Higher mental functions and their development (L. S.
Nevertheless, in Vygotsky himself, in his works published during his lifetime, the expression "higher mental functions" never occurs. Instead, Vygotsky used the phrase "higher psychological functions" and similar expressions "higher psychological processes", "higher behavioral processes", "higher forms of behavior", "higher intellectual functions", "higher characterological formations", etc., and the mass editorial replacement of the word psychological on mental observed in his posthumously published texts since the mid-1930s. According to contemporaries, the division into "higher" and "lower" functions and processes was outdated by the early 1930s, and criticism of such a sharp division can be found both in the psychological literature of that time, and in the works of Vygotsky himself, who in the early 1930s realized the methodological fallacy of his approach of the 1920s.
However, in the post-war period, the expression "higher mental functions" is actively used by a group of Soviet researchers "Vygotsky's circle (English) Russian ": A. R. Luria, A. N. Leontiev, A. V. Zaporozhets, D. B. Elkonin and P. Ya. Galperin. These researchers, the content of the concept was somewhat expanded and formalized, as a result of which a number of basic features were identified VPF Various sources mention from three to five such basic characteristics, such as: sociality (internalization), mediocrity, arbitrariness in the way of self-regulation and systemicity.
Structure
Higher mental functions are a specifically human acquisition. However, they can be decomposed into their constituent natural processes.
With natural memorization, a simple associative link is formed between two points. Such is the memory of animals. This is a kind of imprint, an imprint of information.
A --> X --> B
Human memory has a fundamentally different structure. As can be seen from the diagram, instead of one simple associative or reflex connection, two others arise between elements A and B: AH and BH. Ultimately, this leads to the same result, but in a different way. The need to use such a "workaround" arose in the process of phylogenesis, when the natural forms of memorization became unsuitable for solving the problems facing man. At the same time, Vygotsky pointed out that there are no such cultural methods of behavior that would be impossible to completely decompose into its constituent natural processes. Thus, it is precisely the structure of mental processes that is specifically human.
Development
According to a number of researchers, the formation of higher mental functions is a process fundamentally different from natural, organic development. The main difference is that the raising of the psyche to a higher level lies precisely in its functional development, (that is, the development of the technique itself), and not in organic development.
Development is influenced by 2 factors:
- Biological. For the development of the human psyche, a human brain is needed, which has the greatest plasticity. Biological development is only a condition for cultural development, because the structure of this process is given from outside.
- Social. The development of the human psyche is impossible without the presence of a cultural environment in which the child learns specific mental techniques.
Interiorization
Initially, any higher mental function is a form of interaction between people (between a child and an adult) and thus is an interpsychic process. At this stage of formation, higher mental functions represent an expanded form of objective activity, which relies on relatively simple sensory and motor processes. In the future (in the process of internalization), external means mediating this interaction pass into internal ones. Thus, the external process becomes internal, that is, intrapsychic. Outer actions collapse, becoming automated mental actions.
Experimental studies
The experimental development of memory problems was carried out by Leontiev, already within the framework of the activity approach. The main result of these studies was the development of a parallelogram of development.
brain organization
The psychophysiological correlate of the formation of higher mental functions are complex functional systems that have a vertical (cortical-subcortical) and horizontal (cortical-cortical) organization. But each higher mental function is not rigidly tied to any one brain center, but is the result of the systemic activity of the brain, in which various brain structures make a more or less specific contribution to the construction of this function.
Notes
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higher mental functions- complex, life-forming systemic mental processes, social in origin. V. p. f. one of the basic concepts of modern psychology, introduced by L. S. Vygotsky and developed by A. R. Luria and other psychologists. V. p. f. How… … Great Psychological Encyclopedia
The theoretical concept introduced by L.S. Vygotsky, denoting complex mental processes, social in their formation, which are mediated and, due to this, arbitrary. According to his pre… Psychological Dictionary
HIGHER MENTAL FUNCTIONS- HIGHER MENTAL FUNCTIONS. Complex mental processes that are formed in vivo, social in their origin, semiotically mediated in their psychological structure, and arbitrary (consciously performed) in their own way ... ... A new dictionary of methodological terms and concepts (theory and practice of teaching languages)
Higher mental functions Dictionary-reference book on educational psychology
Higher mental functions- complex, life-forming systemic mental processes, social in origin. Higher mental functions are one of the basic concepts of modern psychology, introduced by L.S. Vygotsky and developed by A.R. Luria and others ... ... Dictionary of Educational Psychology
higher mental functions- ... the relationship between higher psychological functions was once a real relationship between people ... The relationship of psychological functions is genetically correlated with the real relationship between people: regulation by a word, ... ... Dictionary L.S. Vygotsky
Higher mental functions- complex, life-forming systemic mental processes, social in origin ... Correctional pedagogy and special psychology. Dictionary
HIGHER MENTAL FUNCTIONS- complex, life-forming systemic mental processes, social in origin, mediated in psychological structure and arbitrary in terms of implementation. The concept "B. p. f. " introduced by L.S. Vygotsky ... Psychomotor: Dictionary Reference
Higher mental functions (HMF)- Complex mental processes that are formed in vivo, social in origin and arbitrary in the way they are implemented. HMF is one of the basic concepts of modern psychology. Speech plays a priority role in the implementation of the WPF. ... ... Adaptive physical culture. Concise Encyclopedic Dictionary
Mental function (in socionics) is a part of the psyche, which is responsible for the work (perception, interpretation, further processing and issuance) with the corresponding informational aspect. The concept of mental function was introduced by the founder of the analytical ... ... Wikipedia
Books
- Psychosemantics of self-organization of a person as a subject of life. Fundamentals of the psychology of the subject. Monograph, Dyakov S.. The position of the study of the psyche as an information-semantic system is defended in the monograph. In this system, based on the phylogenesis of living matter, in the process of sociocultural ontogenesis…
At the beginning of the 20th century, under the influence of Marxist philosophy, which attributed the most important importance to tool labor for the emergence of a reasonable person, a theory was formed that introduced the concept of "higher mental functions".
According to her, Homo sapiens is distinguished by the ability to change the environment through cultural experience. This experience passes from fathers to children not only in the form of objects, but mainly through symbolic speech, which reinforces this accumulated experience.
A person's own psyche was comprehended by a person through signs. They not only designate the phenomena of reality, but also, generalizing, form concepts. The universal sign is the word.
Investigating the evolution of personality, the scientist singled out the natural and actually higher mental functions of a person. The first he is endowed with as a biological being, and they are used involuntarily.
The latter are characterized by individual development in interaction with society. The lack of formation of most mental processes and functions in a person is called total underdevelopment.
The most important concept in neuropsychology and general psychology is the concept of higher mental functions - these are complexly organized models of conscious activity that occur in the human psyche, which are realized on the basis of certain motives, are controlled by certain goals and schemes, and depend on the laws of mental activity.
The following properties of higher mental functions are distinguished:
- Complexity. HMFs are diverse in terms of the methods of formation and development, in terms of the structure of parts and options for their connection. Moreover, today there are many exceptional sign systems that help to represent, explain and understand the content of reality. They influence the development of the mental processes of the individual.
