The concept of “leading activity”. Change in the type of leading activity at different stages of ontogenesis.

Definition and age periodization

The term “leading activity” was introduced into psychology by Vygotsky. This concept began to be understood as such activity, the development of which leads to the formation of the main psychological new formations at a given stage of personality development. For example, for a preschooler, role-playing game turns out to be the most important. With the transition to the next stage of psychological development, the leading activity changes, as the child develops new needs.

On this basis, an age periodization was compiled. It outlines the following stages:

Infancy. Up to one year old, infants need emotional communication with adults.
Children 1-3 years old. The leading type of activity at an early age is actions with objects.
Preschool childhood. Role-playing games come to the fore for children aged 3-7 years.
Younger schoolchildren (from 7 to 11 years old) are involved in educational activities.
For teenagers from 11 to 15 years old, personal communication with friends becomes extremely important.
Boys and girls aged 15-18 are busy with professional self-determination.

Structure and types of leading activities

There are three signs by which a leading activity can be determined:

leading activity contributes to the emergence of new actions for the child, which he masters over time;
thanks to it, the formation and restructuring of individual functions of the psyche of a growing person occurs;
Visible personality changes depend on it.

The mental development of a child is determined by the appropriate type of leading activity. A change in its types means a transition from one stage of development to another, more advanced one.

The stages of human mental development from infancy to senior preschool age are characterized by a certain triune structure of leading activity:

persisting – moved from the previous stage;
immediate – characteristic of the current stage;
nascent - one that is just beginning to develop and will be the leader at the next stage.

Developmental psychology identifies the following types of leading activities at different stages:

direct emotional communication between the child and the adults around him (from 0 to 1 year);
object-manipulative (from one to 3 years);
play (from 3 to 7 years).

For younger schoolchildren (6-11 years old), educational activities are a priority, and for adolescents 11-15 years old, communication is the priority.

Let us take a closer look at the most significant age period for further human development, from 0 to 7 years.

Characteristics of leading activities

Leontyev and Elkonin were engaged in in-depth study of developmental psychology. They emphasize that at all stages of development, the child is involved in various types of activities (communication, work, study, etc.). Personal preference certainly plays a role too. However, the most significant developmental effect on children is exerted by activities leading for a given age. In the process of practicing it, the child:

mental processes are restructured;
new psychological characteristics develop;
other types of activities are being formed.

Let's consider the listed characteristics in more detail. Thus, the leading type of activity at an early age (1-3 years) is object-based activity. Toddlers learn to manipulate toys and real things around them. As a result of this, sensory standards and intelligence are formed in the form of visual and effective thinking. The child learns to place a small cube on a large one and insert a prism into the corresponding hole in the sorter.

By studying the purpose of objects, the child interacts with an adult. Gestures and emotional exclamations are no longer enough to convey information. This leads to the appearance of an important new formation - active speech.

The leading type of activity at an early age is the basis for the emergence of self-awareness. The child begins to separate the result of his actions with objects from the result of the actions of other family members. This is how the idea of oneself as a separate person is formed. All this leads to a crisis of 3 years.

In the course of manipulations with toys and objects, playful and productive (drawing, designing, modeling) types of activities are gradually formed. The prerequisites are being created for the transition to the next age stage.

Leading activities in early youth

The young man is faced with the task of self- determination, choosing his life path as a task of paramount vital importance. The choice of profession becomes the psychological center of a young man’s development situation , creating in him a unique internal position. This uniqueness lies in the fact that high school students are people facing the future, and the whole present appears for them in the light of this basic orientation of the individual.

Studying in early youth is considered not as mastering the fundamentals of science, but as familiarity with possible areas of professional activity. Accordingly, there is a division of educational interests, a more in-depth study of one subject compared to another. The leading activity is educational and professional activity, which has its own characteristics:

1) wider creation of learning situations with a pronounced focus on the future;

2) purposeful and systematic involvement of students in the independent transformation of educational tasks.

An increase in interest in learning in early adolescence is due to the fact that a new motivational structure for learning is taking shape. High school students themselves first of all point to such motives as further continuation of education, the conviction of the need for learning for their development, that is, the leading place is occupied by motives associated with self-determination and preparation for independent life. These motives acquire personal meaning and become effective.

A high place in the motivational structure is occupied by such broad social motives as the desire to benefit society and the belief in the practical significance of science for society. The motives underlying the learning activity itself, as well as their interest in the content and process of learning, retain their strength.

The change in leading activity that occurs in early adolescence is radical: communication with peers is replaced by the stage of professional self-determination , which requires such a level of mental, spiritual and civic maturity, without which a person cannot become a full member of society and its public institutions.

High school students already have a firm determination when choosing a profession, although there are also hesitations. This happens when several professions are liked at the same time, there is a conflict between inclinations and abilities, between the ideal in choosing professions and real prospects. A student wants to enter a university, but his academic performance is low, or if the student is interested in one thing, his parents advise him to do something else, or his friends advise him to do something else.

The process of choosing a profession involves high activity of the individual. Since the situation of choosing a profession is characterized by multidimensionality, in order to correctly (adequately) choose a profession, a young man has to do a lot of internal work. He needs to analyze his resources, the requirements of his chosen profession, recognize potential inconsistencies and assess the possibility or impossibility of correcting these inconsistencies.

Professional orientation plays an important role in choosing a profession. E. I. Golovakha believes that the professional orientation of students should be organically linked to their life prospects and value orientations. It should not be limited directly to the professional sphere, but always focus on the most important life goals of young people.

Vocational guidance is a complex psychological problem. It includes knowledge of the personality characteristics and, above all, the abilities of a young man who is guided in choosing a profession. The formation of abilities must be carried out taking into account the individual uniqueness of the person, i.e. internal conditions of development, along with taking into account external conditions (subject and micro social environment).

