Stable period and crisis in development. The concept of crises and stable periods. Critical and crisis periods of development


Crises and stable periods

The child develops unevenly. There are relatively calm or stable periods, and there are so-called critical ones.

A crisis- a short period of time in ontogenesis, characterized by sharp psychological changes, associated with the transition to a new stage of development.

Eight age crises. Five of them are in childhood. In time, they are localized at the boundaries of stable ages and manifest as a neonatal crisis (up to 1 month), a crisis of one year, a crisis of 3 years, a crisis of 7 years, an adolescent crisis (11–12 years old) and a youth crisis. The sixth is characteristic of young adults. The seventh crisis is experienced at the age of forty (plus or minus two years). Eighth and final crisis life path experienced during aging.

Critical periods

Crises are discovered empirically, and not in turn, but in random order: 7, 3, 13, 1, 0. During critical periods, the child changes in a very short time as a whole, in the main personality traits. This is a revolutionary, stormy, impetuous course of events, both in terms of the pace and meaning of the changes taking place.

Critical periods are characterized by the following features:

· The boundaries separating the beginning and end of the crisis from adjacent periods are extremely indistinct. The crisis occurs imperceptibly, it is very difficult to determine the moment of its onset and end. A sharp aggravation (culmination) is observed in the middle of the crisis. At this time, the crisis reaches its climax.

· The difficulty of educating children during critical periods once served as the starting point for their empirical study. There is obstinacy, a drop in academic performance and performance, an increase in the number of conflicts with others. The inner life of the child at this time is associated with painful experiences.

The negative nature of development. It is noted that during crises, in contrast to stable periods, more destructive than creative work is done. The child does not so much acquire as loses from what was previously acquired. However, the emergence of the new in development necessarily means the death of the old. At the same time, during critical periods, constructive processes of development are also observed. Vygotsky called these acquisitions new formations.

Neoplasms of critical periods are of a transitional nature, that is, they do not persist in the form in which, for example, autonomous speech occurs in one-year-old children.

stable periods

During stable periods, the child accumulates quantitative changes, and not qualitative ones, as during critical ones. These changes accumulate slowly and imperceptibly.

Social Psychology

Methods of social psychology.

The whole set of methods can be divided into two large groups: research methods and methods of influence.

Research methods, in turn, methods of collecting information and methods of processing it differ.

Among the methods of collecting information should be mentioned: observation, study of documents, various kinds of surveys (questionnaires, interviews), various kinds of tests (including the most common sociometric test), and finally, experiment (both laboratory and natural).

Observation has several options. External observation is a way of collecting data about a person's behavior by directly observing him from the outside. Internal observation, or self-observation, is used when a research psychologist sets himself the task of studying a phenomenon of interest to him in the form in which it is directly represented in his mind. Internally perceiving the corresponding phenomenon, the psychologist, as it were, observes it (for example, his images, feelings, thoughts, experiences) or uses similar data communicated to him by other people who themselves conduct introspection on his instructions. Free observation does not have a predetermined framework, program, procedure for its implementation. It can change the subject or object of observation, its nature in the course of the observation itself, depending on the wishes of the observer. Standardized observation, in contrast, is predetermined and clearly limited in terms of what is observed. It is carried out according to a certain pre-thought-out program and strictly follows it, regardless of what happens in the process of observation with the object or the observer himself. When observation is included, the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process, the course of which he is observing. Third-party observation, unlike included observation, does not imply the observer's personal participation in the process he is studying.

Studying documents is of great importance, since with the help of this method it is possible to analyze the products of human activity.

Poll is a method in which a person answers a series of questions asked of him. Oral questioning is used in cases where it is desirable to observe the behavior and reactions of the person answering the questions. This type of survey allows you to penetrate deeper into the psychology of a person than a written one, but it requires special training, training and, as a rule, a large investment of time for research.

A written survey allows you to reach a larger number of people. Its most common form is a questionnaire. But its disadvantage is that, using the questionnaire, it is impossible to take into account the reactions of the respondent to the content of its questions in advance and, based on this, change them.

Free survey - a kind of oral or written survey, in which the list of questions asked and possible answers to them is not limited in advance to a certain framework. A survey of this type allows you to flexibly change the tactics of research, the content of the questions asked, and receive non-standard answers to them. In turn, a standardized survey, in which questions and the nature of possible answers to them are determined in advance and are usually limited to fairly narrow limits, is more economical in time and material costs than a free survey.

Tests are specialized methods of psychodiagnostic examination, using which you can get an accurate quantitative or qualitative characteristic of the phenomenon under study. Test options: a test questionnaire and a test task.

The test questionnaire is based on a system of pre-designed, carefully selected and tested questions in terms of their validity and reliability, the answers to which can be used to judge the psychological qualities of the subjects.

A test task involves assessing a person's behavior based on what he does. In tests of this type, the subject is offered a series special assignments, based on the results of which they judge the presence or absence and the degree of development of the studied quality.

