What factors determine the mental development of a person. Driving forces and factors of mental development of the child

The idea of ​​development came to psychology from other areas of science. The road to its scientific study was paved by the famous work of Charles Darwin "The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection...". The influence of this theory was that it made natural scientists "recognize in principle the evolution of mental activities."

The driving factors and causes of the development of living organisms discovered by Darwin prompted researchers to study the course of the mental development of children. Darwin himself initiated such research. In 1877, he published the results of observations on the development of his eldest child, Doddy.

The main idea of ​​developmental psychology was that development for the first time began to be seen as a gradual adaptation of the child to the environment. Man was finally recognized as part of nature.

The most significant achievements in this area occurred in the first third of the 20th century, and they are associated with the names of such foreign and domestic scientists as A. Adler, A. Wiene, J. Baldwin Karl and Charlotte Buhler, A. Gesell, E. Claparede, J. Piaget, 3. Freud, and others.

In subsequent years, domestic scientists contributed to the understanding of various aspects of human mental development: B. G. Ananiev, L. I. Bozhovich, P. Ya. Galperin, V. V. Davydov, A. N. Leontiev,

However, despite the significant results of these studies, a common understanding of mental development has not been achieved. Instead, there are many theories, concepts and models of development that directly contradict each other. According to A. S. Asmolov, this indicates the absence of "a single logical core that would allow us to consider psychology ... as an integral system of knowledge."

There is not a single scientific work where, along with empirical data on the course of human mental development in different age periods, the entire conceptual apparatus of developmental psychology would be systematically presented.

BASIC DEFINITIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

Development- this is a process of irreversible, directed and regular changes, leading to the emergence of quantitative, qualitative and structural transformations of the psyche and human behavior.

irreversibility- the ability to accumulate changes, "build on" new changes over the previous ones.

Orientation- the ability of the system to conduct a single, internally interconnected line of development.

regularity- the ability of the system to reproduce the same type of changes in different people.

genetic psychology- studies problems occurrence and development of mental processes, answering the question How some kind of psychic movement occurs, How processes occur, the result of which is thought.

Comparative psychology- studies the processes of the origin of man as a species of Homo sapiens, the origin of human consciousness, common and different in the mental activity of humans and animals.

Psychogenetics- studies the origin of individual psychological characteristics of a person, the role of the genotype and environment in their formation.

Developmental psychology- studies age-related changes in people's behavior and patterns in the acquisition of experience and knowledge throughout their lives. In other words, she focuses on learning mechanisms mental development and answers the question why is that happening.

Acmeology- studies objective and subjective factors, psychological mechanisms and patterns of a person's achievement of peaks (success) in his activity. .

Along with the concept of "development" in developmental psychology, there are concepts "maturation" And "height".

MATURATION AND GROWTH

Growth is a process of quantitative changes in the course of improving one or another mental function. “If it is not possible to detect qualitative changes, this is growth,” says D. B. Elkonin (Elko-nin D. V., 1989).

Maturation- a process, the course of which depends on the inherited characteristics of the individual.

The process of maturation consists of a sequence of pre-programmed changes not only in the appearance of an organism, but also in its complexity, integration, organization and function.

Development, maturation and growth are interconnected as follows: maturation and growth are quantitative changes that serve as the basis for the development of qualitative changes. S. L. Rubinshtein pointed to this: “In its final form, the organism is a product not functional maturation itself, but functional development(our italics.- V.A.): it functions by developing, and develops by functioning”

The concept of mental development factors:

Factors of mental development are the leading determinants of human development. They are considered to be heredity, environment and activity. If the action of the factor of heredity is manifested in the individual properties of a person and acts as prerequisites for development, and the action of the environmental factor (society) - in the social properties of the individual, then the action of the activity factor - in the interaction of the two previous ones.

HEREDITY

Heredity- the property of an organism to repeat in a number of generations similar types of metabolism and individual development as a whole.

About the action heredity the following facts speak: the curtailment of the infant's instinctive activity, the length of childhood, the helplessness of the newborn and infant, which becomes the reverse side of the richest possibilities for subsequent development.

Genotypic factors typify development, i.e., ensure the implementation of the species genotypic program. That is why the species homo sapiens has the ability to walk upright, verbal communication and the versatility of the hand.

However, the genotype individualizes development. Genetic studies have revealed a strikingly wide polymorphism that determines the individual characteristics of people. The number of potential variants of the human genotype is 3 x 10 47, and the number of people who lived on Earth is only 7 x 10 10. Each person is a unique genetic entity that will never be repeated.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday- surrounding human social, material and spiritual conditions of his existence.

In order to highlight the importance environments as a factor in the development of the psyche, they usually say: a person is not born, but becomes. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall the theory of convergence by V. Stern, according to which mental development is the result of the convergence of internal data with external conditions of development. Yes, a child is a biological being, but due to the influence of the social environment, he becomes a person.

The degree of determination of various mental formations by the genotype and the environment turns out to be different. At the same time, a stable trend is manifested: the “closer” the mental structure is to the level of the organism, the stronger the level of its conditionality by the genotype. The farther it is from it and closer to those levels of human organization that are commonly called a personality, a subject of activity, the weaker the influence of the genotype and the stronger the influence of the environment.

It is noticeable that the influence of the genotype is always positive, while its effect becomes less as the “removal” of the trait under study from the properties of the organism itself. The influence of the environment is very unstable, some of the bonds are positive, and some are negative. This indicates the greater role of the genotype in comparison with the environment, but does not mean the absence of the influence of the latter.

