The problem of periodization of a child’s mental development briefly. Psychological view (PsyVision) - quizzes, educational materials, catalog of psychologists. There are two substages here

Periodization of mental development— identification of a sequence of stages (periods) of mental development in the entire human life cycle.

Scientifically based periodization should reflect the internal patterns of the development process itself(L.S. Vygotsky) and meet the following requirements:

1) describe the qualitative uniqueness of each period of development and its differences from other periods;

2) determine the structural relationship between mental processes and functions within one period;

3) establish an invariant sequence of development stages;

4) periodization must have a structure where each subsequent period is based on the previous one, includes and develops its achievements.

The distinctive features of many P. p.r. are their one-sided nature (separation of personality development from the development of intelligence) and a naturalistic approach to mental development in ontogenesis, which is expressed in ignoring the historically variable nature of periods of development.

Key Concepts: Age- a category in Y that serves to designate the temporary characteristics of individual development. Age in psychology is a specific, relatively time-limited stage in the mental development of an individual and his development as a personality, characterized by a set of natural physiological and psychological changes that are not related to differences in individual characteristics.

The first attempt at a systematic analysis of the category of psychological age belongs to L.S. Vygotsky. He viewed age as a closed cycle with its own structure and dynamics.

The concept of age includes a number of aspects:

1) Chronological age, determined by a person’s life expectancy (according to the passport);

2) Biological age - a set of biological indicators, the functioning of the body as a whole (circulatory, respiratory, digestive systems, etc.);

3) Psychological age - a certain level of mental development, which includes:

a) mental age - To determine the mental age of children from 4 to 16 years old, the Wechsler test is used, which includes verbal and data in a visual (figurative) form of the task. When it is applied, a total “general intellectual index” is obtained. Psychologist calculates IQ - intelligence quotient: mental age x 100% IQ = chronological age

b) social maturity - SQ - social intelligence (a person must be adapted to the environment that surrounds him) c) emotional maturity: arbitrariness of emotions, balance, personal maturity. In real life, the individual components of age do not always coincide.

The age structure includes:

1. Social development situation- the system of relations in which a child enters society; it determines which areas of social life he enters. It determines those forms and the path by which the child acquires new and new personality traits, drawing them from social reality as the main source of development, the path along which the social becomes individual. The social situation of development determines how the child navigates the system of social relations and what areas of social life he enters. this is a peculiar combination of what has formed in the child’s psyche and the relationships that the child establishes with the social environment.

2. Leading type of activity- The concept of “leading activity” was introduced by Leontyev: the activity that at a given stage has the greatest impact on the development of the psyche.

activity in which other types of activity arise and differentiate, basic mental processes are restructured and personality changes. The content and forms of leading activity depend on the specific historical conditions in which the child’s development takes place. Leontyev also described the mechanism of changing the leading type of activity, which manifests itself in the fact that in the course of development, the previous place occupied by the child in the world of human relations around him begins to be perceived by him as inappropriate to his capabilities, and he strives to change it. In accordance with this, his activities are being restructured.

3. Central neoplasms of age- at each age level there is a central new formation, as if leading the entire development process and characterizing the restructuring of the child’s entire personality on a new basis. Around this neoplasm, all other particular neoplasms and developmental processes associated with neoplasms of previous ages are located and grouped. Vygotsky called those developmental processes that are more or less closely related to the main new formation the central lines of development. Vygotsky’s law of uneven child development is closely related to the concept of the main new developments of age: each side of the child’s psyche has its own optimal period of development - the sensitive period. In turn, the concept of sensitive periods is closely related to Vygotsky’s hypothesis about the systemic structure of consciousness: no cognitive function develops in isolation, the development of each function depends on what structure it is included in and what place it occupies in it. Those qualitative features of the psyche that first appear in a given age period.

4. Age crises- turning points on the developmental curve that separate one age from another. Foreign psychologists, contemporaries of Vygotsky, viewed age-related crises either as growing pains or as a result of disruption of parent-child relationships. They believed that there could be a crisis-free, lytic development. Vygotsky viewed crisis as a normative phenomenon of the psyche, necessary for the progressive development of the individual. The essence of the crisis, according to Vygotsky, lies in resolving the contradiction between the previous social situation of development, on the one hand, and the new capabilities and needs of the child, on the other. As a result, an explosion of the previous social situation of development occurs, and a new social situation of development is formed on its ruins. The transition to the next stage of age development has taken place.

Vygotsky described the following age-related crises: the newborn crisis, the one-year crisis, the three-year crisis, the seven-year crisis, the thirteen-year crisis. The chronological boundaries of crises are quite arbitrary, which is explained by significant differences in individual, sociocultural and other parameters. The form, duration and severity of crises can vary markedly depending on the individual typological characteristics of the child, social conditions, characteristics of upbringing in the family, and the pedagogical system as a whole. Thus, for Vygotsky, age-related crises are the central mechanism of age dynamics. He derived the law of age dynamics, according to which the forces driving the development of a child at a particular age inevitably lead to the denial and destruction of the very basis of development of his age, with internal necessity determining the annulment of the social situation of development, the end of a given era of development and the transition to the next age steps.

The first to propose age-based periodization of development were Pythagoras, Hippocrates and Aristotle.

Pythagoras (VI century BC) identified four periods in a person’s life: spring (the formation of a person) - from birth to 20 years; summer (youth) - 20-40 years; autumn (prime of life) - 40-60 years; winter (extinction) - 60-80 years.

Hippocrates distinguished 10 seven-year periods throughout a person’s life.

Aristotle divided childhood and adolescence into three stages: the first - from birth to 7 years; the second - from 7 to 14 years; the third - from 14 to 21 years.

There are many different periodizations of mental development, both foreign and domestic authors. Almost all of these periodizations end with high school age; very few authors described the entire life cycle (primarily E. Erikson).

Pavel Petrovich Blonsky chose an objective, easily observable sign associated with the essential features of the constitution of a growing organism - the appearance and change of teeth. : 0-8 months - 2.5 years - toothless childhood 2.5 - 6.5. years - childhood of baby teeth 6.5 and older - childhood of permanent teeth (before the appearance of wisdom teeth)

Periodization Kohlberg , based on the study of the level of human moral development.

The 3 levels and 6 stages of moral development identified in Kohlberg’s research correspond to biblical ideas about a person’s orientation to fear, shame and conscience when choosing an action.

Level I: Fear of punishment (up to 7 years). 1. Fear of the right of force. 2. Fear of being deceived and not receiving enough benefits.

Level II: Shame in front of other people (13 years old). 3. Shame in front of comrades and immediate circle. 4. Shame of public condemnation, negative assessment of large social groups.

Level III: Conscience (after 16 years). 5. The desire to live up to your moral principles. 6. The desire to conform to one’s system of moral values.

Vygotsky believed that when creating a periodization of mental development, it is necessary to take into account the dynamics of the transition from one age to another, when smooth “evolutionary” periods are replaced by “jumps.” During lytic periods, qualities accumulate, and during critical periods, their realization occurs.

Infancy 0-1 = Leading activity and New formation: emotional communication between a child and an adult, walking, first word

Social situation: Mastering the norms of relationships between people

Early age 1-3 = Leading activity and New formation: objective activity “external self” according to Vygotsky

Social situation: Mastering ways of working with objects

Preschool age 3-6(7) = Leading activity and New education: role-playing game of arbitrariness of behavior

Social situation: Mastering social norms, relationships between people

Junior school age 6(7)-10(11) = Leading activity and New formation: educational activity, voluntariness of all mental processes, except intelligence

Social situation: Mastery of knowledge, development of intellectual and cognitive activity.

Middle school age, teenager 10(11) - 14(15) = Leading activity and New formation: intimate-personal communication in educational and other activities, a feeling of “adulthood”, the emergence of an idea of ​​oneself “not like a child”

Social situation: Mastering norms and relationships between people.

Senior schoolchild (early adolescence) 14(15) -16(17) = Leading activity and New Education: educational and professional activity, professional and personal self-determination

Social situation: Mastering professional knowledge and skills

Late adolescence or early maturity 18-25 = Leading activity and New education: Labor activity, professional study.

Social situation: Mastering professional and labor skills

Maturity after 25 = Leading activity and New formation: 20-50 years - maturity, 50-75 - late maturity, 75 - old age

*The generally accepted concept in our country is Elkonin’s concept, which is based on the idea of ​​changing the leading type of activity. Considering the structure of activity, Elkonin noted that human activity is two-faced, it contains human meaning, that is, the motivational-need side and the operational-technical side.

In the process of child development, the motivational-need side of the activity is first mastered, otherwise objective actions would not make sense, and then the operational-technical side is mastered. Then they alternate. Moreover, the motivational-need side develops in the “child-adult” system, and the development of the operational-technical side occurs in the “child-object” system.

Elkonin’s concept overcame an important drawback of foreign psychology: the opposition between the world of objects and the world of people. Elkonin reconsidered the problem: “the child and society” and renamed it “the child in society.” This changed the view on the relationship between “child and object” and “child and adult.” Ellko6nin began to consider these systems as “a child is a social object” (since for a child, socially developed actions with him come to the fore in the object) and “a child is a social adult” (since for a child an adult is, first of all, a bearer of certain types of social activities).

