the overall assessment of the quality of the psychologist’s work.
Considering mental health as an integral indicator of well-being in mental development, it is proposed to evaluate it on the basis of such a psychological criterion as the degree of socio-psychological adaptation of the child, which is defined primarily as the success of adaptation to the socio-psychological requirements of the environment.
The change in the degree of maladaptation under the influence of the correctional and developmental work of a psychologist and the transition of the child’s condition from one group of “psychological health” to another, less severe in terms of adaptation, is defined as a criterion for the effectiveness of psychological activity.
6) PRINCIPLE OF PRIORITY OF EDUCATIONAL TASKS.
Determined by the status of a psychologist in an educational institution.
It is far from a secret that the attitude towards a psychologist as last resort, as a specialist who “ANYTHING CAN AND IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SHOULD...” IS STILL PREMIUM IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF MANY TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATION. This also penetrates into the professional self-perception of psychologists.
It is necessary to understand the status of a psychologist as an auxiliary specialist in relation to the teacher - a specialist who solves additional (rather than basic) problems of education.
The most important indicator that a psychologist must take into account in his work is the assessment of the child’s ability to master appropriate development and training programs and the optimization of educational influences associated with this opportunity.
7) THE PRINCIPLE OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH AND THE COORDINATING NATURE OF THE ACTIVITY OF A PSYCHOLOGIST.
This principle determines the need to understand the assessment of the child’s condition from the point of view of various areas of psychology. This principle reflects the need to use various approaches and tactics in diagnostic, correctional, advisory and other activities, as well as taking into account the opinions of various specialists.
It is obvious that without a multifaceted and multidisciplinary assessment of the child’s condition from different professional points of view, it is impossible not only to determine the prognosis for further development, but also to make a nosological (medical) diagnosis, draw up a psychological report, give a pedagogical assessment, and individualize the educational route.
The practical implementation of this principle further consolidates the leading role of the psychologist as the organizer of the entire process of supporting a child with developmental problems.
Thus, it is the psychologist’s functionality that needs to include coordination work to unite all specialists into a single team - a clearly and well-functioning support mechanism.
PRINCIPLE OF COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICAL STANDARDS AND PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE.
The ethical principles of a psychologist’s activity are especially important in the system of special education of a special psychologist, who in his daily work repeatedly encounters endlessly complex ethical problems (in conversations with parents, specialists, in maintaining confidentiality and non-disclosure of secrets, in positive disclosure of test results, etc. ).
Ethical principles should also include reflection on one’s own professional competence. Professional competence as a component of the ethics of any specialist is currently acquiring great importance.
It is very important to be able to limit the circle of your competence so as not to exceed your capabilities and ultimately not harm the child.
Discipline "FUNDAMENTALS OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY"
Lecture 4
Conceptual foundations of special psychology
Questions:
Conceptual sources of special psychology. Psychological theory activities. The problem of teaching children with special needs from the perspective of activity theory.
P.Ya.Galperin’s theory about the stage-by-stage formation of mental actions. The significance of P.Ya. Galperin’s theory for special psychology.
Cultural-historical theory of L.S. Vygotsky about the origin of the human psyche: the concept of “social inheritance” as a specifically human path of development of the psyche; the concept of “higher mental functions”; the concept of “interiorization”. The role of biological and social factors in the mental development of a child. Sensitive periods in development. L. S. Vygotsky’s ideas about the child’s zone of proximal development. The relationship between training and development. Level of current development. Zone of proximal development. Learning ability. The significance of the basic concepts of L.S. Vygotsky for special psychology.
A.R. Luria’s theory of the brain organization of higher mental functions. The significance of A.R. Luria’s theory for special psychology.
Theory of socialization and social influence. Essence,conditions and criteria of socialization. The essence of the child’s social ontogenesis. Institutes for the socialization of children. The importance of socialization theory for special psychology.
Conceptual sources of special psychology
The subject of special psychology, its goals and objectives, urgently require a determination of what its theoretical positions are, what scientific concepts form its methodology and principles.
Multifaceted research in the field of special psychology in our country is based mainly on the methodology of general psychology and the theories of leading domestic psychologists. Special mention should be madethe theory of activity of A. N. Leontiev, the theory of the stage-by-stage formation of mental actions of P. Ya. Galperin, the theory of cerebral localization of higher mental functions of A. R. Luria. An important role is played by the ideas of L. S. Vygotsky about the zone of proximal development of the child, modern theoretical ideas about socialization and social influences.Each of these theories, considered from the perspective of special psychology, deepens the understanding of its subject, contributes to the development of new concepts and conceptual apparatus, and justification of methodological means.
Let us highlight their main provisions.
- The problem of teaching children with special needs from the perspective of activity theory.
The theory of activity is most fully presented in the monographs of A. N. Leontiev “Problems of psychic development” (1964) and “Activity. Consciousness. Personality" (1975). He considers the psyche as a form of life activity, arguing that real activity connecting the organism with the surrounding reality determines the development of both consciousness as a whole and individual mental functions. For him, the psyche is not just a picture of the world, a system of images, but purposeful activity, a system of actions united by a single motive.
The creation of activity theory changed the very idea of the subject of psychology. From the standpoint of activity theory, the subject of psychologythese are the laws of the generation and functioning of a person’s mental reflection of objective reality in the process of activity. Activity is understood in this case as the initial reality with which psychology deals, and the psyche is considered as its derivative side.
The principle of the unity of the psyche and activity fundamentally distinguishes domestic psychology both from various versions of the psychology of consciousness, which study the psyche outside of behavior, and from the naturalistic trends of behavioral psychology, which study behavior outside of the psyche.
The genetic source is external, objective, sensory-practical activity, from which all types of internal mental activity of the individual and consciousness are derived. Both of these forms have a socio-historical origin and a fundamentally common structure. The constitutive characteristic of activity is objectivity. Initially, activity is determined by the object, and then it is mediated and regulated by its image as its subjective product.
Needs are considered to be mutually transforming units of activity<=>motive<=>target<=>conditions and related activities<=>actions<=>operations. By action we mean a process whose object and motive do not coincide with each other. The motive and the subject must be reflected in the psyche of the subject: otherwise the action is deprived of meaning for him.
Action in Activity Theory is internally connected with personal meaning. Psychological fusion into a single action. private actions represent the transformation of the latter into operations, and the content, which previously occupied the place of the conscious goals of private actions, occupies the structural place in the structure of the action of the conditions for its implementation. Another type of operation is born from the simple adaptation of an action to the conditions of its implementation. Operations are the quality of actions that form actions. The genesis of the operation lies in the relationship of actions, their inclusion of one another.
In the theory of activity, the concept of “motive-goal” was introduced, i.e., a conscious motive acting as a “general goal” and a “goal zone”, the identification of which depends on the motive or a specific goal, and the process of goal formation is always associated with testing goals through action .
Together with the birth of this action, ch. "units" of human activity, the basic, social, by nature "unit" of the human psyche arises - the meaning for a person of what his activity is directed towards. The genesis, development and functioning of consciousness are derived from one or another level of development of the forms and functions of activity. Along with the change in the structure of a person’s activity, the internal structure of his consciousness also changes.