To form a coherent and realistic life perspective, it is necessary to acquaint boys and girls with specific examples of successful and unsuccessful life paths associated with the choice of a particular profession. Particularly important is knowledge of future working conditions, which occupy one of the leading positions in the system of youth requirements for their future profession. In career guidance work, it is important to take into account not only the rational aspects associated with determining life goals and plans, but also the emotional characteristics of the individual. In early adolescence, in order to organize successful self-determination, it is necessary to acquaint students with the psychological characteristics of professions, i.e. with the requirements that apply to attention, observation, thinking, will, character and other psychological characteristics of a person in a particular profession. It is important to acquaint them with what aspects of personality are formed in a particular activity.

professional consultation is very important - this is part of the vocational guidance system, aimed at studying a person’s abilities, giving him recommendations regarding the choice of profession and corrective formation of required, but insufficiently developed abilities. There are three stages in professional consultation : preparatory , final and clarifying . Preparatory professional consultation is conducted in the family and at school and has two goals: first, to study the dynamic functional structure of the student’s personality and his abilities; secondly, to form insufficiently developed personality traits, her interests, abilities and vocation as a whole. The final professional consultation aims to help the young man choose a future path in life in accordance with his abilities. Clarifying professional consultation goes beyond the scope of the tasks of a comprehensive school and is carried out in vocational schools.

4. Major neoplasms in early adolescence

Within the leading type of activity, the main new formations of early youth are formed - professional and personal self-determination, worldview, system of value orientations and social attitudes.

Professional self-determination in adolescence is a preliminary choice of profession . The different activities are sorted and oriented in terms of the youth's interests, then in terms of his abilities, and finally in terms of his value system.

Value aspects , both public (awareness of the social value of a particular profession) and personal (awareness of what the individual wants for himself), are more generalized and usually mature and are recognized later than interests and abilities. Interest in a subject stimulates a high school student to study it more, this develops his abilities, and identifying abilities, in turn, reinforces interest.

Early adolescence is a period of significant growth in social activity . Boys and girls are not just interested in events in domestic and international life, but they themselves want to be active participants. Social activity of high school students has its own psychological characteristics. The romanticism characteristic of this age encourages young people to take on big things.

In early adolescence, the formation of a complex system of social attitudes is completed, and it concerns all components of attitudes: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. But the period of early adolescence is characterized by great contradictions, internal inconsistency and variability of many social attitudes.

Early adolescence is a decisive age for the formation of a worldview . The first indicator of the development of a worldview is the growth of cognitive interest in the most general principles of the universe, the universal laws of nature and human existence.

The worldviews of early youth are usually very contradictory. Serious, deep judgments are strangely intertwined with naive, childish ones. A young man can, without noticing it, radically change his position during the same conversation, equally ardently and categorically defend directly opposite views that are incompatible with each other. But this is a normal property of early youth. Worldview search includes the social orientation of the individual , i.e. awareness of oneself as an element of a social community, choice of one’s future social position and ways to achieve it.

The central place in the development of a worldview is occupied by the solution of fundamental social and moral problems, most often grouped around the question of the meaning of life . In fact, the young man is looking for an answer to how to fill his own life with socially significant content. The formation of a worldview and value orientations, self-determination and self-education of a person presupposes his participation in serious socially and personally significant activities, ensuring not only the formation of moral norms, but also the formation of appropriate behavioral habits.

Needs of a baby 1-3 years old

A young child is entirely dependent on an adult. He cannot satisfy his needs on his own. In addition, the baby needs the love and attention of its parents and communication with them. But at the same time, the baby can do a lot himself. He walks confidently and is able to pick up things he couldn’t reach before. He develops a desire for independence.

The contradiction that has arisen is resolved through the leading type of activity at an early age. Briefly, it can be described as the practical joint interaction of a baby and an adult with objects.

Babies begin to explore toys and things at about 6 months. They shake the rattle, knock it, press buttons, feel it with their hands and lick it. These actions are aimed at studying the physical properties of an object. At an early age, the child is more interested in its purpose. However, a baby cannot learn the correct actions with objects without the help of an adult. He does not have enough experience to independently understand the purpose of a pencil, spoon or comb. A leading activity at an early age is the opportunity to partner with mom or dad.

An adult acts as a mentor who shows socially developed methods of action, but does not carry them out for a fee. A situation of business communication is created. The baby, on the one hand, receives the necessary attention, and on the other, learns to act independently.

Material on the topic: “Age characteristics of adolescence”

Age characteristics of adolescence

(15-18 years old)

Social development situation

The social situation of development is characterized primarily by the fact that a senior student is on the verge of entering an independent life. He will have to enter the path of work and determine his place in life. In this regard, the requirements for a high school student and the conditions in which his formation as an individual takes place are changing: he must be prepared for work; to family life; to fulfill civic duties (I. S. Kon, 1982).

At the center of the psychological development of a high school student is professional self-determination.

The fundamental difference between the position of a senior school student is that he

is turned to the future and the whole present appears for him in the light of the main orientation of his personality. The choice of a further life path, self-determination, becomes the emotional center of the life situation around which all activities, all interests begin to revolve (L. I. Bozhovich).

The attitude towards school is changing - it is becoming more pragmatic.

Despite their continued attachment to their school, high school students are even ready to change it if another school has better conditions to prepare for future professional activity.

The search for a life partner and like-minded people becomes important, the need for cooperation with people increases, connections with one’s social group become stronger, and a feeling of intimacy with certain people appears.

The period of adolescence is characterized by the presence of a crisis, the essence of which is the gap, the divergence of the educational system and the system of growing up.

Early youth —

this is the establishment of psychological independence in all areas: in moral judgments, political views, actions.

their feelings and intimate relationships, the search for meaning and a way of life, the experience of loneliness, the choice of profession —

Here is a range of the most significant problems at this age.

Adolescence, compared to adolescence, is characterized by an increase in the level of self-control and self-regulation.