Child's activity in systems “a child is a social object” and “a child is a social adult”“represents a single process in which the child’s personality is formed.

Infancy: newborn crisis - Early age: 1 year crisis - Preschool age: 3 year crisis

Primary school age: crisis 7 years - Adolescence: crisis 11-12 years - Early adolescence: crisis 15 years

According to Elkonin, crises of 3 and 11 years - relationship crises, after them, orientation in human relationships arises. And the crises of the 1st year and 7th years - worldview crises, which open up orientation in the world of things. Ideas L.S. Vygotsky was developed in the concept of D.B. Elkonin, who based the periodization on the following criteria: social situation of development, leading activity, age-related neoplasms.

All types of activities D.B. Elkonin divides into 2 groups:

1) activities in the “child - social adult” system, in which the child’s intensive orientation in the basic meanings of human activity and the mastery of tasks, motives, norms and relationships occurs and the predominant advanced development of the motivational-need sphere is ensured, and

2) activities in the “child - social object” system, in which socially developed methods of action with objects and standards are assimilated, and, accordingly, the primary development of the intellectual, operational and technical sphere. The basis of mental development is the periodically emerging contradiction between the operational and technical capabilities of the individual, on the one hand, and the tasks and motives of activity, on the other.

The resolution of this contradiction is carried out through a change in the social situation of development and a transition to appropriate activities that ensure the necessary accelerated development of either the motivational-need, or intellectual-cognitive spheres of the individual. Contradictions give rise to crises as necessary turning points of development. Mental development has a spiral nature with a naturally repeating change of periods of development, in which the leading activity alternates between activities in the “child – social adult” system and in the “child – social object” system. According to D.B. Elkonin, the periodization of mental development in childhood includes three eras, each of which consists of two interconnected periods, and in the first there is a predominant development of the motivational-need sphere, and in the second - the intellectual-cognitive one.

The eras are separated from each other by crises of restructuring of the individual-society relationship, and the periods are separated by crises of self-awareness. The era of early childhood begins with the newborn crisis (0-2 months) and includes infancy, the leading activity of which is situational and personal communication, the crisis of the first year and early age, where the leading activity is objective activity. The era of childhood, separated from the era of early childhood by the crisis of three years, includes preschool age (the leading activity is role-playing play), the crisis of seven years and primary school age (the leading activity is educational activity). The crisis of 11-12 years separates the eras of childhood and adolescence, in which younger adolescence, with intimate and personal communication as the leading activity, is replaced by older adolescence, where educational and professional activities become the leading one. According to D.B. Elkonin, the indicated periodization scheme corresponds to childhood and adolescence, and for the periodization of mature ages it is necessary to develop a different scheme while maintaining the general principles of periodization.

The periodization of mature ages of the life cycle requires defining the very concept of “adulthood” as a special social status associated with a certain level of biological maturity, the level of development of mental functions and structures. The success of resolving developmental problems, as a system of social requirements and expectations specific to each age, imposed by society on an individual, determines his transition to each new age level of maturity (R. Havighurst). The periodization of adulthood includes early maturity (17-40 years), middle maturity (40-60 years), late maturity (over 60 years) with transition periods that are in the nature of crises (D. Levinson, D. Bromley, R. Havighurst).

In the development of a child’s psyche, a number of age periods are distinguished with characteristic features of the formation of perception and thinking, other higher mental functions (HMF), as well as sensitivity characteristic of each of them, specific susceptibility for the development of certain HMF, most clearly manifested in the development of speech functions (sensitive periods ). Critical periods, or crises of development, are also distinguished (L.S. Vygotsky)

DI. Feldstein developed the ideas of Vygotsky and Elkonin and created on their basis the concept patterns of level of personality development in ontogenesis.

Feldshtein considered the problem of personality development as a process of socialization, and he considered socialization not only as a process of appropriating socio-historical experience, but also as the formation of socially significant personality qualities. According to this concept, purposeful consideration as an object of study of the characteristics of the social development of children, the conditions for the formation of their social maturity and analysis of its formation at different stages of modern childhood allowed the author to identify two main types of really existing positions of the child in relation to society: “I am in society” and “I am and society”.

Does the first position reflect the child’s desire to understand his Self? What can I do?; the second concerns awareness of oneself as a subject of social relations. The formation of the position “I and society” is associated with the actualization of activities aimed at mastering the norms of human relationships, ensuring the implementation of the individualization process. The child strives to express himself, highlight his I, contrast himself to others, express his own position in relation to other people, having received from them recognition of his independence, taking an active place in various social relationships, where his I acts on an equal basis with others, which ensures his development a new level of self-awareness in society, socially responsible self-determination. The subject-practical side of the activity, during which the child’s socialization occurs, is associated with the affirmation of the position “I am in society.”

In other words, the development of a certain position of the child in relation to people and things leads him to the possibility and necessity of realizing the accumulated social experience in such activities that most adequately correspond to the general level of mental and personal development. Thus, the position “I am in society” is especially actively developed during the periods of early childhood (from 1 to 3 years), primary school age (from 6 to 9 years old) and senior school age (from 15 to 17 years old), when subject-practical side of the activity. The position “I and society,” the roots of which go back to the infant’s orientation toward social contacts, is most actively formed in preschool (from 3 to 6 years) and adolescence (from 10 to 15 years) when the norms of human relationships are especially intensively absorbed.

Identification and disclosure of the characteristics of the child’s different positions in relation to society made it possible to identify two types of naturally occurring boundaries of the social development of the individual, designated by the author as intermediate and key.

The intermediate stage of development - the result of the accumulation of elements of socialization - individualization - refers to the child’s transition from one period of ontogenesis to another (at 1 year, 6 and 15 years). The nodal turning point represents qualitative shifts in social development, carried out through the development of personality; it is associated with a new stage of ontogenesis (at 3 years, 10 and 17 years). In the social position that develops at the intermediate stage of development (“I am in society”), the developing personality’s need to integrate himself into society is realized. At the key turning point, when the social position “I and society” is formed, the child’s need to determine his place in society is realized.

Z. Freud, in accordance with his sexual theory of the psyche, reduces all stages of human mental development to stages of transformation and movement through different erogenous zones of libidinal energy. Erogenous zones are areas of the body that are sensitive to stimulus; when stimulated, they cause satisfaction of libidinal feelings. Each stage has its own libidinal zone, the stimulation of which creates libidinal pleasure. The movement of these zones creates a sequence of stages of mental development.

1. Oral stages (0 - 1 year) are characterized by the fact that the main source of pleasure, and therefore potential frustration, is focused on the area of ​​activity associated with feeding. At this stage, there are two phases: early and late, occupying the first and second years of life. It is characterized by two sequential libidinal actions - sucking and biting. The leading erogenous zone is the mouth. At the second stage, the “I” begins to emerge from “It”.

2. The anal stage (1 - 3 years) also consists of two phases. Libido is concentrated around the anus, which becomes the center of attention of the child, accustomed to neatness. The “Super-I” begins to form.

3. The phallic stage (3 - 5 years) characterizes the highest level of child sexuality. The genital organs become the leading erogenous zone. Children's sexuality becomes objective, children begin to experience attachment to parents of the opposite sex (Oedipus complex). The “super-ego” has been formed.

4. The latent stage (5 - 12 years) is characterized by a decrease in sexual interest, libido energy is transferred to the development of universal human experience, the establishment of friendly relations with peers and adults.

5. The genital stage (12 - 18 years) is characterized by the return of childhood sexual desires, now all former erogenous zones are united, and the teenager strives for one goal - normal sexual communication.

E. Erickson Epigenetic theory of development: tried to solve the problem of self and society in psychoanalysis, it focused on the impact of culture and society on development. In his opinion, each stage of development has its own expectations inherent in a given society, which the individual can justify or not justify, and then he is either included in society or rejected by it. Two basic concepts: group identity (formed due to the fact that from the first days of life the upbringing of a child is focused on including him in a given social group) and ego identity (formed in parallel with group identity and creates in the subject a sense of stability and continuity of his Self). The formation of ego identity continues throughout a person’s life and goes through a number of stages. Each stage of the life cycle is characterized by a certain task that society sets for the individual. The solution to the problem depends both on the level of psychomotor development already achieved, and on the general spiritual atmosphere of the society in which this individual lives.

E. Erikson's periodization includes a sequence of 8 stages, at each of which, depending on the success of resolving the psychosocial crisis, a personal quality is formed either in its positive meaning or as a pathological property, as a result of which the potential of personality development at this stage is unrealized. The first stage involves resolving the crisis by choosing between trust and distrust of the individual in the world (0-1 year), the second stage - the formation of autonomy against shame and doubt (2-3 years), the third stage - initiative against guilt (4 - 6-7 years), the fourth stage - skills and competence against feelings of inferiority (8-13 years), the fifth - the formation of personal identity against identity confusion (14-19 years), the sixth - intimacy and love against isolation and rejection (19-35 years), seventh - productivity against stagnation and stagnation (35-60 years) and eighth - integrity and wisdom of the individual against disintegration and decay (over 60 years).