Projective. Such tests are based on the projection mechanism, according to which a person tends to attribute unconscious personal qualities, especially shortcomings, to other people.

Experiment specifics as a method psychological research lies in the fact that an artificial situation is purposefully and thoughtfully created in it, in which the studied property is distinguished, manifested and evaluated in the best way. There are two main types of experiment: natural and laboratory. They differ from each other in that they allow us to study the behavior of people in conditions that are remote or close to reality. A natural experiment is organized and carried out in ordinary life conditions, where the experimenter practically does not interfere in the course of events, fixing them in the form in which they unfold on their own. A laboratory experiment involves creating some artificial situation in which the property under study can be best studied.

Age crises are the conventional name for transitional moments from one age stage to another. Sometimes these are called the negative result of the collision. developing personality with social reality. The mental development of a person is carried out through the change of stable and critical ages: within the framework of a stable age, mental neoplasms mature, which are actualized at a critical age. The very concept of "crisis" really means an acute situation for making some kind of decision, a turning point, a crucial moment.

A number of researchers consider age crises to be a normative process, a necessary element of socialization, due to logic. personal development and the need to resolve the main age contradiction (Z. Freud, E. Erickson, L. Vygotsky, L. Bozhovich). Other authors see age-related crises as a deviant, malignant manifestation. individual development(S.L. Rubenstein, A.V. Zaporozhets).

Age crises can be marked by significant mental discomfort, sometimes even endangering the survival of the organism. Such transitions can occur spontaneously, as in the case of a mid-life crisis. They can be caused by integrative psychotechnologies, participation in spiritual practice. The psychological transition to a higher level of well-being, clarity, and maturity is rarely smooth and painless. Rather, growth is usually marked by transitional periods of confusion and tormenting questions, or in extreme cases, periods of disorganization and utter despair. If these crises are successfully overcome, then a certain amount of disorganization and chaos can be a means of getting rid of limiting, obsolete life patterns. There is an opportunity to re-evaluate, "let loose" old beliefs, goals, identifications, lifestyle and adopt new, more promising life strategies. Therefore, a psychological crisis is physical and mental suffering, on the one hand, and transformation, development and personal growth, on the other.

During the transition from one age stage of development to another, critical periods, or crises, are distinguished, when the former form of a person’s relationship with the outside world is destroyed and a new system of relationships with the world and people is formed, which is accompanied by significant psychological difficulties for the person himself and his social environment. There are small crises (crisis of 1 year, crisis of 7 years, crisis of 17-18 years) and large crises (newborn crisis, crisis of 3 years, adolescent crisis of 13-14 years). During major crises, the relationship between the child and society is rebuilt. And small crises are outwardly calmer, associated with the growth of skills and independence of a person. During the critical phase, children are difficult to educate, show stubbornness, negativism, obstinacy, and disobedience. Maturity is also divided into a number of stages and crises. The stage of early maturity, or youth (from 20-23 years old to 30-33 years old), corresponds to the entry of a person into intensive personal life and professional activity, the period of "formation", self-affirmation of oneself in love, sex, career, family, society.

In mature years, their crisis periods stand out: the crisis of 33-35 years - when, having reached a certain social and marital status, a person begins to think with anxiety: “Is this really all that life can give me? Is there really nothing better? And some begin to feverishly change something in their lives: work, spouse, place of residence, hobbies, etc. Then comes a short period of stabilization from 35 to 40-43 years old, when a person consolidates everything that he has achieved, is confident in his professional mastery, in its authority, has an acceptable level of career success and material prosperity, health, position in the family, and sex are normalized.

After a period of stability comes a critical decade of 45-55 years, when a person begins to feel the approach of middle age, when the first signs of deterioration in health, loss of beauty and physical fitness, alienation in the family and in relationships with grown-up children appear, there comes a fear that nothing is better you will not get in life, in a career, in love; as a result, there is a feeling of fatigue from the boring reality, depressive moods, from which a person hides either in dreams of new love victories, or in real attempts to “prove his youth” through love affairs or a career take-off. The final period of maturity lasts from 55 to 65 years - a period of physiological and psychological balance, a decrease in sexual tension, a gradual withdrawal of a person from active work and social life. The age from 65 to 75 is referred to as the first old age. After 75 years, age is considered advanced - a person rethinks his whole life, realizes his "I" in spiritual thoughts about the years he has lived, and either accepts "his life as a unique destiny that does not need to be redone, or realizes that life went wrong, in vain .

In old age (old age), a person has to overcome three sub-crises: the first of them is the reassessment of his own "I" in addition to his professional role, which for many people until retirement remains the main one. The second sub-crisis is associated with the realization of the fact of deteriorating health and aging of the body, which makes it possible for a person to develop the necessary indifference in this regard.

As a result of the third sub-crisis, self-concern disappears in a person, and now he can accept the thought of death without horror.

Faced with death, a person goes through a series of stages. The first of these is the stage of denial. Thought: “No, not me!” - the most common and normal reaction of a person to the announcement of a fatal diagnosis. Then the stage of anger - anger, embracing the patient at the question: "Why me?" - is poured out on people who care about him and in general on every healthy person. To complete this stage, it is important that the dying person has the opportunity to pour his feelings outward.

