Diagnosis of cognitive processes in adulthood. Cognitive sphere during aging

The transition of a person in old age is accompanied by changes in its cognitive sphere, depends on many factors and manifests itself in different ways, all objective physiological factors affect the cognitive sphere, before the destruction of brain cells. For example, before the age of 80-90, a person can lose almost 40% of cortical (Latin cortex - bark) cells. In the brain, the water content decreases and the fat content increases.

In the process of aging, there is a deterioration in most sensory functions (visual, auditory sensitivity, etc.), the nature and degree of which can vary greatly from person to person, depending on individual characteristics and the activities they have been engaged in during their lives. So, in musicians, changes in auditory sensitivity are less pronounced than in most other people.

Old people perceive and retain less information, memorize verbal material more slowly than young people. They remember only the information that is important to them. Improvement in indicators of the speed of learning and the duration of memorization is possible as a result of the use of indirect memorization methods.

Mechanical memory deteriorates with age. The weakening of long-term memory is mainly associated with violations of the process of searching for information in it. If the task requires the distribution of attention, it may arise. Whips problems and with the functioning of short-term memory. Logical memory functions at a high level in old age. Since it is associated with thinking, it can be assumed that it does not deteriorate significantly at this age.

At the stage of old age, the cognitive sphere undergoes transformations, intellectual functions are weakened. Deterioration in the functioning of the central nervous system reduces the speed of response when performing in ectual tasks. All these changes cause senile dementia (dementia) - an organic disease of the brain, which manifests itself in the inadequacy of thinking. Its symptoms are a limited ability to understand abstraction, weak imagination, slow thinking, indifference to what is happening around. Such people have problems with memory, sometimes they cannot remember recent events, remembering childhood events immediately.

Cognitive decline can be caused by disease. Alzheimer's the first symptom of which is forgetfulness. First, a person forgets little things, and then he stops remembering the places he has been, names, events that have just happened. The weakening of memory is accompanied by the loss of necessary skills, it is difficult for the patient to plan and carry out even simple daily tasks.

The weakening of the intellectual functions of an old person can also be the result of a deterioration in the general state of health, malnutrition, alcohol abuse, constant medication, a low level of education, and a lack of motivation for cognitive activity.

However, often adults remain cognitively active even after reaching the age of 70. An important factor that opposes the involution of an elderly person is creative activity. Although there is an opinion that the most creative achievements in art and science occur in the early stages of life, however, many facts indicate high productivity in this field even in old age. For example, after 70 years, French naturalists successfully worked. Jean-Baptiste. Lamarck (1744-1829), mathematicians, physicists, astronomers. Leonardo. Byler (1707 - 1783) and. Pierre Simon. Laplace (1749-1827), Italian naturalist. Galileo. Galileo (1564-1642), German philosopher. Immanuel. Kant (1724-1804). Russian and Ukrainian psychologist, physiologist. Ivan. Pavlov (1849-1936) wrote "Lectures on the work of the cerebral hemispheres" at the age of 77. Sweat writers were distinguished by their creative potential in old age. Victor Marie. Hugo (1802-1885),. George Bernard. Shaw (1856-1950). A lion. Tolstoy (1828-1910),. Ivan. Bunin (1870-1953n (1870-1953).

The dynamics of intellectual activity in old age is influenced by objective (heredity, which predetermines most diseases) and subjective (physical, social, psychological) factors

physical factors of human intellectual activity in old age is a state of somatic (the level of functioning of the organs of the body, various diseases, in particular polyarthritis, curvature of the spine) and mental health

. To the social factors of human intellectual activity in old age include the level of education and the specifics of the activities that a person was engaged in during his life. Higher education, a high level of culture give more chances to maintain cognitive activity in old age. Fragments and after retirement determine the need for constant knowledge. The habit and the formed cognitive orientation of people of intellectual and creative work encourage them to self-development even after the end of their official activities.

psychological factor of human intellectual activity in old age is the breadth of interests, the desire for self-realization, the transfer of life experience to the next generations. The versatility of interests and abilities was distinguished, for example, by an Indian writer, teacher, general and political figure. Rabindranath. Tagore (1861-1941), who, after 60 years, began to paint and created a number of wonderful canvases. An intellectually active, creative person is focused on being useful not only to individuals, but also to society.

Maintaining active intellectual activity in the declining years is associated with reading. Older people read a lot, because they have a lot of free time and this activity does not require much mobility, as a rule, those who read voraciously, and in their youth they mostly willingly read simple texts (newspapers, magazines, detective stories). There is no reason to consider such reading absolutely useful for summer people, since it does not prevent the deterioration of reading abilities.

The reason for choosing to read simple literature is not sufficiently clarified. Obviously, a decrease in intellectual activity in old age leads to an inability to perceive, for example, philosophical works. Another reason is probably the loss of self-improvement motives.

So, in the period of old age there is a decrease in the intellectual activity of a person. This is due to the deterioration of sensory functions, physical, social and psychological factors. Contributes to the maintenance of active intellectual activity of the elderly, its active life position, creativity and reading.

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Introduction

1. Diagnostics of cognitive processes in adulthood

1.1 Age approach to the study of an adult

1.2 Features of cognitive processes in adulthood

2. Features of cognitive impairment in various mental illnesses

3. Psychodiagnostic methods

3.1 Studies of cognitive processes in adulthood, description of methods

3.2 The results of a psychodiagnostic study of the cognitive processes of a person in adulthood

Conclusion

List of sources used

Introduction

The relevance of the topic of the course work associated with the widespread introduction of psychology into practice, human activity as a conscious activity is formed and developed in connection with the formation and development of his consciousness. It also serves as the basis for the formation and development of consciousness, the source of its content.

Activity is always carried out in a certain system of human relations with other people. It requires the help and participation of other people, i.e. acquires the character of a joint activity. Its results have a certain impact on the world around us, on the life and fate of other people. Therefore, in activity, not only the attitude of a person to things, but also his attitude to other people always finds expression.

The emergence and development of various activities in humans is a complex and lengthy process. The activity of the child only gradually in the course of development, under the influence of education and training, takes the form of conscious purposeful activity.