1. Infancy - the formation of basic trust in the world / mistrust; hope/distance

2. Early age - autonomy / shame, doubt about one’s own independence, independence; will/impulsivity

3. Age of the game - initiative / feeling of guilt and moral responsibility for one’s desires; single-mindedness/apathy

4. School age - achievement (formation of hard work and ability to handle tools) / inferiority (as awareness of one’s own ineptitude); competence/inertia

5. Adolescence - identity (the first integral awareness of oneself, one’s place in the world) / diffusion of identity (uncertainty in understanding one’s Self); loyalty/renunciation

6. Youth - intimacy (searching for a life partner and establishing close friendships) / isolation; love/isolation

7. Maturity - creativity / stagnation; caring/rejection

8. Old age - integration / disappointment in life; wisdom/contempt

Personal development, according to Erikson, is the result of a struggle of extreme possibilities, which does not fade when moving to the next stage of development.

BIOGENETIC APPROACH TO MENTAL DEVELOPMENT Biogenetic law (formulated by E. Haeckel): during intrauterine development, an animal or a person briefly repeats the stages that a given species goes through in its phylogeny (ontogenesis is a short and rapid repetition of phylogeny)

Among the early psychological theories is the concept of recapitulation (recapitulation is the idea of ​​repetition in the development of human history) Art. Hall, which was the result of the transfer of the biogenetic law to the process of ontogenetic development of the child: the child in its development briefly repeats the development of human society. Hall attributed each stage of child development to a stage in human development.

The search for the laws of development is the first theoretical concept and an attempt to show that there is a connection between historical and individual development;

The theory of three stages of child development by K. Büller. He identified three stages of development: instinct, training, intelligence and connected the transition from one stage to another not only with the maturation of the brain and the complication of relationships with the environment, but also with the development of affective processes, with the development of the experience of pleasure associated with action.

During the evolution of behavior, there is a transition from pleasure “from the end to the beginning” of the action:

1. Instinct - the experience of pleasure arises as a result of the satisfaction of instinctive needs;

2. Training - functional pleasure arises as the action progresses, i.e. pleasure is transferred to the process;

3. Intelligence is associated with problem solving; anticipatory pleasure is possible here.

That is, the transition of pleasure from the end to the beginning, according to Buller, is the main driving force of development.

An attempt to analyze the qualitative features of the stages of child development;

L.S. Vygotsky: Büller identified the stages of child development with the stages of animal development; he ignored the uniqueness of the child’s development.

The theory of convergence of two factors of child development by V. Stern. From his point of view, mental development is the result of convergence internal inclinations and external conditions. The idea of ​​convergence is also found in other psychologists. Thus, Freud created a structural theory of personality, which is based on the conflict between the instinctive sphere of mental life (It) and the demands of society (Super-I). Society, according to Freud, is the source of mental trauma, and his theory is the theory of childhood trauma.

K. Koffka said that the system of internal conditions, together with the system of external conditions, determines our behavior and preference for heredity.

J. Piaget created the Geneva School of Genetic Y, which studied the origin and development of intelligence. According to Piaget, the goal of development is adaptation to the environment. He created genetic epistemology as a science about the formation of mechanisms and ways of knowing reality. Abandoning the quantitative approach to the study of intelligence, Piaget developed a clinical interview technique in which the child must answer questions or manipulate stimulus material. This method was based not on recording the external characteristics of behavior, but on revealing the mental processes that guide behavior.

Two stages can be distinguished in the development of Piaget's creativity.

Discovery of children's egocentrism. Egocentrism, according to Piaget, is the central feature of a child’s thinking, his hidden mental position. The most striking manifestation of egocentrism is the “realism” of children’s thinking, which manifests itself in the fact that the child considers objects as they are perceived, without the logic of internal relationships (an example of “realism” is the fact that a child judges an action by its consequences, without considering the motives , thinks, for example, that the moon follows him when he walks, etc.).

“Realism” has three forms:

1. Realism is manifested in the fact that a child cannot consider a thing independently of himself, i.e. children do not distinguish between the subjective external world; they identify their ideas with things in the external world. That is, there is no distinction between subject and object. In this regard, the development of children's thinking (or decentration of thought) follows the line of distinguishing the objective world from their ideas about it. From realism to objectivity.

2. Realism is manifested in the fact that the child considers his point of view to be the only one. Here the development of thinking follows the path of recognizing other points of view. From realism (absoluteness) to reciprocity (reciprocity).

3. Realism is manifested in the fact that the child uses the concepts “heavy”, “light”, “big”, etc. as absolute. Here the development follows the line that these words begin to acquire relative meaning depending on the units of measurement. From realism to relativism.

Egocentrism showed that the external world does not act directly on the mind of the subject, and our knowledge of the world is not a simple imprint of external events. The subject's ideas are partly the product of his own activity. The child’s thinking is distinguished by the qualitative uniqueness of its mechanisms.

Preformationism: the development of thinking will definitely happen and the adult does not play a special role.

Piaget also discovered the phenomenon of egocentric speech. He believed that children's speech is egocentric, first of all, because the child speaks only from his own point of view, without trying to take the point of view of another. Piaget discovered that a 2-4 year old child talks to himself, even if he has an interlocutor nearby. Piaget believed that this speech, addressed by the child to himself, would gradually die out, giving way to speech addressed to others and performing a communicative function. Thus, according to Piaget, egocentric speech is primary, and the communicative function of speech is secondary.

A controversy broke out between Piaget and Vygotsky regarding egocentric speech. The essence of this controversy was their different understanding of the relationship between thinking and speech. Piaget believed that thought is expressed in words, and language reflects thinking. While Vygotsky believed that a thought is generated in a word, a thought is “completed” in a word. Based on this, Vygotsky had a different understanding of the essence of a child’s egocentric speech. He believed that egocentric speech is one of the stages in the formation of thinking and speech. Egocentric speech is loud speech for oneself as a plan of action that the child cannot yet keep in mind, because it is still developing. Egocentric speech does not disappear; it moves to the internal plane. Here Vygotsky talks about the planning function of speech, about speech as a means of thinking.

Stages of intelligence development.

Piaget's Basic Concepts:

1. The goal of intelligence development is adaptation to the subject environment. Adaptation is an active process that is carried out in the form of interaction of 2 processes: assimilation (-change of the subject environment in accordance with one’s motives, goals; the process of including new information as an integral part in the individual’s already existing schemes) and accommodation (-change of one’s own behavior in accordance with the requirements of the environment; changes in our thought processes when a new object does not fit into our concepts).

The interaction of assimilation and accommodation ensures development (due to accommodation) and preservation (due to assimilation). At each stage of development, the most optimal relationship with the environment is possible - equilibrium (equilibrium is a state of continuous activity, during which the body compensates or neutralizes both real and expected influences that remove the system from a state of equilibrium).

2. Piaget introduced the concept of “schemas” as ways of processing information that change as a person grows and gains more knowledge. There are two types of schemas: sensorimotor schemas, or action schemas, and cognitive schemas, which are more like concepts. We rearrange our circuits to adapt (accommodate) to new information and at the same time integrate (assimilate) new knowledge into old circuits.

According to Piaget, the process of development of intelligence occurs as follows: schemes are organized into operations, various combinations of which correspond to qualitatively different stages of cognitive growth. As people develop, they use increasingly complex patterns to organize information and understand the external world.

Stages of intelligence: Periodization of intelligence development J. Piaget considers cognitive development as a sequence of stages: the stage of sensorimotor intelligence (from 0 to 2 years), the stage of pre-operational intelligence (from 2 to 7 years), the stage of specific operations (from 7 to 11-12 years) and the stage of formal -logical operations (from 12 to 17 years)

1. Sensorimotor intelligence (from birth to 2 years). Orientation in the subject environment is carried out through external material actions, which are performed in detail and consistently. Babies learn about the world only through various actions: grasping, sucking, looking, etc. Sensorimotor, because When balancing, the baby's intellect relies only on sensory data and movement. Piaget discovered that the element of mental life is not sensation, but action.

2. Specific Operations Stage (2 years - 11-12 years).

There are two substages here:

- preoperational intelligence(from 2 years to 7-8 years). Children learn about the world mainly through their own actions. Children form concepts and use symbols to communicate them to others. These concepts are limited to their egocentric direct experience. At the end of the stage, external material actions, through repetition in different situations, are schematized and, with the help of symbolic means, transferred to the internal plane.

- specific operations(7-8 years - 11-12 years).

Children begin to think logically, classify objects according to several criteria and operate with mathematical concepts. This is where children gain an understanding of conservation. But these are still actions with physical objects: the child thinks about real actions with real objects.

Piaget identifies 4 characteristics of operations: operation is an internal action that was once external; external actions from which operations originate - not any actions in general, these are actions such as systematization, ordering, decomposition into classes, i.e. actions of a very general nature; operations are subject to the principle of reversibility: for each action there is a reverse action, restoring the original state of affairs; operations do not exist by themselves, they are always coordinated by a system called grouping (system coordination). Further development of intelligence will follow the path of more complex groups.

3. Formal Operations Stage (from 12 years old) is characterized by the child’s ability to operate with abstract concepts, reason by analogy or metaphorically, and make plans. To put forward hypotheses, obtain consequences from them and use them to test hypotheses, he uses deductics, combinatorics, proportions, and most importantly, he thinks in judgments, ideas, and not specific images. etc. The child's thinking becomes completely logical.