The next stage of "bargaining": the patient tries to prolong his life, promising to be an obedient patient or an exemplary believer, he bargains for his life with the help of medical achievements and repentance before God for his sins and mistakes. These three phases constitute a period of crisis and develop in the order described or with frequent reversals.

After the resolution of this crisis, the dying person enters a stage of depression, he realizes: “Yes, this time it is I who will die,” withdraws into himself and often feels the need to cry at the thought of those whom he is forced to leave. This is the stage of preparatory sadness, at which the dying person renounces life and prepares to meet death, accepting it as his last life stage, and further and further separates from living people, withdrawing into himself - a state of “social death” sets in (from society, from people a person has already moved away, as if he had died in the social sense).

The fifth stage is the “acceptance of death”: a person realizes and agrees, resigns himself to the inevitability of imminent death and humbly waits for his end - this is the state of “mental death” (psychologically, a person has already, as it were, abandoned life). clinical death comes from the moment of cessation of the heart and breathing, but within 10-20 minutes by medical efforts it is still possible to bring a person back to life.

Brain death means complete cessation of activity brain and its control over various functions of the body, resulting in the death of brain cells. Physiological death corresponds to the extinction of the last functions of the body and the death of all body cells.

Some scientists argue that with the death of the body, the complete death of the soul, the human psyche does not occur, there is a hypothesis that the soul of a person in the form of an information clot after the death of a person continues to exist and connects with the global information field. The traditional materialistic understanding denies the possibility of preserving the soul, the psyche of a person after his death, although the latest studies of physicists, doctors, and psychologists are no longer so categorical.

Critical periods of child development

The development of the child is uneven. At some stages, changes in the child's psyche accumulate slowly and progressively (stable periods), at others they pass rapidly and rapidly (critical periods).

The sequence of development is determined by the alternation of stable and critical periods. Changes that are insignificant and hardly noticeable to the environment during long stable periods ultimately cause the appearance of age-related neoplasms due to qualitative leaps in development during crises.

During cr Isis baby over very a short time varies greatly in its basic features. This is a revolutionary, stormy, impetuous course of action both in terms of the pace and content of the changes that are taking place.

age crisis - a period in a person's life when, over a relatively short time (several months, a year), sharp and significant psychological shifts and personality changes appear, development acquires a stormy, impetuous, crisis character.

feature experience of crisis periods in people is that most often they become difficult to educate at this time, enter into acute conflicts experiencing painful, difficult experiences.

For different children, these periods can take place in different ways: more acute or less noticeable to others. This is due to the individual characteristics of children, with the type of temperament and the level of development of their emotional sphere, with the conditions of education. All boundaries of experiencing age-related crises are relatively conditional. This is also associated with the individual characteristics of children and the processes of acceleration, which have been especially clearly observed in recent years.

Critical periods are characterized by certain features:

    Their boundaries are extremely inexpressive, blurred. The crisis comes imperceptibly, it is very difficult to determine the moment of its beginning and end. A sharp exacerbation is observed only in the middle of this stage.

    The apogee of the crisis for the environment is determined in the change in the behavior of the child, it is difficult sleepiness. The child, as it were, gets out of the control of adults, becomes harmful, school performance falls rapidly and the ability to work decreases, the number of conflicts with others increases. The inner life is connected with painful experiences.

    Development during a crisis is predominantly negative character. Unlike the stable periods of development, there is more destructive than creative work going on here. The child not only acquires, but loses something of what was acquired earlier (let us recall that the emergence of the new in development necessarily determines the death of the old). At the same time, during critical periods, constructive development processes are observed, the appearance of neoplasms that are of a transitional nature and do not collect further in the same form.

Critical periods in the development of children:

    Crisis of the newborn (birth crisis).

    Crisis of the first year of life.

    Crisis of the third year of life.

    Crisis of the sixth (seventh) year of life.

    Crisis of eleven-thirteen years of life.

Let us consider the characteristic manifestations of the critical periods of a child's development in more detail, with respect to age characteristics:

    Crisis of the newborn

It appears during a period of acute life contradiction as a result of a sharp change in the conditions of the child's stay - the completion of the perinatal (prenatal) period and his birth, which is accompanied by a break in many organic and physiological bonds, a change in the environment, the environment.

Having physically separated from the mother, the child must adapt to completely different living conditions (get used to getting oxygen from the air, taking food from outside, digesting it, excreting substances that are unnecessary to the body, etc.). All this affects his general condition, increased sensitivity to various adverse conditions. Basics A common physical sign of a crisis is the baby's weight loss in the first days after birth.

Psychological problems associated with the child's adaptation to new environment and a different way of life, as well as with the peculiarities of the attitude of the mother, who previously perceived the child as part of her own "I" and is reorganized to perceive him as a separate human being.

    Crisis of the first year of life.