Nevertheless, during this period, a growing person is still characterized by variability of mood with transitions from unbridled joy to despondency and a combination of a number of polar qualities that appear alternately.

There appears a special sensitivity to others’ assessment of one’s appearance, abilities, skills and, at the same time, excessive criticality in relation to others: vulnerability coexists with amazing callousness, painful shyness —

with swagger, the desire to be recognized and appreciated by others
-
with emphasized independence, the fight against authorities
-
with the deification of random idols, sensual fantasy
-
with dry philosophizing (A. E. Lichko).

Leading activity

The leading activity in adolescence is
cognitive.
At high school age, the connection between cognitive and educational interests becomes constant and strong. There is greater selectivity in academic subjects and, at the same time, an interest in solving the most general cognitive problems and in clarifying their ideological and moral value.

The attitude towards the mark also changes.

Marking as the main motivating motive for learning, which is of decisive importance right up to adolescence, is now losing its motivating power
-
the older student stops studying “for the mark”; knowledge itself is important to him, which largely ensures the future.

There is a need to understand oneself and the environment, to find the meaning of what is happening and one’s own existence. Therefore, students of this age rarely listen to the teacher indifferently. They either stop listening altogether if they are not interested, or they listen emotionally and intensely.

Thus, in high school, students’ thinking acquires a personal, emotional character.

It is no coincidence that at this age interest in fiction and philosophical literature increases.

The personal nature of a senior schoolchild’s thinking is due to the fact that during this period a generalized idea of oneself, understanding and experiencing one’s “I”, one’s individuality, one’s personality is formed.

At the age of 16, one’s own (far from ideal, but really effective) style of educational work is already determined. Therefore, the teacher should not strictly regulate the learning process, on the contrary —

it is advisable to provide greater independence. The formation of educational skills should be focused on the student’s personality.

The educational activities of high school students are determined by a complex set of motives:

broad social motives (to win a place in life, to gain the approval of others, to prepare for a future profession);
motives coming from the educational activity itself (interest in knowledge, pleasure from the intellectual work done);
motives that are not directly related to learning, but have some relation to it (reward, punishment, competing needs and desires);
motives of a negative order (fatigue, boredom, difficulty of the material, lack of comfort in relationships with the teacher or students).

In high school, relationships between teachers and students are positive and productive when they are built on the basis of respect for each other. In relationships with the teacher, adequacy and adherence to role positions are valued: familiarity, as well as authoritarianism, is unacceptable; high school students look for an older friend and mentor in the teacher.

The breadth of intellectual interests is often combined with scatteredness, lack of system and method. Many young men tend to exaggerate the level of their knowledge.

The development of abstract logical thinking marks the emergence of only a new intellectual quality and a corresponding need for knowledge. The guys are ready to argue for hours about abstract subjects about which they know nothing.

Central neoplasms

The central psychological new formations of adolescence are professional self-determination and worldview.

Choice of profession —

This is not only the choice of this or that professional activity, but also the choice of life path as a whole, the search for a certain place in society, the final inclusion of oneself in the life of the social whole (L. S. Vygotsky). In high school, there is a close relationship between the professional intentions of schoolchildren and their interpersonal relationships: subgroups among students in the class are reorganized according to the principle of the same or similar future profession (Psychology of a developing personality / Edited by A. V. Petrovsky, M., 1987).

Under the influence of the need for self-determination and on the basis of the psychological characteristics that emerged in adolescence, girls and boys begin to comprehend both their experience and the experience of others in general moral categories, and develop their own moral views. They become freer from the imperatives of both external influences and their own immediate internal motivations, and act in accordance with consciously set goals and consciously made decisions. From a person subordinate to circumstances, they gradually turn into a leader of these circumstances, a person who often creates the environment himself and actively transforms it.

Early adolescence is the period of formation of life plans.

From a dream and an ideal, as a deliberately unattainable model, a more or less realistic, reality-oriented plan of activity gradually emerges.

Psychological features of age

The central psychological process in youthful self-awareness is the formation of personal identity, a sense of individual self-identity, continuity and unity (E. Erikson).

Peer relationships

In early adolescence, a person has an inherent need for communication:

intensive physical and mental development leads to increased interest in the world and activities;
the need for new experience, knowledge and security increases: comfortable communication with people, the need for acceptance and recognition.

Communication in the lives of older schoolchildren not only occupies a huge place, but also represents an independent value for them. Communication time increases —

3-4 hours on weekdays, 7-9 hours on weekends and holidays. Geography and social space are expanding: among the closest friends of high school students are students from other schools, students, military personnel, and working people.

A phenomenon appears, which in psychology is called “expectation of communication,” which is expressed in the very search for it, in constant readiness for contacts. At the same time, there is high selectivity in friendships and maximum demands in the dyad.

However, with a pronounced desire to communicate with another person, the main need that is satisfied here is to share one’s own

experiences.
There is little interest in the experiences of others. Hence the
mutual tension in relationships and dissatisfaction with them.

Communication with peers is extremely important for personality development at this age for the following reasons:

First, communication with peers —

this is a specific channel of information through which relevant knowledge comes, not supplied by parents.
In particular ,
on issues of gender, the absence of which can delay psychosexual development and give it an unhealthy character.

Secondly, this is a specific type of interpersonal relationship, where joint activity (game, communication, work) develops the necessary skills of social interaction. Here they learn to defend their rights, understand their responsibilities, and relate personal interests to public ones. Outside a society of peers, where relationships are fundamentally built “on equal terms” and status must be earned, a person fails to develop certain “adult” qualities.

Thirdly, this is a specific type of emotional contact, which gives a feeling of well-being and stability, solidarity and mutual assistance and therefore facilitates the process of forming personal sovereignty and socio-psychological adaptation to the adult world! (I.S. Kon).

