The book by one of the classics of Russian psychology, P.Ya. Galperin, discusses issues that are significant not only for psychologists and philosophers, but sooner or later arise before every thinking, intelligent person.
The book is called “Introduction to Psychology” not only because the same name has the same name that forms the basis of this publication, one of the most important works of Pyotr Yakovlevich Galperin, which became a bibliographic rarity immediately after its publication more than 20 years ago and has never been reprinted since then , but has not lost any of its freshness and sharpness.
History of foreign psychology. Lyrics
The collection includes excerpts from original works by foreign psychologists. The state of foreign psychology in the 30-60s is critically analyzed. XX century, a description is given of its main directions (neo-behaviorism, cognitive psychology, psychoanalysis, neo-Freudianism, genetic psychology of J. Piaget) and problems that reveal fundamental methodological difficulties in their development and resolution.
The texts will introduce the evolution of psychological knowledge abroad in the period immediately adjacent to the modern one and will allow us to understand the state and main trends in the development of foreign psychological science.
Lectures on psychology
The reader is invited to publish a complete course of lectures on psychology, given by one of the classics of Russian psychology, Pyotr Yakovlevich Galperin, at Moscow State University.
In the "Lectures" for the first time, the author's original approach to many key issues in psychology is presented in a holistic form. What is the human psyche? How to find ways to objectively study human mental life? What are the grounds for classifying psychological processes? What can scientific psychology add to common sense and life experience in understanding human nature and interpreting the driving forces of his behavior?
Psychology as an objective science
This book of selected works of an outstanding psychologist includes his main works, which give an idea of the scientist’s system of general psychological views that influence the development of modern world psychology.
The book is intended for psychologists, teachers and students preparing for psychological and pedagogical activities.
Reader on the history of psychology. Period of open crisis
“Anthology on the history of psychology. The period of open crisis" contains articles and fragments of program projects of leading representatives of the main directions of foreign psychology - behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, the French sociological school and cultural-historical (“understanding”) psychology.
This edition includes a new section on the methodology of psychological research.
Four lectures on psychology
“Four Lectures on Psychology” presented to the reader’s attention contain the author’s presentation of one of the most famous parts of the psychological concept of P.Ya. Halperin - teachings about the systematic, step-by-step formation of mental actions and concepts.
Despite the fact that the teaching has become world famous, both students studying the disciplines of the psychological and pedagogical block, for whom the book is primarily intended, and experienced specialists in the field of psychology, pedagogy, semiotics and other disciplines will undoubtedly discover for themselves in the lectures a lot of new and useful things.
Experimental formation of attention
The proposed work is an experimental study of attention through its phased formation.
The theoretical basis of the experimental part of the work is the attention hypothesis put forward by P. Ya. Galperin back in 1958. The essence of this hypothesis is that attention is an ideal, shortened and automated form of control.
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MINSK INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
History of psychology
The theory of the gradual formation of mental actions
Peter Yakovlevich Galperin
1. Galperin Petr Ilyich. short biography
2. The theory of the gradual formation of mental actions P.Ya. Galperin
Bibliography
1. Galperin Petr Ilyich. short biography
Galperin Petr Ilyich is an outstanding Russian psychologist, Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1980). Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences in Psychology (1965), Professor (1967). Graduated from the Kharkov Medical Institute (1926). In 1926-1941. worked at the Kharkov Psychoneurological Academy, conducted pedagogical work in Kharkov and Donetsk (Stalino), actively participated in the work of the Kharkov group of psychologists (A.N. Leontiev, A.V. Zaporozhets, P.I. Zinchenko, L.I. Bozhovich, etc. .). In 1941-1943. - in the Red Army, head of the medical unit of the evacuation hospital (Sverdlovsk region). Since 1943 - at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov; Associate Professor, Professor (since 1966), Head. Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University (since 1971), consulting professor (since 1983).