This crisis is characteristic of the first year of a child's life and is associated with the development of the environment and speech. If at first the baby's life was regulated biological system, it progressively comes into conflict with verbal situations that are created by adults. As a result, at the age of about a year, the child is left without reliable reference points in the environment: the biological components are already significantly deformed, and the linguistic components are not yet sufficiently formed so that the child can freely control his behavior with their help.

At the age of 15 months to 2 years, children show their character. Behavior is dominated an objection that manifests itself in the desire to do the opposite.

Attention parents!

You can not punish a child for behavior that naturally manifests itself in his need for knowledge and development. Remember that at this age, in order to develop the correct social guidelines and the full development of the emotional sphere of the child, it is very important to participate in the upbringing of both parents - father and mother.

The crisis of the first year is not considered acute. Establishing new relationships with the child, providing him with a certain independence within the permitted boundaries , patience and endurance of adults soften the nature of the crisis.

Tips for parents

    Create conditions for the child that will be safe in his knowledge of the environment: close the sockets; do not leave fire, matches available to him; Place hot dishes and drinks so that he cannot reach them and turn them over; don't leave him alone.

    Teach your child to use various household items - this will allow him to develop self-care skills and avoid problems using them for their intended purpose.

    Forbidding a child to do something, be sure to explain WHY.

    It is necessary that children understood the exactingness of parents to their behavior and the sequence of these requirements.

    Crisis of three years.

One of the consequences of the intensive development of joint activities child and adult at an early age is the formation of the image of one's own "I" - the central neoplasm that occurs at the end of this stage. The kid learns to separate himself from an adult, begins to treat himself as an independent person, that is, he develops initial forms self-awareness. Everything leads to the desire of the child to act independently, at least within the limits of his abilities, without the help of adults, which is primarily manifested in his words “I myself!” and the desire to do everything yourself. It is for those around him that he seems stubborn, harmful and self-willed. This period is considered critical in the first place because adults are faced with difficulties in relationships with the child.

At the heart of this crisis is an objective the contradiction between the new trend in the child's development towards self-satisfaction of their own needs and the requirements of the adult to preserve the previous style of relations and thereby limit the child's activity.

A clear cognitive (intellectual) symptomatology of approaching crisis is known:

    the child's keen interest in his image in the mirror;

    concern about what he looks like in the eyes of others;

    girls' interest in their outfits;

    boys' preoccupation with their own competence, for example, in design;

    acute reaction to failure;

    insisting on your choice.

Signs of the passage of the crisis of three years:

    Children's negativity. Manifested in unreasonable, stupid, stupid opposition of the child to any intervention of adults, resistance to external influence, defiant refusal to fulfill the requirements of adults. The child does not want to obey adults at all. Negativism should not be equated with disobedience. Negativism is based on a conscious unwillingness to listen to advice and adhere to certain rules.

    Children's obstinacy. One of the manifestations disobedience. It occurs in situations where the requirements of adults contradict the wishes of the child and intentions, as well as due to the lack of normal conditions for activity and satisfaction of natural needs. The child insists on his demand, on his own decision, because he begins to realize himself as a person and wants to be paid attention to this person. In fact, this is one of the ways of self-affirmation. Stubbornness should not be confused with perseverance, since it is based on conflict with others.

    Capriciousness. Close to negativism and obstinacy, but has a more generalized and impersonal character. This is a protest against the rules that exist at home. But the protest against what others are suggesting (for example, against a particular dress or shirt, leisure activity, proposed menu, etc.). It is often realized in hysterical forms: children fall to the floor, become stubborn, start crying and screaming, throw away the things offered to him, etc.

    Willfulness. The desire for emancipation from an adult. The child wants to be independent. This is a bit like the crisis of the first year, but then there was no desire for physical independence, and now we are talking about a deep level - independence of intentions, ideas. Self-will is self-will. That is, perseverance in one's choice, even if it is worse than what others offer.

    Adult devaluation. Can manifest itself in bezappel relational statements and open disregard. Parents experience a real shock when they hear from the child "fool" or something like that. But at the heart of such reactions is not dislike and disrespect for parents, but a lack of experience in identifying different emotional reactions, the ability to defend oneself and one's position in a different way.

    Protest riot. It manifests itself in open conflicts with parents in situations where the expectations of children do not coincide with the expectations of their parents, and they are forced to act exactly according to parental ideas. But not every child is capable of individual characteristics to open protest. Some use forms hidden protest, which can manifest itself in various harms and unwillingness to realize one's involvement in this.

Tips for parents

    Do not make excessive demands (always focus on the age and health of the child) and do not abuse prohibitions!

    Sufficiently realize the reasonable desires of the child - he needs:

a) to know the world;

b) develop self-service skills;

c) determine their own strengths and abilities.

    Correct the initiative and independence of the child in a productive way - find him an interesting and useful activity.

    Do not take the path of a direct fight against children's obstinacy, so as not to sharpen the attention of the child himself (this will form hostility in the relationship).

    Create situations for the child in which he himself could be convinced that his efforts are in vain.