Communication with peers satisfies not only the need for affiliation (the need for belonging to a community, inclusion in a group), but also the need for isolation. The phenomenon of the inviolability of one’s personal space is being formed, expressed in the desire to “be alone, dream, wander around the city, and then return to the guys.” In general, communication between boys and girls is friendly and selective; many of them are characterized by high conformity due to the fact that the fragile “I” needs a strong “We”.

Along with the development of friendly relationships with peers at this age, the concept of friendship acquires special value. One of the main functions of youthful friendship is to maintain the self-esteem of the individual.

Moreover, friendship acts as a unique form of psychotherapy, emotional support, as a result of which life positions are strengthened. A typical manifestation of friendly psychotherapy is telephone conversations. Every parent can confirm, if they are attentive, how their daughter’s mood changes from talking “about nothing.” This empty talk is psychologically more important than any meaningful conversation at this age.

Relationships with adults

Relationships with adults are difficult. High school students consider it important for themselves to communicate with adults and parents.

Among the topics that are desirable in communication with them:

choosing a future profession;
relationships with others;
educational affairs;
moral issues;
about yourself and your past, present and future (various aspects of self-determination).

However there is one amendment —

Communication with an adult is valued only if it has a confidential form.
The reality is this: communication with peers is confidential in 88% of cases, with parents -
in 29%, mainly with mothers.

Lack of trusting relationships with adults, including teachers, at this age —

one of the main reasons for the anxiety experienced by high school students.
For them, interference in personal affairs from the outside is intolerable, much less coercion
, but they will be grateful for tactful help.

There are three types of situations that are sources of anxiety at this age:

1) situations related to school, communication with teachers;

2) situations that update ideas about oneself;

3) communication situations.

Research shows that there is a dependence of personal anxiety on age: by the 10th-11th grade the level of anxiety increases. In addition, a direct relationship has been identified between parenting style and the level of anxiety. Thus, the most stressful parenting styles are:

lack of positive interest from the mother;
mother's directiveness when imposing guilt on the child;
father's hostility;
inconsistency in education.

Thus, with a pronounced desire for independence, a deep connection with parents and the need for psychological support on their part remains.

We work with parents in the following areas:

1) formation in parents of an attitude towards the child as an individual with strengths and all the necessary opportunities for a decent life;

2) increasing in the eyes of parents the value of communication with their children, the implementation of interested interactions;

3) formation of a system of skills that ensure partnership interaction with children.

Equally relevant is working with schoolchildren on the problems of their relationships with parents and developing constructive communication skills.

The most difficult for this age are:

situations in which you need to provide support yourself, as well as accept support and sympathy from other people;
situations related to the ability to respond to offending, provoking behavior and the ability to respond to unfair criticism.

Attitude towards yourself

The main psychological acquisition of early youth —

discovering the value of your inner world. The outside world begins to be perceived through oneself.

The ability for self-analysis and the need to systematize and generalize your knowledge about yourself develops. Boys and girls strive to better understand their character, their feelings, actions, and deeds. They often ask questions: “How to find out your character?”, “How to get rid of bad habits?”, “Can a person with poor health have a strong character?”, “What kind of person am I?” etc. The problem of self-education becomes urgent. Demands on yourself increase significantly and become more sustainable.

In youth, everyone inevitably has to adapt to physiological changes. Hormonal changes that accompany puberty lead to increased sexual experiences. Most young men are characterized by a sharp increase in sexual arousal. In girls, individual differences in this regard are quite significant. Some of them experience sexual sensations similar in intensity to those experienced by young men. For others, these sensations are more diffuse in nature and are closely related to the satisfaction of other needs, for example, self-motion, support, affection, love. There has been a significant increase in sexual behavior and interest in sexual issues.

Love

Love in youth —

a strong but not very long-lasting emotional experience, although sometimes it turns into a serious, permanent attachment.

Psychologists have discovered the following patterns in girls’ attitudes towards love:

1. Girls with high self-esteem do not strive to make their first love their last; their relationships with a man are shorter and less serious. The opposite picture —

their peers with low self-esteem.

2. Girls for whom the relationship between their parents is a model for their future marriage are much less likely to fall in love during their school years and less likely to strive for marriage before the age of 21. Girls who do not want to imitate their parents are much more likely to fall in love at this time.

3. High school girls living in a two-parent family are usually more realistic about love than those whose parents are divorced or one of them is dead

Youth depression

Experts in youth psychiatry believe that the age of 14-18 years is a critical period for the emergence of psychopathy. In addition, at this age, certain character traits are especially acute and accentuated. For example, strengthening of such properties as hyperthymia —

increased activity and excitability, which makes the young man indiscriminate in his choice of acquaintances, encourages him to get involved in risky enterprises.

The appearance of a depressive state is noted, which is produced by frequent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and self-deprecation. Adolescent depression is hidden behind ostentatious boredom, aggressiveness, restless behavior, hypochondria, whims or illicit behavior, even illegal acts. There are two types of depression at this age.

First —

it is indifference and a feeling of emptiness. At the same time, the state of health is such that there is a feeling that childhood is already over, and the person does not yet feel like an adult. This vacuum gives rise to increased excitability. This state is reminiscent of the feeling of grief for a lost person, so close that he is perceived as part of himself. This type of depression is the least durable and has a favorable outcome.

The second type of depression occurs due to a streak of life defeats. The high school student is trying his best to solve the assigned tasks and problems that have arisen, to achieve significant goals, but to no avail. Perhaps those around him cannot or do not want to understand what he wants and what support he needs. Then comes the realization that his or her potential capabilities are limited, and with it —

thoughts of suicide. Approximately 20% of people at this age think about suicide.

By the end of adolescence, a “crisis of isolation” comes to the fore, a feeling of isolation from the world, loneliness, which boys and girls are not always able to cope with on their own.

Development of subject activity

A small child does not immediately understand the purpose of toys and things around him. It all starts with the first phase of development of the leading type of activity. At an early age, these are any actions with objects arising from their properties. Pencils can be rolled, thrown, licked, or tapped like drumsticks. Children act as experimenters.