The emergence of a system of subordinate actions, i.e., a complex action, marks the transition from a conscious goal to a conscious condition of action, the emergence of levels of awareness. The division of labor and production specialization give rise to a “shift of motive to goal” and the transformation of action into activity. There is a birth of new motives and needs, which entails a qualitative differentiation of awareness. Next, a transition to internal mental processes is assumed, internal actions appear, and subsequently, internal activities and internal operations formed according to the general law of shifting motives. Activity that is ideal in its form is not fundamentally separated from external, practical activity, and both of them are meaningful and meaning-forming processes. Ch. The processes of activity are the interiorization of its form, leading to the subject, the image of reality, and the exteriorization of its internal forms as the objectification of the image, as its transition into an objective, ideal property of an object.
Meaning is the center, the concept with the help of which the situational development of motivation is explained and a psychological interpretation of the processes of meaning formation and regulation of activity is given.
Personality in the Theory of Activity is an internal moment of activity, a certain unique unity that plays the role of the highest integrating authority that controls mental processes, a holistic psychological new formation that is formed in the life relationships of an individual as a result of the transformation of his activity. Personality first appears in society. A person enters history as an individual endowed with natural properties and abilities, and he becomes a personality only as a subject of societies and relationships.
The concept of “personality” denotes a relatively late product of the socio-historical and ontogenetic development of a person in societies; relationships are realized by a set of diverse activities. Hierarchical relations of activities, behind which there are correlations of motives, characterize the personality. The latter is born twice: the first time when the child manifests in obvious forms the polymotivation and subordination of his actions, the second time when his conscious personality arises.
The formation of personality is the formation of personal meanings. Personality psychology is crowned by the problem of self-awareness, since the main thing is awareness of oneself in the system of societies and relationships. Personality is what a person creates from himself, affirming his human life. The Theory of Activity proposes to use the following grounds when creating a personality typology: the richness of the individual’s connections with the world, the degree of hierarchization of motives, their general structure.
At each age stage of personality development, in Activity Theory, a specific type of activity is more represented, acquiring leading value in the formation of new mental processes and properties of the child’s personality. The development of the problem of leading activity was the foundation, Leontiev’s contribution to child and developmental psychology. This scientist not only characterized the change in leading activities in the process of child development, but also initiated the study of the mechanisms of this change, the transformation of one leading activity into another.
Based on the Activity Theory, activity-oriented theories of social psychology of personality, child and developmental psychology, pathopsychology of personality, etc. have been developed and continue to be developed.
For special psychology, it is important that with the activity approach, all learning is considered as an activity. This approach to the assimilation of sociocultural experience presupposes a certain interpretation of the relationship between knowledge and skills. It becomes fundamental that knowledge is an integral part of skills; it can be obtained and retained only in conditions of student activity.
Thus, from the standpoint of activity theory, the problem of teaching children with developmental disorders should be posed as their mastery of such types of activities in which both the system of knowledge and their use are initially specified within predetermined limits. It is also important to take into account all components of the activity for planning any correctional and developmental process. In particular, this concerns the formation of motives for activity in children. The principle of the unity of the psyche and external activity indicates the path to the formation of cognitive activity both in normal conditions and in cases of developmental disorders.
2 . The significance of P.Ya. Galperin’s theory for special psychology.
The theory of the gradual formation of mental actions arose and developed in line with the theory of activity. Its creator P. Ya. Galperin was guided in his constructions by the principle of the unity of the psyche and activity, the idea of the inextricable connection between external and internal activity. This theory outlines the patterns of formation of the human psyche in ontogenesis. But since human mental development consists mainly in the assimilation of sociocultural experience with the help of other people, theories of this kind inevitably become theories of learning. For special psychology, this theory is very important, since with atypical development, knowledge of the world and the acquisition of practical experience do not occur as spontaneously as normally; targeted help from relatives and specialists is required. Such directed influence should be built according to laws that ensure the effective acquisition of knowledge and its application. This theory is important for special psychology, especially its psychocorrectional section, precisely as a methodological basis, because in it the learning process is widely understood and analyzed in detail (step by step)
WITH positions of the theory of the gradual formation of mental actions, if the activity leads the student to new knowledge and skills, then it represents teaching. P. Ya. Galperin writes: “Let us agree to call any activity teaching, since as a result the performer develops new knowledge and skills, or previous knowledge or skills acquire new qualities.”
And in his theory, the formation of internal activity is actually considered in the process of transferring social experience. At the same time, it is essential that the transfer of experience is accomplished not only through communication between the teacher as the custodian of social experience and the student, but through the exteriorization of the required activity, modeling it in an external material (materialized) form and through gradual transformation into the internal activity of the student. This transformation follows a system of independent characteristics; the combination of their qualitative changes constitutes a series of stages, the natural change of which forms the process of transforming external, material activity into internal, mental activity. During this process, external objects of activity are replaced by their images - ideas, concepts, and practical operations are transformed into mental, theoretical operations.
The process of mental new formations thus receives clear characteristics that reveal the main changes in mental activity and determine all its other qualities and properties. In this process, the main transition stages were identified for the first time, showing the progressive nature of the formation of mental activity.
The theory of P. Ya. Galperin opened the way to a concrete psychological study of mental activity and showed a way to construct its given forms and types.
The main place in the theoretical constructions of P. Ya. Galperin is given to the concept"action". It stands out as a unit of cognitive activity and as the main factor in controlling its formation, thereby denoting the structure of the action and its functional parts. The image of action and the image of the environment of action are combined into a single part of the structureindicative basis for action,which serves as a compass in controlling the action. This is the system of conditions that a person actually takes into account when performing actions.
Approximate partaction, or its indicative basis, implies taking into account the objective conditions for performing the action. There is also in action executive (working) part, providing ideal or material transformations in the object of action.Control partaction consists of monitoring its progress and comparing the results obtained with a given sample.
Any action can be characterized from the outsideforms of implementation, generality, deployment and mastery.
With developed intelligence, the basis of thinking is formed by “collapsed”, rapidly flowing actions. However, they appear in re benka not right away. According to the theory of P. Ya. Galperin, first the child takes over new mental actions in material or materialized form with deployment all the components involved. In this form, the indicative, executive, and control parts of the action are performed. Gradually, a change occurs in mental actions: their deployment, generalization and mastery.
Actually a form of action characterizes the level of its mastery by the child and the degree of internalization of this action. On initial stage the child accompanies his external actions with speech (mother alal mastery of action); then the action is formed in loud speech, gradually moving to the stage of external speech “to oneself”; finally, the stage of internal speech begins, T. that is, the action becomes mental.
The ability to perform an action entirely on the mental plane means that it has gone through the entire path of internalization and turned into an internal action. Since the form of actions indicates the level of mental development, it is quite simply observed and recorded, it is advisable to use this particular characteristic when examining children with developmental atypia. Other parameters are less studied, but they may also be useful for describing the characteristics of mental thinking.
Generality mental action is characterized by the ability to highlight the essential properties of an object when performing this action.