    When talking to your child, keep the conversation calm.

    Do not rush to respond to the whim of the child. He must get used to a certain order of things and respect your authority.

    Let the child make his own choice: do not impose your one offer (dress, food, toy, game, etc.), but offer a choice of several (for example: “What would you like to eat for breakfast today: porridge or mashed potatoes?” or “Which of these dresses would you like to wear to kindergarten today?”). Then it will be her choice and there will be no reason for conflict.

    Teach your child to manage himself on the basis of perception and consciousness of acts of his behavior and its consequences.

    Contribute to the child's need to analyze the results of his activities, actions, relationships with other people. Invite him to discuss everything that and how he does, avoiding simple criticism and unambiguously negative assessments.

    Teach your child the rules of behavior and, in particular, the rules of respectful relations with parents.

    Show your own example of respectful and cultural behavior.

    Do not bring the relationship with the child to such a conflict when it is difficult for each of the parties to restrain their negative emotions.

    Remember that you are wiser and more experienced in life than children, that you love your child. This should be at the core of your parenting model.

    Stimulate the best intentions of the child, maintain his high self-esteem.

The desire of a child of this age for independence finds a productive solution in the form of play, so the crisis of three years is easier to overcome by involving the child in play activities.

The formation of the image of the child, his "I" - the concept occurs in communication: with a friendly attitude the needs for recognition and positive evaluation are satisfied, the child grows up calm and confident; negative communication experience provokes aggression and isolation, self-doubt and in their abilities.

    Crisis of six or seven years.

This crisis is transition period, which separates school childhood from primary school age. It is characterized by a loss of spontaneity and naivety, great stiffness of behavior, the ability to put oneself in the place of another, the ability to feel and take into account the emotional states of others. Along with negativism, the child's independence noticeably grows, the content of his life is enriched. : expanding interests, circle of friends and acquaintances, areas of activity.

Main features:

    violation of mental balance, instability of will, mood;

    loss of immediacy in behavior (internal experiences become noticeable in assessing desires and actions, the legitimacy or expediency of one's own actions);

    mannerism of behavior (trying to meet the expectations of adults, the child openly demonstrates even those positive qualities that are not characteristic of him);

    a symptom of "bitter candy" (the child feels bad, but he tries to hide it).

However, not all children of this age are able to restrain their feelings, know how to manage them. Having lost some forms of behavior, they have not yet mastered others. This brings difficulties in upbringing, the "closing" of children in themselves and the uncontrollability of their behavior.

If the crisis of three years was associated with awareness of oneself as an active subject in the world of objects, now the child begins to realize his place in the world. social relations, this fundamentally changes his samos awareness. The crisis of 7 years is the period of the birth of the social "I" of the child.

To kid it is necessary to enter into relations with society as a set of people who carry out obligatory, socially necessary and useful activities. This is expressed, first of all, in the desire of the child to go to school, to become a student. Everything related to learning comes to the fore, and everything related to the game becomes less important, although no less interesting.

Tips for parents

    Promote the expansion of forms of communication with the child, the development of his needs for dialogue communication as partners.

    Strive to establish trusting relationships, but do not be intrusive in this - find the necessary words and the right time for this and the mood of the child.

    Facilitate adequate expression of emotions: explain if the child does not know how to behave in situations of grief and joy; be generous in expressing your emotions in such situations.

    Help your child prepare for school: teach him writing, reading and writing, counting; train your fingers (special exercises , accustom to long and correct manipulations with a pencil and pen); compliance with the rules of conduct in different situations.

    Encourage the development of independence of the child: let him see things through to the end, even if he is not yet very good at it.

    Inspire faith in the child, in his abilities and possibilities.

    Crisis of eleven-thirteen years.

Breaking the old psychological structures, characteristic of this age, leads to a real explosion of defiance, arrogance, insolence, and insubordination. Characteristic for this period is a decrease in working capacity and academic performance.

Some psychologists believe that the main reason for such violent manifestations is that adults do not change their behavior in response to the emergence in adolescents of a desire for new, more adult forms of relationships with parents and teachers. Others see this crisis as a direct reflection of the process of puberty, little to do with the characteristics of education, while others believe that such a crisis is not a problem and most adolescents simply do not have it.

The main content and specific difference in the development of the crisis of this age period is the transition from childhood to adulthood, which is manifested in the social and sexual maturation of the child and is accompanied by a desire for complete independence, avoidance of adult control, increased interest in one's appearance and members of the opposite sex, exacerbated a sense of justice.

Symptoms of a teenage crisis:

    Decreased productivity learning activities (as well as opportunities to engage in it), even in those areas where the teenager is gifted. Regression is manifested when performing creative tasks, although the ability to perform mechanical tasks is preserved. This is due to the transition from concrete to logical thinking.

    Negativism. The teenager seems to be separated from his surroundings, becomes prone to quarrels, violations of discipline, experiencing at the same time internal anxiety, dissatisfaction, the desire for loneliness and self-isolation.