- Arbitrariness. A person is able to regulate his mental processes, defining tasks for himself and assuming the outcome, as well as making adjustments to his actions, taking into account the experience gained.
- Sociality. HMF can be formed only as a result of communication between people. Interiorization plays a key role here.
- Mediation. The perception and transmission of information is carried out by means of a sign (word). This is the main characteristic of the WPF.
Higher processes occurring in consciousness
The higher mental functions include the processes described below that occur in consciousness and are formed throughout life.
Thinking as the highest mental function is a generalized reflection of the surrounding world. With its help, the essence and content of the realities of reality, as well as their internal qualities, are known. It is important that the reflection here occurs through a comparison of facts, and it is a generalized knowledge.
If we talk about the types of thinking, then visual-effective is a real, physical study and generalization of one's actions; visual-figurative - thinking with "pictures" seen earlier; abstract - based on logical reasoning. The concept is the highest generalization.
Memory is one of the main qualities of the central nervous system, characterized by the ability to store information about reality. It can be figurative, emotional, verbal-logical and motor.
Speech, as determined by L.S. Vygotsky, occupies a special place among the higher mental functions. Without it, the birth of a person is unrealistic. Moreover, thanks to it, the existence of other mental functions of a person is also possible.
Attention as the highest mental function is the concentration of the psyche on an object or phenomenon. It allows you to select the required information.
In ontogeny, internalization occurs in three stages:
- An adult instructs a child to do something.
- The child learns the words he hears and with their help influences the adult.
- The child turns to himself.
As an example, let us cite the study of L.S. Vygotsky voluntary attention. Circles were placed in front of children of primary preschool age, marking them in dark gray and light gray colors. A nut was placed in one mug, never changing its place, and the children were asked to guess its location. They chose one or the other mug.
Thus, the higher mental functions, according to L.S. Vygotsky, is a social mode of action directed at oneself.
The study of HMF is based on the following principles. First, the psychological must be seen as an action. Secondly, the process, causal-dynamic relations and stages of the formation of higher mental functions are important. Thirdly, genetic analysis is of particular importance. Modern principles of analysis of higher mental functions are reflected in the works of V.A. Pishchalnikova, A.A. Zalevskoy, V.P. Glukhov and other psycholinguists. Author: Alexandra Pushkova
Introduction.
The inner world of a person, i.e., his mental life, is images, thoughts, feelings, aspirations, needs, etc., the totality of a person’s mental reflection of reality, the world around him.
The psyche, representing the inner world of man, arose at the highest stage of development of the material world. The psyche is absent in plants and inanimate objects. The psyche reflects the surrounding reality, thanks to the mental reflection of reality, a person cognizes it and in one way or another it affects the world around.
Psyche- this is a special property of highly organized matter, which consists in reflecting the objective world.
The psyche is a general concept that unites many subjective phenomena studied by psychology as a science. There are two different philosophical understandings of nature and the manifestation of the psyche: materialistic and idealistic. According to the first understanding, mental phenomena are a property of highly organized living matter, self-management by development and self-knowledge (reflection).
The dependence of mental processes on the personality as an individuality is expressed in:
1. individual differences;
2. depending on the overall development of the personality;
3. transformation into consciously regulated actions or operations.
Studying the problems of personality development, L.S. Vygotsky singled out the mental functions of a person, which are formed in specific conditions of socialization and have some special features. He defined these functions as the highest, considering them at the level of idea, concept, concept and theory. In general, he defined two levels of mental processes: natural and higher. If natural functions are given to an individual as a natural being and are realized in spontaneous response, then higher mental functions (HMF) can be developed only in the process of ontogenesis in social interaction.
1. Higher mental functions.
1.1. Theory of WPF.
The concept was developed Vygotsky and his school Leontiev, Luria etc.) in the 20-30s. 20th century One of the first publications was the article "The problem of the cultural development of the child" in the journal "Pedology" in 1928.
Following the idea of the socio-historical nature of the psyche, Vygotsky makes a transition to the interpretation of the social environment not as a "factor", but as a "source" personality development. In the development of the child, he notes, there are, as it were, two intertwined lines. The first follows the path of natural maturation. The second is the mastery of cultures, ways behavior and thinking. Auxiliary means of organizing behavior and thinking that mankind has created in the process of its historical development are systems of signs-symbols (for example, language, writing, number system, etc.).
The child's mastery of the connection between sign to value, the use of speech in the use of tools marks the emergence of new psychological functions, systems underlying higher mental processes that fundamentally distinguish human behavior from animal behavior. The mediation of the development of the human psyche by "psychological tools" is also characterized by the fact that the operation of using a sign, which is at the beginning of the development of each of the higher mental functions, at first always has the form of external activity, i.e., it turns from interpsychic into intrapsychic.
This transformation goes through several stages. The initial one is related to the fact that a person (adult) with the help of a certain means controls the behavior of the child, directing the implementation of his any "natural", involuntary function. In the second stage, the child himself already becomes subject and, using this psychological tool, directs the behavior of another (assuming it to be an object). At the next stage, the child begins to apply to himself (as an object) those methods of controlling behavior that others applied to him, and he - to them. Thus, Vygotsky writes, each mental function appears on the stage twice - first as a collective, social activity, and then as the child's internal way of thinking. Between these two "outputs" lies the process of internalization, "rotation" of the function inside.
Being internalized, "natural" mental functions are transformed and "collapsed", acquire automation, awareness and arbitrariness. Then, thanks to the developed algorithms of internal transformations, the reverse process of internalization becomes possible - the process of exteriorization - bringing out the results of mental activity, carried out first as a plan in the internal plan.
The advancement of the principle "external through internal" in the cultural-historical theory expands the understanding of the leading role of the subject in various forms. activity- especially in the course of training and self-study. The learning process is interpreted as a collective activity, and the development of the internal individual properties of the child's personality has the closest source of his cooperation (in the broadest sense) with other people. Vygotsky's ingenious guess about the significance of the zone of proximal development in a child's life made it possible to conclude the dispute about the priorities of education or development: only that education is good, which forestalls development.
In the light of the systemic and semantic structure consciousness dialogue is the main characteristic of consciousness. Even turning into internal mental processes, higher mental functions retain their social nature - "a person, and alone with himself, retains the functions communication". According to Vygotsky, the word is related to consciousness as a small world is to a large one, as a living cell is to an organism, as an atom is to the cosmos. "A meaningful word is a microcosm of human consciousness."
In the views of Vygotsky personality is a social concept, it represents the supranatural, historical in man. It does not cover all features. individuality, but puts an equal sign between the personal child and his cultural development. Personality "is not innate, but arises as a result of cultures, development" and "in this sense, the correlate of personality will be the ratio of primitive and higher reactions." Developing, a person masters his own behavior. However, a necessary prerequisite for this process is the formation of a personality, because "the development of a particular function is always derived from the development of the personality as a whole and is conditioned by it."