Then comes the second phase, when the child learns the true purpose of the object and uses it in the usual way. The kid takes a pencil when he wants to draw. And finally, the turn of the third phase comes. The child masters the free use of an object, while constantly remembering its main function. So, playing doctor, the baby can use a pencil instead of a thermometer.

Types of actions with objects

The leading type of activity in early childhood is the basis for the intellectual, speech and psychological development of the baby. Two types of actions with objects are of greatest importance: correlative and instrumental.

The goal of the former is to bring objects or their parts into predetermined spatial relationships. The child assembles a nesting doll, selects lids for jars, and puts parts into the holes. In doing so, he must take into account the sizes, shapes or colors of objects. It is impossible to master correlative actions without contact with an adult. The baby independently strings the rings of the pyramid in any order; he has not formed a reference pattern and the need to follow it. Playing together with your mother makes you want to assemble the toy correctly.

Tool actions suggest that the baby learns to handle an object in the way that is accepted in society. He must adapt his movements to the characteristic features of the thing (digging with a shovel, painting with a brush, wiping with a towel). Thus, the leading activity of a young child leads to the formation of elementary logic. Initially, the baby carries the spoon to his mouth along the shortest path, like a cookie or cracker. But over time, he realizes that this is how the soup is spilled. The spoon must be kept horizontal at all times. First, it is lifted up above the plate, and then brought to the lips.

Adult as a model

Elkonin studied the objective activities of children in detail. He paid special attention to instrumental actions, since through their development the socialization of the child occurs. In the development of the leading type of activity at an early age, according to Elkonin, two directions can be distinguished.

The first is the gradual mastery of one or another action with the help of an adult. First, the mother takes the baby's hands and helps him make the required movements. Then he is allowed to do some of the actions on his own. Subsequently, showing or verbal instructions from the parents is enough for the baby.

Without a model of action demonstrated by an adult, learning is impossible. Elkonin noted the following patterns:

A child learns to manipulate objects when an adult encourages him to do so by influencing his emotions. The main thing for the baby is to do something together with mom or dad, to imitate them. When an adult leaves the game, it can continue for a long time.
The baby initially grasps the general meaning of the action, and then its technical side is improved. So, a one-year-old child runs a comb over his hair without even touching it.
What is important for a child is not the final result, but the correct reproduction of the actions shown to adults. The pattern can be repeated after numerous attempts.
By performing actions, the baby mentally identifies himself with an adult.
Parents play several roles at once. They are role models, mentors, supervisors, and a source of moral support at the same time.

Second direction along Elkonin

Another direction in the scientist’s research is the study of the characteristics of children’s orientation in the area of mastered action. Elkonin examined in detail the three stages of formation of the leading type of activity at an early age. The psychology of the child is clearly visible at each stage, and the changes occurring in it are studied.

Thus, at the beginning of the first stage, the child manipulates an object, unaware of its purpose. Gradually he learns to perform the correct actions with it, but practical skills are not yet sufficiently developed. The baby understands that the spoon must be brought to the mouth, but cannot hold it horizontally. At the end of this stage, the child masters a specific way of acting with objects. A hard connection is established in his head. Children cannot use the studied item for other operations (drink from a cube, wipe the table with a handkerchief).

At the second stage of development, the child begins to reproduce mastered actions in non-standard situations. Transfer can be carried out to other objects (you can drink not only from a cup, but also from a glass) and situations (trying to dress a cat).

The third stage is marked by the appearance of game action. The child independently decides which operations are suitable for objects. He masters substitution. Now the cube can be an iron, a piece of bread, or soap. The candy will be replaced by a plasticine ball or pebble. In fact, kids are introduced to the first elementary symbols. This creates the preconditions for the development of imagination.

World of Psychology

The older the child, the more types of Activities he masters. But different types of Activities have different effects on development. The main changes in the development of mental functions and the child’s Personality that occur at each age stage are determined by the leading Activity.

Disciple and follower of L.S. Vygotsky A.N. Leontyev identified 3 signs of leading activity:

In the form of leading Activity, new types of Activity arise and differentiate.
In this Activity, individual mental functions are formed and restructured (in the game - creative imagination).
The changes in Personality observed at this time depend on it.

Any activity to which the child devotes a lot of time cannot become a leader.

The entire diversity of human activity can be reduced to three main types: work, learning and play. Each of these types of Activities appears at certain stages of life: play - preschool period; teaching - primary school age, adolescence, youth; labor – maturity and old age.

Infancy is direct emotional communication.

Early childhood - subject activity.

Preschool age is a game.

Junior school age - educational activities.

Adolescence is intimate-personal (Elkonin), socially useful.

Youth – educational and professional, search for the meaning of life, personal self-determination “Who am I?”

Leading Activity generates central new formations (Vygotsky).

This theory has received the most recognition. At the same time, some psychologists consider other aspects of Activity as determining factors of mental development. So Pozdnyakov believes that the main thing in development is search Activity, which from birth to 6 years is represented by Experimentation Activity. The problem with leading Activity is that not all psychologists agree that there is a leading Activity.

Petrovsky does not deny the importance of the leading Activity, however, he questions the idea of the rigid consolidation of any one leading Activity, primarily identified at each age stage. He believes that the composition of the leading activity depends on the social situation.

S.L. Rubinstein expresses doubts about the thesis about play as the leading form of Activity in the development of a preschool child: “...Is play Activity, which is undoubtedly included as an essential component in the lifestyle of a preschool child, the very basis of his way of life and does it ultimately determine the most the core of the child’s personality as a social being? Contrary to the generally accepted point of view, we are inclined, without, of course, denying the importance of play, to look for the components of his lifestyle that are decisive for the formation of the Personality as a social being in the non-playing everyday activities of the child, aimed at mastering the rules of behavior and inclusion in the life of the group.”