The behavior of a teenager during a crisis is not necessarily negative. Three options are possible:

    Negativism is pronounced in all spheres of life. This lasts from several weeks to cases when a teenager isolates himself from his family for a long time, is overly excited or, on the contrary, indifferent. Similar painful and acute manifestations of negativism are observed in 20% of adolescents.

    Approximately 60% of adolescents show yut negativism only in certain life situations, primarily as a reaction to the negative influence of the environment ( family conflicts depressing atmosphere at school).

    In 20% of adolescents, negativism in behavior does not manifest itself at all.

All this makes it possible to make the assumption that negativism is due to the shortcomings of the pedagogical approach.

It is interesting that parents and teachers associate the difficulties of education not with the crisis and not with the pre-crisis period, when the process of destruction of old psychological structures actually begins, but with the period after the crisis (14-15 years). This is explained primarily by the ineffectiveness of the old educational approaches in the new conditions and the inability to find others that would be more in line with this post-crisis period, the real interests and needs of children.

Tips for parents

    Expand the circle social roles teenager (son/daughter, grandson/granddaughter, relative, student, student, friend, peer, member of a children's organization, citizen, etc.), disclose their moral and ethical content.

    Create more role loads.

    Give more independence and responsibility.

    In their statements, actions, do not lose the authority of fair and reasonable parents.

    Try to be less critical of children and their actions.

    Switch the focused attention of adolescents to their own appearance to attention to the internal state.

    Help the child develop adequate self-esteem.

    To create conditions for self-education and self-education of the child, certainty to inclinations and professional tastes.

    To promote the spiritual development of the individual, the consolidation of moral and ethical standards and rules of conduct.

The child develops unevenly. There are periods of relatively calm, or stable, and there are so-called critical.

Critical periods

Crises are discovered empirically, and not in turn, but in random order: 7, 3, 13, 1, 0. During critical periods, the child changes in a very short time as a whole, in the main personality traits. This is a revolutionary, stormy, impetuous course of events, both in terms of the pace and meaning of the changes taking place. Critical periods are characterized by the following features:

    The boundaries separating the beginning and end of the crisis from adjacent periods are extremely indistinct. The crisis occurs imperceptibly, it is very difficult to determine the moment of its onset and end. A sharp aggravation (culmination) is observed in the middle of the crisis. At this time, the crisis reaches its climax.

    The difficulty of educating children during critical periods once served as the starting point for their empirical study. There is obstinacy, a drop in academic performance and performance, an increase in the number of conflicts with others. The inner life of the child at this time is associated with painful experiences.

    The negative nature of development. It is noted that during crises, in contrast to stable periods, more destructive than creative work is done. The child does not so much acquire as loses from what was previously acquired. However, the emergence of the new in development necessarily means the death of the old. At the same time, during critical periods, constructive processes of development are also observed. Vygotsky called these acquisitions neoplasms.

Neoplasms of critical periods are of a transitional nature, that is, they do not persist in the form in which, for example, autonomous speech occurs in one-year-old children (see below).

stable periods

During stable periods, the child accumulates quantitative changes, and not qualitative ones, as during critical ones. These changes accumulate slowly and imperceptibly.

The sequence of development is determined by the alternation of stable and critical periods.

Development dynamics

    By the beginning of each period, a unique relationship of the child with the surrounding reality is formed - social development situation.

    It naturally determines his way of life, which leads to the emergence neoplasms.

    Neoplasms entail a new structure of the child's consciousness, a change in relationships.

    Consequently, the social situation of development is changing. There comes a critical period associated with this.

sensitive periods

Each child is sensitive to certain influences, to mastering reality and developing abilities in different periods. Sensitive periods are associated, firstly, with the leading activity, and secondly, with the actualization of certain basic needs at each age.

Zone of Proximal Development

The interaction of the child with the social environment is not a factor, but a source of development. In other words, everything that a child learns must be given to him by the people around him. At the same time, it is important that training (in the broadest sense) proceed ahead of schedule. The child has a certain level of actual development (for example, he can solve a problem on his own, without the help of an adult) and a level of potential development, that is, in cooperation with an adult.

Zone of Proximal Development- this is what a child is capable of, but cannot do without the help of adults. All training is based on the principle of taking into account the zone of proximal development, ahead of actual development.

1) A certain indistinctness of the boundaries of the beginning and end, a pronounced climax of the crisis (associated with the mobility of age boundaries), i.e. the crisis arises and ends imperceptibly, but the middle is a sharp aggravation.

2) The child changes in general in a short time.

3) Difficulty in education of the child, external and internal conflict.

4) The negative nature of development - in the foreground - the withering away of what has already been formed at the previous stage (for example, a drop in academic performance). Behind the negative traits is the positive development of the personality. Neoplasms occur. For example, at the age of 3, “uncontrollability” leads to the formation of independence.

5) Internal confusion, reassessment of others and yourself.

Modern researchers define crisis as the acquisition of experience of overcoming.

6. Mobility of age limits.

7. Levels of mental development cannot be measured by permanent methods, they must be correlated with the requirements that society imposes on mental development.