In its development, a person goes through a series of changes that have a stage nature. More or less stable development processes due to the lytic accumulation of new potentialities, the destruction of one social situations development and the emergence of others are replaced by critical periods in the life of the individual, during which there is a rapid formation of psychological neoplasms. Crises are characterized by the unity of negative (destructive) and positive (constructive) sides and play the role of steps in the progressive movement along the path of the child's further development. The apparent behavioral dysfunction of a child in a critical age period is not a pattern, but rather evidence of an unfavorable course of the crisis, the absence of changes in the inflexible pedagogical system, which does not keep up with the rapid change in the child's personality.
Neoplasms that have arisen in a given period qualitatively change the psychological functioning of the individual. For example, appearance of reflection in an adolescent, it completely restructures his mental activity. This new formation is the third level of self-organization: "Along with the primary conditions of the individual, the personality's make-up (inclinations, heredity) and the secondary conditions of its formation (environment, acquired characteristics), here (at the time of puberty) tertiary conditions (reflection, self-formation) come into play." Tertiary functions form the basis self-awareness. Ultimately, they, too, are personal psychological relationship that were once relationships between people. However, the connection between the socio-cultural environment and self-consciousness is more complicated and consists not only in the influence of the environment on the pace of development of self-consciousness, but also in determining the very type of self-consciousness, the nature of its development.
1.2. Essence and components of VPF.
The development of the psyche at the human level, according to the materialistic point of view, is mainly due to memory, speech, thinking and consciousness due to the complication of activity and the improvement of tools that act as a means of studying the world around us, the invention and widespread use of sign systems. In a person, along with the lower levels of organization of mental processes that are given to him by nature, higher ones also arise.
Memory.
The presence of ideas in a person suggests that our perceptions leave some traces in the cerebral cortex that persist for some time. The same must be said about our thoughts and feelings. The memorization, preservation and subsequent reproduction or recognition of what was in our past experience is called memory .
In the process of memorization, a connection of one object or phenomenon with other objects or phenomena is usually established.
Through the connection between past states of the psyche, the present and the processes of preparing future states, memory communicates coherence and stability to a person's life experience, ensures the continuity of the existence of the human "I" and thus acts as one of the prerequisites for the formation of individuality and personality.
Speech.
Speech is the main means of human communication. Without it, a person would not be able to receive and transmit a large amount of information, in particular, one that carries a large semantic load or fixes for itself something that cannot be perceived with the help of the senses (abstract concepts, not directly perceived phenomena, laws, rules, etc.). P.). Without written language, a person would be deprived of the opportunity to find out how people of previous generations lived, thought and did. He would not have had the opportunity to communicate his thoughts and feelings to others. Thanks to speech as a means of communication, the individual consciousness of a person, not limited to personal experience, is enriched by the experience of other people, and to a much greater extent than observation and other processes of non-verbal, direct cognition carried out through the senses: perception, attention, imagination, memory and thinking can allow. . Through speech, the psychology and experience of one person become available to other people, enrich them, and contribute to their development.
In terms of its vital significance, speech has a gtoli-functional character. It is not only a means of communication, but also a means of thinking, a carrier of consciousness, memory, information (written texts), a means of controlling the behavior of other people and regulating a person’s own behavior. According to its many functions, speech is polymorphic activity, i.e., in its various functional purposes, it is presented in different forms: external, internal, monologue, dialogue, written, oral, etc. Although all these forms of speech are interconnected, their vital purpose is not the same. External speech, for example, plays mainly the role of a means of communication, internal - a means of thinking. Written speech most often acts as a way of memorizing information. The monologue serves the process of one-way, and the dialogue serves the two-way exchange of information.
Thinking.
First of all, thinking is the highest cognitive process. It is a product of new knowledge, an active form of creative reflection and transformation of reality by a person. Thinking generates such a result, which does not exist in any reality, nor in the subject at a given moment of time. Thinking (in elementary forms it is also found in animals) can also be understood as the acquisition of new knowledge, the creative transformation of existing ideas.
The difference between thinking and other psychological processes is also that it is almost always associated with the presence of a problem situation, a task that needs to be solved, and an active change in the conditions in which this task is set. Thinking, unlike perception, goes beyond the limits of the sensually given, expands the boundaries of knowledge. In thinking, certain theoretical and practical conclusions are made on the basis of sensory information. It reflects being not only in the form of individual things, phenomena and their properties, but also determines the connections that exist between them, which are most often not given directly, in the very perception of a person. The properties of things and phenomena, the connections between them are reflected in thinking in a generalized form, in the form of laws, entities.
In practice, thinking as a separate mental process does not exist, it is invisibly present in all other cognitive processes: in perception, attention, imagination, memory, speech. The higher forms of these processes are necessarily associated with thinking, and the degree of its participation in these cognitive processes also determines the level of development.
Thinking is the movement of ideas, revealing the essence of things. Its result is not an image, but some thought, an idea. A specific result of thinking can be concept - generalized reflection of a class of objects in their most general and essential features features.
Thinking is a special kind of theoretical and practical activity, which involves a system of actions and operations included in it of an orienting-research, transformative and cognitive nature.
Attention.
Attention in human life and activity performs many different functions. It activates the necessary and inhibits the unnecessary this moment psychological and physiological processes, promotes an organized and purposeful selection of information entering the body in accordance with its actual needs, provides selective and long-term concentration of mental activity on the same object or activity.
Directivity and selectivity of cognitive processes are connected with attention. Their setting directly depends on what at a given time seems to be the most important for the body, for the realization of the interests of the individual. Attention determines the accuracy and detail of perception, the strength and selectivity of memory, the direction and productivity of mental activity - in a word, the quality and results of the functioning of all cognitive activity.
For perceptual processes, attention is a kind of amplifier that allows you to distinguish the details of images. For human memory, attention acts as a factor capable of retaining the necessary information in short-term and operational memory, as a prerequisite for transferring memorized material into long-term memory storage. For thinking, attention acts as a mandatory factor for correct understanding and solving a problem. In the system of interpersonal relations, attention contributes to better mutual understanding, adaptation of people to each other .
Perception.
Perception is a sensual reflection of an object or phenomenon of objective reality that affects our senses. Human perception - not only a sensual image, but also the awareness of an object that stands out from the environment and opposes the subject. Awareness of a sensuously given object is the main, most essential distinguishing feature of perception. The possibility of perception implies the ability of the subject not only to respond to a sensory stimulus, but also to realize, accordingly, a sensory quality as a property of a particular object. To do this, the object must stand out as a relatively stable source of influences emanating from it on the subject and as a possible object of the actions of the subject directed at it. The perception of an object therefore presupposes on the part of the subject not only the presence of an image, but also a certain effective attitude, arising only as a result of a rather highly developed tonic activity (cerebellum and cortex), which regulates motor tone and provides a state of active rest necessary for observation. Perception, therefore, as has already been pointed out, presupposes a fairly high development of not only the sensory, but also the motor apparatus.