ACTIVITY

Activity- the active state of the organism as a condition of its existence and behavior. An active creature contains a source of activity, and this source is reproduced in the course of movement. Activity provides self-movement, during which the individual reproduces himself. Activity is manifested when the body's programmed movement towards a specific goal requires overcoming the resistance of the environment. The principle of activity is opposed to the principle of reactivity. According to the principle of activity, the vital activity of the organism is an active overcoming of the environment, according to the principle of reactivity, it is the balancing of the organism with the environment. Activity manifests itself in activation, various reflexes, search activity, arbitrary acts, will, acts of free self-determination.

Activity can be understood as a system-forming factor in the interaction of heredity and the environment.

In the part of developmental psychology that interests us, the process of child development is studied. What is this process? What is it due to? In psychology, many theories have been created that explain the mental development of the child and its origins in different ways. They can be combined into two large areas - biologization and sociology. In the biologization direction, the child is considered as a biological being, endowed by nature with certain abilities, character traits, and forms of behavior. Heredity determines the entire course of his development - and its pace, fast or slow, and its limit - whether the child is gifted, achieves a lot or turns out to be mediocrity. The environment in which the child is brought up becomes just a condition for such an initially predetermined development, as if manifesting what was given to the child before his birth.

Within the framework of the biologization direction, a theory of recapitulation arose, the main idea of ​​which was borrowed from embryology. The embryo (human embryo) during its intrauterine existence goes from a simple two-celled organism to a human being. In the monthly embryo, one can already recognize a representative of the vertebrate type - it has a large head, gills and tail; at 2 months it begins to take on a human appearance, fingers are outlined on its pasty limbs, the tail is shortened; by the end of 4 months, the embryo appears features of the human type.

E. Haeckel formulated a law in the 19th century: ontogenesis (individual development) is an abbreviated repetition of phylogenesis (historical development).

Transferred to developmental psychology, the biogenetic law made it possible to present the development of the child's psyche as a repetition of the main stages of biological evolution and the stages of the cultural and historical development of mankind. Here is how one of the supporters of the theory of recapitulation V. Stern describes the development of the child: in the first months of his life, the child is at the stage of a mammal; in the second half of the year it reaches the stage of the highest mammal - the monkey; then - the initial stages of the human condition; development of primitive peoples; starting from entering school, he assimilates human culture - first in the spirit of the ancient and Old Testament world, later (in adolescence) the fanaticism of Christian culture, and only towards maturity rises to the level of culture of the New Age.

Conditions, occupations of a small child become echoes of bygone centuries. A child digs a hole in a heap of sand - he is attracted to the cave just like his distant ancestor. He wakes up in fear at night - it means that he felt himself in a primeval forest full of dangers. He paints, and his drawings are similar to rock carvings preserved in caves and grottoes.

The opposite approach to the development of the child's psyche is observed in the sociological direction. Its origins are in the ideas of the 17th century philosopher John Locke. He believed that a child is born with a pure soul, like a white wax board (tabula rasa). On this board, the educator can write anything, and the child, not burdened by heredity, will grow up the way close adults want to see him.

Ideas about the unlimited possibilities of shaping the personality of a child have become quite widespread. Sociologising ideas were in tune with the ideology that prevailed in our country until the mid-1980s, so they can be found in many pedagogical and psychological works of those years.

It is obvious that both approaches - both biologization and sociology - suffer from one-sidedness, downplaying or denying the importance of one of the two factors of development. In addition, the development process is deprived of its inherent qualitative changes and contradictions: in one case, hereditary mechanisms are launched and what was contained from the very beginning in the makings is deployed, in the other, more and more experience is acquired under the influence of the environment. The development of a child who does not show his own activity, rather resembles a process of growth, quantitative increase or accumulation. What is meant by biological and social factors of development at the present time?

The biological factor includes, first of all, heredity. There is no consensus on what exactly in the psyche of the child is genetically determined. Domestic psychologists believe that at least two points are inherited - temperament and the makings of abilities. The central nervous system functions differently in different children. A strong and mobile nervous system, with a predominance of excitation processes, gives a choleric, "explosive" temperament, with a balance in the processes of excitation and inhibition - sanguine. A child with a strong, inactive nervous system, a predominance of inhibition is a phlegmatic person, characterized by slowness and a less vivid expression of emotions. A melancholic child with a weak nervous system is especially vulnerable and sensitive. Although sanguine people are the easiest to communicate and convenient for others, you can’t “break” the temperament of other children given by nature. Trying to extinguish the affective outbursts of the choleric or encouraging the phlegmatic to complete educational tasks a little faster, adults must at the same time constantly take into account their characteristics, not demand excessive and appreciate the best that each temperament brings.

Hereditary inclinations give originality to the process of development of abilities, facilitating or hindering it. The development of abilities depends not only on the inclinations. If a child with absolute pitch does not regularly play a musical instrument, he will not achieve success in the performing arts and his special abilities will not develop. If a student who grasps everything on the fly during a lesson does not study conscientiously at home, he will not become an excellent student, despite his data, and his general ability to assimilate knowledge will not develop. Skills develop through activity. In general, the child's own activity is so important that some psychologists consider activity the third factor in mental development.

The biological factor, in addition to heredity, includes the features of the course of the prenatal period of a child's life. The illness of the mother, the medications she was taking at this time, can cause a delay in the mental development of the child or other abnormalities. The birth process itself also affects the subsequent development, so it is necessary that the child avoids birth trauma and takes the first breath in time.

The second factor is the environment. The natural environment affects the mental development of the child indirectly - through the traditional types of labor activity in the given natural zone and culture, which determine the system of raising children. In the Far North, wandering with reindeer herders, a child will develop somewhat differently than a resident of an industrial city in the center of Europe. The social environment directly affects the development, in connection with which the environmental factor is often called social. The next, third section will be devoted to this problem.