Deployment action is characterized by the preservation of the initial operations when performing this action. According to the theory of P. Ya. Galperin, as the action is formed, the composition of the operations performed is reduced, as a result of which it becomes collapsed.
Development mental action is characterized by the degree of its automation and speed of execution.
The considered action characteristics are independent and primary. In addition, P. Ya. Galperin identified two secondary characteristics of action: reasonableness, determined by the effort the child expends to perform the action, and consciousness, which consists in the ability not only to carry out an action, but also to justify in speech the correctness of its implementation (what was done and why it was done that way).
The methods of carrying out mental actions (operations) are an important indicator of the level of development of thinking.
Knowledge of the structure, functions and basic characteristics of action allows us to model the most effective types of cognitive activity and outline requirements for them at the end of training.
According to the theory of the gradual formation of mental actions, in order for programmed types of cognitive activity to become the property of students, they must be led through a series of qualitatively unique states in all basic characteristics. These transition states constitutestages of mastering mental actions.
Each stage is characterized by a set of basic properties (parameters) of the action. The names of the stages often coincide with the names of the forms of action. However, the content of the concepts “form of action” and “stage of formation of action” in the theory of P. Ya. Galperin is different. The form of an action characterizes it by one property. The stages are distinguished taking into account all four properties.
In total, P. Ya. Galperin identifies five stages of assimilation of action. He designates the period of creating the necessary motivation for the student as the “overstage.”
First stage creation of an indicative basis for action. At this stage, the purpose of the action and its object are explained to students. The teacher creates an indicative basis for students’ activities; he exteriorizes his mental actions, reveals them to students in material or materialized form. The learner follows the actions of the teacher, using his previously formed actions (mainly perception and mouse leniya), and makes an outline of the future action in the internal plan.
In fact, the learning of an action (or activity) occurs only through the performance of this action by the student himself, and not by observing the actions of others. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between the process of understanding how to do it and the actual execution of the action.
Second phase formation of action in a material (action with objects) or materialized (action with diagrams, symbols) form. Students perform the action in external form with all operations deployed. At this stage, the student must master the content of the action, and the teacher must monitor the implementation of each operation included in the action. To generalize the activity at this stage, the training program includes tasks on the typical application of this activity. At the same time, tasks of the same type should not lead to reduction and automation of actions. Thus, at the second stage, the student performs the task in material form and assimilates the action on a material level. The action is assimilated as detailed, generalized and consciously performed in the full range of its operations.
To prepare for the transition to the next stage of action formation, at the second stage the material form of action is accompanied by speech. This means that students verbalize everything they do practically.
Third stage formation of action as external speech (terminology by N. F. Talyzina). At this stage, all elements of the action are presented in the form of detailed loud speech. “Speech becomes an independent carrier of the entire process: both tasks and actions.” Expanded speech when accompanying actions is a prerequisite for the third stage. Almost all operations are verbalized, and it is in this process that they are assimilated. Here it is possible to slightly reduce the action due to the transition of some operations to a mental form, the action is brought to automatism.
Fourth stage formation of action in speech “to oneself”. This stage differs from the previous one in that the action is performed silently, while pronouncing “to oneself.” At first, the expansion, consciousness, and generalization of the action are the same as at the previous stage, but gradually it decreases, acquiring a schematic character.
Fifth stage formation of action in inner speech and its complete transition to mental form. The action becomes automated and practically inaccessible to observation.
Thus, mental action is the product of a gradual transformation of external material action. “The gradual formation of ideal, in particular mental, actions connects mental activity with external material activity. It is the key not only to understanding mental phenomena, but also to their practical mastery.” The greatest difficulty is the transition from one stage of activity to another.
It is obvious that at each stage the action has four properties and only one of them - the form of the action - is observable. That is why a change in this characteristic serves as a criterion for moving to the next stage.
In the theory of P. Ya. Galperin, a significant place is given to the evolution of action control. External control is gradually being replaced by internal control, turning into final stage into an act of attention. Research conducted under the leadership of N. F. Talyzina made it possible to formulate requirements for the organization of control.
- At first, control should be operational.
- At the beginning of the material (or materialized) and external speech stages, control should be systematic over each task performed.
- At the end of these stages, as well as at subsequent stages, control should be episodic - at the request of the student.
- The method of control (who controls) is not of fundamental importance for the quality of assimilation. IN at the same time, the novelty of control, as well as the conditions of competition, contribute to the creation of positive learning motivation.
The theory of the stage-by-stage formation of mental actions also considers the question of the relative importance of each stage. An experimental study by N. F. Talyzina led to the conclusion that each stage is equally important in the formation of a full-fledged action. Thus, skipping the external speech stage of action formation significantly complicates its formation at other stages, even if assimilation is well organized: the process of abstraction is hampered, without which the action cannot be translated into a conceptual form. Insufficient assimilation of action on the material level has the same consequences.
IN When diagnosing developmental disorders, the stage of formation of the action and those stages that are inaccessible to the child at the time of examination are taken into account. IN In correctional work, programs for interaction with a child are built step by step, strictly observing the content of each of them.
For special psychology, the considered theory opens up new approaches to psychodiagnostics and allows us to build its program based on ideas about the gradual formation of mental actions. There is an opportunity to organize and manage the learning process in a fundamentally new way. There is reason to believe that teaching children with disabilities systematically using the theory of gradual formation of mental actions has a positive impact on both learning and development. According to this hypothesis, which has already been partly confirmed experimentally, such training, to a greater extent than traditional training, is a source of development: it expands its immediate zones, changes the very type of development, promoting normalization.
3. The significance of the basic concepts of L.S. Vygotsky for special psychology.
The study of children with atypical development inevitably leads to the question of how the learning process and assimilation of sociocultural experience occur under conditions of atypical development, and what their mechanisms are.
L. S. Vygotsky’s idea of the current level of development and the zone of proximal development has both conceptual and constructive significance for special psychology.
The concept of “zone of proximal development” took shape in the theory of L. S. Vygotsky in discussions about the relationship between learning and development in connection with the justification of the scientific approach to the diagnosis of mental development. He repeatedly returned to this issue in his publications.
In the article “The problem of training and mental development at school age” (1996, p. 321) L. S. Vygotsky reveals the essence of the processes of development and learning and their interaction. Here he turns to the analysis of various types of theories about the relationship between learning and development, based on the obvious and recognized fact by all researchers that a child’s learning in its simplest form begins long before school. In fact, notes L. S. Vygotsky, learning and development are interconnected from the first day of a child’s life. And although schooling is fundamentally different from early education, it always has its own background. In particular, in preschool age the child acquires some practical experience and the beginnings of learning, which include familiarity with the elements of future school knowledge. The accumulated facts allow, according to L. S. Vygotsky, to come to the following conclusion: the child’s preschool experience is the basis for acquiring school knowledge; school education is always based on a certain level of development, but is not a direct continuation of the line of preschool education.
An analysis of the relationship between learning and development in general and its specifics at school age allowed L. S. Vygotsky to identify different levels of child development, which he details and clarifies in his publications.