Living and acting, resolving in the course of his life the practical tasks that confront him, a person perceives the environment. The perception of objects and people with whom he has to deal, the conditions in which his activity takes place, constitute a necessary prerequisite for meaningful human action. Life practice makes a person move from unintentional perception to a purposeful activity of observation; at this stage, perception is already transformed into a specific "theoretical" activity. The theoretical activity of observation includes analysis and synthesis, comprehension and interpretation of what is perceived. Thus, initially associated as a component or condition with some specific practical activity, perception eventually passes in the form of observation into a more or less complex activity of thinking, in the system of which it acquires new specific features. Developing in a different direction, the perception of reality turns into the creation of an artistic image associated with creative activity and the aesthetic contemplation of the world.
Perceiving, a person is not only sees, but also looks, not only hears, but also listening, and sometimes he not only looks, but considers or peering etsya, not only listening, but also listens, he often actively chooses a setting that will provide an adequate perception of the subject; perceiving, he thus performs a certain activity aimed at bringing the image of perception in line with the object, which is ultimately necessary due to the fact that the object is an object not only of awareness, but also of practical action that controls this awareness.
1.3. HPF signs.
Modern research has significantly expanded and deepened the general ideas about the patterns, essence, structure of the HMF. Vygotsky and his followers singled out four main features of the HMF - complexity, sociality, mediation, and arbitrariness.
Complexity It manifests itself in the fact that HMFs are diverse in terms of the features of formation and development, in terms of the structure and composition of conditionally distinguished parts and the connections between them. In addition, the complexity is determined by the specific relationship of some results of human phylogenetic development (preserved in modern culture) with the results of ontogenetic development at the level of mental processes. During the historical development, man has created unique sign systems that allow comprehending, interpreting and comprehending the essence of the phenomena of the surrounding world. These systems continue to evolve and improve. Their change in a certain way affects the dynamics of the very mental processes of a person. Thus, the dialectic of mental processes, sign systems, phenomena of the surrounding world is carried out.
sociality HMF is determined by their origin. They can develop only in the process of interaction of people with each other. The main source of occurrence is internalization, i.e. transfer ("rotation") of social forms of behavior into the internal plan. Internalization is carried out in the formation and development of external and internal relations of the individual. Here the HMF goes through two stages of development. First, as a form of interaction between people (interpsychic stage). Then as an internal phenomenon (intrapsychic stage). Teaching a child to speak and think is a vivid example of the process of internalization.
Mediation HMF is visible in the way they function. The development of the capacity for symbolic activity and mastery of the sign is the main component of mediation. The word, image, number and other possible identification signs of a phenomenon (for example, a hieroglyph as a unity of a word and an image) determine the semantic perspective of comprehending the essence at the level of unity of abstraction and concretization. In this sense, thinking as operating with symbols, behind which there are representations and concepts, or creative imagination as operating with images, are the corresponding examples of the functioning of the HMF. In the process of functioning of the HMF, cognitive and emotional-volitional components of awareness are born: meanings and meanings.
Arbitrary VPF are by way of implementation. Due to mediation, a person is able to realize his functions and carry out activities in a certain direction, anticipating a possible result, analyzing his experience, correcting behavior and activities. The arbitrariness of HMF is also determined by the fact that the individual is able to act purposefully, overcoming obstacles and making appropriate efforts. A conscious desire for a goal and the application of efforts determines the conscious regulation of activity and behavior. We can say that the idea of the HMF comes from the idea of the formation and development of volitional mechanisms in a person.
In general, modern scientific ideas about the HMF phenomenon contain the foundations for understanding personality development in the following areas. First, the social development of a person as the formation of a system of relations with people and phenomena of the surrounding reality. Secondly, intellectual development as the dynamics of mental neoplasms associated with the assimilation, processing and functioning of various sign systems. Thirdly, creative development as the formation of the ability to create a new, non-standard, original and original. Fourthly, volitional development as the ability to purposeful and productive actions; the possibility of overcoming obstacles on the basis of self-regulation and stability of the individual. At the same time, social development is aimed at successful adaptation; intellectual - to understand the essence of the phenomena of the surrounding world; creative - on the transformation of the phenomena of reality and self-actualization of the individual; volitional - to mobilize human and personal resources to achieve the goal.
Higher mental functions develop only in the process of education and socialization. They cannot arise in a feral person (feral people, according to K. Linnaeus, are individuals who grew up in isolation from people and were brought up in the community of animals). Such people lack the main qualities of HMF: complexity, sociality, mediation and arbitrariness. Of course, we can find some elements of these qualities in the behavior of animals. For example, the conditionality of the actions of a trained dog can be correlated with the quality of the mediation of functions. However, higher mental functions develop only in connection with the formation internalized sign systems, and not at the level of reflex activity, even if it acquires a conditioned character. Thus, one of the most important qualities of the HMF is the mediation associated with the general intellectual development of a person and the possession of numerous sign systems.
The question of the internalization of sign systems is the most complex and poorly developed in modern cognitive psychology. It is in the context of this direction that the main problems of human intellectual development in the process of education and upbringing are studied. Following the allocation of structural blocks of cognitive activity, the development of a cognitive theory of personality, the study of experimental study of the particular processes and functions of mental activity, the creation of concepts of the cognitive structure of the personality associated with the development of intelligence in the learning process, critical information appears due to the lack of conceptual unity of numerous theories. Recently, we can find a fair amount of skepticism about research in the cognitive field. There are many reasons for that. One of them, in our opinion, is disappointment in the possibilities of social adaptability of intellectual activity and the lack of an accurate diagnosis of its level. The results of intelligence studies have shown that its high level is very weakly associated with a person's success in society. Such conclusions are quite obvious if we proceed from the theory of the WPF. After all, only a sufficiently high level of development of the intellectual sphere of the individual in combination with a no less high level of development of the emotional-volitional sphere allows us to talk about the possibility of social success. At the same time, there must be a certain balance between emotional, volitional and intellectual development. Violation of this balance can lead to the development of deviant behavior and social maladjustment.
Thus, it can be stated that interest in the problems of human intellectual development in the process of training and education is being replaced by interest in the general problems of socialization and adaptation of the individual. Modern cognitive psychology has settled on the study of general mental processes: memory, attention, imagination, perception, thinking, etc. The most successful training and education is associated with their development. However, today it is quite clear that only in elementary school such close attention to mental processes is fully justified, since it is determined by the age sensitivity of younger students. The development of the cognitive sphere in middle and high school students should be associated with the process of understanding the essence of the phenomena of the surrounding world, since age is the most sensitive for the formation of social and gender-role identification.
It is very important to turn to the processes of understanding as comprehension of the essence of the surrounding world. If we analyze the majority of educational programs in a modern school, we can see that their main advantages are related to the selection of content and the peculiarities of the interpretation of scientific information. In recent years, new subjects have appeared at the school, the range of additional educational services has expanded, and new areas of education are being developed. The newly created textbooks and teaching aids amaze us with the possibilities of applying scientific data in the study of certain subjects at school. However, the developing possibilities of the content of the material remain outside the attention of the authors. It is assumed that these opportunities can be implemented at the level of pedagogical methods and technologies. And in the content of educational material, developing learning opportunities are simply not used. Students are offered an adapted quintessence of scientific knowledge. But is it possible use the content of educational material for the development of the cognitive sphere of the individual ?