D.B. Elkonin in his book “Psychology of Game” gives this quote from S.L. Rubinstein, but does not discuss or refute it. In 1978 N.S. Leites wrote: “The approach to the problems of age-related development from the point of view of “leading Activity” is still applied in too general a form... As a result, insufficient attention is paid to those internal prerequisites for the uniqueness of Activity that distinguish each age period. Probably, the main thing is not so much the question of whether the Personality develops primarily in play, learning, communication or work... but rather in clarifying more specific psychopaths. characteristics of the Activity and the very properties of the Child’s Personality at different age stages.” These fair remarks were not taken into account for a long time and were not used to overcome the stereotypes of our thinking.

A.V. Petrovsky gave a critical analysis of it in 1984. Attitudes towards this concept gradually changed. Leontiev himself in his last and, essentially, final fundamental work “Activity. Consciousness. Personality” this idea is not only not traced, but does not appear at all. It only mentions the idea of D.B. Elkonin on the alternation of development phases.

In groups with different levels of development, the leaders, temporarily or permanently, are types of Activities that differ greatly in content, intensity and social value. This completely blurs the idea of the “leading type of Activity” as the basis for the periodization of Personality development.

The personality-forming principle at each age stage becomes a complex of interdependent activities, and not the dominance of one type of Activity, primarily responsible for the successful achievement of development goals. Meanwhile, for each individual, as a result of psychological analysis, a leading type of Activity inherent to him can be identified, which allows him to be distinguished from many others.

The general conclusion is that it is impossible to indicate one “leading type of Activity”, given once and for all, fixed for each age period. A.V. Petrovsky in 1984 proposed a psychological concept of Personality development and age periodization, considering the process of Personality development as subordinate to the pattern of unity of continuity and discontinuity. Continuity in the development of the Personality as a system expresses the relative stability of its transitions from one phase to another, in the reference community given to it. Discontinuity characterizes qualitative changes generated by the peculiarities of the inclusion of the Personality in new specific historical conditions.

Emergence of other activities

Through manipulations with objects, the baby becomes involved in new relationships. The leading activity of a young child creates the prerequisites for the emergence of:

Labor activity. The baby is interested in using a broom, wiping dust with a rag, watering flowers with a watering can, and making cookies from dough. Not all parents are ready to patiently teach their child these skills. If a child is removed from household chores, his self-esteem decreases and his motivation to work disappears.
Gaming activity. First, the child manipulates the toys, repeating the movements of the mother: feeding the bear, rocking the doll. He doesn’t depict anything yet, but simply copies. Gradually the imagination develops. By the age of 3, children are able to reproduce the real actions of adults with the help of toys and substitute objects. At the same time, during the game the child comes to an awareness of the role he plays (cook, mother, hairdresser, driver).
Productive activities (drawing, modeling). Initially, the baby simply explores the material, learns to scribble with a pencil, without trying to depict something meaningful. The turning point comes when he begins to guess real objects behind random shapes and lines. The kid first applies the strokes, and then joyfully looks for what happened. With the participation of an adult, he develops a desire to deliberately depict some light images.

Is everything so clear?

Most psychologists and teachers recognize the existence of a single leading type of activity at an early age. However, there are also opponents to this theory. They protest against generalization at any age. Leites pointed out that the concept does not take into account the personality of a particular child, his individual characteristics. Rubinstein, without denying the importance of games, named another important activity that determines the development of any preschooler: household activities. Imperceptibly, through everyday activities, the baby learns the rules of behavior and learns to communicate with peers.

Petrovsky doubted that it was possible to determine the leading type of activity of children. At an early age, they are especially susceptible to the influence of their environment. Therefore, different children may lead different types of activities depending on the level of development and social situation.

LECTURE No. 20. Change of leading activity

Activity

- these are processes that, realizing one or another relationship of a person to the world, meet a special need that corresponds to them.
These processes are characterized psychologically by the fact that what the given process as a whole is aimed at (its subject) always coincides with the objective thing that prompts the subject to this activity, i.e. with the motive. A. N. Leontyev
pointed out that an important psychological feature of activity is that a special class of mental experiences - emotions and feelings - is specifically associated with activity. These experiences do not depend on individual particular processes, but are always determined by the subject, course and fate of the activity in which they are part.

According to A. N. Leontyev, processes called actions differ from activity. Action

- this is a process whose motive does not coincide with its object (i.e., with what it is aimed at), but lies in the activity in which this action is included.

There is a peculiar relationship between activity and action. The motive of activity can, shifting, move to the object (goal) of action. As a result, action turns into activity. This point seems extremely important. It is in this way that new activities are born, new relationships to reality arise. This process precisely constitutes the specific psychological basis on which changes in leading activity arise and, consequently, transitions from one stage of development to another.

A change in leading activity serves as the basis for further changes characterizing the development of the child’s psyche. According to the conclusions of A. N. Leontiev, in order for an action to arise, it is necessary that its object (immediate goal) be recognized in its relation to the motive of the activity in which this action is included. The purpose of the same action can be perceived differently depending on the specific motive in connection with which it arises. This changes the meaning of the action for the subject. Let's assume that the child is busy preparing his homework and solving the problem assigned to him. He, of course, is aware of the purpose of his action. It consists in finding the required solution and writing it down. This is exactly what its action is aimed at. How is this goal recognized, i.e., what meaning does this action have for the child? To answer this question, you need to know what activity the child’s given action is included in or, what is the same, what the motive for this action is. Perhaps the motive here is to learn arithmetic; maybe it’s not to upset the teacher; maybe, finally, it’s just to get the opportunity to go play with friends. Objectively, in all these cases the goal remains the same: to solve a given problem. But the meaning of this action for the child will be different each time; therefore, his actions themselves will be psychologically different. Depending on what activity the action is included in, it receives one or another psychological characteristic. This is the basic law of the process of action development.