In “Lectures on Pedology” (1928), L. S. Vygotsky first introduced the concept of “level of proximal development.” He draws attention here to the fact that when clarifying real relationships mental development to learning opportunities cannot be limited to one definition of the level of development. “We must determine,” says L. S. Vygotsky, “at least two levels development of the child, without knowledge of which we will not be able to find the correct relationship between the course of child development and the possibilities of his learning in each specific case. Let's callthe first is the current level of development.We mean the level of development of the child’s mental functions that has developed as a result of certain, already completed cycles of his development.”(Vygotsky L. S. 1996, p. 330). The current level of development, according to L. S. Vygotsky, is measured by the difficulty of tasks that the child solves independently, without the help of adults. This level reflects the path already traversed by the child in development; to measure it means to gain “knowledge of the results of yesterday.” Finding the zone of proximal development is the determination of processes that have not matured today, but are in the period of maturation. L. S. Vygotsky bases his arguments on an analysis of how children of the same age perform tests. (When determining a child’s mental age using tests, the researcher always deals with the level of actual development.) Some children are limited to completing tests appropriate to their age, while others can easily cope with tasks for older children (1-2 years older). This indicates the different development potential of children of the same age.
If a child watches other children or is helped by an adult, then such a child is capable of great achievements. Achievements also increase with collective activity.
The discrepancy in the difficulty of tasks that a child solves independently and with the help of an adult characterizes the zone of proximal development.
L. S. Vygotsky, therefore, considers the zone of proximal development as a space for realizing the child’s potential. In this space, the child demonstrates the achievements that he is capable of with the help of an adult. Zone of proximal development zone of functions, “which are now in their infancy; they can be called not the fruits of development, but the buds of development, the flowers of development, i.e., what is just ripening”(Vygotsky L. S. 1996, p. 345). If the current level of development characterizes the successes of development, the results of development as of yesterday, then the zone of proximal development is an indicator of development prospects for tomorrow.
These provisions of L. S. Vygotsky are of fundamental importance and radically change ideas about the relationship between learning and development, as well as the approach to diagnosing development. He writes: “It seems to me that if we move from the traditional formulation of the question of whether or not a child is ripe for learning at a given age, to a more in-depth analysis of the child’s mental development in school education, then all questions of pedology in both normal and auxiliary schools will become different"(Vygotsky L. S., 1996, p. 355).
Studying the zone of proximal development allows a psychologist to understand the child’s development process from the inside and predict the dynamics of mental development. It is the zone of proximal development that is most important for determining the dynamics of a child’s mental development and success. What is significant is not how mature certain mental functions of the child are by now, but which of them are at the stage of maturation. It is the maturing functions engine mental development, in contrast to formed functions, which are only prerequisite for development.
Thus, the zone of proximal development is a fruitful area of psychological research; identifying this zone significantly increases the significance of diagnosing mental development in relation to the requirements imposed by the school. After all, for school, what a child is able to learn is more important than the knowledge he already has.
The zone of proximal development indicates the child’s capabilities in terms of mastering knowledge under the guidance of an adult, in cooperation with him. This zone should, therefore, determine the optimal learning conditions for the child. You need to teach him what he can master.
L. S. Vygotsky’s ideas about two aspects of the analysis of a child’s mental development are very significant for special psychology in the sense that they set a very clear direction for the organization of psychodiagnostics and indicate the need for a qualitative analysis of its results. It becomes clear that in order to determine the essence of the child’s difficulties or developmental disorders, it is important to assess both the actual and potential levels of his development.
For rate current leveldevelopment of the child, his knowledge, skills and abilities should be established at the time of the examination. In addition, the child’s ability to carry out various types of activities in the unity of their components (mnemonic, mental, speech, educational/game) is assessed.
The zone of proximal development is determined by learning ability:activity of orientation in new conditions, ability to assimilate knowledge, receptivity to the help of others, transfer of skills to new conditions, speed of formation of new concepts and methods of action, switching from one method of action to another, pace and rhythm of work. The identification of learning ability as the main criterion for the range (size of the zone) of proximal development presupposes the use of this criterion when mastering methods of interpersonal interaction.
By analogy with the stages of formation of mental actions, several stages of learning can be distinguished asreadiness for transitionto the next stage of knowledge acquisition based on less adult help. This means that the initially deployed assistance is gradually reduced and, finally, the stage of one’s own initiative begins in the transition to a new stage of training and development. Learning ability is manifested, as already indicated, in the child’s activity of orientation in new conditions, his intellectual initiative, receptivity to the help of another person when performing a difficult task, the ability to independently solve similar problems, and the pace of activity.
The development of his cognitive, motivational-volitional and emotional sphere, as well as components of gaming/learning activities derived from them. It depends on these components whether the child will understand the content of the material and whether he will use the knowledge gained.
Focusing on the zone of proximal development, its scale and meaningful characteristics, including the child’s learning ability, should help to identify the main factors of developmental disorders and understand the dynamics of development. In addition, it seems important to focus on the scale of this zone when developing preventive, correctional and developmental programs for working with children, as well as when determining the conditions, ways and methods of their education.
4. The significance of A.R. Luria’s theory for special psychology
According to this theory, the brain, the substrate of mental functions, works as a single whole, consisting of many highly differentiated parts, each of which performs its own specific role. It is not the entire mental function, or even its individual parts, that should be correlated directly with brain structures, but those physiological processes that take place in the corresponding structures. Disruption of these physiological processes leads to the appearance of primary defects that extend to a number of interrelated mental functions.
The systemic localization of higher mental functions presupposes a multi-stage hierarchical multi-level brain organization of each function. This inevitably follows from the complex multicomponent composition of the functional systems on which higher mental functions rely.
The localization of higher mental functions is also characterized by dynamism and variability. This principle of localization of functions follows from the basic qualities of functional systems that mediate higher mental functions, their plasticity, variability, and interchangeability of links. Ideas about the dynamism and variability of the brain organization of mental functions are based on clinical, physiological and anatomical data.
Thus, the main provisions of the theory of systemic dynamic localization of higher mental functions of a person can be formulated as follows:
- Each mental function, which is a complex functional system, is carried out by the brain as a single whole. At the same time, various brain structures make their specific contribution to the implementation of this function.
- Various links of the psychological system are located in various cortical and subcortical structures and many of them can replace each other.
- When a certain area of the brain is damaged (primarily the secondary and tertiary areas of the cerebral cortex), a “primary” defect occurs - a violation of a certain physiological principle of operation characteristic of a given brain structure (factor).
- At the same time, “secondary” defects arise as a systemic consequence as a result of damage to a common link included in various functional systems.
In terms of the prospects for special psychology, the theory of functional systems, as well as the modern concept of HMF, inspire optimism. The lifetime formation of not only higher mental functions, but also the brain systems that support them, the plasticity of these systems, the dynamism of their parts, the presence of reserve afferentations open up enormous opportunities for the targeted formation of HMF, correctional and developmental education of children with mental development disorders.
Functional blocks of the brain and their role in mental activity
According to the concept of A.R. Luria, brain structures can be conditionally combined into three functional blocks that are certainly involved in any type of mental activity.
The first block provides regulation of tone and wakefulness, the second - receiving, processing and storing information, the third - programming, regulation and control of mental activity.