The origins of this idea can be found in the works of the Russian psychologist L.B. Itelson ("Lectures on Modern Problems of the Psychology of Education", Vladimir, 1972), as well as in numerous modern developments in the theory of argumentation by A.A. Ivin. The essence of their idea lies in the fact that during training, the content of information (which turns into knowledge with assimilation) should be selected in such a way that, if possible, all the intellectual functions of a person develop.
The main intellectual functions are identified, which (with a certain degree of conventionality) can be combined into five dichotomous pairs according to the principle of subordination:
analysis - synthesis;
abstraction - concretization;
comparison - comparison;
generalization - classification;
coding - decoding (decoding).
All these functions are interconnected and interdependent. Together, they determine the processes of cognition and comprehension of the essence of phenomena. Obviously, modern education is aimed primarily at the development of such functions as concretization, comparison, coding. Concretization is determined by the ability of a person to abstract from the essence of the phenomenon and focus on particulars. So, for example, working with signs or facts in the study of any phenomena of reality contributes to the development of this function. Comparison as an intellectual function develops in students in almost all subjects at school, since so many tasks and questions on topics are given for comparison. And, finally, coding, which is associated with the development of speech, develops from childhood. Coding includes all intellectual operations that accompany the translation of images and ideas into words, sentences, text. Each person has his own coding features, which are manifested in the style, meaning formation of speech and the general structure of the language as a sign system.
As for analysis, synthesis, abstraction, comparison, generalization, classification and decoding, there are very few tasks for the development of these functions in modern textbooks, and the content of the educational material itself does not contribute to their formation.
Indeed, it is extremely difficult to form many functions due to their essential specificity. So, for example, the possibilities of developing the comparison function are limited, because this function involves the correlation of things not according to an essential feature (as in comparison), but according to the belonging of objects to a different class of phenomena. On the other hand, it is absolutely necessary to prepare children for the analysis of the realities of modern life. Here they will often have to make decisions and make choices based on the correlation of various phenomena. A good example of the selection of content for the development of the matching function is L. Carroll's fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland". Recently, interesting teaching aids for children have begun to appear, where the possibilities of implementing this approach are presented. However, there are still very few such publications, and many teachers do not quite understand how to use them. At the same time, it is absolutely necessary to deal with the problems of the development of the intellectual functions of children, since a person’s ability to correctly comprehend the essence of the phenomena of the surrounding world depends on this.
1.4. VPF localization.
Localization (from lat. localis - local) - assignment higher mental functions to specific brain structures. The problem of HMF localization is being developed neuropsychology, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, etc. The history of the study of HMF localization dates back to antiquity (Hippocrates, Galen and others). Representatives of narrow localizationism considered psychological functions as unified, indecomposable into components “psychic abilities”, carried out by limited areas of the cerebral cortex - the corresponding brain “centers”. It was believed that the defeat of the "center" leads to the loss of the corresponding function. The logical conclusion of the ideas of naive localizationism was the phrenological map of F. Gall and the localization map of K. Kleist, representing the work of the cerebral cortex as a set of functions of various "centers" of mental abilities. Another direction - "antilocalizationism" considered the brain as a single undifferentiated whole, with which all mental functions are equally connected. It followed from this that damage to any area of the brain leads to a general dysfunction (for example, to a decrease in intellect), and the degree of dysfunction does not depend on localization and is determined by the mass of the affected brain. According to the theory of systemic dynamic localization of the HMF, the brain, the substratum of mental functions, works as a single whole, consisting of many highly differentiated parts, each of which performs its own specific role. Not the entire mental function and not even its individual links should be correlated directly with brain structures, but those physiological processes (factors) that are carried out in the corresponding structures. Violation of these physiological processes leads to the appearance of primary defects that extend to a number of interrelated mental functions.
2. The social nature of the HMF.
2.1. Development of HMF in humans.
Three main achievements of mankind contributed to the accelerated mental development of people: the invention of tools, the production of objects of material and spiritual culture, and the emergence knowledge of language and speech . With the help of tools, man received the opportunity to influence nature and to know it more deeply. The first such tools - an ax, a knife, a hammer - simultaneously served as both goals. Human made household items everyday life and studied the properties of the world, not given directly to the senses.
Improvement of tools and performed With with their help, labor operations led, in turn, to the transformation and improvement functions of the hand, thanks to which it turned over time into the most subtle and accurate of all the tools of labor activity. On the example of the hand, he learned to cognize the reality of the human eye, it also contributed to the development of thinking and created the main creations of the human spirit. With the expansion of knowledge about the world, human capabilities increased, he acquired the ability to be independent of nature and change his own nature by reason (meaning human behavior and psyche).
The objects of material and spiritual culture created by people of many generations did not disappear without a trace, but were passed on and reproduced from generation to generation, improving. There was no need for a new generation of people to reinvent them, it was enough to learn how to use them with the help of other people who already knew how to do it.
The mechanism of transmission of abilities, knowledge, skills and abilities by inheritance has changed. Now it was not necessary to change the genetic apparatus, anatomy and physiology of the organism in order to rise to a new stage of psychological and behavioral development. It was enough, having a flexible brain from birth, a suitable anatomical and physiological apparatus, to learn how to humanly use the objects of material and spiritual culture created by previous generations. In the tools of labor, in the objects of human culture, people began to inherit their abilities and assimilate them to the next generations without changing the genotype, anatomy and physiology of the body. Man has gone beyond his biological limitations and has opened for himself the path to almost limitless improvement.
Thanks to the invention, improvement and widespread use of tools, sign systems, mankind has received a unique opportunity to preserve and accumulate experience in the form of various texts, products of creative work, to pass it on from generation to generation with the help of a well-thought-out system of teaching and educating children. The next generations assimilated the knowledge, skills and habits developed by the previous ones, and thus also became civilized people. Moreover, since this process of humanization begins from the first days of life and gives its visible results quite early (from the materials presented in the second book of the textbook, we will see that already a three-year-old child is not a biological being, but a small, completely civilized person), the individual there was an opportunity to make one's personal contribution to the treasury of civilization and thereby multiply the achievements of mankind.
Thus, gradually, accelerating, from century to century, the creative abilities of people improved, their knowledge of the world expanded and deepened, raising man higher and higher above the rest of the animal world. Over time, man invented and improved many things that have no analogues in nature. They began to serve him to satisfy his own material and spiritual needs and at the same time acted as a source for the development of human abilities.
If for a moment we imagine that a worldwide catastrophe occurred, as a result of which people with appropriate abilities died, the world of material and spiritual culture was destroyed and only small children survived, then in its development humanity would be thrown back tens of thousands of years ago, since there is no one and there would be nothing to teach children to become people. But perhaps the most significant invention of mankind, which had an incomparable impact on the development of people, was sign systems. They gave impetus to the development of mathematics, engineering, science, art, and other areas of human activity. The appearance of alphabetic symbols led to the possibility of recording, storing and reproducing information. There was no need to keep it in the head of an individual, the danger of irretrievable loss due to memory loss or the departure of the information keeper from life disappeared.