In cognitive activity, a person studies not only the world around him, but also himself, a process that takes place in his psyche and physics. The topic of mental activity, which is responsible for the mental development of a person, is especially relevant. The flow of information going to a person is constantly growing with the development of scientific and technological progress, and in order to obtain the most extensive and deep knowledge, it is necessary to use the most effective methods of teaching scientific knowledge. And in order to create such a technique, it is necessary to study the thought process in such a way as to know its strengths and weaknesses, and to identify areas in which it is better to develop a person's mental activity. And it is better to do this when the child grows and develops into a personality, using his inclinations and interest in the world around him.

Target: analysis of the system of cognitive activity of an adult.

An object: cognitive activity of an adult subject 5 people.

Subject: study of the formation of cognitive activity of an adult.

Hypothesis: in my current study, I hypothesize that cognition declines with age due to physiological changes.

Tasks:

1. The study of literature on the topic.

2. To reveal the features of the structure and development of cognitive activity of an adult.

3. Selection of psychodiagnostic tools and research.

4. Processing, interpretation and comparison of data obtained during the study.

5. Formulation of conclusions.

Research methods:

Theoretical: analysis of scientific developments in pathopsychology and psychodiagnostics regarding the issues under study.

Empirical: using methods: Münstenberg test, Schulte table, Pictogram method.

age psychodiagnostic person cognitive

1. Diagnostics of cognitive processes in adulthood

1.1 Age approach to the study of an adult

In the history of the development of developmental psychology as a branch of psychological science, the characteristics of adults served as standards in relation to various periods of growth, maturation and personality formation during childhood, adolescence and adolescence. Adulthood was seen as a stable period. So, for example, the French psychologist E. Claparede characterized maturity as a state of mental "petrification", when the development process stops. E. Ebbinghaus, distinguishing three periods in the development of memory, determined the age of 25-50 years as unchanged in relation to this mental function. W. James wrote that after the age of 25, adults cannot acquire new ideas. Selfless curiosity passes, mental "connections are established, the ability to assimilate is exhausted." Defining the main stages in the development of the human intellect, J. Piaget limited them to the framework from birth to adolescence, inclusive.

The psychological characteristics of an adult person acted as standards in identifying involutionary processes during the aging period. With the advent of gerontology (late 19th - early 20th century), data on young people were used to determine the magnitude of the decline in functions or their preservation in the general involutionary process. With the discovery of the multidimensional nature of this process and the diversity of aging, the search for norms and standards of development becomes much more complicated and remains problematic up to the present.

The problem of constructing a unified scientific theory of individual development cannot be resolved without the development of its main section - the developmental psychology of maturity. This task was first posed in 1928. N. N. Rybnikov, who proposed to call this section of developmental psychology "acmeology" or the science of the heyday of all human vitality.

So, as a result of numerous attempts to create age periodization, many different classifications have appeared,

but even today there is no single classification. The following are the most common of the modern classifications of age periods:

Periodization adopted by the International Symposium on Age Periodization in Moscow (1965):

Newborn - up to 10 days

Breast age - 10 days - 1 year

Early childhood - 1-2 years

The first period of childhood - 3-7 years

The second period of childhood - 8-12 years for boys, 8-11 years for girls

Adolescence - 13-16 years for boys, 12-15 years for girls

Youth age - 17-21 for boys, 16-20 for girls

Average (mature) age: the first period - 22-35 years for men, 21-35 years for women. The second period is 36-60 years for men, 36-55 years for women.

Old age - 61-74 years for men, 56-74 years for women.

Senile age - 75-90 years for men and women

Long-livers are over 90 years old.

Periodization J. Birren (Birren, 1980):

The first phase - infancy, up to two years

The second phase - preschool age, 2-5 years

The third phase - childhood, 5-12 years old

Fourth phase - youth, 12-17 years old

Fifth phase - early adulthood, 17-25 years

Sixth phase - maturity, 25-50 years

Seventh phase - late maturity, 50-75 years

In our work, we rely on the International Classification (Quinn, 2000):

Infant age from birth to three years

Early childhood 3-6 years

Childhood 6-12 years old

Teenage (youthful) age 12-18 years

Youth 18-40

Mature age 40-65

Thus, in our work, we will study the features of the cognitive processes of people aged 40 to 65 years.

1.2 Features of cognitive processes in adulthood

Cognitive mental processes include mental processes associated with the perception and processing of information (sensation, perception, memory, imagination, thinking).

Sensation is a psychophysical process of directly sensory reflection of individual properties of phenomena and objects of the objective world, that is, the process of reflecting the direct impact of stimuli on the senses.

Perception is a subjective image of an object, phenomenon or process that directly affects the analyzer or system of analyzers.

Memory - the processes of remembering, storing, reproducing and processing a variety of information by a person.

Imagination is a universal human ability to build new holistic images of reality by processing the content of the existing practical, sensual, intellectual and emotional-semantic experience.

Thinking is a psychological process of cognition associated with the discovery of subjectively new knowledge, with the solution of problems, with the creative transformation of reality.

Cognitive processes are a set of processes that ensure the transformation of sensory information from the moment the stimulus hits the receptor surfaces to the receipt of a response in the form of knowledge.

Sensorimotor processes are a complex of body responses to external stimuli. These include: simple sensorimotor reaction, complex sensorimotor reaction, sensorimotor coordination.

Motor processes -- a set of processes that provide motor acts of the individual.

Psychophysical functions -- the interaction of physiological and mental processes, which determines the level of sensitivity (sensation thresholds) of the sensory system.

The period of adulthood differs from the previous, youthful one, in that general somatic development ends in it, physical and puberty reaches its optimum. This period is the years of intellectual achievements. Of particular importance for understanding the mental activity of adults are experimental data on the ontogenetic evolution of psychophysiological functions, since the latter, according to B. G. Ananiev, "are actually ontogenetic phenomena."

The following features of the mechanisms of development of mental functions have been identified:

The development of psychophysiological functions has a two-phase character. The first phase - frontal progress in the development of functions - is observed from birth to early and middle maturity. The second phase - the specialization of psychophysiological functions - begins to actively manifest itself after 26 years. From the age of 30, specialization dominates, which is associated with the acquisition of life experience and professional skills.