1. Block for regulating tone and wakefulness (energy)
To implement various types mental activity requires that the brain be in a state of wakefulness. This state is achieved with optimal tone of the cerebral cortex. It is provided by stem and subcortical formations of the brain (upper parts of the brain stem, reticular formation) and formations of the ancient (medial and basal) cortex. By toning the cortex, these formations are simultaneously under its regulating influence.
The main brain formation that provides tone is the reticular formation. Damage to its structures leads to a decrease in tone and activation of the cerebral cortex, resulting in increased exhaustion during different types activity, instability of attention, disturbances in the affective sphere (the person becomes indifferent or anxious).
Modern research identifies three main sources of brain activation.
First sourcemetabolic processes of the body.
Second sourcestimulation from the outside world,causing an orienting reflex. A person constantly receives information about changes in the environment. Moreover, any change in environmental conditions, any unexpected or expected event is accompanied by an increase in the level of wakefulness. The body is mobilized, a special kind of activity arises, which I. P. Pavlov calledorientation reflex.It forms the basis of cognitive activity.
Third sourceneeds, intentions, plans and programs,that occur in humans. The implementation of plans and the achievement of goals require a certain energy and activity, which is regulated by the influence of the cerebral cortex on the underlying stem formations. This influence can be either activating or inhibitory.
Thus, the third source of activation human brain Connected witharbitrary regulationand depends on the functioning of the prefrital parts of the cerebral cortex.
Modern research convincingly shows that the structures of the first block of the brain not only tone the cortex, but also experience its differentiating influence; they are closely connected with the higher parts of the brain. As a result, brain activation can be regulated at involuntary and voluntary levels.
2. Reception, processing and storage unit information.
This block is located in the posterior outer regions of the brain and includes the occipital (visual), temporal (auditory) and parietal (general sensory) regions. These areas have high modal specificity and receive information corresponding to each of them.
Distinctive feature this brain block ishierarchical organizationeach of its components. The cerebral cortex here represents a hierarchy of primary and secondary zones that provide different levels of processing of information entering the brain. IN primary zones due to the high concentration of specific neurons (reacting to one modality), a strictly differentiated analysis of information occurs.
Thus, neurons of the primary (projection) zones of the visual cortex react either only on shades of color, or on the nature of lines, or on the direction of movement.
Similarly, some neurons of the primary zones of the auditory cortex react only pas high tones, others low tones.
Neurons of the primary zones of the general sensory (parietal) cortex are adapted either to respond to irritation of the skin of the upper extremities, or lower extremities, or the face or tongue.
Thus, neurons of primary fields provide reception and analysis specific stimuli.
Above the primary zones, which form the basis of the functional block of the brain being analyzed, there aresecondary, or gnostic, zones.Their nerve cells do not have such pronounced modal specificity as the cells of the primary zones. In the secondary zones there is a significant number of associative neurons with short axons, which makes it possible to combine incoming excitations. Being connected with the periphery through the associative nuclei of the thalamus visualis, they ensure the synthetic work of individual analyzers.
For example, in the secondary auditory areas, somatotopic projections of auditory impulses are functionally transformed, providing phonemic hearing.
Human cognitive activity is multimodal, therefore it is based on working together areas of the brain. The interaction of various analyzers is ensured by the so-called tertiary zones (or "overlap zones"), they are supramodal and acquire decisive importance only in humans. Tertiary zones are designated as overlapping zones because they are located mainly at the junction of the secondary zones of the visual, auditory and general sensory analyzers (in the posterior parts of the brain), while partly the tertiary zones are located in the anterior (prefrontal) parts of the brain, maintaining connections with all other parts of the cortex . In the tertiary zones there are many associative multimodal neurons, which allows the integration of incoming information.
Functionally, tertiary zones serve as the basis for obtaining a holistic picture of the world. They are responsible for drawing up plans and programs of behavior, regulation and control of human activity. When the brain is damaged in these areas, the formation of concepts is disrupted, logical thinking suffers, and difficulties arise in counting operations. There is evidence that lateralization of functions is also ensured at the level of secondary and tertiary zones.
A generalization of data on the reception, processing and storage of information made by A. R. Luria draws attention to the fact that in the process of ontogenetic development the relationships between the three types of cortical zones do not remain the same. On early stages Ontogenesis, for the successful formation of secondary zones, the preservation of the primary zones is necessary, and for the formation of tertiary zones, a certain level of development of the secondary zones is necessary. L. S. Vygotsky’s conclusion aboutthe main direction of interaction of these zones in early age"down up"confirmed: in children, underdevelopment of the upper layers of the cortex, corresponding to the secondary and tertiary zones, occurs when the development of the layers of the cortex, corresponding to the primary zones, is disrupted. At the same time, in an adult, the secondary and tertiary zones of the cortex acquire primary importance. The tertiary zones of the cortex control the work of the secondary zones, and when the tertiary zones are damaged, the secondary zones play a compensatory role. This nature of the relationships between zones in the hierarchically structured cortex of an adult allowed L. S. Vygotsky to conclude thatat the late stage of ontogenesis, the interaction of zones is directed “from top to bottom.”
Thus, the block for receiving, processing and storing information has a hierarchical structure; in the higher structures of the block, modal specificity during information processing decreases and functional lateralization increases. Such an organization of brain function appears to be optimal for ensuring complex species cognitive activity.
In case of disturbances in the second block, consciousness and general mental tone are preserved, and no pronounced disorders of the affective sphere arise.
3. Block of programming, regulation and control of complex forms of activity.
This block is associated with the organization of active conscious activity of a person. Its components are located in the anterior parts of the cerebral hemispheres anterior to the central gyrus. The executive apparatus of the block is considered to be the anterior central gyrus, the so-calledmotor zone.Organs that are of great functional importance and require fine motor regulation (limbs, facial muscles, lips, tongue) are projected into it. The role of the secondary zone is played by the premotor parts of the frontal region.
The most essential part of the third block of the brain, according to A. R. Luria, isprefrontal parts of the frontal lobes.They have extensive connections with the underlying parts of the brain (medial and ventral nuclei, thalamus cushion and other formations) and the reticulatory formation, as well as with all other convexital parts of the cortex. Through numerous nerve pathways connecting to the reticular formation, this area of the brain is “charged” by the first block and simultaneously controls it. The prefrontal regions of the brain therefore play an important role in regulating activity, bringing it into line with intentions and intentions. The morphological organization of the frontal lobes, which are actually built on top of all parts of the cerebral cortex, provides a universal function for the general regulation of behavior.
Interhemispheric interaction of the brain regions under consideration is ensuredcorpus callosum(his front third). This interaction contributes to the implementation of the most important forms of mental activity for social adaptation; it serves as an organic basis for the formation of cognitive styles, the image of one’s own “I”, and ideas about others.
The dynamics of prefrontal brain development are complex. The growth rate of the area of the frontal regions increases sharply by 3.5-4 years; the second jump occurs at the age of 7-8 years. As the frontal structures mature, the child’s ability to program his own activities, make plans and set goals increases. Thanks to interhemispheric interaction, it is possible to consolidate the priority of the frontal lobes of the left hemisphere. The level of voluntary self-regulation determines the plasticity of behavior, the ability at any given moment to choose a strategy that is most acceptable from the point of view of internal and external conditions of adaptation. Since voluntary self-regulation is ontogenetically the youngest function, it is a very vulnerable formation.