Important is not only the question of what is meant by biological and social factors, but also the question of their relationship. Wilm Stern put forward the principle of convergence of two factors. In his opinion, both factors are equally significant for the mental development of the child and determine its two lines. These lines of development (one is the maturation of hereditarily given abilities and character traits, the other is development under the influence of the child's immediate environment) intersect, i.e. convergence takes place. Modern ideas about the relationship between the biological and the social, adopted in domestic psychology, are mainly based on the provisions of L.S. Vygotsky.

L.S. Vygotsky emphasized the unity of hereditary and social elements in the process of development. Heredity is present in the development of all the child's mental functions, but it seems to have a different proportion. Elementary functions (beginning with sensations and perception) are more hereditarily conditioned than higher ones (arbitrary memory, logical thinking, speech). Higher functions are the product of a person's cultural and historical development, and hereditary inclinations here play the role of prerequisites, and not moments that determine mental development. The more complex the function, the longer the path of its ontogenetic development, the less the influence of heredity affects it. On the other hand, the environment also always “participates” in development. No sign of child development, including lower mental functions, is ever purely hereditary.

Each characteristic, developing, acquires something new, which was not in the hereditary inclinations, and thanks to this, the specific weight of hereditary influences either increases, or weakens, and is relegated to the background. The role of each factor in the development of the same trait is different at different age stages. For example, in the development of speech, the importance of hereditary preconditions decreases early and sharply, and the child's speech develops under the direct influence of the social environment, while in the development of psychosexuality the role of hereditary factors increases in adolescence. Thus, the unity of hereditary and social influences is not a permanent unity given once and for all, but a differentiated unity that changes in the process of development itself. The mental development of a child is not determined by the mechanical addition of two factors. At each stage of development, in relation to each sign of development, it is necessary to establish a specific combination of biological and social moments, to study its dynamics.

Factors of mental development are the leading determinants of human development. They are considered to be heredity, environment and activity of development. If the action of the factor of heredity is manifested in the individual properties of a person and acts as prerequisites for development, and the action of the environmental factor (society) - in the social properties of the individual, then the action of the activity factor - in the interaction of the two previous ones.

The following facts testify to the action of heredity: the curtailment of the infant's instinctive activity, the length of childhood, the helplessness of the newborn and infant, which becomes the reverse side of the richest possibilities for subsequent development. Yerkes, comparing the development of chimpanzees and humans, came to the conclusion that full maturity in the female occurs at 7-8 years, and in the male at 9-10 years. At the same time, the age limit for chimpanzees and humans is approximately equal. M. S. Egorov and T. N. Maryutina, comparing the significance of hereditary and social factors of development, emphasize: “The genotype contains the past in a collapsed form, firstly, information about the historical past of a person, and secondly, the program associated with this his individual development. Genotypic factors typify development, i.e. ensure the implementation of the species genotypic program. That is why the species homo sapiens has the ability to walk upright and verbal communication, the versatility of the hand and upright posture.

At the same time, the genotype individualizes development. Geneticists have established a huge polymorphism that determines the individual characteristics of people. The number of potential variants of the human genotype is 3x1047, and the number of people who lived on earth is only 7x1010. It turns out that each person is a unique genetic experiment that will never be repeated.

In order to emphasize the importance of the environment as a factor in mental development, they usually say: a person is not born, but becomes. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall the theory of convergence by V. Stern, according to which mental development is the result of the convergence of internal data with external conditions of development. Explaining his position, V. Stern wrote: “Spiritual development is not a simple performance of innate properties, but not a simple performance of acquired properties, but the result of the convergence of internal data with external conditions of development. It is impossible to ask about any function, about any property: “Does it occur from the outside or from the inside?”, but you need to ask: What happens in it from the outside? What's inside? Yes, a child is a biological being, but due to the influence of the social environment, he becomes a person.

At the same time, the contribution of each of these factors to the process of mental development has not yet been determined. So far, it is clear that the degree of determination of various mental formations by the genotype and the environment turns out to be different. At the same time, a stable trend is manifested: the “closer” the mental structure is to the level of the organism, the stronger the level of its conditionality by the genotype. The farther it is from it and closer to those levels of human organization that are commonly called a personality, a subject of activity, the weaker the influence of the genotype and the stronger the influence of the environment. This position is partly confirmed by the data of L. Erman and P. Parsons, which presents the results of various studies on the assessment of hereditary and environmental conditionality of signs.

It can be seen from the given data that the influence of the genotype is always positive, while the measure of this influence becomes smaller as the trait under study “removes” from the properties of the organism itself. The influence of the environment is very unstable, some of the bonds are positive, and some are negative. This indicates the greater role of the genotype in comparison with the environment, however, does not mean the absence of the influence of the latter.

Of particular interest is the action of the third factor of mental development. If we agree with N. A. Bernshtein’s idea that “the factors of pure chance are firmly fixed in evolution by the factors of active programming in the struggle for the survival of this program”, then activity can be understood as a condition and result of the interaction of the development program itself and the environment in which this development is being carried out". In this connection, the facts of successful implementation of a "defective" program in a corrected environment, which contributes to an increase in the activity of the organism "in the struggle for the survival of the program" and the unsuccessful implementation of a "normal" program in an inadequate environment, which leads to a reduction in activity, become clear. Thus, activity can be understood as a system-forming factor in the interaction of heredity and the environment.To understand the nature of activity, it is useful to recall one of the principles of development - the principle of stable dynamic imbalance.“The process of life, writes N. A. Bernshtein, is not balancing with the environment. .., but overcoming this environment, which is aimed not at maintaining the status or homeostasis, but at moving towards the generic program of development and self-sufficiency”2. Dynamic imbalance both within the system itself (man) and between the system and the environment, aimed at “overcoming this environment”, is the source of activity.