Awareness

– the child’s comprehension of the phenomena of reality occurs in connection with his activities. At each stage of a child’s development, it is limited by the range of his activity, which in turn depends on the leading relationship, on the leading activity that characterizes this stage as a whole. As A. N. Leontyev points out, we are talking here specifically about awareness, that is, about what personal meaning a given phenomenon has for a child, and not about his knowledge of this phenomenon.

According to A. N. Leontyev, the next group of changes observed in the process of child development are changes in the field of operations. Operations

is a way of performing an action. An operation is the necessary content of any action, but it is not identical with action. The same action can be carried out by different operations, and, conversely, the same operations sometimes carry out different actions. This is because while an action is determined by a goal, an operation depends on the conditions under which that goal is given. An operation is determined by a task, that is, a goal given under conditions that require a certain method of action. It is characteristic of the development of conscious operations that, as experimental studies show, every conscious operation is first formed as an action and cannot arise otherwise. Conscious operations are formed first as goal-directed processes, which only then can, in some cases, take on the form of an automated skill. In order to turn a child’s action into an operation, the child must be confronted with a new goal in which his given action will become a way of performing another action. In other words, what was the goal of a given action must turn into one of the conditions for the action required by the new goal. (Based on materials from A. N. Leontyev).

Raising a harmonious personality

Petrovsky insisted that the comprehensive development of a child cannot be achieved through one leading type of activity. At an early age, it is important to introduce the child to various spheres of human activity. Here is their list:

Object activity with toys. They can be composite (construction set, matryoshka, puzzle) or movable (spinning top, tumbler, machine).
Experimenting with sand, dough, water and other substances.
Communication with adults.
Games in a group of peers under the supervision and guidance of adults.
Self-service, formation of instrumental actions (eating with a spoon, sweeping with a broom, digging with a dustpan).
Fine art activities (appliqués, simple crafts, modeling, drawing).
Getting to know music through listening, singing, dancing. Kids are very fond of musical toys, many like classical works.
Perception of poems, fairy tales, looking at illustrations in books.
Physical activity (gymnastics, outdoor games, cycling, running bike, etc.)

The leading type of activity at an early age is a controversial concept. However, it is impossible to deny the fact that babies’ attention is directed to objects. It is no coincidence that pots, brooms, and daddy’s tools become favorite toys. The task of parents is to encourage children’s independence and patiently teach them the correct actions with objects. The intellectual and psychological development of your beloved child depends on this.

The role of activity. The concept of “leading activity”

A. N. Leontyev insisted that in studying the mental development of a child it is necessary, first of all, to proceed from the child’s place in the system of social relations and analysis of his activities [53]. Human development occurs in the form of appropriation of sociocultural experience, which requires the implementation of activities that are adequate, but not identical to the generic abilities crystallized in cultural objects. Activity

-
the driving force of development,
since it is in activity that a structure first arises, which, after going through the path of internalization, will become a mental function. Activity is understood as meaningful and objective, that is, associated with a system of social practice, meanings, and methods of action. The researcher showed that the emergence and development of mental processes is determined by the tasks of the activity, their place in the structure of the activity and the peculiarities of the organization of the activity.

The scientist introduces the concept of leading activity, based on the fact that a person at any age carries out not one, but several types of activity. Here the idea of systematicity, expressed by L. S. Vygotsky in relation to consciousness, “worked”. This idea was adopted and reworked by A. N. Leontyev in the form of a statement on the systematic nature of activities. He believed that life is not a mechanical combination of various types of activity. They are unequal in terms of mental development and attitude towards each other. Each age is characterized by a certain leading attitude of the child to reality at this stage, a leading type of activity, depending on the child’s place in the system

Lecture 10. The theory of child mental development in the activity approach “145

social relations and reflecting his achievements in development. On the other hand, leading activities are prescribed by society, which cultivates certain types of activities for each age stage. For example: the leading activity of preschool age is role-playing game. Society creates a toy industry. At primary school age, the leading activity is educational, designed, controlled and regulated by the state. True, not all types of activities are equally encouraged by society (for example, intimate and personal communication between a teenager and peers). The researcher believed that leading activity determines the child’s attitude to the world, as a kind of prism through which the child perceives the world and determines his social existence.

A. N. Leontiev identified three main signs of leading activity: new formations of mental processes (cognitive sphere); personality neoplasms; the emergence and development of new types of activities, one of which subsequently becomes leading. Figuratively speaking, leading activity gives life to new types of activity. The scientist identified a mechanism for the formation of new types of activity - a shift of motive to goal.

Subsequently, D. B. Elkonin developed the concept of leading activity, adding two more features.

The first sign: leading activity sets the leading type of relationship and form of communication with adults and peers for a given age stage. Each form of leading activity is associated with a certain form of communication.

□

At primary school age, the leading activity is educational. The relationship between a child and an adult is built according to the type: “you teach - I learn.” An adult is a bearer of social methods, knowledge, control, and evaluation. Therefore, the teacher’s assessment is indisputable. When moving to secondary school, the nature of communication between teacher and student changes: the child argues, appeals to his own opinion, to the opinion of his comrades. The change in communication reflects a change in leadership activity. It became the intimate and personal communication of the child with peers, and the content of the activity was the development of equal relationships.

The leading forms of communication for all age stages have not yet been identified. Of significant interest is the attempt to identify types of cooperation in the works of G. A. Tsukerman [97, 98].

146 ■ Developmental psychology. Lecture notes

Sign two: leading activity connects the child with those elements of the social environment that at a given age stage are the source of development. They set the ideal form that contains a sample of the future neoplasm.