Dynamics of cognitive functions in adulthood:

The conducted experimental study showed that the age factor has different meanings for visual-spatial functions. For visual acuity and the eye, it is only 25% of the total number of factors. At the same time, for the field of view, the age factor is 70%. This means that the visual field determined by the structure of pathways and cortical projections depends to the greatest extent on the process of maturation of the brain, on its general condition. As a result of experimental studies of the sensitivity of various modalities (peripheral vision, hearing, kinesthesia) in people of different ages, P.P. Lazarev came to the conclusion that it depends on age, is described by a curve of age-related changes in its average values. A similar picture of age-related evolution is also found in terms of sensorimotor reactions in a comparative age comparison of data on changes in the time of reactions of various types (involuntary and voluntary, motor, speech, simple reactions and reactions of choice to various signals). The general pattern is a gradual reduction in reaction time to various stimuli with age.

So, a person’s vision practically does not change from adolescence until they reach the age of 50, when visual acuity begins to decline more quickly. Research by I. Ustinova, who studied the sensitivity of 185 commanders and co-pilots of aircraft in many parameters characterizing the vision of an individual (color perception, night vision, depth eye), showed the following: pilots aged 25-54 years have a sufficient stability of the functional state of the cortical part of the visual analyzer . Of the entire complex of sensory functions, she found a gradual decrease with age only in visual acuity due to refractive errors and weakening of accommodation at older ages.

Refraction is the refraction of a light beam. In the elderly, abnormal changes in the refraction of the eye occur, resulting in a general decrease in the sensitivity of the visual analyzer.

Accommodation is a change in the shape of the lens of the eye when an object is approached or removed.

This partial reduction in vision does not affect the level of performance of the pilots. Therefore, we can say that changes in the psychophysical functions of vision in people who have reached adulthood do not affect the functioning of their cognitive sphere in any way.

Hearing in general becomes less acute after the age of 20, continuing to deteriorate further, which causes a certain difficulty in perceiving high-frequency sounds in a person. In general, hearing loss in adulthood is rarely so marked as to prevent a person from carrying on normal conversation.

Ongoing experimental studies show that taste, olfactory and pain sensitivity of a person also decreases in different periods of adulthood, although these changes occur more smoothly and are not as noticeable as visual and hearing loss. At the same time, the sensitivity to temperature changes practically remains high.

In addition, other biological functions of a person, such as reaction time and sensorimotor skills, also change in adulthood. The increase in reaction time during adulthood occurs at a rather slow pace, beginning to accelerate in the years of old age. Motor skills may deteriorate, but the results shown remain at the same level, thanks to long practice and experience.

So, a person who does the same job every day will continue to show the same results in this activity with age, but it becomes more and more difficult for him to master new skills.

Thus, over the period from 17 to 50 years, unevenness in the development of cognitive processes, verbal-nonverbal components of the intellect is revealed, the structure of their correlation changes.

Early maturity (from 18 to 25 years) is characterized by increased development of mental functions (frontal progress). Constructive, positive shifts are characteristic - "peaks", or "optimums", of attention, memory, thinking. At this age, a greater number of "optimums" are found in the development of thinking and memory. The achieved level of development of functions affects the second phase and the time of its onset.

Stabilization is observed in the microperiod of 33-35 years. Until the age of 35, the formation of the integrity of the functional basis of human intellectual activity continues. In the period of 30-33 years, there is a high development of attention, thinking, which decreases by the age of 40. After 35 years, the possibility of neoplasms decreases under the influence of the increasing rigidity of connections between functions. In the microperiod of 41-50 years, there is a statistically significant decrease in the levels of thinking assessment compared to 36-40 years.

The average maximum of creative activity for many specialties is observed at the age of 35-39. However, in such sciences as mathematics, physics, chemistry, the peak of creative achievements was recorded before the age of 30-34, for doctors - at 35-39 years, and for philosophy, psychology - a little later, between 40 and 55 years.

At the age of 41-46, the attention function reaches the highest level of development.

The value orientations of adults have a great influence on the preservation of cognitive functions. Such a generalized personal attitude as an active desire for something new in various areas of life, the search for information, the desire not to stop there. They have a positive effect on the level of development of figurative thinking. The focus on improving one's professional qualifications, systematic reference to specialized literature contributes to the development of predominantly verbal-logical thinking, as well as figurative and practical thinking.

In the microperiod of 51-55 years, even more than in the previous period, the level of development of various types of thinking, the quality of attention and memory, especially semantic, is influenced by active cognitive aspirations in the professional sphere and outside it, susceptibility to the new in the broadest sense including leisure activities.

The most important factors in optimizing the intellectual potential of adults are: the level of education (higher, technical or humanitarian; secondary special or other); education as a process, individual and organized activity, type of professional activity; the nature of labor activity (the presence of components of creativity, the need for mental stress) and more.

The volume of verbal imprinting of long-term memory largely remains unchanged until old age, but short-term memory and reaction speed are weakened. Meanwhile, the improvement of professional memory may not coincide with the general deterioration of the mnemonic function, that is, the specialization of the function maintains its general level.

In addition to preservation, there is a qualitative transformation of the structure of the intellect of an adult. The dominant place is occupied by generalization on verbal material. A new possible stage in the development of the intellect is the ability to pose problems for oneself, sometimes worthy of the efforts of many generations. A new solution to old problems is found in a broader context of attitude towards oneself from the standpoint of society, the fate of mankind, is characterized by the ability for one's own reasoning and the ability to choose a line of behavior, that is, a developed individuality.

Chapter 2 Features of cognitive impairment in various mental illnesses

With oligophrenia cognitive activity is characterized by slow orientation in the environment, poor learning, which is due to the inferiority of the cerebral cortex.

Experimental psychological research reveals other signs of mental underdevelopment, due to the difficulty of orientation and low learning ability. It is difficult for patients to build operations of generalization, abstraction, abstraction. The level of generalization is reduced to the specific. Patients have a poor vocabulary, the amount of mediated memory is sharply reduced.

The state of these signs of "cultural underdevelopment" largely depends on timely medical assistance, special education, started from preschool age, etc.

Oligophrenia should be distinguished from "pedagogical neglect", in which there is a high learning ability and good orientation in new material. Children with "pedagogical neglect" with adequate training quickly catch up with their peers in mental development.