Consequently, due to the activity, acting in different types and forms, the process of interaction between the environment and the person (child) is a two-way process that is the cause of development. The activity level of a child is usually judged by:
- on the reactive actions of the child on external stimuli (arbitrariness, inhibition, expression of desires and needs);
- according to how simple one-act movements (pulls hands, screams, turns head) turn into complex activities: playing, drawing, teaching;
- in process of mastering mental activity.

The activity of the child is expressed in imitative (words, games, demeanor), performing (the child performs actions that an adult forces him to) and independent actions.

Conditions and driving forces of mental development

Development is a constant process of quantitative and qualitative changes in the natural and social aspects of the personality, the transformation of the structure and functions of the body, the emergence of new qualities in the mind, the improvement of various activities.

The mental development of the individual is due to various factors, prerequisites and driving forces. The effectiveness of a correct understanding of all individual and social actions and actions of a person depends on how much we know them and take into account the specifics of their manifestation.

Factors of mental development of personality.

It is that objectively existing that necessarily determines its vital activity in the broadest sense of the word. Factors of mental development of a person can be external and internal.

External the factors are the natural-geographical environment, the macroenvironment, the microenvironment and socially useful activities.

Natural geographic environment has a great influence on the development of the individual. It is known, for example, that people who have grown up in the Far North are more self-possessed, more organized, know how to value time and correctly treat what they are taught.

macro environment, that is, society in the aggregate of all its manifestations also has a great influence on the formation of personality. So, a person who grew up in a totalitarian society, as a rule, is not developed and brought up in the same way as a representative of a democratic state.

Microenvironment, i.e. group, microgroup, family, etc., is also an important determinant of personality formation. It is in the microenvironment that the most important moral and moral-psychological characteristics of a person are laid, which, on the one hand, must be taken into account, and on the other hand, improved or transformed in the process of training and education.

Public benefit activity- this is labor in the conditions of which a person develops and his most important qualities are formed.

Internal factors of personality development are the biogenetic features of the personality and its psyche (anatomical and physiological and inclinations).

Anatomical and physiological features personality is: the specificity of the functioning of its nervous system, expressed in a wide variety of characteristics: the originality of the work of the entire nervous system, the ratio of the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cerebral cortex, the manifestation of temperament, emotions and feelings, behavior and actions, etc .; Makings- these are congenital anatomical and physiological features of the body that facilitate the development of abilities. For example, such a deposit as a mobile nervous system can contribute to the development of many abilities in any type of activity related to the need to adequately respond to changing situations, quickly adapt to new actions, change the pace and rhythm of work, and establish relationships with other people.

patterns

In psychology, there are general trends patterns of mental development, but they secondary in relation to the influence of the environment (in the broad sense of the word), since their originality depends on the conditions of life, activity and upbringing.

unevenness- under any even the most favorable conditions for training and education, various mental functions, mental manifestations and personality traits are not at the same level of development. Apparently, there are optimal terms for the formation and growth of certain types of mental activity. Such age periods, when the conditions for the development of certain mental properties and qualities will be optimal, are called sensitive (L. S. Vygotsky, A. N. Leontiev). The reason for this sensitivity is also patterns of organic maturation of the brain, and the fact that some mental processes and properties can only be formed on the basis of other formed mental processes and properties (for example, mathematical thinking can be formed on the basis of the ability to abstract thinking that has formed to a certain extent), and life experience.

Integration of the psyche. As the human psyche develops, it acquires more and more value, unity, stability, constancy. A small child, according to N. D. Levitov, mentally is a poorly systematized combination of mental states. Mental development is the gradual development of mental states into personality traits.

Plasticity and the possibility of compensation. I. P. Pavlov pointed out the greatest plasticity of the nervous system, noting that everything can be changed for the better, if only the appropriate actions were carried out. In this plasticity the possibilities of a purposeful change in the psyche of a child, a schoolchild in the conditions of education and upbringing are based. Plasticity opens up possibilities and compensation: with weakness or defective development of one mental function, others develop intensively. For example, weak memory can be compensated for by the organization and clarity of activity, visual defects are partly compensated by the heightened development of the auditory analyzer, etc.

So, the development of a child is a complex dialectical process.

driving forces

The driving forces of the mental development of the individual are the following contradictions:

between the needs of the individual and external circumstances, between her increased physical abilities,

spiritual inquiries and old forms of activity;

between new requirements of activity and unformed skills and abilities.

Levels of mental development

reflect the degree and indicators of the mental development of a person (child) in the process and at various stages of the formation of his personality.

Level actual development Personality is an indicator that characterizes a person's ability to perform various independent tasks. It testifies to the level of training, skills and abilities of the individual, what qualities they have and how they are developed.

Level nearest development personality indicates that a person cannot accomplish on his own, but with a little help from others.

Natural features have a sufficient influence on the mental development of a person.

Firstly, they determine different ways and means of development of mental properties, they do not determine them. No child is naturally disposed towards cowardice or boldness. On the basis of any type of nervous system, with the right education, you can develop the necessary qualities. Only in one case it will be more difficult to do than in another.

Secondly, natural features can influence the level of human achievement in any area. For example, there are inborn individual differences in inclinations, in connection with which some people may have an advantage over others in terms of mastering any kind of activity. For example, a child who has favorable natural inclinations for the development of musical abilities will, all other things being equal, develop musically faster and achieve greater success than a child who does not possess such inclinations.

The driving forces of human mental development are complex and diverse. The direct driving forces behind the development of the child are the contradictions between the new and the old, which arise and are overcome in the process of education, upbringing and activity. Such contradictions include, for example, contradictions between new needs generated by activity and the possibilities of their satisfaction; contradictions between the increased physical and spiritual needs and the old established forms of relationships and activities; between the growing demands from society, the collective, adults and the current level of mental development.