When the third block is damaged (or its structures are immature), disturbances in the most complex forms of regulation of conscious activity occur. Difficulties arise in making plans for the future and in forming lasting intentions. Children with such a disorder not only have difficulty making plans, but cannot subordinate their behavior to a complex program, being distracted by side stimuli and immediate vivid impressions. Following a certain program is easily replaced in them by either impulsive reactions or inert stereotypes (repetition of meaningless movements). Such children often lose control over the course of their actions, as well as an adequate assessment of their results. The programming, regulating and controlling influence of the frontal lobes on those forms of conscious activity that are carried out with the direct participation of speech processes suffers especially. In addition, when the frontal lobes are damaged, a state of apathy may occur, since they play a significant role in regulating the tone of the cortex.
A systematic approach to the analysis of mental processes allowed A.R. Luria to conclude that any form of conscious activity is a complex functional system and is carried out based on the joint work of all three brain blocks, each of which makes its own contribution to its implementation.
So, for example, in voluntary movement, the devices of the first block provide the necessary muscle tone, the devices of the second block make it possible to carry out the necessary afferent syntheses, and the devices of the third block create programs for performing motor acts and control and regulate the flow of movements.
Genetically, brain structures are known to be formed “from the bottom up.” Subcortical formations are in charge of affective life, provide energy and plasticity for the flow of mental processes, cortical formations are responsible for their content. In the context of the vertical organization of the brain, we can talk about a hierarchy of involuntary and voluntary regulation of human mental activity, determined by the complex interaction of cortical-subcortical structures.
Involuntary regulation(based on unconditioned reflexes and genetically fixed programs) is provided by subcortical structures (the first block of the brain).
Voluntary regulation(learning-based) is provided by the prefrontal regions of the brain (third block of the brain).
The subcortical-cortical systems of the brain are distinguished by the highest integration, guaranteeing the adequacy of human behavior in constantly changing conditions of existence. The sequence of maturation of brain structures is reflected in the levels of behavior regulation at different stages of growing up and socialization. Involuntary regulation, determined by physiological needs and affective life, is associated with subcortical structures; it is actualized in the form of desires (“I want” is the child’s favorite phrase). Regulation, which implies an understanding of one’s capabilities (“I can”), is already voluntary and requires the morphological maturation of the second block of the brain. Regulation, including should (“I must”), is based on processes mediated by speech; in ontogenesis, it occurs most late; it requires the maturation of the third block of the brain (prefrital parts of the frontal lobes).
Neuropsychological factor as a methodological construct for analyzing the organization of higher mental functions
The development of the psyche and higher mental functions is a long process. At each stage of ontogenesis, the structure of the psyche and its morpho-physiological correlates have their own characteristics, a certain level development of the psyche corresponds to certain necessary parameters of morphological, physiological and psychological properties. To understand the relationship between different components of the organization of mental processes, it is necessaryunifying construct.In the theory of systemic localization of higher mental functions, the concept of “neuropsychological factor” is introduced as such a construct.
This concept is quite complex and has not yet been definitively defined. It carries both physiological and psychological content. A detailed analysis of it is available in the works of A. R. Luria. In modern neuropsychology, the concept of “factor” is interpreted as the central “target” for directed influence, and the term itself is found along with the concepts of symptom and syndrome.
The concept of “factor” enshrines the designation of the connection between the brain structure, its role in a functional organ and that link in various mental processes that is realized at the same time.
By neuropsychological factor A. R. Luria understoodthe “own function” of a particular brain structure, a certain principle of its operation.
In other words, a factor means a specific result (mechanism) of the analytical-synthetic (integrative) work of a separate brain structure, manifested in the mental plane (at the psyche level) in the form of a certain conscious or unconscious quality or aspect of the psyche, which can be recorded in psychological research in form of a behavioral manifestation that has a specific semantic content. The factor, on the one hand, is the result of the activity of certain functional organs of the brain, and on the other hand, ensures the implementation of a specific link in various mental processes, combining them into systems. “Factor deficiency” can cause a violation of a certain system of higher mental functions, the structure of which it is part of.
Using the neuropsychological factor as a methodological construct allows us to consider mental functions in a hierarchy:
1) brain structure function of the brain structure link of mental function separate component, parameter of mental function;
2) a set of brain zones/neurophysiological functional system mental process/mental functional system(Korsakova P.K., 2003). Neuropsychologists have identified factors necessary for normal ontogenesis. These factors were called basal (basic), so How all of them are core in cognitive activity. Researchers have identified different numbers of such factors. The factors studied in most detail in neuropsychologyspeech sound perception(phonemic hearing),interhemispheric interaction, voluntary regulation of mental activity, and kinesthetic, kinetic, spatial, successive and simultaneous factors. Their assessment has diagnostic value for characterizing the development of cognitive processes.
The idea of a factor as a system-forming phenomenon of higher mental functions allows us to consider this construct asanalysis toolcognitive sphere of the child. N.K. Korsakova (1997), while studying the difficulties that low-performing children experience in learning, very skillfully used this method of analysis. She claims that in cognitive sphere It is advisable for a child to consider various processes on the basis of their common components. Thus, the traditional psychological identification of such higher mental functions as perception, memory, speech, attention, thinking and movement is not excluded. Neuropsychological data, however, show that these processes have a complex internal structure, their own dynamics of development and, most importantly, are interconnected in the common links that unite them. Therefore, to understand the logic of child development and possible difficulties in teaching, it is more effective and prognostically valuable to diagnose not individual mental processes, but those"through" components,which create the basis for their development. At the same time, the identification of an insufficiently formed factor as a weak link, which reveals itself in the deficiency of, as a rule, not one, but several mental processes, makes it possible to determine the “target” of psychological and pedagogical correctional assistance to a child with learning difficulties.
In child neuropsychology, this idea is presented in the conceptsyndromic analysis of HMF (Tsvetkova L. S.,2001). This concept formulates a number of principles, following which one can assess deviations in mental development, focusing on the age norm, conduct a qualitative analysis of the HMF deficit and find the cause of the lag (factor), justify the inclusion of a child in the “risk group” when entering school.
We are talking about the principles of heterochronic development of HMF, compensation of the HMF defect in children, specificity and changes in factors underlying the syndromes of unformed HMF, as well as the principle of the dynamics of changes in the HMF system depending on the age stage. Taking these principles into account is necessary for scientific research, practical psychodiagnostics and correctional work with children with mental development problems.
In special psychology, A. R. Luria’s teaching about the systemic localization of higher mental functions in the brain serves as the basis for a neuropsychological approach to the analysis of developmental disorders. It focuses on identifying the leading factors of developmental disorders, which becomes decisive when drawing up scientifically based programs of correctional and developmental education.