With epilepsy, a decrease in the productivity of cognitive activity is found, which correlates with the prescription and malignancy of the disease, a decrease in memory, and concreteness of thinking (the level of generalization decreases). There are changes in the dynamics of cognitive processes - they are characterized by inertia, stiffness. Patients, even in accessible tasks, make mistakes if in the course of their activity they have to switch from one method of execution to another. The inertia of mental processes, difficulties, if necessary, to slow down the specific connections of this concept lead to detailing in the thinking of patients, which is fixed in the form of a character trait. Help, training help patients in solving this problem, but when moving to new material, they again use specific features of concepts. With long-term remissions and proper treatment, such changes in cognitive activity may become less pronounced.

With damage to the vessels of the brain and craniocerebral injuries (remote period), intoxication, the main thing that characterizes the state of cognitive activity in patients is a violation of the dynamics (instability of mental performance, exhaustion). In patients with lesions of the cerebral vessels, there are fluctuations in the productivity of mnestic activity, it is, as it were, intermittent. The patient may suddenly forget the name of an object, and then spontaneously recall it. Can reproduce a fable in detail and accurately, and then fail to remember an easier text. Reproduction in the technique "Memorizing 10 words" is also oscillatory. The patient can remember 6 words after the 3rd repetition, only 3 after the 5th, and again 6 words after the 6th repetition.

It is important that when the dynamics of mnestic activity is disturbed, mediation and comprehension of the material help patients. Usually patients in everyday life begin to intensively use notebooks. This feature of the cognitive activity of patients can be used as a diagnostic criterion for the severity of the lesion, the severity of suffering. So, comparing the volume of reproduction in the technique "Learning 10 words" and in the "Pictogram", in patients with an average severity of the disease, an increase in the number of reproduced words in semantic memorization can be noted.

The oscillatory nature of the dynamics of cognitive processes is also manifested in the instability of the mental production of patients. It is characteristic that the level of generalizations is generally not lowered. Patients have access to operations of distraction, generalization when solving short-term, one-time tasks.

In severe cases, there is a significant deterioration in semantic memory. Trying to convey the meaning of the memorized word as accurately as possible, patients draw very detailed drawings. It is important that an excessive desire to insure oneself against chance leads to a paradoxical phenomenon: reproduction becomes inaccurate, approximate, its volume decreases sharply. Often, patients remember the drawing, but the word they wanted to remember cannot remember at all.

If it is necessary to hold the instruction for a long time, “inconsistency of judgments” is noted - a type of thinking pathology in which correct (generalized) and erroneous (specific) decisions alternate. The operations of abstraction in such tasks are replaced by the patients with the establishment of purely specific connections, replacing logical connections with completely random ones. In the “Subject Classification” technique, pictures are combined only because they lie side by side, in addition, “similar” groups are noted (the patient, having collected, for example, a group of pictures with people, collects the same group after some time, not noticing that he already has).

It is fundamentally important that patients treat their mistakes with sufficient criticism and actively seek the help of the experimenter. Organizing help, rest is enough for patients to correct their mistakes, but when moving on to new material, they again use specific features of concepts in their decisions.

For senile dementia the leading one is persistent memory impairment. First of all, there is a decrease in the activity of memorization. During the experiment, the patient claims that he will not be able to remember anything, and indeed does not remember a single word. After a sufficiently long organizing help, patients remember words, but their mechanical memory is very low (2-4 words). The memorization process is in the nature of a plateau: 4-5-5-4-5-5-5-4 (method "Memorizing 10 words").

With delayed recall, patients cannot remember anything.

Due to the increased distractibility, the playback process worsens. During playback, any extraneous noise, conversation contribute to forgetting. The patient may say that he did not remember anything at all.

In this regard, the productivity of thinking in this group of patients is sharply reduced and uneven. Patients can solve only short-term tasks with elements of generalization. When performing tasks that require a long retention of instructions, patients use specific connections of concepts, get distracted, forget about the purpose of the examination. Organizing and guiding help does not actually help, although patients obediently correct mistakes.

With schizophrenia the characteristic pathology of cognitive activity is caused by such changes in the personality as a violation of the meaning-forming function of motives, the transition of motivating motives into “known ones”. Such a personality pathology finds its expression in a change in thinking: diversity, reasoning, insufficiency of updating past experience, which makes the thinking of patients with schizophrenia unproductive. Pseudo-abstractness, lack of focus on solving the task set leads to a loss of connection between the generalizing concept and the specific content of the task. The unproductive thinking of patients can also be caused by a deterioration in the selectivity of updating knowledge from memory based on past experience. At the same time, the actualization of the “latent” connections of the concept, which is unlikely from past experience, is facilitated, which also complicates mental activity.

At the same time, the amount of mechanical memory (method "Memorizing 10 words"), the stock of knowledge of patients can remain at a fairly high level.

Education of patients is difficult, the help of the experimenter is accepted formally.

With borderline mental illness (psychopathy, neurosis) leading in the pathology of the mental activity of patients is a change in personality, which leads to a different personality coloring of cognitive processes, which reduces their productivity. In borderline diseases, personality changes and, accordingly, the personality coloring of thinking are not the same.

So, with psychopathy, the attitude towards oneself (self-esteem) and the claims of patients based on this are violated. Self-assessments of patients are, as a rule, extreme (for example, a patient with hysteria evaluates herself as very smart; she considers her appearance so bright that she would like to become less attractive, since "it interferes with a peaceful life"; at the same time, she evaluates her health very low : considers himself "the sickest and most unhappy on the whole globe"). Such extreme self-assessments also cause unstable, excessively labile claims of patients. For example, the patient undertakes to perform the most difficult task possible, and after failure, moves on to the easiest. Such lability of claims reduces the productivity of cognitive activity (patients most often solve problems that do not correspond to their capabilities: either too difficult or too easy).

When solving mental problems, patients often accompany the execution of operations of generalization, distraction with value judgments, sometimes replacing the solution of a problem with its assessment. So, in the “Pictogram” method, remembering the words “poisonous question”, the patient refuses to pick up a picture for memorization, since no one asked her any poisonous questions, after much thought she draws her friend: “She asked me why I didn’t get married” .

In neurosis, we often encounter a discrepancy between the complaints of patients and objective assessments of their condition. So, a patient with neurasthenia complains of a sharp weakening of memory. However, experimental psychological examination does not reveal any changes in memory.