These contradictions are typical for all ages, but acquire specificity depending on the age at which they appear. For example, in a junior schoolchild there is a contradiction between readiness for independent volitional activity and the dependence of behavior on the current situation or direct experiences. For a teenager, the most acute contradictions are between his self-esteem and the level of claims, experiencing the attitude towards him from others, on the one hand, experiencing his real position in the team, the need to participate in the team, on the other; the contradiction between the need to participate in the life of adults as a full member and the discrepancy to this of one's own capabilities.

The resolution of these contradictions occurs through the formation of higher levels of mental activity. As a result, the child moves to a higher level of mental development. The need is satisfied - the contradiction is removed. But a satisfied need creates a new one. One contradiction is replaced by another - development continues.

Mental development is not only a process of quantitative changes in properties and qualities. Mental development does not boil down to the fact that with age the amount of attention, the arbitrariness of mental processes, semantic memorization, etc. increase, children's fantasy, impulsiveness in behavior, sharpness and freshness of perception decrease. The development of the psyche is associated with the appearance in certain age periods of qualitatively new features, the so-called neoplasms, such as: a sense of adulthood in adolescents, the need for life and labor self-determination in early adolescence.

It has its own quality features at different stages. In psychology, the following periods of development of a child and a schoolchild are distinguished: newborn (up to 10 days), infancy (up to 1 year), early childhood (1–3 years), pre-preschool (3–5 years), preschool (5–7 years), junior school age (7-11 years old), adolescence (11-15 years old), early adolescence, or senior school age (15-18 years old).

Each period is distinguished by its essential features, needs and activities, characteristic contradictions, qualitative features of the psyche and characteristic mental neoplasms. Each period is prepared by the previous one, arises on its basis, and in turn serves as the basis for a new period. The age characteristic is determined by: a change in the position of the child in the family and school, a change in the forms of education and upbringing, new forms of activity and some features of the maturation of his body, that is, age is not only a biological, but also a social category. In this regard, in psychology there is a concept of the leading type of activity. Each age is characterized by different types of activities, there is a need for each of the types: in the game, teaching, work, communication. But in different periods of development, this need is different, and the corresponding types of activity are filled with specific content. The leading type of activity is one that, at a given age stage, causes the main, most important changes in the psyche of a child, schoolchild, in his mental processes and personality traits, and not the one that the child, schoolchild is more often engaged in (although these characteristics usually coincide).

For preschool age, the leading activity is the game, although preschoolers in the forms accessible to them are engaged in educational and labor activities. At school age, teaching becomes the leading activity. With age, the role of labor activity increases. Yes, education itself is undergoing significant changes. During the 10-11-year period of schooling, its content and nature change, the requirements for the student increase every year, and the independent, creative side of educational activity plays an increasingly important role.

Within each age, large individual differences are observed as a result, firstly, of individual variants of living conditions, activities and upbringing, and, secondly, natural individual differences (in particular, in the typological properties of the nervous system). Specific living conditions are very diverse, as well as individual personality traits. Therefore, we can say that age characteristics, although they exist as fairly typical for a given age, are revised from time to time in connection with the so-called acceleration (acceleration) of development. This is due to changes in living conditions, an increase in the amount of information received by the child, etc.

All this makes the characterization of age features conditional and unstable, although age features exist as the most typical, characteristic features of age, indicating the general direction of development. But age is not an absolute, unchanging category. The concept of age, age limits and features is not absolute, but relative.

Factors, prerequisites and driving forces of the mental development of the individual

2. 3. Prerequisites for the mental development of the individual. This is something that has a certain influence on the individual, that is, external and internal circumstances on which the characteristics, the levels of her mental, actual and immediate development depend.

Quick Reference

Patterns of the development process:

1) progressive character, (steps are passed as if repeating well-known features, properties of the lower ones, but on a higher base);

2) irreversibility (not copying, but moving to a new level, when the results of the previous development are realized);

3) the unity of opposites is the internal driving force of the development process.

The main directions of human development:

Anatomical and physiological (increase and development of bone and muscle systems);

Mental (formation of consciousness, self-awareness, leading personality traits, cognitive, sensory and volitional processes, etc.);

Social (gaining social experience, including spiritual, mastering social functions, etc.).

Trends in the development of personality in ontogenesis (according to L. I. Bozhovich):

1) a single holistic process of continuous growth;

2) the uniqueness of individual age periods, make their specific contribution to the overall process of personality formation.

Formation - the process of becoming a person's personality as a result of the influence of heredity, environment, purposeful education and the individual's own activity.

Socialization is the assimilation by a person of values, norms, attitudes, patterns of behavior and the psychology of behavior that are currently inherent in a particular society, but in society, a group, and its reproduction of social ties and social experience.

Basic principles of socialization

The principle of consistency - Provides for the impact on the personality of both micro and macro environments that closely interact, mutually influence and mutually determine each other.

The principle of activity - It determines the active interaction of the individual with other people, into which the individual enters in the course of activity and communication.

The principle of bilateral interaction between the individual and the social environment - This means the interdependence of the process of entry of the individual into the system of social relations and at the same time the reproduction of these relations in the system of family, friendly, educational and other ties.

The principle of personal activity and selectivity - Considers a person not as a passive link in the process of socialization, but as a person who is able to actively act and independently choose the social conditions of his own development and form his own "I", based on his own vision of ideals and beliefs.

Distinct (from upbringing) features of the socialization process:

1) the relative spontaneity of this process, which is characterized by an unforeseen influence of the environment;

2) mechanical assimilation of social norms and values, which occurs as a result of the activity and communication of the individual, its interaction with the micro and macro environment;

3) the growth of the independence of the individual in the choice of social values ​​and guidelines, the environment of communication, which is preferred. Upbringing is a process of purposeful formation of a personality in the conditions of a specially organized educational system.