5. The importance of socialization theory for special psychology.
In the description of the subject of special psychology, the patterns of the process of socialization of people with atypical development and the study of society’s attitude towards them were pointed out as its most important components in modern social conditions. It is necessary to find out how the personal development of a person with developmental atypia occurs, how atypical children master social roles, acquire skills of interaction with other people, gain knowledge about the structure of the society in which they live, and how a picture of the world is formed in their minds. On the other hand, it is important to understand how society itself treats such children. These questions can only be answered based on modern ideas about socialization and social influence.
The term “socialization,” despite its widespread use, does not have an unambiguous interpretation among representatives of psychological science. This is explained by some spontaneity of its transfer from sociology to social psychology, and then from social psychology to other psychological disciplines.
In psychology, this concept has been significantly transformed in connection with the study of the corresponding phenomenon from a psychological perspective.
Generally socialization consists of entering the social environment, adapting to it, mastering social roles, establishing social connections, exposure to social influences.
In social psychology, socialization is considered as a two-way process in which, on the one hand, the individual assimilates social experience, and on the otheractively reproducessystems of social communication in their life activities(Andreeva G. M., 1996). Assimilation social experience records how the environment affects a person. Socialization it also includes the active reproduction of a system of connections and relationships, indicating the individual’s transformation of the environment in the process of activity.
A person not only assimilates the sociocultural experience of generations and his specific environment, but also transforms this experience into his own values, attitudes, and ideas, which ultimately shapes his behavior and individual actions. Socialization, therefore, in its content is the process of personality formation.
Thus, the social development of the individual implies interaction with the social environment, the active establishment of social connections. It is these characteristics that form the basis of socialization. Essentially, socialization is a communicative process. As it is implemented, people learn to participate effectively in social groups. If we talk about the level of socialization of an individual, then its criteria are the ability to participate in coordinated actions and adherence to social norms.
There are three areas of socialization:activity, communication, self-awareness.The general characteristic of these three spheres is the process of expansion and multiplication of an individual’s social connections with the outside world.
G. M. Andreeva, analyzing the process of socialization from these positions, identifies in activities such important points, Howorientation in the system of social connections through personal meanings,which means the identification by each individual of important, interesting forms of activity and their mastery; centering around the main thing and subordinating all types of activities to it (system of preferences); the individual’s mastery of new social roles in the process of activity and comprehension of their significance.
Sphere of communication in line with socialization is considered primarily asmultiplying a person's contacts with other people.
For special psychology, it is significant to study the process of multiplying social contacts in developmental disorders, the dependence of the development of these contacts on the preservation of functions and means of communication, since it is communication that suffers primarily in developmental disorders.
Third sphere of socializationdevelopment of personal self-awareness,formation of the image of “I”.
The most common diagram of the “I” structure consists of three components:
- cognitive (knowledge of oneself);
- emotional (self-assessment);
- behavioral (attitude towards oneself).
Self-awareness can be represented as a holistic self-perception, an understanding of one’s own identity. The development of self-awareness during the process of socialization depends on the range of activities and communications in which experience is acquired. In the course of interaction with the social environment, a person constantly adjusts his idea of himself, making comparisons with the idea of others about him.
Socialization begins from the moment a person is born. There is a well-known expression by L. S. Vygotsky that a child, having been born, is already a social being. The gradual expansion of the circle of communication contributes to the fact that the world around is revealed to the child in a system of role interactions, rules of social behavior and cultural norms. The child assimilates the values of society, refracting them through his vision, and a certain type of behavior is formed in him. He navigates the system of social roles, involuntarily and arbitrarily choosing priorities, giving preference to specific individuals and methods of behavior. As a result, self-awareness is formed, self-determination occurs, and social identity emerges. In the multi-positional relationships of a child with micro- and macro-society, situations of social choice arise, which determine the acceptance of social roles and the assimilation of social norms as a result of the socialization process. It can be argued that, in a certain sense, the main sphere of socialization is interpersonal interaction.
If you look at age development from the standpoint of socialization, it becomes clear that exactlyknowledge of the specifics of the relationship between the child and the environment at a specific age period makes it possible to recognize and predict developmental deviations.
Socialization disorders manifest themselves inmaladaptive ways of behavioral response to rejection by the immediate environment.This pattern is especially obvious in children with developmental disorders who experience rejection from the family, the immediate community, as well as from society and the state. Maladaptive modes of behavior are formed in problematic and conflict situations, from which such children are not always able to find a productive way out, including due to a decrease in their social intelligence. In this regard, for special psychology, the theory of socialization and social influence is absolutely necessary, and the study of the process of socialization in the age aspect is very relevant.
Literature
- Usanova, O.N. Special psychology / O.N. Usanova. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2006. 400 p.
Scientific method- This is a historically established way of obtaining reliable facts.
Psychology in its practice uses two groups of methods - general scientific And actually psychological. The former are used by most sciences, both natural and humanities. So, general scientific methods:
· experiment,
· observation,
· conversation,
· analysis of activity products,
· self-observation, etc.
The uniqueness of their application in psychology is determined, first of all, by special properties of mental phenomena (ideality, subjectivity And direct unobservability), unlike, say, chemical, physical, biological.
This uniqueness is characteristic of all branches of psychological science, including special psychology. Therefore, we can talk not about the features of methods as fundamental ways of obtaining factual material, but about the specifics of methods and techniques for their implementation. Concept "technique" stands for specific form of method implementation. If the experimental method exists in singular, then there are an endless variety of experimental techniques. Depending on the nature and severity of the developmental disorder, the proportions of use of certain methods may vary.
Experiment occupies a leading place in special psychology. In some cases, it is not always possible to conduct a classical experimental study due to difficulties in making contact with the child, as happens with severe manifestations of early childhood autism syndrome, general disinhibition, severe degrees of mental retardation, etc. The child's condition in such situations does not allow him to purposefully carry out the experimental task. That's why the procedure is either significantly modified or the emphasis is placed on methods of observation and collection of psychological history.
The bank of techniques originally designed to assess various parameters of dysontogenesis is extremely small. Their development represents one of the pressing theoretical and applied problems of special psychology, the solution of which largely determines the further development of this scientific discipline. Not only the methodological procedure itself is subject to modification, which in some cases is quite obvious, but also the nature of the interpretation of the data obtained.
Speaking about the organization of the experimental procedure, it must be taken into account that the latter must be adequate to the real capabilities of the subject. First of all, the researcher needs to make sure that the subject understands the essence of the task being proposed to him. The organization of an experimental procedure inevitably requires taking into account the state of the motivational sphere of the subject.
As is known, experimental method divided into:
· individual and group;
· laboratory and natural;
· stating and formative.
All of the above types of experimental work are, one way or another, used in special psychology, but preference is given to individual form.
It is known that ascertaining experiment is fundamentally aimed at identifying the child’s potential. But development implies the transformation of the present into the future, the potential into the actual. That is why, in addition to diagnosis, it is also important forecast, disclosure of potential opportunities. The forecast is possible only at the level formative experiment, which is a natural and necessary continuation of the stating one.
Regarding other research methods such as:
· conversation,
· sociometry,
· analysis of activity products, etc.