Particularly outstanding achievements in improving the methods of recording, storing and reproducing information that occurred in the last decades of this century have led to a new scientific and technological revolution, which is actively continuing in our time. This is the invention of magnetic, laser and other forms of information recording. Obviously, we are now on the threshold of a transition to a new, qualitatively higher stage of human mental and behavioral development, the first signs of which can already be seen. These include the availability to a single person of almost any information, if somewhere and sometime it was written by someone in an understandable language. This can also include the development of means of communication, the liberation of people from routine work that does not contribute much to their development and the transfer of it to the machine, the emergence and improvement of methods of influencing nature not so much with the aim of using it for their own needs, but to preserve and improve nature itself. Perhaps soon people will be able to learn how to influence their nature in a similar way.
From the very beginning of their use by people, sign systems, especially speech, have become an effective means of influencing a person on himself, controlling his perception, attention, memory, and other cognitive processes. Along with the first signal system given to man by nature (I. P. Pavlov), which was the sense organs, a person received a second signal system expressed in the word. Possessing meanings known to people, words began to have the same effect on their psychology and behavior as the objects they replace, and sometimes even more if they denoted phenomena and objects that are difficult to imagine (abstract concepts). The second signaling system has become a powerful means of self-management and self-regulation of a person. Perception has acquired such qualities as objectivity, constancy, meaning, structure, attention became arbitrary, memory became logical, thinking became verbal and abstract. Practically all human mental processes, as a result of the use of speech to control them, went beyond their natural limitations, got the opportunity for further, potentially unlimited improvement.
The word has become the main regulator of human actions, the bearer of moral and cultural values, the means and source of human civilization, its intellectual and moral improvement. It also acted as the main factor in education and training. Thanks to the word, the individual man became a person-person. Speech as a means of communication played a special role in the development of people. Its development contributed to the mutual intellectual and cultural enrichment of people living in different parts of the world and speaking different languages.
2.2. Biological and social.
In addition to inherited and spontaneously acquired experience, a person also has a consciously regulated, purposeful process of mental and behavioral development associated with training and education. If, studying a person and comparing him with animals, we find that in the presence of the same anatomical and physiological inclinations, a person in his psychology and behavior reaches a higher level of development than an animal, then this is the result of learning, which can be consciously controlled through training and education . Thus, comparator new psychological-behavioral study of human and animal postures allows more correct, scientifically sound determination of the content and methods of teaching and educating children.
Both man and animals have common innate elementary abilities of a cognitive nature, which allow them to perceive the world in the form of elementary sensations (in highly developed animals - in the form of images), to remember information. All the main types of sensations: sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste, skin sensitivity, etc. - are present in humans and animals from birth. Their functioning is ensured by the presence of appropriate analyzers, the structure of which was discussed in detail in the second chapter.
But the perception and memory of a developed person differ from similar functions in animals and newborn babies. These differences run along several lines at once.
First, in humans, in comparison with animals, the corresponding cognitive processes have special qualities: perception - objectivity, constancy, meaningfulness, and memory - arbitrariness and mediation (the use by a person of special, culturally developed means of remembering, storing and reproducing information). It is these qualities that a person acquires during life and develops further through training.
Secondly, the memory of animals compared to humans is limited. They can use in their lives only the information that they themselves acquire. They pass on to the next generations of their own kind beings only what is somehow fixed hereditarily and reflected in the genotype. The rest of the acquired experience when the animal passes away turns out to be irretrievably lost for future generations.
Otherwise it is the case with man. His memory is practically unlimited. He can memorize, store and reproduce a theoretically infinite amount of information due to the fact that he himself does not need to constantly remember and keep all this information in his head. To do this, people invented sign systems and means for recording information. They can not only record and store it, but also pass it on from generation to generation through objects of material and spiritual culture, learning to use the appropriate sign systems and means.
No less important differences are found in the thinking of man and animals. Both of these types of living beings almost from birth have the potential ability to solve elementary practical problems in in a visual and actionable way. However, already at the next two stages of the development of intellect - in visual-figurative And verbal-logical thinking - there are striking differences between them.
Only higher animals, probably, can operate with images, and this is still controversial in science. In humans, this ability manifests itself from the age of two and three. As for verbal-logical thinking, animals do not have even the slightest signs of this type of intelligence, since neither logic nor the meanings of words (concepts) are available to them.
More difficult is the question of comparing the manifestation of emotions in animals and humans. The difficulty in solving it is that primary emotions, available in humans and animals are innate. Both types of living beings, apparently, feel them in the same way, behave in the same way in appropriate situations. Higher animals - anthropoids - and humans have much in common in external ways of expressing emotions. They can also observe something similar to the moods of a person, his affect and stress.
However, a person has the highest moral feelings, which animals do not have. They, unlike elementary emotions, are brought up and changed under the influence of social conditions.
Scientists spent a lot of effort and time trying to understand the issue of commonality and differences in behavior motivation people and animals. Both, no doubt, have many common, purely organic needs, and in this respect it is difficult to detect any noticeable motivational differences between animals and humans.
There are also a number of needs in relation to which the question of the fundamental differences between man and animals seems to be unambiguously and definitely unsolvable, that is, controversial. This - communication needs(contacts with their own kind and other living beings), altruism, dominance (motive power), aggressiveness. Their elementary signs can be observed in animals, and it is still not completely known whether they are inherited by a person or acquired by him as a result of socialization.
Humans also have specific social needs, close analogues of which cannot be found in any of the animals. These are spiritual needs, needs that have a moral and value basis, creative needs, the need for self-improvement, aesthetic and a number of other needs.
One of the main problems of psychology is the clarification of the question of which of the needs of a person are leading in the determination of behavior, which are subordinate.
So, man in his psychological qualities and forms of behavior appears to be a social and natural being, partly similar, partly different from animals. In life, its natural and social principles coexist, combine, sometimes compete with each other. In understanding the true determination of human behavior, it is probably necessary to take both into account.
Until now, in our political, economic, psychological and pedagogical ideas about a person, we have mainly taken into account the social principle, and a person, as life practice has shown, even in relatively calm times in history has not ceased to be partly an animal, that is, a biological being does not only in the sense of organic needs, but also in their behavior. The main scientific mistake of the Marxist-Leninist teaching in understanding the nature of man was probably that in the social plans for the reorganization of society, only the highest, spiritual principle in man was taken into account and his animal origin was ignored.
The introduction of the concept of functional organs makes it possible to transfer the problem of the biological and social in human mental processes to the soil of precise laboratory facts. The systematic study of the formation of these organs and the abilities corresponding to them that has already begun allows us to draw some important general conclusions.
The main one is that a person's biologically inherited properties do not determine his mental abilities. A person's abilities are not contained virtually in his brain. Virtually, the brain contains not certain specific human abilities, but only the ability to form these abilities.