Driving forces, factors and conditions of mental development

Developmental psychology notes those comparatively slow but fundamental quantitative and qualitative changes that occur in the psyche and behavior of children as they move from one age group to another. Typically, these changes span significant periods of life, from a few months for infants to a number of years for older children. These changes depend on the so-called "permanent" factors: biological maturation and the psychophysiological state of the child's body, his place in the system of human social relations, the level of intellectual and personal development achieved.

Age-related changes in psychology and behavior of this type are called evolutionary, since they are associated with relatively slow quantitative and qualitative transformations. They should be distinguished from revolutionary ones, which, being deeper, occur quickly and in a relatively short period of time. Such changes are usually timed to crises of age development that occur at the turn of the ages between relatively calm periods of evolutionary changes in the psyche and behavior. The presence of crises of age development and the revolutionary transformations of the child's psyche and behavior associated with them was one of the reasons for dividing childhood into periods of age development.

Important aspects in the study of the development of the psyche were the correlation of the qualitative and quantitative parameters of this process, the analysis of the possibilities of the revolutionary and evolutionary ways of the formation of the psyche. This was partly related to the question of the pace of development and the possibility of its change.

Initially, based on Darwin's theory, psychologists, as mentioned above, believed that the development of the psyche occurs gradually, evolutionarily. At the same time, there is continuity in the transition from stage to stage, and the pace of development is strictly fixed, although it can partially accelerate or slow down depending on conditions. Stern's work, in particular his idea that the rate of development of the psyche is individual and characterizes the characteristics of a given person, somewhat shook this view, fixed by Hall and Claparede. However, the postulates of natural science, which proved the connection between the mental and the nervous system, did not allow one to question the progressive nature of the development of the psyche, associated with the gradual maturation of the nervous system and its improvement. So, P.P. Blonsky, who connected the development of the psyche with growth and maturation, proved the impossibility of its acceleration, since the rate of mental development, in his opinion, is proportional to the rate of somatic development, which cannot be accelerated.

However, the works of geneticists, reflexologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts have shown that the human nervous system is a product of its social development. This was also proved by the experiments of behaviorists, who demonstrated the flexibility and plasticity of the psyche in the formation and reformation of behavioral acts, as well as the work of I.P. Pavlova, V.M. Bekhterev and other scientists who established the presence of fairly complex conditioned reflexes in young children and animals. Thus, it was proved that with a purposeful and clear organization of the environment, it is possible to achieve rapid changes in the child's psyche and significantly accelerate his mental development (for example, when teaching certain knowledge and skills). This led some scientists, in particular Russian leaders of the sociogenetic direction, to the idea that not only evolutionary, but also revolutionary, spasmodic periods in the development of the psyche are possible, during which there is a sharp transition of accumulated quantitative changes into qualitative ones. For example, studies of adolescence led A.B. Zalkind to the idea of ​​its crisis nature, which ensures a sharp transition to a new stage. He emphasized that such a qualitative leap is determined by three processes - stabilization, which consolidate the previous acquisitions of children, crisis proper, which are associated with drastic changes in the child's psyche, and new elements that appear during this period, already characteristic of adults.

However, in general, the development of the psyche was still characterized by most psychologists as predominantly evolutionary, and the possibility of completely changing the direction and individual characteristics of the process was gradually rejected. The idea of ​​a combination of lytic and critical periods in the formation of the psyche was later embodied in Vygotsky's periodization.

Another type of change that can be seen as a sign of development is related to the influence of a particular social situation. They can be called situational. Such changes include what happens in the psyche and behavior of the child under the influence of organized or unorganized education and upbringing.

Age-related evolutionary and revolutionary changes in the psyche and behavior are usually stable, irreversible and do not require systematic reinforcement, while situational changes in the psychology and behavior of the individual are unstable, reversible and require their consolidation in subsequent exercises. Evolutionary and revolutionary changes transform the psychology of a person as a person, while situational changes leave it without visible changes, affecting only private forms of behavior, knowledge, skills and abilities.

Another component of the subject of developmental psychology is a specific combination of psychology and individual behavior, denoted by the concept of "age" (see: psychological age). It is assumed that at each age a person has a unique combination of psychological and behavioral characteristics characteristic only for him, which, beyond this age, is never repeated.

The concept of "age" in psychology is associated not with the number of years a person has lived, but with the characteristics of his psychology and behavior. The child may appear precocious in his judgments and actions; a teenager or a young man in many ways can behave like children. Cognitive processes of a person, his perception, memory, thinking, speech and others have their own age features. Even more than in cognitive processes, the age of a person is manifested in the characteristics of his personality, in interests, judgments, views, motives of behavior. A psychologically correctly defined concept of age serves as the basis for establishing age norms in the intellectual and personal development of children, and is widely used in various tests as a starting point for establishing the level of mental development of a child.

The third component of the subject of age psychology and at the same time the psychology of age development are the driving forces, conditions and laws of the mental and behavioral development of a person. The driving forces of mental development are understood as those factors that determine the progressive development of the child, are its causes, contain energy, incentive sources of development, direct it in the right direction. Conditions determine those internal and external constantly operating factors that, while not acting as the driving forces of development, nevertheless influence it, directing the course of development, shaping its dynamics and determining the final results. As for the laws of mental development, they determine those general and particular laws with the help of which it is possible to describe the mental development of a person and, relying on which, this development can be controlled.