Characteristically, familiarization of the patient with the results of the examination does not change his attitude to his memory. Only in the course of long-term treatment, which is combined with a dynamic examination of a psychologist, patients are relieved of a sense of self-doubt.

The personal coloring of thinking in reactive states is associated with a traumatic situation, which, one way or another, is reflected in the drawings and statements of patients.

It is important that patients accept the help of a psychologist, but only specific situational decisions can be corrected, it is not possible to correct the personal coloring of thinking.

3 . Psychodiagnostic methods

3 .1 Psychodiagnostic methods for studying cognitive processes in adulthood, description of methods

Methods for diagnosing cognitive processes of a person in adulthood:

Perception Research:

1. Methodology for the study of time perception.

2. Münsterberg Perception Test

Research Attention:

1. Methodology of the Schulte table

2. Correction test

3. Messed up lines

4. Finding numbers with switching

5 Intellectual lability technique

The techniques are aimed at identifying the features of the main characteristics of human attention: switchability, stability, volume, selectivity.

Memory Research:

1. Method "Pictogram" (a pictogram is a pictorial image created for mediated memorization) - an experimental psychological technique for studying mediated memorization, which dominates in an adult cultured person. A pictogram is a pictorial image created for mediated memorization.

2. The technique "Memory for numbers" allows you to assess the amount of direct visual-figurative memory and the degree of retention of material in memory.

3. The technique of "Reproduction of texts" helps to explore semantic memory and provides material for judging a person's ingenuity, the characteristics of his speech, attention, and the level of his general development.

Mind Research:

1. Methodology for the interpretation of proverbs

2. Simple analogy technique

3. Complex analogy technique

4. Methodology for comparing concepts

Methods aimed at studying thinking, the characteristics of human thought processes - their mobility or pattern, speed, depth, allow us to evaluate the characteristics of the main operations of thinking and the thinking process as a whole.

3 .2 Results of psychodiagnostic research, cognitive processes of a person in adulthood

Object of study: a person of mature age.

Subject of study: features of cognitive processes of a person in adulthood.

The purpose of the study: the study of cognitive processes (perception, thinking) of a person in adulthood.

Research objectives:

1) analysis of approaches to the study of the problem of cognitive processes in adulthood in the scientific and psychological literature;

2) identification and description of the features of the development of cognitive processes in adulthood;

3) conducting a psychodiagnostic study of the cognitive processes of a person in adulthood;

Based on the goals and objectives set in the study, we used the following methods:

Münsterberg Perception Test

Schulte table technique

1. Münsterberg Perception Test

The purpose of the study: to determine the selectivity of attention.

Equipment: a form with a task.

Instruction: There are words among the alphabetic text. Your task is to look through line by line to find these words as quickly as possible. Underline the found words. Task completion time - 2 min.

бсолнцевтргщоцрайонзгучновостьхэьгчяфактуекэкзаментрочягшгцкпрокуроргурстабюетеорияентсджэбьамхоккейтрсицыфцуйгзхтелевизорсолджщзхюэлгщьбапамятьшогхеюжпждргщхэнздвосприятиейцукенгшщзхъвафыапролдблюбовьавфырплослдспектакльячсмитьбюжюерадостьвуфцпэждлорпкнародшлджьхэшщгиенакуыфйшрепортажэждорлафывюефбьконкурсйфячыцувскапрличностьзхжэьеюдшщглоджэпрплаваниедтлжэзбьтрдщшжнпркывкомедияшлдкцуйфотчаяниейфоячвтлджэхьфтасенлабораториягщдщнруцтргшщтлроснованиезщдэркэнтаопрукгвсмтрпсихиатриябплмстчьйсмтзацэъагнтэхт

Evaluation of the results: The technique is aimed at determining the selectivity of attention. The number of highlighted words and the number of errors, that is, missing and incorrectly highlighted words, is estimated. The text contains 25 words.

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2. Complex analogy technique

Target. The technique is used to find out how the subject is able to understand complex logical relationships and highlight abstract connections. Designed for teens and adults.

Description. The technique consists of 20 pairs of words - logical tasks that are proposed to be solved by the subject. Its task is to determine which of the six types of logical connection is contained in each pair of words. The "Code" will help him in this - a table that shows examples of the types of communication used and their letter designation: A, B, C, D, D, E. The subject must determine the relationship between the words in a pair, then find the "analogue", that is, select a pair of words with the same logical connection in the "Code" table, and then mark in a series of letters (A, B, C, D, D, E) the one that corresponds to the found analogue from the "Code" table. The task is limited to three minutes.

Material. Form of methodology, form of the protocol for registering answers.

Instruction: “On the form in front of you are 20 pairs, consisting of words that are logically connected with each other. Opposite each pair there are 6 letters, which denote 6 types of logical connection. Examples of all 6 types and their corresponding letters are given in the "Code" table. You must first determine the relationship between the words in the pair. Then choose the closest pair of words to them by analogy (association) from the "Cipher" table. And after that, in the letter row, circle one of the letters that corresponds to the analogue found in the "Code" table. The time to complete the task is 3 minutes.

A. Sheep - flock

B. Raspberry - berry

B. Sea - ocean

D. Light - darkness

E. Poisoning - death

E. Enemy - enemy

Material for the methodology

1 Fright - flight ABCWDE

2 Physics - science ABCD

3 Correct -- correct ABCWDE

4 Bed - garden ABVGDE

5 Pair-two ABCDE

6 Word -- Phrase ABCWHERE

7. Cheerful - sluggish ABCWDE

8 Freedom - will ABCWDE

9 Country -- City ABCDE

10 Praise -- abuse ABCWDE

11. Revenge - arson ABCWDE

12. Ten is the number ABCWDE

13. Cry - roar ABCWDE

14. Chapter -- novel ABCWDE

15. Rest - movement ABCWDE

16. Courage -- heroism ABCWDE

17. Coolness - frost ABCWDE

18. Deception - mistrust ABCWDE

19. Singing is the art of ABCWDE

20. Bedside table - cabinet ABVGDE

Analysis of results:

If the subject correctly, without much difficulty, solved all the tasks and logically explained all the comparisons, this gives the right to conclude that he can understand abstractions and complex logical connections.