In other words, biologically inherited properties in a person constitute only one of the conditions for the formation of his mental functions and abilities, a condition that, of course, plays an important role. Thus, although these systems are not determined by biological properties, they are still dependent on them.
Another condition is the world of objects and phenomena surrounding a person, created by countless generations of people through their work and struggle. This world brings to man what is truly human. So, if in the higher mental processes of a person we distinguish, on the one hand, their form, i.e. purely dynamic features depending on their morphological "texture", and on the other hand, their content, i.e. the function they perform and their structure , then we can say that the first is determined biologically, the second - socially.
Conclusion.
The emergence of Vygotsky's Cultural-Historical Theory symbolized a new stage in the development of personality psychology, which gained real support in substantiating its social origin, proving the existence of primary affective-semantic formations of human consciousness before and outside of each developing individual in ideal and material forms culture to which the person comes after birth .
Man in his psychological qualities and forms of behavior appears to be a social and natural being, partly similar, partly different from animals.
Conclusion.
The process of mastering the world of objects and phenomena created by people in the process of the historical development of society is the process in which the formation of specifically human abilities and functions takes place in the individual. It would, however, be a huge mistake to imagine this process as the result of the activity of consciousness or the operation of "intentionality" in the sense of Husserl and others.
The process of mastery is carried out in the course of the development of the real relations of the subject to the world. These relations do not depend on the subject, not on his consciousness; but are determined by the concrete historical, social conditions in which he lives, and by how his life develops under these conditions.
That is why the problem of the prospects for the mental development of man and mankind is, first of all, the problem of a just and reasonable arrangement of the life of human society - the problem of such a structure that gives each person a practical opportunity to master the achievements of historical progress and creatively participate in the multiplication of these achievements.
List of used literature:
1. Vygodsky L.S. Psychology / M .: EKSMO - Press 2000.
2. Gippenreiter Yu.B. Introduction to general psychology. Course of lectures M., 1988
3. Gonobolin F.N. Psychology Moscow 1986.
4. Kuzin V.S. Psychology / ed. B.F. Lomova. Textbook. M .: Higher. school, 1982.
5. Bow. A.N. Emotions and personality M.; 1982
6. Luria A.R. Attention and memory. Materials for the course of lectures on general psychology. Moscow State University 1975
7. Nemov R.S. Psychology Textbook for students. Book. 1 General foundations of psychology. - M.: Enlightenment 1994.
8. Rozanov S.I. "Memory in psychology" from "Big
a. Russian Encyclopedia" 2001
9. Rubinstein S.P. Fundamentals of General Psychology. - St. Petersburg ed. "Peter" 1999.
10. Vygodsky L.S. Psychology / M .: EKSMO - Press 2000.
11. Feigenberg I.M. Memory and learning. TSOLITOW,
Nemov R. S. Psychology, 1994.
R. Atkinson.
J. Kelly.
The concept of higher mental functions: their structure and development.
L. S. Vygotsky: singled out natural, natural functions (they are involuntary) and mental, inherent only to man. To adapt to the life of society, a person needs to master the socio-cultural experience. The specificity of the human psyche and behavior is that they are mediated by cultural and historical experience. Elements of socio-historical experience are wedged into naturally occurring mental processes and behavioral functions, thereby transforming them. They become higher mental functions. The natural form of behavior is transformed into a cultural one.
The main properties of the WPF:
social in essence, not needed by an individual, divided between people (the function of the word).
mediated in nature. People are connected by speech signs. The WPF appears twice: at the level of external funds and as an internal process.
· arbitrary in the process of formation (arbitrariness is the result of mediation, the development of funds).
· systemic in their structure (created on the basis of several natural functions; HMF are interconnected, do not arise separately).
Structure
Higher mental functions are a specifically human acquisition. However, they can be decomposed into their constituent natural processes.
A --> B
With natural memorization, a simple associative link is formed between two points. Such is the memory of animals. This is a kind of imprint, an imprint of information.
A --> X --> B
Human memory has a fundamentally different structure. As can be seen from the diagram, instead of one simple associative or reflex connection, two others arise between elements A and B: AH and BH. Ultimately, this leads to the same result, but in a different way. The need to use such a "workaround" arose in the process of phylogenesis, when the natural forms of memorization became unsuitable for solving the problems facing man. At the same time, Vygotsky pointed out that there are no such cultural methods of behavior that would be impossible to completely decompose into its constituent natural processes. Thus, it is precisely the structure of mental processes that is specifically human.
Development
As mentioned above, the formation of higher mental functions is a process fundamentally different from natural, organic development. The main difference is that the raising of the psyche to a higher level lies precisely in its functional development, (that is, the development of the technique itself), and not in organic development.
Development is influenced by 2 factors:
Biological. For the development of the human psyche, a human brain is needed, which has the greatest plasticity. Biological development is only a condition for cultural development, because the structure of this process is given from outside.
Social. The development of the human psyche is impossible without the presence of a cultural environment in which the child learns specific mental techniques.
HMF specificity
|
Criterion |
Natural PF |
Higher PF |
|
1. Structure |
Direct. Occurs without the intervention of cultural means |
Mediated in their structure (cultural means are included in the process of its flow) |
|
2. Origin |
Natural. product of natural development |
Social. Formed with the active participation of other people, members of society |
|
3. Management |
Involuntary. It is impossible to consciously intervene in this process |
Arbitrary. You can arbitrarily, purposefully control the process |
Interiorization("rotation inside") - the process of transforming external means into internal ones and the possibility of independently creating and using these means to control one's behavior. A person in (2) gets the opportunity to control his mental functions with the help of external means.
A. Luria: Eidotechnique is a figurative technique.
Exteriorization - behavior outside - the process of creating external means to control even such functions that are usually not recognized.
To control your mental functions, you need to be aware of them. If there is no representation in the psyche, then a process of exteriorization is needed, a process of creating external means. Biofeedback is a technique for controlling natural functions (an example of learning to control brain biorhythms).
Culture creates special forms of behavior, it modifies the activity of mental functions, builds new floors in the developing system of human behavior.
In the process of historical development, social man changes the ways and means of his behavior, transforms natural inclinations and functions, develops new ways of behavior - specifically cultural ones.
All HMFs are internalized relations of the social order. Their composition, genetic structure, mode of action - their whole nature is social.
Culture does not create anything, it only modifies natural data in accordance with the goals of man. HMFs come from natural natural functions.
In the process of cultural development, the child replaces some functions with others, laying detours. The basis of cultural forms of behavior is mediated activity, the use of external signs as a means of further development of behavior.
Stages of development of the HMF:
- intrapsychic
- Interpsychic
Between them is the process of internalization.
Internalization is a transition, as a result of which processes external in their form with external material objects are transformed into processes that take place in the mental plane, the plane of consciousness. At the same time, they undergo a specific transformation - they are generalized, verbalized, reduced and become capable of further development, which goes beyond the boundaries of external activity.
Joint substantive activity is necessary for the appropriation of cultural and historical experience. In the process of appropriation (external, mediated activity), a qualitatively new activity arises - internal activity.