Factors that determine the development of the psyche. In connection with the study of the patterns that determine the dynamics of the development of the psyche, the question of the role of heredity and the environment in this process, the relationship of biological growth and maturation with the formation of cognition and personality traits has acquired particular relevance. If growth is associated mainly with quantitative changes, with an increase, for example, in body weight or brain cells, then development also implies qualitative transformations, changes in attitude, understanding of oneself and others. It should be noted that in psychology the separation of growth and development is especially difficult, since the formation of the mental sphere is closely connected with the growth of the material substratum of the psyche.

Also important for psychology is the question of the boundaries and features of the dynamics of mental development, of whether it is preformed or unpreformed. Preformed development has an upper limit, which was originally built into the developing system. Any flower, no matter how it changes, becoming more magnificent or withering, remains, for example, a rose or violet, without turning into a lily of the valley or an apple tree. Its development is preformed and limited by the structure of the seed from which it grows. But is the development of the psyche limited? To a certain extent, psychologists were inclined to give a positive answer to this question, since there are, for example, limitations associated with a person's life span, his innate abilities, the limits of his sensations, and so on. At the same time, many data show that the development of knowledge, the improvement of the will, the personality of a person have no limit. Thus, in this issue, scientists of the first half of the 20th century. were not united, and the answer largely depended on the point of view of what is the driving force of mental development and what mechanisms provide it.

If initially (by Preyer and Hall) it was about the predominant dominance of the biological factor, and development itself was understood as the maturation of innate qualities, then already in the works of Claparede a different approach to understanding the genesis of the psyche appeared. Speaking about the self-development of the psyche, he emphasized that this is the self-deployment of innate qualities, which depends on the environment that directs the course of this process. Claparede also spoke for the first time about the specific mechanisms of the development process - play and imitation. Hall also wrote in part about the game as a mechanism for getting rid of innate stages, but imitation of others, identification with them, which, as the work of modern scientists have shown, are one of the leading mechanisms of mental development, were first introduced into psychology by Claparede.

The driving forces of the mental development of the child are the stimulating sources of development, which consist in contradictions, the struggle between obsolete forms of the psyche and new ones; between new needs and outdated ways of satisfying them, which no longer suit him. These internal contradictions are the driving forces of mental development. At each age stage they are peculiar, but there is a main general contradiction - between the growing needs and insufficient opportunities for their implementation. These contradictions are resolved in the process of the child's activity, in the process of assimilation of new knowledge, the formation of skills and abilities, the development of new ways of activity. As a result, new needs arise, at a higher level. Thus, some contradictions are replaced by others and constantly help to expand the boundaries of the child's capabilities, lead to the "discovery" of more and more new areas of life, the establishment of more and more diverse and wide connections with the world, the transformation of forms of effective and cognitive reflection of reality.

Mental development occurs under the influence of a large number of factors that direct its course and shape the dynamics and the final result. Factors of mental development can be divided into biological and social.to biological factors. include heredity, features of intrauterine development, the natal period (birth) and the subsequent biological maturation of all organs and systems of the body. Heredity - the property of organisms to provide organic and functional continuity in a number of generations, due to fertilization, germ cells and cell division. In humans, functional continuity between generations is determined not only by heredity, but also by the transfer of socially developed experience from one generation to another. This is the so-called "signal inheritance". The carriers of genetic information that determines the hereditary properties of an organism are chromosomes. Chromosomes- special structures of the cell nucleus containing a DNA molecule associated with histone proteins and non-histones. Gene is a specific section of the DNA molecule, in the structure of which the structure of a certain polypeptide (protein) is encoded. The totality of all hereditary factors of an organism is called genotype. The result of the interaction of hereditary factors and the environment in which the individual develops is phenotype - a set of external and internal structures and functions of a person.

Under the norm of the reaction of the genotype is understood the severity of the phenotypic manifestations of a particular genotype, depending on changes in environmental conditions. It is possible to single out the range of reactions of a given genotype up to the maximum phenotypic values, depending on the environment in which the individual develops. Different genotypes in the same environment can have different phenotypes. Usually, when describing the range of genotype responses to environmental change, situations are described when there is a typical environment, an enriched environment, or a depleted environment in terms of a variety of stimuli that affect the formation of the phenotype. The concept of response range also implies the conservation of ranks of phenotypic values ​​of genotypes in different environments. Phenotypic differences between different genotypes become more pronounced if the environment is favorable for the manifestation of the corresponding trait.

Practical example

If a child has a genotype that determines mathematical ability, then he will show a high level of ability in both an unfavorable and favorable environment. But in a supportive environment, the level of mathematical ability will be higher. In the case of a different genotype, which causes a low level of mathematical ability, a change in the environment will not lead to significant changes in indicators of mathematical achievement.

Social factors mental development are a component of environmental factors of ontogenesis (the influence of the environment on the development of the psyche). The environment is understood as a set of conditions surrounding a person and interacting with him as an organism and personality. Environmental influence is an essential determinant of a child's mental development. The environment is usually divided into natural and social(Fig. 1.1).

Natural environment - a complex of climatic and geographical conditions of existence - affects the development of the child indirectly. The mediating links are traditional types of labor activity and culture in a given natural zone, which largely determines the features of the system of raising and educating children.

Social environment unites various forms of social influence. It has a direct impact on the mental development of the child. In the social environment, macro-level (macro-environment) and micro-level (micro-environment) are distinguished. The macroenvironment is the society in which the child grows up, its cultural traditions, the level of development of science and art, the prevailing ideology, religious movements, the media, etc.

The specificity of mental development in the "man - society" system lies in the fact that it occurs by including the child in various forms and types of communication, cognition and activity and is mediated by social experience and the level of culture created by mankind.

Rice. 1.1.Environmental factors of the child's mental development

The influence of the macrosociety on the child's psyche is primarily due to the fact that the program of mental development is created by the society itself and is implemented through the systems of education and upbringing in the relevant social institutions.