Piaget showed that the development of thinking does not follow the path of accumulating knowledge, but along the path of a qualitative transformation of the structures and mechanisms of thinking.

Foreign Y (St. Hall, K. Bueller, E. Thorndike, W. Stern, K. Koffka, Z. Freud, J. Piaget, A. Bandura, E. Erikson):

They considered the course of child development as socialization: from individual to social (adaptation to the environment, passive aspect); The main condition for development is heredity (and the environment, but the primacy of heredity); Sources of development - within the individual, in his nature; Form of development - adaptation; Specifics development - recapitulation; Driving forces of development - preformism or convergence of two factors

Domestic Y (L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontyev, D.B. Elkonin, P.Ya. Galperin, V.V. Davydov): Considered the course of child development from social to individual (the law of formation of the HMF: appropriation of experience, from interpsychic to intrapsychic); Conditions of development - morphophysiological characteristics of the brain and communication; Sources of development are outside the individual: environment; Forms of development - appropriation (active moment); Specifics of development - development is subject to the action of social historical, not biological laws; Driving forces of development - training and activity.

SOCIOGENETIC APPROACH TO MENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR Y DEVELOPMENT

In general, sociogenetic concepts are based on the idea that the human psyche at the time of birth is a “blank slate”, and everything can be shaped as a result of learning. Individual differences were not considered innate. Here the concept of development is identified with the concept of learning.

Social learning theory emerged in the late 1930s. in the USA on the basis of a combination of behaviorism and the teachings of Freud, from which its social core was taken - the relationship between the “I” and society.

Developmental psychology as a science explores ideas about the mechanisms of human mental development at each age stage and the conditions for transition in personality development from one age stage to another. In this regard, developmental psychology studies such periods as childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. A special place in the theoretical and practical study of age periodization is given to gerantology, which studies mental processes associated with the aging of the body, studying the causes of dulling and attenuation of certain mental functions.

The concept of “age” is usually divided into psychological and chronological. Chronological is called passport age, that is, the recorded date of birth. It is some background for the mental development and formation of a person as an individual. Psychological age is not related to the date of birth; it is not determined by the number of mental processes. It depends on those mental new formations that determine the mental maturity corresponding to a particular age period. For example, according to the theory of the activity approach, such a mental new formation in childhood can include: play activity, educational activities, communication, etc. In adulthood, work activity, role interactions in the family, at work, etc. In old age, the formation of such a mental phenomenon as “wisdom”, “attitude towards death” as a process of transition to eternity, etc.

Developmental psychology is associated with other sciences: genetic psychology, psychophysiology, differential psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, educational psychology, medical psychology, legal psychology, etc.

Developmental psychology has scientific methods for studying a particular age period: psychological observation (external and internal); questioning (survey, interviewing, conversation); joint productive activities; an experiment in which such psychological conditions are specially created that help study the aspects of interest to us in the age-related development of personality. In this regard, it is customary to distinguish between natural and laboratory experiments. They differ from each other in that they allow the study of behavior in conditions that are remote or close to reality.

Different age classifications maybe divided into two groups:

1) private classifications dedicated to individual periods of life, often children’s school years;

2) general classifications covering the entire life course of a person.

Particular ones include the classification of intelligence by J. Piaget, who distinguishes 2 main periods of development from the moment of birth to the age of 15:

1) the period of sensorimotor intelligence (from 0 to 2 years);

2) the period of organization of specific operations (from 3 to 15 years). In this sub-period he distinguishes stages.

In the classification of D. B. Elkonin, belonging to the first group, three periods of life are considered:

1) early childhood;

2) childhood;

3) adolescence.

Also, D. B. Elkonin identified a number of changing types of activities: direct emotional communication (infancy), object-manipulative activity (early childhood), role-playing play (preschool age), educational activity (junior school age), intimate personal communication (junior teenage age), educational and professional activities (senior adolescence).

Birren's general classification includes the phases of life from infancy to old age. According to this classification, youth is 12-17 years old; early maturity - 18-25 years; maturity - 51-75 years; old age - from 76 years.

E. Erikson described 8 stages of human life (from birth to old age), based on the development of the human “I” throughout life, on personality changes in relation to the social environment and to oneself. These stages include both positive and negative points:

1) the first 12 months of life - the initial stage, characterized by trust and mistrust;

2) II-3 years of life - the second stage, characterized by independence combined with indecision;

3) III-5th years of life - the third stage, characterized by the appearance of enterprise and feelings of guilt;

4) IY - 6-11 years of life - the fourth stage, where a feeling of inferiority appears and skills are formed;

5) Y -12-18 years of life, the child begins to realize himself as an individual, confusing social
roles;

6) YI - beginning of adulthood. This stage is characterized by feelings of closeness to others and loneliness;

7) YII - mature age - a person is absorbed in himself and society;

YIII - old age - a person is formed as an integral personality, but a feeling of hopelessness may appear. And at this age, as in other age periods, mental neoplasms arise. In this case - wisdom, which is understood as a fusion of knowledge and life experience. Particular importance in this period of personality development is given to the attitude towards death and immortality. Scientists identify several ways of immortality: religion, creativity, children, nature.

The stages of child development are of particular interest.

So, in each stage that a child lives, the same mechanisms operate. Principle classifications-change of leading activities such as:

1) the child’s orientation towards the basic meanings of human relationships (interiorization of motives and goals occurs);

2) the assimilation of methods of action developed in society, including substantive and mental ones.

Mastering tasks and meaning always comes first, followed by the moment of mastering actions. Development can be described in two coordinates:

1) a child is a “social adult”;

2) a child is a “public object”.

D. B. Elkonin proposed the following periods of child development:

1) infancy - from birth to one year (the leading form of activity is communication);

2) early childhood - from 1 to 3 years (objective activity develops, as well as verbal communication);

3) junior and middle preschool age - from 3 to 4 or 5 years (the leading activity is play);

4) senior preschool age - from 5 to 6-7 years (the leading activity is still
what remains is the game, which is combined with objective activity);

5) junior school age - from 7 to 11 years old, covers primary school education. I

During this period, the main activity is teaching, intellectual and cognitive abilities are formed and developed);

6) adolescence - from 11 to 17 years, covers the process of learning in high school (this period is characterized by: personal communication, work activity; the definition of professional activity and oneself as an individual occurs). Each period of age development has its own differences and a certain time course. If you observe the behavior and mental reactions that arise in a child, you can independently identify each of the periods. Each new age stage of mental development needs changes: you should communicate with the child differently, in the process of training and upbringing it is necessary to look for and select new means, methods and techniques.

The existing systems in psychology for dividing human life into age segments differ greatly from each other depending on what is considered as a criterion for development. In the aspect of this criterion - be it the maturation of the intellect or the social relations of a person - the peculiarities of the formation of the human psyche are considered. In general, any psychological theory with the help of which this or that process is studied gives the researcher a certain “angle of view.” And then the researcher perceives the person through the prism of the theory used. Let's look at some examples. Thus, in psychoanalysis the main task is to identify and study the subconscious sphere that controls a person. In the psychological concepts of behaviorism (behaviour) the emphasis is placed on specific actions and actions of a person, the study of the impact of the environment on the individual. The humanistic direction in psychology places at the center of its methodology the inner world of a person, his “phenomenal field” or “self,” which is considered as a person’s ideas about himself, based on past experience, present data and expectations of the future. At the same time, each of these theories has accumulated a rich arsenal of observations, on the basis of which certain patterns have been identified. These patterns reflect both the reality of human mental life in general, and the mental reality of the author of the theory himself, expressed in his manner of thinking. Thus, in any scientific theory there is a subject and ways of describing it. And if an object is a really existing phenomenon, then the methods of description, no matter how accurate they are, remain a kind of “flat” projection of this “volumetric” phenomenon. Therefore, it can be assumed that the use of psychological theory becomes a way of thinking, determined by the worldview of the researcher, this method depends on his cultural, religious or gender affiliation. In this article, the concepts of age periodization are selected for consideration, which, in the author’s opinion, can be applied to education in the light of Orthodox anthropology. In this regard, we consider it necessary to stipulate the fact that we are describing only one aspect of the rich scientific heritage of each of the psychologists under consideration.

A number of basic concepts used in developmental psychology were introduced by L.S. Vygotsky in his theory of the development of the human psyche. L.S. Vygotsky introduced into science a categorical analysis of the problem of age, its structure and dynamics. The basis for age periodization was the internal logic of child development - the process of self-movement, the emergence and formation of something new in the psyche. A new type of personality structure and its activity, mental and social changes that first appear at a given age stage and determine the child’s consciousness and his attitude to the environment are called new age formations. At each age stage there is a central neoplasm, adjacent to it are partial neoplasms that relate to aspects of the child’s personality and to neoplasms of previous ages. The structure of age includes central and collateral lines of development. The central lines of development include those processes that are associated with the main neoplasm of age, and the secondary ones include other partial processes. For example, the development of speech in early childhood is associated with the central line of development, and in adolescence – with secondary ones. At the beginning of each age, a specific relationship develops between the child and the reality around him, called the social situation of development. The basic law of age dynamics is the recognition that the forces that drive the development of a child lead to the denial of the very basis of age development and the collapse of the existing social development situation. At each age stage there is a zone of intellectual imitation, which is associated with the real level of development of the child and is called the zone of proximal development. What a child does today with the help of an adult, tomorrow he will be able to reproduce on his own. Each child has his own, individual zone of proximal development. Activities associated with the central neoplasm of age are called leading activities. This is not the activity on which the most time is spent, but the one in which the child manifests himself most as a person. Age-related changes can occur abruptly, critically, and can occur gradually, lytically.