The concept of HMF
Higher mental functions are complex mental processes that are formed in vivo, social in origin, mediated in psychological structure and arbitrary in the way they are implemented. V. p. f. - one of the basic concepts of modern psychology, introduced into domestic psychological science by L. S. Vygotsky. (Higher mental functions: logical memory, purposeful thinking, creative imagination, voluntary actions, speech, writing, counting, movements, perceptual processes (processes of perception) ). The most important characteristic of the HMF is their mediation by various "psychological tools" - sign systems that are the product of a long socio-historical development of mankind. Among the "psychological tools" speech plays a leading role; therefore, the speech mediation of HMF is the most universal way of their formation.
Structure of the WPF
For Vygotsky, a sign (word) is that “psychological tool” through which consciousness is built. The sign plays an important role in the structure of the HMF. It becomes a means of mediation between one act of human activity and another (for example, in order to remember something, we use an information coding system in order to reproduce it later). At the same time, the very nature of the structure of higher mental functions can be designated as systemic. The HMF is a system that has a hierarchical character, i.e. some parts of this system are subordinate to others. But the HMF system is not a static formation; throughout a person's life, it changes both in the parts of which it consists and in the relationship between them.
Distinctive properties of HMF (specificity)
arbitrariness(the person himself manages his mental function, i.e. the person sets tasks, goals). Arbitrary VPF are according to the method of implementation. Due to mediation, a person is able to realize his functions and carry out activities in a certain direction, anticipating a possible result, analyzing his experience, correcting behavior and activities. awareness WPF;
mediation(means are used). The mediation of the HMF is visible in the way they function. The development of the capacity for symbolic activity and mastery of the sign is the main component of mediation. The word, image, number and other possible identification signs of a phenomenon (for example, a hieroglyph as a unity of a word and an image) determine the semantic perspective of comprehending the essence at the level of unity of abstraction and concretization. sociality by origin. HMF is determined by their origin. They can develop only in the process of interaction of people with each other.
Development of the WPF
Laws of formation. Vygotsky singled out the laws of formation of the HMF:
2. 1. The law of transition from natural to cultural (mediated by tools and signs) forms of behavior. It can be called the "law of mediation".
3. 2. The law of transition from social to individual forms of behavior (the means of a social form of behavior in the process of development become the means of an individual form of behavior).
4. 3. The law of transition of functions from outside to inside. "This process of transition of operations from outside to inside is what we call the law of rotation." Later, in a different context, L.S. Vygotsky will formulate another law, which, in our opinion, can be considered a continuation of this series.
5. 4. "The general law of development is that awareness and mastery are characteristic only of the highest stage in the development of any function. They arise late." Obviously, it can be called "the law of awareness and mastery."
Example. As an example of the formation of the HMF, one can cite the interpretation of L.S. Vygotsky on the development of the pointing gesture in infants. Initially, this gesture exists in the form of a failed grasping movement of the child directed at the desired object. As such, this is not yet a pointing gesture, but it can acquire the meaning of a pointing gesture if it is appropriately interpreted by close adults. At this (second) stage, the grasping movement becomes mediated by the child's social environment and acquires the meaning "help me take it," which is quickly assimilated by the child; the latter begins to use it both for the purposes of communication with close adults, and for the practical purposes of mastering the desired object, which he cannot get on his own. By doing this, the child may still be unaware of the fact that he is using the gesture as a social cue. Still later, this "for-others" pointing gesture can be consciously used by the child as a tool by which the child exercises control over his own behavior; for example (my interpretation of the meaning of the text by L.S. Vygotsky. - E.S.), to highlight a certain fragment of the picture and focus on it. This time, the child understands that what he is doing with his index finger (or an object that replaces it) is a special act carried out with the aim not to let attention creep over the picture, but to concentrate it on a certain chosen point. At this stage, the pointing gesture exists "for-itself" or, more precisely, for the child who uses it and at the same time knows that he uses it.
The concept of interiorization
Communication in the process of labor gave rise to speech. The first words ensured the organization of joint actions. These were command words (do this, take that). Then the person began to turn the words of orders to himself (says “get up” and gets up). First there was a process interpsychological, i.e. interpersonal, collective. Then these relationships turned into relationships with oneself, i.e. V intrapsychological. The transformation of interpsychic relations into intrapsychic ones is the process of internalization, i.e. means-signs (notches, knots) have turned into internal ones (images, an element of inner speech). Internalization (according to Vygotsky) is the transition of the HMF from the external social plan to the internal individual plan of its existence. Internalization is carried out in the formation and development of external and internal relations of the individual. First, as a form of interaction between people (interpsychic stage). Then as an internal phenomenon (intrapsychic stage). Teaching a child to speak and think is a vivid example of the process of internalization.
Stages of internalization
3 stages interiorization in ontogeny:
1) an adult acts with a word on a child, prompting him to do something;
2) the child adopts a way of addressing from an adult and begins to influence the adult with a word;
3) the child begins to influence himself with the word.
Example: L.S.V conducted experiments in the form of a game with children 3-4 years old. The study of voluntary attention (when the object itself is not striking). Cups with lids were placed in front of the child, on which rectangles were glued, which differed in shades of gray: light and dark gray. Rectangles and color differences were not very noticeable. A nut was placed in one cup and the children were asked to guess where it was. The nut was always in a dark gray cup. If the color was bright red, then this would be an experiment on the study of NPF. The child either guesses or loses. But there is no conditional connection, he cannot single out a signal sign. Then the experimenter, in front of the child, puts the nut into the cup and points to a dark gray spot. After that, the child begins to win. Those. the adult directed the child's attention to the desired object, and then the child himself began to direct his attention to the decisive feature. Here the sign was used - the index finger of the experimenter. And the child formulated the rule: you need to look at the spots and choose the one that is dark. Those. internalization took place, the sign turned from an external form into an internal one.
As example of HMF formation one can give an interpretation of L.S. Vygotsky on the development of the pointing gesture in infants. Initially, this gesture exists in the form of a failed grasping movement of the child directed at the desired object. As such, this is not yet a pointing gesture, but it can acquire the meaning of a pointing gesture if it is appropriately interpreted by close adults. At this (second) stage, the grasping movement becomes mediated by the child's social environment and acquires the meaning "help me take it," which is quickly assimilated by the child; the latter begins to use it both for the purposes of communication with close adults, and for the practical purposes of mastering the desired object, which he cannot get on his own. By doing this, the child may still be unaware of the fact that he is using the gesture as a social cue. Still later, this "for-others" pointing gesture can be consciously used by the child as a tool by which the child exercises control over his own behavior; for example (my interpretation of the meaning of the text by L.S. Vygotsky. - E.S.), to highlight a certain fragment of the picture and focus on it. This time, the child understands that what he is doing with his index finger (or an object that replaces it) is a special act carried out with the aim not to let attention creep over the picture, but to concentrate it on a certain chosen point. At this stage, the pointing gesture exists "for-itself" or, more precisely, for the child who uses it and at the same time knows that he uses it.