If the subject hardly understands the instructions and makes mistakes when comparing (only after a thorough analysis of errors and reasoning), one can conclude that the conclusions are slipping, the spreading of thinking, the arbitrariness, illogical reasoning, diffuseness, vagueness of thought against the background of understanding logical connections, a false understanding of the analogy logical connections. The subject's reasoning has the most informative value.

Sample characteristic:

Sample size - 5 people

The age of the subjects - from 30 to 50 years.

Gender: 2 men and 3 women took part in the study.

Results of psychodiagnostic research:

Woman 1.3. They coped with the task well, woman 2 showed an average result, which indicates a normal perception of the subjects.

Complex analogy technique:

All women coped with the task, and the results correspond to the average level of determining the relationship between words.

Münsterberg Perception Test:

One man did an excellent job, the other did not meet the deadline. Both got it done.

Complex analogy technique:

Man 2, difficulties arose, this indicates that, in general, he can understand abstractions and complex logical connections, but diffuseness, vagueness of thought against the background of understanding logical connections, a false understanding of the analogy of some logical connections is also characteristic. Man 1, coped with the task and met the deadline, dismantling and understanding all the logical connections.

Conclusion: In the course of the study, results were obtained indicating that the results obtained did not confirm the hypothesis and the studied cognitive functions remained at a sufficient level with age.

Conclusion

Summarizing the accumulated scientific data on the classifications of the adult period of life, having studied the variety of approaches to the age periodization of the development of an adult, we can conclude that the age limits of adulthood are determined by a complex of social and biological reasons and depend on the specific socio-economic conditions of individual human development. Therefore, at present, the boundaries of this period in the conditions of our society, according to the International Classification (Quinn, 2000), are 40 years - lower and 64 years - upper.

The subject of our study is the features of the cognitive processes of the individual in adulthood. Therefore, it is important to note the features of the mechanisms of development of mental functions:

1 The development of mental functions has a two-phase character. The first phase - frontal progress in the development of functions - is observed from birth to early and middle maturity. The second phase - specialization of functions - begins to actively manifest itself after 26 years. From the age of 30, specialization dominates, which is associated with the acquisition of life experience and professional skills.

The complex, contradictory structure of the development of psychophysiological and psychological functions of an adult includes a combination of processes of increasing, stabilizing and lowering the functional level of individual functions and cognitive abilities. The revealed pattern applies to neurodynamic, psychomotor characteristics, and to higher mental functions, such as verbal and non-verbal intelligence, memory.

2 Heterochronism (unevenness) of development is a mismatched pace of development and the level of achievements of a person as an individual, personality and subject of activity, including within each of the parties separately.

Thus, the most characteristic features of the mental development of a person in adulthood are:

1 Heterochronism in the development of individual functions, their mutual compensation, the growth of stability and voluntary regulation of attention, memory and thinking by an individual.

2 The level of functional development of the intellect remains quite high at all stages of the age evolution of an adult. This testifies, first of all, to the high learning potentials of an adult, the ability of an individual to receive, store and process information to solve various kinds of problems.

3 Preservation of a sufficiently high level of development of mental functions is a necessary condition for the further (but no longer functional) development of the intellect of an adult. The development of processes of a qualitatively different level, conceptual and personal, the dynamics of the semantic formations of the individual, attitudes and value orientations, attitudes and beliefs, the categorical structure of thinking, the methodology for solving theoretical and practical problems.

The results of the psychodiagnostic study of the cognitive processes of a person in adulthood are consistent with theoretical provisions.

List of sources used

1) Rybalko, E.F. Age and differential psychology / E.F. Rybalko.-- L .: Publishing house of Leningrad University, 2010. - 256 p.

2) Malkina - Puff, I. G. Age crises: a reference book of a practical psychologist / I. G. Malkina - Puff. - M. : Eksmo, 2005. - 896 p.

3) Meshcheryakov, B. G. Big psychological dictionary / B. G. Meshcheryakov; under total ed. V. P. Zinchenko. - St. Petersburg. : Prime - EUROZNAK, 2007. - 672 p.

4) Rean, A. A. Human psychology from birth to death / A. A. Rean. - St. Petersburg. : Prime - EUROZNAK, 2009. - 656 p.

5) Shapovalenko, I. V. Developmental psychology / I. V. Shapovalenko. - M. : Gardariki, 2008. - 349 p.

6) Antsiferova, L.I. Psychological patterns of adult personality development and the problem of continuous education / L.I. Antsiferova // Psychological journal. - 2006. - No. 2. - S. 52--60.

7) Reter, D. The ability to learn in adults / D. Reter // Issues of psychology. - 2013. - No. 1. - S. 57 - 66.

8) Kulagina, I. Yu. Developmental psychology / I. Yu. Kulagina, V.N. Kolyutsky. - M., 2011. - 436 p.

9) Rimskaya, R. Practical psychology in tests, or how to learn to understand yourself and others / R. Rimskaya, S. Rimsky. - M. : AST-PRESS, 2009.-376 p.

10) Davydov V.V. Developmental and pedagogical psychology, M.: Education. - 2007.

11) Winter I.A. Pedagogical psychology. Textbook for high schools. Second edition, enlarged and revised. - M.: Logos Publishing Corporation, 2009.

12) Brief psychological dictionary. /Comp. A.A. Karpenko: Ed. A.V. Petrovsky, M.P. Yaroshevsky. - M.: Politizdat, 2012.

13) Kulagina I.Yu. Developmental psychology (child development from birth to 17 years): Textbook. 3rd ed. - M.: Publishing house URAO, 2007.

14) Levi V.L. Hunt for thought - M .: Young Guard, 2007.

15) Lyublinskaya A.A. Child psychology. Textbook for students of pedagogical institutes. - M.: "Enlightenment", 2011.

16) Menchinskaya N.A. Problems of teaching and mental development of a schoolchild: Selected psychological works - M., Pedagogy, -

18) Nemov R.S. Psychology. T.1. Textbook for students of higher pedagogical educational institutions. - M.: Humanitarian publishing center VLADOS, 2007-kn.Z. Psychodiagnostics.