Epochs, or stages of development, end with crises of development. A crisis is the dismemberment of a previously unified element, which is associated with the dynamics of the transition from one age to another. This is the process of the emergence of new aspects in the psyche, the restructuring of the connection between objects existing in the psyche. Characterizing the crisis, Vygotsky writes that at this time the child changes entirely; in general, the boundaries of the crisis are blurred, and a climax is obligatory; at this time, children are difficult to educate, even in comparison with themselves during stable periods of their development; the crisis is caused by the internal logic of the development process itself , not external conditions. In a crisis, new interests and activities do not arise.

Periods of a child's life, separated from each other lytically, constitute phases of development.

L.S. Vygotsky analyzed the processes of mental development of a child in different age periods and developed a general scheme that allows one to observe the causes of changes in ages. According to this scheme, each age opens with a crisis. The crisis determines the emergence of a new social development situation. There are internal contradictions in it, which develop a new formation in the child’s psyche. The emerging new formation carries with it the prerequisites for the destruction of this social situation of development and the maturation of a new crisis.

L.S. Vygotsky substantiated the age-based periodization of child development, which ends with a consideration of the crisis of 17 years. It looks like this:

Newborn crisis.

Infancy (2 months - 1 year).

Crisis of one year.

Early childhood (1 – 3 years).

Crisis of three years.

Preschool age (3 – 7 years).

Crisis of seven years.

School age (8 – 12 years).

Thirteen Years Crisis.

Puberty (14-18 years).

Seventeen year crisis.

L. S. Vygotsky’s ideas about the socio-cultural conditionality of age-related development were developed by D. B. Elkonin. He proposed a different understanding of children’s mental development. According to his concept, the change in stages of development depends on the degree of interaction between the child and society. According to Elkonin, the child’s personality is formed within the systems “child is a social object” and “child is a social adult.” A child, getting acquainted with the world around him, realizes his specific needs, motives and tasks (child-adult) and masters cultural ways of acting with the objective world (child - object). Considering the uniqueness of the social situation of development and leading activity in each age period, D.B. Elkonin identified the following pattern - first the child is oriented in the basic meanings of human activity, and only then masters socially developed methods of acting with objects. These two lines of assimilation cannot be considered in isolation, since they complement each other. But in each age period one of the trends is predominant. The first trend is the development of the motivational-need sphere, the second is the development of operational and technical capabilities.

D.B. Elkonin identified six periods in childhood, each of which has its own type of leading activity.

The first period is infancy (0-1 year). The leading activity is direct emotional communication, personal communication with an adult within which the child learns objective actions. The motivational-need sphere dominates.

The second period is early childhood (1–3 years). The leading activity is object-manipulative, within which the child cooperates with an adult in mastering new types of activities. The operational and technical sphere predominates.

The third period is preschool childhood (3 – 6 years). The leading activity is a role-playing game, within which the child orients himself in the most general meanings of human activity, for example, family and professional. The motivational-need sphere dominates.

The fourth period is junior school age (7 – 10 years). The leading activity is study, children master the rules and methods of educational actions. In the process of assimilation, the motives of cognitive activity also develop. But the operational and technical sphere predominates.

The fifth period is adolescence (10–15 years). The leading activity is communication with peers. By reproducing interpersonal relationships that exist in the world of adults, adolescents accept or reject them. In this communication, the teenager’s semantic orientations towards his future, relationships with people are formed, tasks and motives for further activities appear. The motivational-need sphere dominates.

The sixth period is early adolescence (15–17 years). The leading activity is educational and professional activity. During this period, professional skills and abilities are mastered. Operational activities dominate.

Thus, mental development is carried out in the process of a natural change in the leading type of activity. Transitions from one period to another are accompanied by significant difficulties in the relationship between adults and children, as the child “declares” his new needs or skills. These transitional periods are called crises of age-related development.

Defining age as a relatively closed period of child development, D.B. Elkonin characterized each such period (age) with the main indicators - the social situation of development, the leading type of activity, the main mental formations.

One of the most famous systems belongs to Jean Piaget, who based his system on the analysis of the development of thinking. According to Piaget, intelligence, as a living structure, grows, changes and adapts to the world. The differences between children and adults are due not only to the fact that children know less, but also to the fact that the way children know is different from that of adults. Piaget suggested that children have certain cognitive (thought) limitations. As a person grows and gains more knowledge, the ways in which information is processed in his cognitive structures become more complex. The scientist identified three main periods in the mental development of a child; within each period there are several stages. All children go through periods and stages of development in a certain sequence, each new stage builds on the previous one, and this order is unchanged for all children.

The first period of development is called sensorimotor by Piaget, since at the age of 0 to two years children become acquainted with the world mainly through sensations - looking at, grasping, sucking, biting, chewing, etc.

The second period - specific operations, includes two stages - preoperative and operational.

The first stage is preoperative, typical for ages from 2 to 6 years. At this age, children form concepts and use symbols, but do so based on their experience. Unlike adults, children can only see things from their own perspective (egocentrism) and focus on one relationship at a time (centration). Often the child cannot think through the consequences of a particular chain of events. At the beginning of this stage, children take names so seriously that they sometimes cannot separate their literal meaning from the essence of the thing. So, a child may call the water in the mug “drink”, and the water in the bathtub with another word, which means “swim” in his vocabulary. In cases where the occurring phenomenon does not fit into the child’s existing experience, he can resort to “magical” ideas about causes and effects - for example, attempting to spell a bus so that it will arrive sooner. Also, the thinking of children of this age is characterized by “animism” (anima from the Latin soul), like the animation of surrounding objects, for example, a child may decide that the elevator was angry with him and therefore slammed the door on his coat. At this stage, the child often has difficulty classifying objects and concepts.

At the second stage - the operating stage (from 7 to 11-12 years old) children begin to use logic in thinking and classify objects according to several criteria. The child’s thinking at this stage takes into account the hierarchy of classes - so “car” is a large group, within which there are subgroups of “car brands”, and within these subgroups there may be even smaller subgroups. Logical operations are successfully applied to actions with specific objects.

The third period is formal operations, from 12 years or a little later. A teenager’s thinking develops so much that he is able to operate with abstract concepts that are not based on visual images. Teenagers are not only able to think and talk about freedom, love, and justice; they can build their own conclusions and put forward hypotheses, reason by analogy and metaphorically, generalize and analyze their experience.

The theory of cognitive development created by J. Piaget outlines the differences between the form and content of cognition. The content of children's cognition is everything that is acquired through experience and observation. The form of cognition is a special structure of human mental activity. As Piaget says, a person assimilates what surrounds him, but he assimilates it according to his “mental chemistry.” The knowledge of reality always depends on the dominant mental structures. The same knowledge can have different merits depending on what mental structures it is based on. The most important pedagogical principle for Piaget is the recognition of the child as an “active explorer” who comprehends the world according to his own mental structure.

Studying the development of thinking, Piaget pointed to the interaction of moral feeling with developing mental structures and the gradually expanding social experience of the child. According to Piaget, the development of moral sense occurs in two stages. At the stage of moral realism, children are confident that existing moral precepts are absolute and the degree of violation of these precepts is directly proportional to the quantitative assessment of what happened. So, following Piaget’s example, a child will consider a girl who set the table and accidentally broke 12 plates more guilty than a girl who intentionally broke 2 plates in a fit of anger at her sister. Later, children reach the stage of moral relativism. Now they understand that existing rules in some situations can be significantly adjusted and the morality of an action depends not on its consequences, but on intentions. This Piagetian theory of two stages of moral development was greatly developed by Lawrence Kohlberg.

Exploring the development of the image of moral judgment in children, adolescents and adults, L. Kohlberg offered them a series of short stories, each of which had some kind of moral dilemma. The subjects had to make a choice about how to act in the described situation and justify their choice. Based on Piaget’s ideas that the development of intelligence is subject to certain patterns, L. Kohlberg asked the question: “If intelligence develops over the years, does that mean moral judgments in children are formed in a certain sequence?” Testing this hypothesis of his, he presented a huge number of subjects of different ages and intellectual development with a series of brief moral dilemmas, i.e. situations that do not have a clear solution. For example, one of the common dilemmas is “Mr. N’s wife is seriously ill. A medicine that is sold in the only pharmacy in the city can help her. But the pharmacist, knowing that he alone had such a medicine, charged a price several times higher than the real cost of this medicine. Mr. N also knows about this and therefore he decides to STEAL this medicine to save his wife. Is Mr. N doing the right thing and why?” To test the hypothesis, L. Kohlberg was interested not so much in the answers as in their motivation, i.e. How do respondents explain their CHOICE? Or what mental structure a person relies on when making a decision. Analyzing these answers, L. Kohlberg identified a certain pattern - the development of moral judgments often depends on age. In this regard, the psychologist suggested that moral attitudes in the human psyche, while developing, go through certain stages. Since the entire variety of responses from the subjects was generally distributed in six directions, these six stages were designated. Their analysis allowed us to conclude that in his moral judgments a person is guided either by the principles of his own psychological comfort - avoiding punishment or receiving benefits - (L. Kohlberg called this level pre-conventional), or by the principles of “apparent” agreement - in order to feel comfortable in society (conventional level), or formal moral principles - moral judgments are based on a certain ideology (post-conventional level). Thus the stages of moral development can be represented as follows:

I. Pre-conventional moral level.

The first stage is orientation towards punishment and obedience.