It should be emphasized that they are quite widely used in the practice of special psychology and are characterized by formal rather than substantive originality. Comes to the fore technical side their implementation, depending on the psychophysiological characteristics of the subjects. For example, a questionnaire survey of persons with profound visual impairments can be carried out if the text is presented in special system letters from L. Braille. In addition, filling out such a questionnaire requires a lot of time, as does the process of processing it, which involves, first of all, converting the Braille font into a regular flat-printed one. Filling out the questionnaire by the psychologist himself, according to the words of the blind person, violates confidentiality and reduces the level of reliability of the material received.
Special attention should be paid to its use in special psychology. standardized techniques (tests). This is especially important due to the extreme popularity of the latter.
In the field of special psychology, standardized methods are traditionally used very widely, since this is where they first appeared. But the use of test technologies requires high professionalism and caution.
First of all, difficulties arise in relation to the standardization itself, the strictly unified nature of the entire test examination, starting from the invariability of the wording of instructions, the time for completing a particular task, the quality of the stimulus material and ending with the issuance of “raw” assessments, etc. Standardization makes it possible to place all subjects on equal terms and thereby conduct rank comparisons, compare the results of one subject with the results of others.
Sami standards parameters(form, speed of delivery of instructions, its content, as well as metric characteristics of the stimulus material) are always correlated with the capabilities of a psychophysiologically normal person.
In everyday work, special psychologists often use not the entire test, but only its individual fragments, which are most adequate to the child’s capabilities, or slightly change the standard conditions. Moreover, in both cases it is necessary to focus not on test normative data, but to collect an “internal” standard with which new individual results are correlated.
The limited use of testing technologies is also associated with the content components of studying individuals with developmental disabilities. A test, as a rule, records the final result of some activity. The process of obtaining it remains inaccessible for analysis. Let us emphasize once again that For the practice of special psychology, it is not the knowledge itself about a low result that is important, but an understanding of the reasons that gave rise to it. Otherwise, effective correction work is impossible. A professional psychologist should not lose sight of the advantage of an experimental approach compared to a test approach. The experiment not only allows, it presupposes constant variation of the conditions. It makes it possible to reproduce not only the result, but also the process of achieving it or disrupting this process.
The vast majority of standardized technologies reflect only the current level of mental development of the subject, the zone of his actual development. But for the practice of special psychology and especially correctional pedagogy, this is not enough: it is necessary to have a prognosis, information about the child’s potential capabilities, about his zone of proximal development. Not only the effectiveness of differential diagnosis depends on this, but also the direction of correctional work and the assessment of its productivity. Solving these problems is possible only through an experimental strategy and, above all, a formative (educational) experiment.
Thus, standardized methods in special psychology can be used with certain restrictions, in the form of an auxiliary tool with the leading role of the experimental approach and qualitative analysis of the obtained material.
Even more problematic is the industry's use of projective techniques. The use of projective techniques, for example, for the purpose of selection into correctional institutions, is very limited and difficult due to their low differential diagnostic resolution, which, of course, does not close the way for their use as an auxiliary methodological tool (for example, the technique of projective drawings, etc.). d.).
Being the main experimental method, in special psychology still cannot be considered as the only one. Its effectiveness is determined by the extent to which it is complemented by other techniques, in particular those that are able to compensate for its limitations to a certain extent. In this case we are talking about the method observations, as a purposeful perception of the object being studied. Observation, due to the passive position of the researcher in relation to the object of knowledge, certainly loses to the experiment in terms of time costs. But it also has a very important advantage. Experiment, no matter what form it is implemented, always carries an element of artificiality, which cannot but affect the nature and quality of the results. Observation reproduces the object of study in natural conditions.
As already noted, observation in special psychology, special importance is attached, since in a number of cases it is not always possible to organize and carry out a traditional experimental procedure due to the severity and severity of a particular disorder in the development of the subject. In addition, the focus on a qualitative analysis of the obtained experimental facts involves supplementing the latter with observational results.
As in psychology in general, observation can be effective if it meets a number of requirements. First of all, it must be purposeful, that is, the researcher does not observe the entire diversity of an individual’s behavior, but selects only certain fragments necessary for study. Another important feature of the observation process is its objectivity. In relation to psychological reality, this requirement is very difficult to fulfill. The consciousness of the observer himself not only records the fact of behavior, but also instantly interprets it. A certain degree of reliability of judgments about the internal subjective states of an individual can be achieved only through repeated, impartial recording of behavioral manifestations, and not their interpretation.
In special psychology, this method is associated with additional difficulties. First of all, time costs increase significantly due to the increasing complexity of behavioral acts. At the first stages, the researcher may even develop a feeling of opacity, of isolation of the child’s behavior from the current situation. It takes a wealth of clinical experience and knowledge, as well as a very long time, to see a pattern, “logic” in the pattern of behavior of a child with developmental disabilities.
No less productively in comparison with other techniques in special psychology are used conversation methods, collecting psychological history.
Conversation acts both as an addition to the experiment and completely independently. Its implementation requires high professionalism. First of all, the psychologist must establish good contact with the child, create an atmosphere of trust and safety. The interlocutor must feel an interested attitude towards himself. You should simply and clearly explain the reason why you are having this conversation with him. The questions asked must be clear. Here it is also necessary to accurately determine the purpose, the main content of the conversation, the nature and sequence of the proposed questions, which are formulated during the preparation process. The psychologist tactfully directs the conversation in the right direction if the person being studied wanders off to the side, and reformulates the questions if they turn out to be unclear. During the conversation, the emotional reactions and intonations of the subjects are recorded. The conversation should not be excessively long, because the child may get tired and lose interest in its content. The use of this method in special psychology sometimes requires special skills from a specialist. Thus, when working with the deaf, a good knowledge of fingerprint and sign language is necessary.
In this form it is most often carried out collection of psychological history- history of the child’s mental development. Conversations with parents, teachers, caregivers and other adults who know the child can provide a lot of valuable information. The difficulty is that this data is not structured. It sometimes seems to a novice psychologist that he should ask parents a question about how their child developed, and he will receive a detailed answer. Experience shows that this is not always the case. It is often difficult for parents to highlight the main thing; many confuse the medical history with the history of their child’s mental development. That is why the psychologist must accurately guide their story, asking specific questions about the stages and aspects of development. Anamnestic information can be significantly supplemented if the child’s developmental history is reproduced by different people (father and mother, one of the parents and the teacher, etc.). When collecting a psychological history during a conversation with parents, the psychologist should not forget that the topic concerning the specificity of their child can be very painful for them. Therefore, the formulation of questions must be extremely sensitive.
Self-observation method in special psychology it occupies by no means a privileged place. For quite a long time the attitude towards him was extremely negative. Intolerance towards introspectionism and phenomenology was automatically transferred to this technique, which was denied scientificity and reliability. At the same time, the obvious fact of the exclusive role of self-observation in the organization and regulation of behavior and activity was ignored. Nevertheless, in the process of a conversation or questionnaire, we are dealing precisely with the results of the subject’s self-analysis. The possibilities of using self-observation data in special psychology, as well as in children's psychology, are very limited. Self-observation data most often records only the level of development of the latter and cannot be considered as an objective reliable fact. The only exceptions are cases of mature age combined with complete intellectual integrity.