19) Nemov R.S. Psychology. T.2. Textbook for students of higher pedagogical educational institutions. - M.: Humanitarian publishing center VLADOS, 2010-kn.Z. Psychodiagnostics.

20) Nemov R.S. Psychology. T.Z. Textbook for students of higher pedagogical educational institutions. - M: Humanitarian publishing center VLADOS, 2008-kn.Z. Psychodiagnostics.

21) Petrovsky A.V. Psychology, M.: Publishing Center - Academy.

22) Petrovsky A.V. General psychology - M .: Education, 2007.

23) Rubinstein S. L. Fundamentals of General Psychology - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2010.

24) Sapogova E.E. Psychology of Human Development: Textbook. - M.: Aspect Press, 2011.

25) Slobodchikov V.I. Isaev E.I. Fundamentals of psychological anthropology. Psychology of human development: The development of subjective reality in ontogenesis: Textbook for universities. - M.: School Press, 2012.

26) Stolyarenko L.D. Fundamentals of psychology. Rostov n / a, publishing house "Phoenix", 2006.

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Features of the development of cognitive processes at different stages of development (thinking)

1.6.8 Old age

The transition of a person in old age is accompanied by changes in his cognitive sphere, depends on many factors and manifests itself in different ways.

Mechanical memory deteriorates with age. The weakening of long-term memory is mainly associated with violations of the process of searching for information in it. If the task requires the distribution of attention, there may be problems with the functioning of short-term memory. Logical memory functions at a high level in old age. Since it is associated with thinking, it can be assumed that it does not deteriorate significantly at this age.

At the stage of old age, the cognitive sphere undergoes transformations, intellectual functions are weakened. Deterioration in the functioning of the central nervous system reduces the speed of response when performing intellectual tasks. All these changes are caused by senile dementia (dementia) - an organic disease of the brain, which manifests itself in the inadequacy of thinking. Its symptoms are a limited ability to understand abstraction, weak imagination, slow thinking, indifference to what is happening around. Such people have problems with memory, sometimes they cannot remember recent events, remembering childhood events.

A decrease in cognitive functions can also be caused by Alzheimer's disease, the first symptom of which is forgetfulness. First, a person forgets little things, and then he stops remembering the places he has been, names, events that have just happened. The weakening of memory is accompanied by the loss of the necessary skills, it is difficult for the patient to plan and perform even simple daily activities.

However, often adults remain cognitively active even after reaching the age of 70. An important factor opposing the involution of an elderly person is creative activity. Although there is an opinion that most creative achievements in art and science occur in the early stages of life, however, many facts indicate high productivity in this field even in old age. For example, after 70 years, the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the mathematician, physicist and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace, the Italian naturalist Galileo, and the German philosopher Immanuel Kant worked successfully. Russian and Ukrainian psychologist, physiologist Ivan Pavlov wrote "Lectures on the work of the cerebral hemispheres" at the age of 77.

The dynamics of intellectual activity in old age is influenced by objective (heredity, which predetermines most diseases) and subjective (physical, social, psychological) factors.

The physical factors of intellectual activity of a person in old age are the state of somatic (the level of functioning of body organs, various diseases, in particular polyarthritis, curvature of the spine) and mental health.

The social factors of a person's intellectual activity in old age include the level of education and the specifics of the activity that a person has been engaged in throughout his life. Higher education, a high level of culture give more chances to maintain cognitive activity in old age, since even after retirement they determine the need for constant knowledge. The habit and the formed cognitive orientation of people of intellectual and creative work encourage them to self-development even after the end of their official activities.

The psychological factor of a person's intellectual activity in old age is the breadth of interests, the desire for self-realization, the transfer of life experience to the next generations. An intellectually active, creative person is focused on being useful not only to individuals, but also to society.

Maintaining active intellectual activity in the declining years is associated with reading. Older people read a lot because they have a lot of free time and this activity does not require much mobility. As a rule, those who read voraciously in their youth are captured by reading. Basically, they willingly read simple texts (newspapers, magazines, detective stories). There is no reason to consider such reading absolutely useful, since it does not prevent the deterioration of reading abilities.

So, in the period of old age there is a decrease in the intellectual activity of a person. This is due to the deterioration of sensory functions, physical, social and psychological factors.

Thus, in the course of analyzing the psychological and pedagogical literature, I identified the stages of human development necessary for carrying out work on the study of the development of thinking, and also determined the patterns of development of thinking at various stages. In addition, the phenomenon of thinking itself was considered in detail.

CHAPTER 2. DIAGNOSTICS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THINKING AT DIFFERENT AGE STAGES OF MAN DEVELOPMENT

Due to the fact that the development of thinking is extremely important for a person, there are many tests to determine its level. Most of them are called IQ tests (from the English intelligence quotient). These tests are not aimed at determining the level of a person's erudition, but at assessing mental abilities. Thus, in my opinion, IQ tests can serve as a method for diagnosing the level of development of thinking. At the same time, there are many similar tests, but for my work it is necessary to choose something that has more than others the right to be called universal, something more objective. It would be most correct to diagnose the level of thinking (and, if it is already possible to talk about it due to age, IQ level) in representatives of different ages, focusing on the previously selected periodization.

There are verbal and non-verbal intelligence tests. The first ones consist of tasks, the stimulus material of which is presented in a linguistic form - these are words, statements, texts. The content of the work of the subjects is the establishment of logical-functional and associative connections in stimuli mediated by the language form. Non-verbal intelligence tests consist of tasks in which the stimulus material is presented either in a visual form (in the form of graphic images, drawings, drawings) or in an objective form (cubes, parts of objects, etc.). In these tests, knowledge of the language is required only to understand the instructions, which are deliberately kept simple and as short as possible.

Thus, verbal intelligence tests provide indicators of verbal (conceptual) logical thinking, and with the help of non-verbal tests, visual-figurative and visual-effective logical thinking is assessed. Since development is studied in several age periods, one of the most suitable tests will be the Raven test. There are both children's and adult versions of this test, and in addition, it will not rely on any knowledge (so as not to make them a necessity, an ideal, because this would make testing extremely subjective, and would also make it difficult to identify the level of development of functioning cognitive processes ).

For greater clarity, other tests will be used at different age stages, again, in order to get as close to objectivity as possible.