The second stage is a naive hedonic orientation.

II. Conventional moral level.

The third stage is orientation towards the behavior of a good girl and a good boy.

The fourth stage is the orientation of maintaining social order.

III. Post-conventional moral level.

The fifth stage is the orientation of the social agreement.

The sixth stage is orientation towards universal ethical principles.

The age at which a child moves to the next level varies from person to person, although there are some patterns. Children studying in primary school, as a rule, are at a pre-conventional moral level. They are guided by authority, believe in the absoluteness and universality of values, therefore they adopt the concepts of good and evil from adults.

Approaching adolescence, children, as a rule, move to the conventional level. At the same time, most teenagers become “conformists”: the opinion of the majority for them coincides with the concept of good.

The negative crisis experienced by teenagers is not considered a moral degression - it shows that the teenager is moving to a higher level of development, which includes the social situation in his attention. At the same time, some teenagers are at the “good boy” stage, while others reach the “maintaining social order” stage.

However, there are situations when even in adolescence (and sometimes later!) a person does not reach the conventional level; he continues to be guided solely by the principles of his own psychological comfort. This happens due to various reasons, most often a whole complex - underdevelopment of the intellectual sphere, underdevelopment of communication skills, etc. Research conducted by Frondlich in 1991 based on materials from L. Kohlberg showed that 83% of adolescent delinquents have not reached the conventional level of development.

The transition to the third, according to L. Kohlberg, level of moral development for the most rapidly developing children occurs at 15–16 years of age. This transition at first seems like a regression of conscience. The teenager begins to reject morality, assert the relativity of moral values, the concepts of duty, honesty, goodness become meaningless words for him. He argues that no one has the right to decide how another should behave. Such teenagers often experience a crisis of loss of life meaning. The result of the crisis being experienced is the personal acceptance of some values. It should be noted that not all people reach this level of autonomous conscience in their lives. Some people remain at the conventional level of development until their death, while others do not even reach it.

Further research into the psychological determinants of moral consciousness.

The cultural relativity of dilemmas often makes it impossible to adapt them as diagnostic techniques. In addition, most tests that assess morality often assess knowledge about morality rather than actual moral attitudes and beliefs. Therefore, the use of the method of moral dilemmas is more effective in cases where they reveal gaps in public consciousness and touch upon pain points in the development of society. To study the moral judgments of our compatriots, Malyugin D.V. dilemmas were selected that were relevant and topical for modern Russian reality, realistic for the subjects, formulated as clearly as possible and at the same time not having clear answers. Here are some of the dilemmas used.

1. One of the members of the terrorist group is captured. The remaining members of the group are at large and are preparing new terrorist attacks. Do you think it is necessary and possible to apply any interrogation methods to a captured terrorist or to act only legally?

2. You find yourself in a city that is foreign to you without money. The only way to satisfy your hunger is to steal and eat food from the supermarket. Will you go for it?

3. Your loved one is suffering from an incurable disease and asks you to help him die quickly and without pain. The doctor treating him says that he is so weakened that a small increase in the dose of pain medication will lead to death, which will appear to be completely natural. Will you go for it?

4. You are married and are looking forward to the birth of your first child. The medical prognosis shows that your child will most likely be born disabled due to a congenital disease. What will you do?

5. Would you agree to have your phone wiretapped if it could help prevent many dangerous crimes?

The research conducted by D.V. Malyugin allowed him to draw a number of relevant conclusions. Currently, there are two main directions in the study of moral choice - the study of moral norms, judgments and actions themselves, their typology; and second, the study of factors associated with and influencing moral behavior. The main determinant of choice in a situation of moral uncertainty is a person’s value orientations, which have existential significance for him and are associated with the search for the meaning of life or with the degree of meaningfulness of his life.

One of the few concepts of age periodization of a person’s entire life, and not just childhood, is the epigenetic concept of Erik Erikson.

E. Erikson examined human development in connection with his relationships with loved ones. Studying the styles of maternal behavior, the scientist showed that they are determined by what exactly the social group to which he belongs expects from the child in the future. According to Erikson, at each stage of development, society puts forward certain expectations for a person. Thus, each age has a specific task. However, the success of solving this problem depends both on the level of personal development and on the spiritual atmosphere of society and the living conditions of this person (hence the name - psychosocial model of personality development). Considering personality development as a dynamic process that continues from birth to death, Erikson believed that the most important thing for the human psyche is the ordering and integration of one’s own life experience - the synthesis of the ego. A cross-cutting task that “permeates” a person’s entire life is the acquisition of identity.

Identity is a person’s identity with himself. This is a holistic image of oneself firmly acquired and accepted by the person himself in a variety of life circumstances. Identity is, first of all, an indicator of a mature (adult) personality, the origins and secrets of the organization of which are associated with previous stages of development. The acquisition of identity, as the integrity of one’s “I,” occurs between two poles of development – ​​positive and negative. Personal development is a struggle between these extreme possibilities.

At each age, a person must make a choice between two alternative phases of solving age-related and situational problems of his development. If the productive direction wins, then the person develops his strengths or the basic ability of self-identity. If a person develops in a destructive direction, then a pathology of this age arises, weakening the sense of self-identity, the person becomes less and less adequate to himself.

Erikson identified eight stages of human life and presented the “poles” characteristic of each stage, between which personality is formed.

At the first stage - infancy (0 - 1-1.5 years). Based on the kind of care a baby receives at this age, he “makes” a decision for himself - is this world trustworthy or not? If trust develops (as opposed to mistrust), then the baby is born with the first basic quality of the psyche - hope. Otherwise, the child decides that life is unpredictable and not trustworthy. Poles: trust – distrust.

The second stage is early age (1.5 – 4 years). At this stage, the child solves the problem of forming his independence (autonomy and independence). The child learns to manage his behavior. A negative development option is either overprotection or lack of support and trust from adults, leading the child to self-doubt and doubt in his actions. If close adults show reasonable permissiveness, do not rush the child, and support his desire for independence, then the problem of age is solved positively. From the opposition of autonomy and doubt, will is born.

The third stage is childhood (4 – 6 years). At this stage, the alternative between initiative and guilt is decided. Children at this age learn how the world works and how they can influence it. If their research activity is encouraged by adults, then the child gains a sense of initiative. If adults limit a child’s capabilities, severely criticize and punish him, then he gets used to feeling guilty. E. Erikson calls purposefulness a positive acquisition of this age.

The fourth stage is school age (6 – 11 years). The basic question is “Can I become skilled enough to survive and adapt to the world?” At this age, children develop numerous skills and abilities at school, at home and among their peers. In the negative version, if a child does not enjoy work and study, does not feel proud that he can do at least something well, if his diligence is not supported by adults, he realizes himself incompetent and useless. From the confrontation between hard work and feelings of inferiority, a positive acquisition of this level should be born - skill, competence.

The fifth stage is adolescence (11–20 years). Before this age, a person has learned a number of different roles - student, son, friend, athlete, etc. At this age, it is important to understand the diversity of one’s manifestations and integrate them all into one identity - “Who am I?”, “What are my views, beliefs, positions?” For such integration, it is necessary to find some basis that would cover all these roles. In a teenage identity crisis, all past critical moments of development arise anew, and the teenager consciously decides whether previous ages are significant for him. Then social trust in the world, independence, initiative create a new integrity of the individual - identity. By embracing identity as opposed to role confusion, one finds loyalty.

The sixth stage is youth (21-25 years). The main tasks of age are the search for a life partner, the desire for close cooperation with others - “Can I completely give myself to another person?” A young man who is confident in his identity shows psychological intimacy, warmth, understanding, and trust. A person who is unsure of his identity avoids close relationships, his relationships with others become faceless and stereotypical, and he comes to isolation. By embracing intimacy as opposed to isolation, one finds love.

The seventh stage is maturity (25 – 50-60 years). This stage of life is associated with resolving the contradiction between the ability to develop and personal stagnation - “What can I offer to future generations?” By rising above the level of identity, paying more attention to the needs and problems of other people, a person positively solves his development task. Failures in resolving previous conflicts often lead to self-absorption: excessive preoccupation with one’s health, the desire to satisfy one’s needs without fail, and to preserve one’s peace. In this case, personal devastation occurs. In the confrontation between creativity and stagnation, a positive quality should be born - caring.