8. Neither the environment nor heredity can influence the mental development of a person outside of her own activity.

9. Individualization age development:

individual timing of the onset of age,

The sensitivity of individual influences for a particular individual is different,

The tempo, the rhythm of approaching maturity is different,

There are individual options for combining the individual, the subject of activity and the personality.

10. Unevenness of individual aspects of mental development.

11. Heterochronism - discrepancy between physical maturity and social or civil or mental performance.

For example, acceleration- the process of accelerating the development of children.

Reasons for acceleration:

Radio wave oscillations (especially during the years of the creation of the first radio), the first explosions atomic bombs(especially in 1945), change in diet, change radiation background Land, development of means of transport and communication, urbanization of the population.

Acceleration caused the following problems:

Rise in juvenile delinquency

Change state standards furniture,

early birth,

Problems of training and education,

Problems of education of families among minors.

Groups of children according to the level of mental development:

Gifted, talented - about 5%,

With normal mental development,

with mental retardation,

Mentally retarded children, children with sensory defects, children with mental developmental disabilities -15-20%

Causes of mental retardation:

Transferred organic diseases of the central nervous system not associated with deep brain damage,

Violation of the activity of the analyzer, speech disorder,

Unfavorable socio-psychological conditions in toddlers and early preschool age.

Features of the cognitive sphere of children with mental retardation:

1) limited scope of perception and attention,

2) everyone suffers types of thinking,

3) the main method of memorization is cramming,

4) extreme instability of attention, poor concentration,

5) poverty of speech,

6) poverty of thinking, especially verbal-logical,

7) immaturity of will, emotions, low skill of self-control,

8) underdevelopment of motor skills,

9) increased exhaustion of the nervous system leads to low performance.

Psychology of a normally developing child: cheerfulness, cheerfulness, infrequent and short tears, calm, sufficient sleep and appetite, daily noticeable mental success,

early affects the child's independence in games, pastime, tightly closed lips, straight eyebrows, etc.

Characteristics of gifted children :

the child feels the difference with other children,

beautiful memory,

ability to focus for a long time

he chooses an occupation for himself, and does not accept the proposals of adults,

tall intelligence level,

eloquence, the ability to clearly express one's thoughts,

personal independence.

12. Mental development is determined by the social situation of development.

The social situation of development is a peculiar, specific for a given age, an exclusive, unique and inimitable relationship between the child and the reality surrounding him, primarily social (specific for each age) - or the relationship of the child to society.

Or - this is a special position of the child in the system of relations accepted in a given society, which is determined by the social environment.

Or is it a special combination internal processes development and external conditions, typical for each age stage.

Breaking the social situation is a critical period in the development of the child.

13. Typical development is influenced by leading activities, which determines the emergence of new mental formations inherent in a given age (Leontiev A.N.)

The leading type of activity of the child - determines the greatest success in the development of his cognitive processes - this type of activity, which has a predominant effect on the development and formation of all personality traits of the child and his cognitive abilities, is typical for this age ..

The leading type of communication - within the framework of which the main positive personality traits are best and fastest formed and consolidated.

With age, the leading activities and communication of the child change, their diversity and total number increase.

The development of children occurs simultaneously in many activities.

and communication.

The system of interconnected types of leading activities and forms of communication is a mechanism for changing leading activities (Elkonin D.B.):

1. Emotionally direct communication - communication of a child with adults, carried out outside of joint objective activity in the period from birth to one year.

2. Object-manipulative activity - the activity of a young child from one to three years old with a variety of toys and surrounding objects that is not in full accordance with their socio-cultural purpose and without active interaction with adults.

3. Role-playing game - a combination of game activity with communication, imitating a certain social situation and its characteristic forms role behavior participants. It is typical for preschool children from 3 to 6-7 years old.

4 Educational and cognitive activity - a combination of educational activities and interpersonal communication, dominant in primary school age ranging from 6-7 to 10-11 years.

5. Professional and personal communication - a combination of communication on personal topics and joint group activities of interest, serving as a means of preparing children for future professional work in adolescence, from 10-11 to 14-15 years old.

6. Moral and personal communication - communication on intimate and personal topics in senior school age, from 14-15 to 16-17 years old.

When a child transitions to more high step development, the former types of communication and activities characteristic of it do not disappear - new ones are added to the previously formed types of activity and communication, and at the same time, an age-related qualitative restructuring of each type of activity and communication takes place.

14. Emerging mental neoplasms are constantly becoming more complex.

neoplasm- mental education that appears in certain age periods.

New qualitatively original psychological formations characteristic of a certain age.

Real neoplasms may not match the passport age

Socialization is the process of transforming a biological being into human personality- the process of personality formation in certain social conditions, the process of assimilation of social experience by a person, during which a person transforms social experience into his own values ​​and orientations, selectively introduces into his system of behavior those norms and patterns of behavior that are accepted in society or a group.

Stages of socialization:

1. The primary stage of socialization or the stage of adaptation - from birth to adolescence - the child learns social experience uncritically, adapts, adapts, imitates.