Late adulthood begins after 60 years. It starts with a pension crisis. 60 - 75 years old - late maturity (older age); 75 - 90 years old - old age; more than 90 years - a long-liver. Physiological and psychological occur. changes

Physical regressive. changes - fatigue, low stamina, slowness, illness.

Psychological changes - touchiness and vulnerability, greed (a person's strength fades, he is afraid that he will not earn any more, therefore he tries to save what he has), character traits become aggravated.

Pension crisis: decline in labor activity. This may lead to a change of activity. In some cases, a person prolongs his active adulthood by continuing to work. The third option is "living out", a person does not see the future.

Mental changes: sensory disturbances (vision, hearing, reaction speed worsens).

Cognitive processes of the psyche of the elderly. Ribot's Law: operative memory is first violated, then short-term memory, and long-term memory is almost not affected.

Thinking: the speed of thinking suffers, but the logic does not change. The elderly have a special type of thinking based on intuition.

The biggest factor that affects the aging process is the recognition of the person himself. yourself old. A person develops an attitude towards his old age.

Old age settings:

1. Constructive - old age is accepted calmly, like the "autumn of life." Uses the rest of his life productively.

2. Installation of dependence - a person believes that he is obliged to support, he depends on the family, children must provide a "sense of security" - care.

3. Protective attitude - a person in every possible way denies the presence of old age in himself, tries to look young, does not talk about old age, tries to prove to others that he is "nothing yet.

4. Setting hostility - to others, "I hate youth."

5. Hostility towards oneself - the value of one's own life is lost, death is considered a deliverance from a hateful life.

The last life crisis is death. It is as natural a process as birth. Death is necessary for evolution, being the basis for the continuation of life.

Stages of adaptation to dying:

1. With natural death, the body physiologically fades away (1-2 years before death). 2. With an unnatural death (from diseases), a person goes through the following phases: 1) the phase of disbelief ("I will recover"); 2) phase of aggression ("why should I die?"; 3) phase of bargaining. A person begins to bargain with death ("I will recover - I will do something to someone); 4) the phase of depression; 5) the phase of humility (unemotional "I want to live, but I have no strength").

57) Describe the main types of aging and old age .

I. Kon gives his classification of the types of old age, depending on the nature of the activity with which it is filled.

1. The first type is active, creative old age.

People parted with professional work and continued to participate in public life, live a full-blooded life, without feeling any inferiority.

2. The second type of old age is also distinguished by good social and psychological adaptability, but the energy of these people is directed mainly to arranging their own lives - material well-being, recreation, entertainment and self-education, for which there was no time before.

3. The third type, dominated by women, finds its main application of strength in the family. They have no time to mope or be bored, but their life satisfaction is usually lower than that of the representatives of the first two types.

4. The fourth type - people whose meaning of life has become health care, which stimulates quite a variety of forms of activity and gives a certain moral satisfaction. However, these people tend to exaggerate the significance of their real and imaginary illnesses.

I. Kon considers all these 4 types of old age to be psychologically prosperous and notices that there are also negative types of development:

Aggressive old grumblers, dissatisfied with the state of the aggressive world, criticizing everything but themselves.

Disappointment in yourself and your own life, lonely and sad losers. They blame themselves for real and perceived missed opportunities.

58) Features of cognitive processes in adulthood and old age.

In people who have reached the age of mature adulthood, psychophysiological functions are weakened. However, this does not significantly affect the functioning of their cognitive sphere, does not reduce their working capacity, labor and creative activity. At this age, cognitive experience loses its usefulness, ensures the safety, improvement and transformation of information. The level of convergent abilities (the ability to solve normative problems) is high, but the level of divergent abilities (the ability to express original ideas) begins to decline significantly. The mental space (placement of mental objects) narrows somewhat, as separate parts of the experience are not satisfied. A person expands less and less kinesthetic experience (tactile, olfactory and other sensory impressions). In connection with the deterioration of vision, the volume narrows, the adequacy of visual impressions is lost. Noticeable changes in cognitive activity. The functioning of dynamic intelligence (needed to master new abilities), which peaked during adolescence, gradually declines. However, the functioning of crystallized (stabilized) intelligence is increasing, manifested in the ability to establish connections, formulate judgments, analyze problems and use learned strategies. These abilities are formed with experience, stipulated by the level of education, based on knowledge acquired over a long period of time. All this testifies that in adulthood, one of the important factors that influences cognition is the wealth of life experience. Cognitive skills development in adulthood is influenced by work People whose work activity is quite complex and diverse, have flexible mental abilities, which is why they are engaged in routine work. A high level of intellectual flexibility is noted by adults, who in the process of work often have to think a lot, take the initiative, and make independent decisions. In the period of mature adulthood, a person actively expands his knowledge, evaluates events and information in a broad context. Despite the decrease in the speed and accuracy of information processing, which is a consequence of biological changes, the ability to use information remains at a high level. cognitive processes in a person of mature age are slower than in a young person. The transition of a person in old age is accompanied by changes in its cognitive sphere, depends on many factors and manifests itself in different ways, all objective physiological factors affect the cognitive sphere, before the destruction of brain cells.

In the process of aging, there is a deterioration in most sensory functions (visual, auditory sensitivity, etc.), the nature and extent of which can vary greatly from person to person, depending on individual characteristics and activities that they have been engaged in during their lives. Old people perceive and retain less information, memorize verbal material more slowly than young people. They remember only the information that is important to them. Mechanical memory deteriorates with age. Weakening of long-term memory. Logical memory functions at a high level in old age. At the stage of old age, the cognitive sphere undergoes transformations, intellectual functions are weakened. Deterioration of the functioning of the central nervous system. A decrease in cognitive functions can also be caused by Alzheimer's disease, the first symptom of which is forgetfulness.

The dynamics of intellectual activity in old age is influenced by objective (heredity, which predetermines most diseases) and subjective (physical, social, psychological) factors. So, in the period of old age there is a decrease in the intellectual activity of a person. This is due to the deterioration of sensory functions, physical, social and psychological factors. It contributes to the maintenance of active intellectual activity of the elderly, its active life position, creativity and reading.

Diagnosis of cognitive processes in adulthood. Cognitive sphere during aging

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Features of the development of cognitive processes at different stages of development (thinking)

1.6.8 Old age