The eighth stage is old age (over 60 years). A person’s entire previous life experience poses the question “Am I satisfied with the life I’ve lived?” If a person, looking back at his life, realizes the deep meaning of what happened, he accepts his life as a whole, as it is. But if life seems to him a waste of energy and a series of missed opportunities, he begins to feel despair. From the opposition of integrity (integration) and disappointment (despair) wisdom must be born.

The periodization scheme proposed by E. Erikson is called an epigenetic ensemble, in which all ages are simultaneously co-present. The transition from one age to another causes identity crises. Crises, according to E. Erikson, are “turning points,” moments of choice between progress and regression, integration and delay. Not a single age lived by a person passes without a trace, since not a single crisis contradiction of age can be finally resolved during one’s lifetime.

Describing the development of the human psyche, E. Erikson recognizes the inexhaustibility of this reality by scientific methods and therefore does not give his concept the character of a rigid frame. Thus, he writes that the sequence of ages and the order of their succession is not an immutable law of the development of each person. Firstly, at every point in development there is the possibility of age regression or “vegetative” existence (it’s not for nothing that we talk about eternal youths and gray-haired babies). Secondly, a personal biography, which obviously does not coincide with the normative idea of ​​development, opens up opportunities not only for stopping and regressing development, but also for transcending one’s own age, going beyond life’s ideas about age (that’s why we sometimes talk about the adult responsibility of other adolescents or young men who turned gray in an instant). Each age is not characterized by any specific norms, but the highest natural possibilities of achievement for a given age are indicated.

The age periodization of childhood, proposed by professor of psychology V.V. Zenkovsky (since 1942 - Father Vasily Zenkovsky) is based on consideration of the influence of the spiritual principle in a person on the development of soul and body, which Zenkovsky calls empiricism. Defining the image of God in a child as the spiritual beginning of his personality, Zenkovsky shows how differently this “divine spark” manifests itself at each age. According to Zenkovsky, the change of ages is connected precisely with the change in the manifestations of the ripening spirit in its empirics. The source of development is the striving of the spiritual principle for expression in the material life of man, which is subordinated to the paths of the spirit. In the relationship between these two spheres in each period of earthly life, the unique fate of each person, his cross, is determined. “A person’s path is determined not by a simple connection between the spirit and the psychophysical side, but it reveals its own - special for each person - pattern, which is called “fate,” which in Christianity is called the “cross.” Hidden in the depths of the personality is the reason for its originality, its uniqueness; however, its cross is also hidden, which, formally speaking, is nothing more than the logic of the spiritual development of a given person. Each person brings with him into the world his own tasks that he must solve in his life; and these tasks associated with the spiritual characteristics of a person remain the same, regardless of the conditions in which a person lives - in other words, they can and should be solved in any living conditions. ... The logic of life is connected not with external events, but with internal tasks, with the spiritual side of life. In the biography of each person... one must be able to see through the external chain of events in a person’s life that final depth in which a person’s “cross” is revealed - his spiritual tasks, the logic of his spiritual path. The reality of our freedom does not remove the power of this cross being given to us... We are free in whether we take up the task of fulfilling our task..., but the non-removal of the cross “inscribed” in us is the limit of our freedom, it is a witness to our dependence on God, who gives his cross to everyone "

Denoting that each person is not only given, but also given his personality, Zenkovsky writes that, usually by adulthood, a person begins to realize the general coherence and internal logic of his life. Determining the internal tasks of one’s own life, understanding how they can be solved in the given conditions of my existence, is, according to Zenkovsky, the main theme of a person’s spiritual life. Zenkovsky calls the period preceding maturity childhood and considers it in a broad sense, encompassing youth. The characteristics of each period of childhood are given by Zenkovsky in accordance with how spiritual life develops in different periods of childhood.

Early childhood (0-6 years).

“The child slowly, step by step, masters his body, thereby acquiring volitional experience, which reveals to him the path of freedom, so connected with the volitional sphere.”
In early childhood, the child is free, but not yet responsible; this is, as it were, a prototype of holiness, which is free, but irresponsible due to its complete connection with God.
Mastery of physical skills in early childhood, development of intelligence, and mastery of cultural heritage create the conditions for further development in the emotional sphere of the child. The child still cannot understand his feelings. Imagination plays a huge role in a child’s mental work, and the central phenomenon in a child’s early childhood is connected with this – play. “In play, a child is directed towards reality, but free from its pressure,” and this is important so that the first activity in a person’s life has the character of free creativity, helping to penetrate into the semantic sphere of what is happening. At this age, a “taste for evil” already appears, but the “sinful” in the child’s life occupies the far periphery of his existence. A greater place is occupied by understanding nature, human relationships, and “implantation” into the spiritual world. “The child breathes the breath of infinity - simply, carelessly, naively, but also directly, vividly, deeply. It accumulates over a lifetime of silent, but creatively active intuitions within it.” The inner spiritual component of the growing personality is nourished. The child’s consciousness has little connection with this process and a gradual shift in interest to the outside world occurs.

Second childhood (7-11 years old).

At this age there is a spiritual turn towards the world. “The time of realism, sobriety is coming, the time of adaptation to the world and people - and spiritual life... immediately becomes shallower” (27, p. 114). Spiritual life during this period becomes more defined and understandable to the child through the moral sphere. The child perceives ideas and ideas about “law”, “norm”, “duty”. At this age, moral ideas and rules are formed. Zenkovsky emphasizes that the heteronomous nature of moral attitudes is natural for a child, i.e. data not given by society or people, but having a different source of their origin. The shift of spiritual interests to the world is reflected in the creativity of children, it becomes more schematic and less figurative, “the flow of creativity enters certain shores.” The whole aspiration of the child towards what “needs” to be done is in the pleasure of adapting, obedience and following authorities, in the “joyful rejection of the accidents of his moral inventions in favor of rules and ideas embodied in bright heroic images.” Characterizing the religious consciousness of second childhood, Zenkovsky shows an amazing paradox - spiritual sensitivity to the heavenly world weakens, but at the same time, children simply and naturally move on to religious activity. At this age, it becomes natural and pleasant for a child to visit a temple, help serve in it, perform rituals and comply with church requirements.

Adolescence (12-16 years old).

Having been saturated with “immersion” in the order of nature, social and moral life, the child sometimes experiences some physical and mental decline. Memory and attention weaken, former interests fade away, and there is a rejection of everything that others want. Thus begins the turbulent and contradictory time of puberty. The power of sex, hitherto operating latently and incompletely, declares itself loudly in puberty. “This force imperiously and impatiently overturns habits, established tastes, pushes somewhere forward, stirs and excites the soul, throwing it from one extreme to another. Internal restlessness, often contradictory desires, a violent manifestation of capricious “willfulness”, often a desire to act contrary to the rules and one’s own habits, stubbornness and youthful arrogance... - all this shows that the teenager’s soul has completely moved away from sobriety and realism, from following the rules and from adapting to okay..." But in this period, a growing person turns to his inner world in a new way. The soul again becomes aware of itself in the face of a limitless perspective, which, unlike early childhood, is no longer realized outside, but within the person himself. In this appeal to his inner world, a teenager can equally show both the beginnings of passionate impulses towards self-sacrifice and manifestations of unvarnished egoism. The denial of existing foundations and the manifestation of self-will at this age are secondary, the essence is the denial of practical reason and “immediate intoxication with oncoming drives, impressionism.”

Youth (after 16 years).

The last age of childhood, synthetically connecting all previous periods in order to enable the individual to enter the phase of maturity. During this period, there is a unification of external hobbies and internal inspiration, enthusiasm and a trusting attitude towards the world and people. A balance has already been found, albeit intuitively, between the empirical and spiritual composition of man. V.V. Zenkovsky worked a lot with young people of this age and in his book characterizes this period with special love. “Youth always emanates genius... for here the spiritual world of reality spiritualizes and warms the empirical composition of man. This spiritual world is not pushed aside by “adaptation” to life, it is free and full of that breath of infinity, which is expressed so fully, clearly and captivatingly in youth.” The inspiration of youth, according to Zenkovsky, is an artistic plan that precedes creative work. But this period is classified as childhood due to the fact that youth is limited, it rarely realizes how its soul actually lives. This spiritual blindness reveals the imperfection of youth and all the tragic disorder of man, the general guilt of sin that lies in the world. “It is in youth, despite its genuine gullibility and ease of loving attitude towards all people, by contrast it becomes especially clear that the personality ... carries within itself a destructive principle in its socio-spiritual blindness, in the insensitivity of its real, but closed to consciousness, coexistence with other people..."
Entering adulthood, a person is personally confronted with the damage to his own human nature. For a believing soul, it becomes completely obvious that no cultural, social or other human institutions can help him overcome this damage, his deep disunity with the rest of the world. Understanding and recognizing that only in the bosom of the Church is it possible to overcome the dark barrier between God and oneself, allows a person at the age of youth to enter into truly adult life.

