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SUMMARIES
URGENT ISSUES
IN DEVELOPMENTAL AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
(to the VI-th Congress of the USSR
Society of psychologists)
A. A. Bodaliov
The state
of affairs in Soviet developmental and educational psychology has been reviewed
at the VI Congress of the USSR Society of psychologists with particular
interest to its practical role in development of the new man and in
organization of his life in accordance with the principles of Communist
morality. Among the most urgent the following issues have been mentioned. More
attention should be given to the problem of age-long division into periods of
the process of psychological development. The study of personality based on
research of laws and mechanisms of such complicated psychological structures as
values, needs, and interests, abilities and dispositions, character, etc., must
be intensified. Psychologists should take more active part in development of
psychological bases of educational work, in increasing efficiency of teaching
and educational practices. To achieve these aims professional efforts of
psychologists must be better coordinated, and provided with mechanisms of
immediate check-up of their applicability (one such mechanism is the system of
psychological consultation which is being developed recently on a widening
scale).
RESEARCH CONNECTED WITH INTRODUCTION
OF ELECTRONIC-COMPUTATIONAL ENGINEERING, MICROPROCESSOR ENGINEERING, AND PROGRAMMING
INTO SCHOOL PRACTICE
S. G. Shapovalenko
A complex
scientific-research program is suggested with the view to prepare all the
parties concerned for efficient and smooth introduction of modern electronic
technology into teaching practices at the mass school. Particular practical and
theoretical tasks and goals are discussed, as well as technical means recommended
for use in the classroom.
THE CONCEPT OF MEANING SYSTEMS IN
EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOSEMANTICS
A. G. Shmeliov
The
notion of meaning is conceptualized on the basis of the activity approach to
description of psychological phenomena. Understanding of meaning in
neo-behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and in the methodology of the activity
approach are made explicit and compared. For the author meaning is a
representational unit which performs in man's mind the function of
representation of specific correspondences between objects, motives and
intentional operations. When taken as an analytical unit the category of
meaning makes it possible to describe in the same time plane and to
interconnect two aspects of psychological analysis: representational and behavioral.
Realization
of the systems approach in experimental psychosemantics
results in transformation of the concept of isolated meanings into the concept
of meaning systems, the latter being a hierarchical, dynamic and
multidimensional entity open to influences from functional components of
activity (motives, goals, operational and object contents, etc.).
MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN A PRE-SCHOOL
CHILD
Ye. V. Subbotsky
The moral
act is theoretically analyzed as a complex phenomenon, its form and content are
abstracted, experimental methods of studying moral acts differing in form and
contents are briefly presented, and an experimental phenomenon of dissociation
of verbal and real behavior is described in sufficient detail. Three stages in
ontogenetic development of moral behavior in schoolchildren have been revealed
on the basis of empirical data. Ethnopsychological
data have been used in order to show that the last of the revealed stages is a
relatively recent historical development and signifies appearance of a new stage
in cultural-historical development of the moral behavior.
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SPECIFICITY
OF MORAL REQUIREMENTS AND ESTIMATION OF AGE-PEERS IN PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN
S. G. Yakobson, R. A. Kurbanov
Study of
54 6-7 years old children has revealed that a child's objectivity in moral
estimation of his age-peer is influenced by personal concern in results of the
act of the latter. The same factor effects the content
of claims to each other when a norm has been violated.
BEHAVIOR OF YOUNGER SCHOOLCHILDREN
IN COLLECTIVE SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
G. A. Zukerman, N. E. Fokina
Observation
of interactions between third-class schoolchildren engaged in common school
work has revealed that shared operations demanding from the child to take into
account positions of his co-actors, are directed not
so much at the corresponding object as at the conditions and methods of
performance. Common school work has revealed that shared operations demand favourable conditions for development in them
of reflectivity — a major new psychological formation at this age period.
LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING SENTENCES,
AND WAYS TO REVEAL THEM
M. Ya. Mikulinskaya
Analysis
of symbolic models is suggested by the author as an objective diagnostic method
for establishing the level of understanding sentences and the scope of
theoretical knowledge about the sentences and the ideas they contain. A
training course delivered to children in Russian and Georgian schools proved
highly efficient for developing the ability to profoundly understand sentences.
STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPAREDNESS
OF
U. V. Uliyenkova
Early
prediction of poor learning progress in six-year old children attending special
correction groups in kindergartens is considered. Principles to be used in
design of diagnostical procedures, as well as
deficiency-specific methods of educational work with such children are
described.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRECTION OF
DEFECTIVE SELF-REGULATION IN RETARDED CHILDREN
Ya. Beder
Ability
for self-regulation is assumed to be closely connected with development of
speech. Some modifications in inter- and intrapsychological
development of individuals with disturbed ability for speech communication are
considered. An educational principle is underlined which states that interpsychological deficiences
must be corrected by means of correction of interpersonal relations through
activation of social functions within corresponding children's collectives. In
order to improve capacity of a child for self-regulation the teacher must try
to increase capacity for self-regulation of the collective in general.