Galperin is one of the leading Russian scientists in the field of general, developmental and educational psychology, the author of world-famous theories and approaches. Galperin put forward an original understanding of the subject of psychological research, the specifics of human mental development. Developing the worldview traditions of Russian psychology, Galperin cogently put forward and developed the position about the primacy of purposeful formation as the basic method of psychological research. The theory put forward of the systematic, stage-by-stage formation of human mental activity has gained worldwide fame. Within this theory, Galperin put forward and developed provisions about the types and properties of human actions, about the types of indicative basis of action and the corresponding types of teaching, and the scale of stage-by-stage formation. As theories of the second level, Pyotr Ilyich puts forward and experimentally substantiates the theory of linguistic consciousness, the theory of attention, and a number of other private psychological theories that are included in the golden fund of Russian science. Paying tribute to Galperin’s specific contribution to general, genetic, educational psychology, it is necessary to especially highlight the approach he formulated, unique in its internal integrity and systematicity, to the essence of mental phenomena and processes, to the mechanisms of their formation and development. The doctrine of the subject of psychology, the objective necessity of the psyche, the basic laws of its development in philo-anthropo- and ontogenesis, the laws of the formation of ideal actions, images and concepts as elements of mental activity - these are the main components of Halperin’s psychological concept. The desire to solve the fundamental issues of our science not with reductionist, but with psychological methods proper, and to study mental activity and its development objectively, is characteristic of all the scientific work of a psychologist.
Halperin created a psychological worldview that has no analogues in modern human science, not only opening up radically new perspectives for rethinking mental reality, but also providing a reliable basis for qualitatively improving teaching in various subjects at different age levels. Halperin's general psychological approach, the theories he put forward (and, above all, the theory of the systematic, step-by-step formation of human mental activity) have repeatedly become the subject of special symposiums and round tables at international and national congresses and conferences.
2. The theory of the gradual formation of mental actions
P.Ya. Galperin
Among psychological theories, the concept of P.Ya. Halperin occupies a special place, since it contains a deep analysis of the actual psychological properties of human action. P.Ya. Halperin came up with the hypothesis of the gradual formation of mental actions and concepts with given properties in the early 50s. The first mention of this hypothesis was made in his speech in 1952 in a debate at a meeting on the restructuring of psychological science. In 1953, a meeting on psychology was held in Moscow, at which Galperin made a report on the formation of mental actions. The provisions of the hypothesis he put forward were further generalized and deepened in the report “Types of orientation and types of formation of actions and concepts” (1958) and the article “Development of research on the formation of mental actions.”
Over the past half century, the theory of P.Ya. Halperina not only withstood the onslaught and withstood the struggle of opinions, but also transformed from a general scheme (a hypothesis, as the author himself called it at the beginning) into an original, fairly constructive theory of assimilation.
First of all, it should be pointed out that this is an activity theory of assimilation. The action, named in the works of A.N. Leontyev and S.L. Rubinstein as a unit of psychological analysis, performed this function for the first time in the theory under consideration. The action has a systemic structure, where elements of different psychological nature are linked into a single whole. Because of this, such a unit of analysis leads to a new taxonomy in psychology; for neither sensation, nor emotion, nor any other mental process (mental function) in itself, separately from others, is an action (activity). Simply renaming mental processes in activity (“memory activity,” “emotional activity,” etc.) not only does not implement the activity approach, but also interferes with its implementation. In this case, activity is understood not as an explanatory principle, but as an object of psychological study.
Action, as the simplest formation that preserves all the basic features of human activity, was subjected to comprehensive study by Halperin and his students and followers. First of all, the structure of the action was studied. In the works of A.N. Leontyev and S.L. Rubinstein's attention was focused only on the motivational-target aspect of actions. P.Ya. Halperin strongly emphasized the need to study all elements of the structure, including operating ones. Particular attention should be paid to the element that he first identified and called the indicative basis of action (IBA). Throughout all subsequent years of research, this element has always been in the foreground. A study of the content of OOD showed that it includes, firstly, knowledge (complete or incomplete) about the objective conditions for the successful execution of an action related to a given subject area. Secondly, the OOD includes information (also complete or incomplete) about the action itself: about the purpose, composition and sequence of execution of the operations included in it, etc.