Concluding the consideration of the age periodization of childhood proposed by V.V. Zenkovsky, it is worth noting that attempts to identify the spiritual foundations of the ages of human life were made in the twentieth century by several more authors. The best known is the age classification of life tasks determined by the “development of the spirit” in a person, proposed by the German anthroposophist R. Steiner. Zenkovsky's book characterizes the doctrine of man in anthroposophy in the light of Christian anthropology. Due to a number of circumstances, the concept of spiritual development of personality proposed by V.V. Zenkovsky remained virtually unknown to European psychologists. In this regard, those of them who recognize the existence of a spiritual component in a person’s personality usually turn to the legacy of R. Steiner. For example, Bernard Livehud, quoted in this book, describing the patterns of development of the psyche of an adult, mentions the anthroposophical ideas of R. Steiner. In our opinion, an honest search for the true causes of changes occurring in a person, which B. Livehud undertook in his many years of psychological practice, allows us to take advantage of the results of his work

Periodization—the division of ontogenesis into separate periods in accordance with a law common to all ontogenesis—is a problematic field in childhood psychology. L.S. Vygotsky in his work “The Problem of Age” (1932-1934) analyzes ontogenesis as a regular process of changing stable and critical ages.

The scientist defines the concept of “age” through the idea of ​​the social situation of development - a specific, unique relationship between the child and the reality around him, primarily social. Social situation of development, according to L.S. Vygotsky, leads to the formation of age-related neoplasms. The relationship between these two categories—the social situation of development and new formation—sets the dialectical nature of development in ontogenesis. The idea of ​​the social situation of development is meaningfully revealed in the theory of activity, represented by the names of A.N. Leontyeva, S.L. Rubinshteina, V.V. Davydova, D.B. Elkonina.

L.S. Vygotsky considered mental neoplasms characteristic of each stage of development as a criterion for age periodization. He identified “stable” and “unstable” (critical) periods of development. He attached decisive importance to the period of crisis - the time when a qualitative restructuring of the functions and relationships of the child occurs. During these periods, significant changes are observed in the development of the child’s personality. According to L.S. Vygotsky, the transition from one age to another occurs in a revolutionary way.

Periodization of the psyche (L.S. Vygotsky): 1) neonatal crisis; 2) infancy (2 months - 1 year); 3) crisis of one year; 4) early childhood (1 – 3 years); 5) crisis of three years; 6) preschool age (3 – 7 years); 7) crisis of seven years; 8) school age (8 – 12 years); 9) crisis of thirteen years; 10) pubertal age (14 – 17 years); 11) crisis of seventeen years.

The criterion for A.N. Leontiev’s age periodization is leading activities. The development of leading activity determines the most important changes in the mental processes and psychological characteristics of the child’s personality at this stage of development.

In 1971 in the article “On the problem of periodization of mental development in childhood” by D.B. Elkonin generalizes ideas about the driving forces of child development, based on activity theory. The condition for development is the “child-society” system, in which D.B. Elkonin distinguishes two subsystems: “the child is a social adult” and “the child is a public object.” For the first time, age is presented consistently in the logic of the activity approach. When studying the problems of age-related periodization of development, modern domestic psychology is based on several basic principles:

1. The principle of historicism, which allows us to consistently analyze the problems of child development that arose in different historical periods of time.

2. The biogenetic principle, which allows us to systematically study the most important problems of child development, taking into account the interrelations of the driving forces and factors of mental development in each age period.

3. The principle of analyzing the development of the main aspects of human life - the emotional-volitional sphere, intelligence and behavior.

The main problems of age-related periodization of mental development:

1. The problem of organic and environmental conditioning of human mental and behavioral development.

2. The influence of training and upbringing on the development of children.

3. Correlation of inclinations and abilities.

4. Comparative influence of evolutionary, revolutionary, situational changes in the child’s psyche and behavior.

5. The relationship between intellectual and personal changes in the general psychological development of the child.

In Russian science, there are two ideas about age: physical age and psychological age. Transitions from one age to another are accompanied by changes in the physical characteristics and psychological characteristics of the child; they are called crises of age-related development. A crisis indicates that changes are taking place both in the child’s body and psychology, and that certain problems arise in development that the child cannot resolve on his own. Overcoming a crisis means moving to a higher stage of development, to the next psychological age (R.S. Nemov).

D.B. Elkonin says that the main mechanism for changing age periods of development is leading activity. The main provisions of the periodization of development by D.B. Elkonin are as follows: the process of child development is divided into three stages:

1. Preschool childhood (from birth to 6-7 years);

2. Junior school age (from 7 to 10-11 years, from first to fourth grade of school);

3. Middle and senior school age (from 11 to 16-17 years old, from fifth to eleventh grade of school).

The entire period of childhood according to age physical classification is divided into seven periods:

1. Infancy (from birth to one year of life);

2. Early childhood (from 1 year to 3 years);

3. Junior and middle preschool age (from 3 to 5 years);

4. Senior preschool age (from 5 to 7 years);

5. Junior school age (from 7 to 11 years);

6. Adolescence (from 11 to 13-14 years);

7. Early adolescence (from 13-14 to 16-17 years).

Age exists simultaneously as an absolute, quantitative concept (calendar age, life time from birth) and as a stage in the process of physical and psychological development (conditional age). Vygotsky distinguished three groups of periodizations: according to external criteria, according to one and several signs of child development.

The first group of periodizations is based on external criteria, without connection with the physical and mental development of a person. For example, from the principle “ontogenesis repeats phylogeny” a periodization was derived that places each stage of life in accordance with the stages of biological evolution and historical development of mankind. A periodization by stages of the education and training system is still preserved, using such concepts as “preschool age”, “junior school age”, etc. Since the structure of education developed taking into account developmental psychology, such periodization is indirectly related to turning points in child development.

The second group of periodizations is based on one internal criterion. The choice of criterion that forms the basis of classification is subjective and occurs for a variety of reasons. Thus, within the framework of psychoanalysis, Freud developed a periodization of the development of childhood sexuality (oral, anal, phallic, genital stages). The basis for the periodization of P.P. Blonsky laid down such an objective and easy-to-measure physiological sign as the appearance and change of teeth. In the resulting classification, childhood is divided into three periods: toothless childhood, childhood of milk teeth and childhood of permanent teeth; Adulthood begins with the appearance of wisdom teeth.

The third group of periodizations is based on several significant features of development and can take into account changes in the importance of criteria over time. An example of such periodizations are the systems developed by Vygotsky and Elkonin.

The concept of age includes a number of aspects:

1) Chronological age, determined by a person’s life expectancy (according to the passport);

2) Biological age - a set of biological indicators, the functioning of the body as a whole (circulatory, respiratory, digestive systems, etc.);

3) Psychological age - a certain level of mental development, which includes:

a) mental age

b) social maturity - SQ - social intelligence (a person must be adapted to the environment that surrounds him)

c) emotional maturity: free-will of emotions, balance, personal maturity.

In real life, the individual components of age do not always coincide.

Vygotsky called the structure of age “the internal structure of the development process” within the limits of age, understanding this process as a “single whole,” the “laws of structure” of which “determine the structure and course of each particular development process that is part of the whole.” At age there are stable periods (development is gradual, evolutionary) and critical (development is rapid, rapid)

The periodization built by Vygotsky includes the following periods:

Newborn crisis;

Infancy (2 months - 1 year);

Crisis of one year;

Early childhood (1 - 3 years);

Crisis of three years;

Preschool age (3 - 7 years);

Seven Years Crisis;

School age (8-12 years);

Crisis 13 years;

Puberty (14-17 years);

Crisis 17 years.

J. Piaget took intellectual development as the basis for his periodization and identified the following four stages:

1) sensorimotor stage (from birth to 18–24 months);

2) preoperative stage (from 1.5–2 to 7 years);

3) stage of specific operations (from 7 to 12 years);

4) stage of formal operations (from 12 to 17 years).

Periodization of mental development by D.B. Elkonin:

1) infancy (from birth to one year);

2) early childhood (from one to 3 years);

3) junior and middle preschool age (from 3 to 4-5 years);

4) senior preschool age (from 4-5 to 6-7 years);

5) junior school age (from 6-7 to 10-11 years);

6) adolescence (from 10-11 to 13-14 years);

7) early adolescence (from 13-14 to 16-17 years).

Psychosexual development according to S. Freud consists of:

1) oral (infancy) – 0-1 year

2) anal (early childhood) – 1-3 years

3) phallic (preschool childhood) – 3-5 years

4) latent (junior school age) – 5-12 years

5) genital (adolescence and the entire subsequent life of an adult) – 12-18 years

Periodization V.I. Slobodchikova:

1. Revitalization (from birth to 12 months);

2. Animation (from 11 months - 6.5 years);

3. Personalization (from 5.5 to 18 years);

4. Individualization (from 17 to 42 years old);

5. Universalization (from 39 to old).

A.V. Petrovsky identifies the following age periods:

1. The era of childhood 3-7 years - adaptation predominates, the child is mainly

adapts to the social environment.

2. The era of adolescence 11-15 – individualization dominates, a person shows his individuality.

3. The era of youth (high school age) - integration into society must occur.

E. Erikson's periodization includes eight stages:

1) trust – distrust (1 year);

2) achieving balance: independence and indecisiveness (2–4 years);

3) enterprise and guilt (4–6 years);

4) skill and inferiority (6-11 years;

5) personality identification and role confusion (12–15 years old – girls and 13–16 years old – boys);

6) intimacy and loneliness (the beginning of maturity and family life);

7) universal humanity and self-absorption (mature age);

8) integrity and hopelessness.