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF
DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING ACTIVITY OF SCHOOLCHILDREN
E. Olkinuora
Non-clinical
causes of poor progress in development of cognitive abilities and in learning
activity of schoolchildren have been studied. It is assumed that retarded
intellectual development and lagging behind at school is basically a result of
initially defective system of communication with adults. Such communication
causes deformation of the motivational sphere in the child and developes in him inadequate attitudes to learning
situations (the latter are products of the mechanism of psychological defense
activated in order to decrease the level of neuroticity).
However positive changes in communication with such children
may result in improved behavior, in elimination of defense mechanisms, and
—finally — in increased level of intellectual development and better marks at
school.
HOW SHOULD ONE TAKE COMPLAINTS OF THE
KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN
A. G. Ruzskaya, L. N. Abramova
Psychological
nature and types of complaints typical of preschool children are described.
Concrete recommendations are given as to how adults should take and respond to children's
complaints.
CONSTANCY AND FUNCTIONAL LABILITY
OF PERCEPTION
A. I. Mirakian
Unlike
traditional treatment of the constancy problem the constant/non-constant
perception of values is regarded by the author as an immediate-sensual
perceptual process consisting of successive microacts,
which generate opposite anisotropic relations between compared values. Further
transformations of these relations result either in constant or non-constant
perception, as well as in perception of depth, of the inter-object distance,
etc., — i.e. in the functional lability in perception
of spatial relations between objects.
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CONCERNING
STRUCTURALLY OF TEXTS
G. A. Smirnov
Reduction
of a text to a system of meanings in accordance with particular goals of
communication is an important stage in its meaningful procession. Processes of
analysis of substructures of the initial text by meanings and of their further
stage-by-stage and level-by-level integration by categories have been
experimentally revealed.
A PHENOMENON OF COMPENSATORY
DISCRIMINATION
K. V. Bardin, T. P. Gorbachiova, V. A. Sadov, N. V. Tszen
It has
been shown that whenever an observer finds it impossible to differentiate
stimuli by loudness he can develop in himself an ability to differentiate them
by certain complementary subjective features. Efficiency of performance at that
significantly increases and reaches a statistically significant level as
compared with the differentiation by loudness.
EFFECT OF THE METHOD OF INDICATION OF
THE EVALUATION MARK BY A CONTROLLING-TEACHING DEVICE ON THE EFFECIENCY OF
LEARNING
I. M. Starikov
Experimental
data have been obtained which show that whenever a pupil working with a
controlling-teaching device is provided with running indication of his marks,
and therefore is capable of deducing how his particular actions influence the
total result, efficiency of instruction is considerabley
increased.
GROUP: PSYCHOLOGY AND ETYMOLOGY
A. I. Dontsov
An
attempt has been made to show specificity of the psychological approach to the
study of small social groups. Etymology and transformations of the meaning of the
term "group" in main European languages in XVIII—XIX centuries is
presented. A conclusion is made that study of mechanisms of generation,
reproduction, and development of groups' psychological wholeness constitute
primary goal of psychological analyses of social communities.
NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE
VISUAL-PICTORIAL THINKING
T. Sh. Gagoshidze,
Ye. D. Khomskaya
Brain
mechanisms of the visual-pictorial thinking involved in performing tasks
requiring mental manipulation of three-dimensional geometric bodies (and in
particular role of temporal areas of the right and left hemispheres in the
organization of corresponding thinking operations) have been studied.
Dominance
of the right hemisphere has been established which is likely connected with the
fact that simultaneous synthesis of the incoming information mainly takes place
there. Correlation between particular errors in performance and different
neuropsychological symptoms of disturbed visual-spatial functions has also been
established.
PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF THE
LANGUAGE SENSE
M. M.
Gokhlerner, H. W. Eyger
Language
sensitivity is discussed as a control mechanism providing linguistic
"correctness" of speech. Physical basis of the mechanism can be
described as a "nervous model" comprised of verbal elements,
responsible for comparison of speech signals. Emotional component of the
reaction to "incorrectness" is a variant of the intellectual emotion
of "novelty". The intuitive character of reaction to
"incorrectness" is expressed in globality
of recognition without discoursive analysis. The
authors define ways of formation of language sensitivity in the process of
studying foreign languages and outline problems for investigation.
ON THE SPEED OF FORGETTING
V. N.
Lange
A
conceptual model of forgetting based on a probabilistic approach is suggested:
l-l0 exp (-kt), where l0 is the
initial amount of information, and l — its value after the passage of time t.
The model is in good agreement with experimental data. Analysis of literature
enables the author to establish values of the parameter k-|dl/(ldt)| interpreted as the relative speed of information
loss, or "the speed of forgetting": for "neutral"
information its value is about 10-5 sec-1, for
emotionally charged information (a meaningful text) the speed of forgetting is
approximately 10 times less.
Some
ideas are presented concerning possible psychological means to increase the
strength of emotionally bright information.
ON THE NATURE
OF INCENTIVES
Ye. N. Bakanov,
V. A. Ivannikov
The term
"incentive" is used by the authors in the meaning of a dynamics of
behavioral acts. Analysis of a variety of experimental data obtained in foreign
and Soviet psychology enables the authors to conclude that the incentive
function belongs neither to a need nor to an object (stimulus) as such. It is
assumed therefore that incentives are brought, about by the uncertainty of
relations between the mode of activity an its
prospective results.