The microenvironment is the immediate social environment of the child. (parents, relatives, neighbors, teachers, friends, etc.). The influence of the microenvironment on the mental development of a child is especially significant, primarily in the early stages of ontogenesis. It is parental upbringing that plays a decisive role in shaping the holistic personality of the child. It determines many things: the features of the child's communication with others, self-esteem, performance results, the child's creative potential, etc. It is the family that lays the foundations of a holistic personality during the first six to seven years of a child's life. With age, the social environment of the child gradually expands. Outside the social environment, the child cannot fully develop.

An essential factor in the development of the child's psyche is his own activity, inclusion in various activities: communication, play, learning, work. Communication and various communicative structures contribute to the formation of various new formations in the child's psyche and, by their nature, are subject-object relations that stimulate the development of active forms of the psyche and behavior. From the earliest periods of ontogenesis and throughout life, interpersonal relationships are of paramount importance for mental development. First of all, in the process of training and education through direct and indirect communication with adults, the experience of previous generations is transferred, social forms of the psyche are formed (speech, arbitrary types of memory, attention, thinking, perception, personality traits, etc.), conditions are created for accelerated development in zone of proximal development.

The most important determinants of the development of the psyche are also play and labor activity of a person. Game is an activity in conditional situations in which historically established typical ways of action and interaction of people are reproduced. The inclusion of a child in play activities contributes to his cognitive, personal and moral development, mastering the socio-historical experience accumulated by mankind. Of particular importance is the role-playing game, during which the child assumes the role of adults and performs certain actions with objects in accordance with the assigned meanings. The mechanism of assimilation of social roles through plot-role-playing games contributes to the intensive socialization of the individual, the development of his self-awareness, emotional-volitional and motivational-need areas.

Labor activity– the process of actively changing the natural world, the material and spiritual life of society in order to meet human needs and create various benefits. The development of the human personality is inseparable from work practice. The transforming influence of labor activity on mental development is universal, diverse and applies to all spheres of the human psyche. Changes in the indicators of various mental functions act as a certain result of labor activity.

The main factors of human mental development have some features due to the requirements of society (Fig. 1.2).

Rice. 1.2. The main characteristics of the factors of mental development of the child

The first feature is associated with the educational program of a certain society, which is focused on the formation of a comprehensively developed personality as a subject of socially useful labor activity.

Another feature is the multiple effect of developmental factors. To the greatest extent, it is characteristic of the main types of activity (game, educational, labor), which significantly accelerates mental development.

The third feature is the probabilistic nature of the action of various factors on mental development due to the fact that their influence is multiple and multidirectional.

The next feature is manifested in the fact that as the regulatory mechanisms of the psyche are formed as a result of upbringing and self-education, subjective determinants (purposefulness, the desire to achieve life goals, etc.) begin to act as development factors.

And finally, another feature of the factors of mental development is manifested in their dynamism. In order to have a developing effect, the factors themselves must change, outstripping the achieved level of mental development. This, in particular, is expressed in the change of leading activity.

Regarding the connection between all factors of a child's mental development, it should be said that in the history of foreign psychological science, almost all possible connections between the concepts of "mental", "social" and "biological" were considered (Fig. 1.3).

Rice. 1.3.Theories of the problem of correlation of biological and social factors of child development in foreign psychology

Mental development by foreign researchers was interpreted as:

A completely spontaneous process that does not depend on either biological or social factors, but is determined by its own internal laws (concepts of spontaneous mental development);

A process determined only by biological factors (biologization concepts), or only by social conditions (sociologisation concepts);

The result of a parallel action or interaction of biological and social determinants on the human psyche, etc.

At the same time, it is obvious that the child is born as a biological being. His body is a human body and his brain is a human brain. In this case, the child is born biologically, and even more so psychologically and socially immature. The development of the child's body from the very beginning is carried out in social conditions, which inevitably leaves an imprint on him.

In domestic psychology, L. S. Vygotsky, D. B. Elkonin, B. G. Ananiev, A. G. Asmolov, and others (Fig. 1.4) dealt with the issue of the relationship between the influence of innate and social factors on the human psyche.

Rice. 1.4.Explanations of the determination of human mental development in domestic psychology

Modern ideas about the relationship between the biological and the social in the child, adopted in Russian psychology, are mainly based on the provisions of L. S. Vygotsky, who emphasized the unity of hereditary and social moments in the formation of his development. Heredity is present in the formation of all mental functions of the child, but differs in different proportions. Elementary mental functions (sensation and perception) are more hereditarily conditioned than higher ones (voluntary memory, logical thinking, speech). Higher mental functions are a product of the cultural and historical development of a person, and hereditary inclinations here play the role of prerequisites, and not moments that determine mental development. The more complex the function, the longer the path of its ontogenetic development, the less influence of biological factors affects it. At the same time, mental development is always influenced by the environment. Never any sign of child development, including basic mental functions, is purely hereditary. Each characteristic, developing, acquires something new, which was not in hereditary inclinations, and thanks to this, the proportion of biological determinants is either strengthened or weakened and relegated to the background. The role of each factor in the development of the same trait is different at different age stages.

Thus, the mental development of the child in all its diversity and complexity is the result of the combined action of heredity and various environmental factors, among which social factors and those types of activities in which he acts as the subject of communication, cognition and labor are of particular importance. The inclusion of the child in various activities is a necessary condition for the full development of the personality. The unity of biological and social factors of development is differentiated and changes in the process of ontogenesis. Each age stage of development is characterized by a special combination of biological and social factors and their dynamics. The ratio of social and biological in the structure of the psyche is multidimensional, multilevel, dynamic and is determined by the specific conditions of the child's mental development.

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