2. The stage of individualization - there is a desire to distinguish oneself from others, a critical attitude towards social norms of behavior. In adolescence, the stage of individualization, self-determination "The World and I" is characterized as an intermediate socialization, because. still unstable in the outlook and character of a teenager. Adolescence is characterized as a stable conceptual socialization, when stable personality traits are developed.

3. Stage of integration - there is a desire to find one's place in society, "fit into society." Integration goes well if the properties of a person are accepted by the group, society. If not accepted, then the following outcomes are possible:

Preservation of one's dissimilarity and the appearance of aggressive interactions with others,

Changing yourself in order to "become" like everyone else,

Appearance of conformism, external conciliation, adaptation.

4. The labor stage of socialization covers the entire period of a person's maturity, the entire period of his labor activity when a person not only assimilates social experience, but also reproduces it by actively influencing the environment through his activity.

5. The post-labor stage of socialization considers old age as an age that makes a significant contribution to the reproduction of social experience, to the process of transferring it to new generations.

DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS:

Awareness of one's identity is infancy,

Awareness of one's "I" as an active active principle - 3 years.

Awareness of one's mental properties and qualities - junior schoolchild, teenager,

Awareness of social and moral qualities and norms of behavior - early youth

LEVELS (ZONES) OF DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO L.S. VYGOTSKY:

level ( zone ) current development- characterizes the present features of the child's mental functions that have developed today - i.e. this is what a child can do on his own, without the help of an adult,

level ( zone) of proximal development- the child is unable to solve something with the help of adults

3.4. Periodization of mental development.

There are different points of view on the age periodization of human development. Any periodization is conditional, and notices social, physical and mental (qualitative) changes,

For example, there were the following periodizations:

1. periodization based on the processes of mental development and other processes associated with mental development,

2. only one side was taken as the basis of periodization child development, 3. Periodization was based on an essential feature of children's mental development - it has an internal character, reflecting the mental state of development.

4. Domestic psychologists (Vygotsky L.S., Blonsky, Elkonin D.B., Davydov) determined the following provisions for age periodization:

About the stage of age development change for all historical

epochs are the same

About each age period must be studied taking into account the previous period,

O mental development is a dynamic process, the main condition of which is cooperation with other people,

About the basis of age periodization - the criteria for neoplasm, leading activity, social situation of development.

So, childhood, covering the period of time from the birth of a child to graduation from school, according to age physical classification is divided into the following seven periods:

1. Infancy : from birth to 1 year of age.

2. Early childhood : from 1 year of life to 3 years.

3. Junior and Intermediate preschool age: from 3 to 4-5 years,

4. Senior preschool age: from 4-5 to 6-7 years.

5. Junior school age: from 6-7 to 10-11 years old.

6. Teenage years(or secondary school): from 10-11 to 13-14 years.

7. Early adolescence(or senior school): from 13-14 to 16-17 years old.

Each of these periods has features and boundaries. Each psychological age requires its own style of communication with children, the use of special techniques and methods of training and education,

The whole process of child development as a whole can be divided into three stages: preschool childhood(from birth to 6-7 years),

primary school age(from 6-7 to 10-11 years old, from 1 to 4-5 grades of the school), middle and high school age(from 10-11 to 16-17 years old, from 5 to 11 grades of the school).

So, any periodization has 2 pronounced sharp transitions.

The first is the transition from early childhood to preschool, known as the “crisis of three years”,

The second is the transition from primary school age to adolescence, known as the "crisis of adolescence" or "crisis of puberty." .

They always mark the child's transition from one level of development to another, the success of which depends on how successfully the crisis is overcome.

There are generally accepted definitions of concepts: development, maturation, formation, mental development, age, types of ages, etc.

AT domestic psychology the main patterns of human mental development are determined.

AT modern research great attention are given to children with an abnormal rate of mental development (gifted children, children with mental retardation, etc.). The conditions, causes of lagging or acceleration of development, as well as possible ways of correcting the developmental delay are determined.

In domestic psychology, the periodization of the age development of a person is generally accepted, based on the following provisions: leading activity, the social situation of development and neoplasms.

The transition from one age to another can be critical and lytic. In domestic psychology, a definition of a crisis (critical period) is given and some ways of smoothing out the features of the crisis are determined.

test questions

1. What are the sources and driving forces of human development?

2. What are the factors of human development?

3. What is mental deprivation? How can this phenomenon be avoided?

4. Name the types of deprivation.

5. What are the main patterns of human development?

6. What are the main provisions of the generally accepted periodization of human age development?

7. Why does the main periodization stop at adolescence?

8. What is the difference between the periodizations of L.S. Vygotsky, D.B. Elysonin, Blonsky and A.V. Petrovsky?

9. Give a description of ages based on the generally accepted division of age development.

The main thing in a person is the beginning. Not childhood, but the beginning. These are the thoughts of the father, the mood of the mother, these are large or small co-existences that occur at the moment when life is born.

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