This is a very important addition. The environment is indeed a source of development, but the child’s social environment itself does not fundamentally change for a long time. The child's sensitivity or sensitivity to different elements of the environment changes. This can be illustrated by the example of speech development. You address the phrase: “Oh, you, my little piggy” to a child under one or 5 years old. The reaction is different: one smiles, the other pouts. In the first case, the child is guided by a gentle intonation, and he will be happy whatever you call him. The preschooler is already guided by semantics, meaning becomes the leading one. The difference in orientation towards speech is determined by the leading activity, which sets sensitivity to different aspects of speech. Leading activity connects the child with environmental elements that are sources of development. This makes it possible to understand why, given a relatively constant environment, development leads to the formation of various neoplasms at different age stages. The leading activity changes - the sensitivity to various components of the environment changes. Activity determines what is important in the environment and what is secondary, what the child focuses on and what he interacts with.

A. V. Petrovsky made critical remarks regarding the concept of leading activity [71]. The first objection was that not only leading activity, but also other types of activity determine development. However, D. B. Elkonin himself, formulating the principle of development activity, pointed out that the cause of development is a system of activities

led by a presenter. The second objection was that with the transition to a new age level, leading activity does not automatically arise on its own. We emphasize: Elkonin argued that leading activity has a genesis, conditions of occurrence, stages of development and transformation. The scientist brilliantly showed the history of leading activity using the example of object-tool, play, and educational activities.

Leading activity is a concept that allows us to identify in the spectrum of activities that which expresses the typical characteristics of psychological age and determines the formation of key new formations.

Lecture 10. The theory of child mental development in the activity approach “147

The social environment is a heterogeneous (heterogeneous) formation, including the subject environment and the environment of social relations. Theories of mental development considered them separately, focusing either on the relationship “child - objective world” (Piaget’s theory) and, accordingly, the study of the development of intelligence, or on the relationship “child - adult (another person)” and, accordingly, on personality development (3. Freud, E. Erikson). Elkonin believed that the subject environment and the environment of social relations are interconnected. The essential side of an object is its social function, and social relations develop in the context of objective activity. The researcher tried to present these two spheres in relative unity; believing that at different age stages the child has a predominant orientation towards either the sphere of social relations or the sphere of objective relations. All types of activities can be conditionally divided into two groups of activities, where the child is predominantly oriented in the subject area, which determines the development of the cognitive operational and technical sphere at a faster pace; in social and interpersonal relationships, which determines the predominant development of the affective-need sphere of the individual.

This position formed the basis of the hypothesis of alternation of types of leading activity as uneven development (D. B. Elkonin), which determines the heterochronicity of development of the personal and cognitive spheres.

Lecture 11

Age problem

and age periodization

in a cultural-historical approach

11.1. Age periodization criteria

The problem of age is the problem of the nature of childhood and its periods, the question of whether they are eternal, unchanging manifestations of the biological nature of development or have a socio-historical character. There are two opposing positions in solving the age problem:

■ the sequence and content of childhood periods are innate and determined by heredity (the theory of nativism, two factors);

■ childhood has a socio-historical nature, new periods of childhood arise in connection with the development of social production and social relations (D. B. Elkonin).

The theoretical significance of age periodization is that it objectifies the idea of the causes of mental development. According to D. B. Elkonin, age periodization is the criterion by which the truth of a theory is checked. The practical significance of periodization is associated with solving the issue of optimal construction of a system of education and training.

L. S. Vygotsky in his work “The Problem of Age” gave an exhaustive critique of existing periodizations, which has not lost its significance today. The scientist formulated the principles and criteria for constructing scientific periodization, created a new theory of crises and proposed his own periodization. He divided all periodization schemes into three groups according to their theoretical foundations.

1. Correlation of the child’s mental development with another process. The criterion is a sign external to development (G.S. Hall’s periodization, based on the identification of educational levels).

2. Criterion - one sign abstracted from holistic development (3. Freud’s periodization based on psychosexual development, J. Piaget’s theory based on the development of intelligence, theory

_____________ Lecture 11. The problem of age and age periodization « 149

P. P. Blonsky based on the development of thinking or dentition). The disadvantages of such periodizations are the loss of the integrity of development, the loss of the indicativeness of the only characteristic underlying development.

3. Internal laws of the development process as the basis for periodization (A. Gesell - change in the pace of development).

L. S. Vygotsky, trying to implement the principle of taking into account internal patterns of development, proposed considering psychological age (the doctrine of the structure and dynamics of age) as a “unit” of development. Age structure - social situation of development and age-related neoplasms. Dynamics - alternation of crises and stable periods. The criteria for mental development are: formation of the HMF; changes in the systemic and semantic structure of consciousness; change in the social development situation; formation of psychological new formations. Periodization criteria are age-related psychological new formations and developmental dynamics (alternation of stable and critical ages). In this regard, a new positive understanding of crises is emerging.

The ideas of L. S. Vygotsky were further developed in the works of A. N. Leontyev, L. I. Bozhovich, D. B. Elkonin.

A. N. Leontyev [53] believed that periodization should be based on two criteria: the child’s place in the system of social relations; leading activity. Based on this, the researcher proposed the following periodization: infancy (0-1 year); pre-preschool age (2-3 years), leading activity - mastering elementary objective actions; preschool childhood (3-7 years), the leading activity is role-playing play; school childhood (7-17 years old) with educational activity as the leading one, including primary school age (7-12 years old), adolescence (12-15 years old), youth (15-17 years old). Speaking about crises, the author uses terminology that differs from that accepted in Vygotsky’s school, distinguishing between crises and turning points in development. By identifying the form of manifestation of crises and the crises themselves, he rejects the inevitability of crises, which, with proper, reasonably controlled education, may not exist. Turning points, qualitative shifts in development are necessary, and the crisis is evidence of a turning point that did not occur in time.

L.I. Bozhovich [12] based the periodization on two grounds: the social situation of development and personal new formations. She considered crises as a resolution of contradictions, possibly

150 ■ Developmental psychology. Lecture notes

declining in the course of the child’s mental development. The following table gives an idea of the periodization of L. I. Bozhovich (Table 5). It can be seen that in a number of cases the author did not provide a complete description of SSR and personal neoplasms.