The study of the features of OOD led to the identification of three types of indicative basis of action, each of which creates conditions for the formation of skills and abilities:
1) an incomplete indicative basis, in which the learner is given a sample of performing an action (how to do) and its final product (what to do), but essentially there are no instructions on the correctness of performing the action. This type of orientation is characteristic of conditions of insufficient initial cognition. It is also characteristic of unorganized, spontaneous learning (learning). The action formed on such an indicative basis develops according to the principle of trial and error. Empirically adapts to the correctness of only the final result. The action includes unnecessary operations, the result is unstable. The action itself is poorly transferred to changed conditions and lacks generalization;
2) completeness for individual samples, when instructions on the correct execution of the action are added, the material is analyzed in terms of its compliance with the action being performed. At the same time, trial and error in learning are already random. The operations of the action being formed are related to the conditions and are generalized to the intended extent. The result of the action is stable, the transfer to new conditions is established, but the knowledge formed on this indicative basis is empirical, i.e. in them there is no separation of the random, situational from the natural, essential. There is no real conceptuality in knowledge;
3) complete – systematic training is carried out in the analysis of new tasks, identifying reference points and conditions for their correct implementation. This orientation is to the basic units of material, to units of action and to the laws of their combination, to methods of isolating both. Students independently build an indicative basis for future action. Under this condition, the action is formed flexible, it is completely transferable, since the conditions of formation themselves are reasonable for students, i.e. are revealed in their internal structure. Knowledge is stable and conceptual. An indirect theoretical approach to things is formed, and the overall learning results do not essentially depend on the previous individual skills of the students.
According to the hypothesis of P.Ya. Galperin, mental actions are the result of the transformation of external material action into internal, the result of the transfer of external action to the plane of perception, ideas and concepts. During the transfer process, which is carried out in stages, changes in action occur in various directions, called parameters by the author. For each parameter, an action is characterized by one indicator; a combination of indicators for all parameters gives an idea of the state of the action as a whole. Halperin repeatedly emphasized that in order to form a full-fledged action, a strict sequence of working out the stages and, at each of them, the properties of the action is necessary. This sequence is due to the fact that each higher form is formed on the basis of the previous one. Research that began in the 50s and continues to this day confirms the correctness of the hypothesis he put forward.
Ideas about the mechanisms of formation of mental actions and concepts and their main characteristics (parameters) changed with the development of the theory. In our opinion, the scientific creativity of P.Ya. Galperin, from the point of view of the problem under consideration, can be conditionally divided into two periods: the 50s-70s and the 70s - the end of the 80s. Let us dwell on the characteristics of the first period.
Initially, Galperin identified four primary properties (parameters) of action: level of execution, measure of generalization, completeness of actually performed operations, measure of mastery. Let's look at them in more detail.
1. Level of action execution: the formation of a mental action begins in an external material (or materialized) form, then gradually through the external speech level and the level of “external speech to oneself” the action is transferred to the internal mental plane. Sometimes the author gave a different characteristic of the level of action from this one: “the level of tracking someone else’s action in the field of perception; the level of material action performed with material objects; level of action in “loud speech without objects”; level of action “in inner speech”. As for “tracing someone else’s action in the field of perception,” we are not talking about the perceptual execution of the action being formed, but about the use of an action that the subject already has.
2. Measure of generalization. Generalization, according to P.Ya. Halperin, is a means of distinguishing essential conditions of action from non-essential ones. “To generalize an action means to isolate from the diverse properties of its object exactly those properties that alone are needed to perform this action.”
3. Completeness of actually performed operations (expansion of action and its reduction). “To unfold an action means to show all its operations in their interconnection” [ibid.]. As the action is mastered, the operations are reduced and the action becomes minimized. The reduction occurs consciously or spontaneously. With a spontaneous contraction, the student does not understand why the operation can be skipped; conscious reduction provides the opportunity to return from reduced forms of action to earlier and fuller ones.
4. Measure of development. Mastering action, according to P.Ya. Halperin, has different degrees; the higher ones are manifested by automation. Without sufficient mastery of an earlier form of action, one cannot move on to the next one, but at the same time, excessive mastery is an obstacle to the transition to a new form.
Measures of generalization, completeness and mastery determine the quality of the action - it is higher, the greater the generalization, reduction and mastery of the action. Each specific state of action can be considered as a combination of indicators for four primary parameters. Based on the primary parameters, secondary ones are formed as a result of their combination. Initially, Halperin considered rationality and consciousness to be secondary properties of action.
The rationality of an action presupposes, firstly, its orientation towards essential properties and, secondly, its deployment. “If the unfolding of an action helps to highlight its objective connections, then the generalization of these connections psychologically means their purification from the inessential. Together they provide the “reasonableness” of an action, another expression of which is its “flexibility.”
Consciousness of action is achieved “by practicing intelligent action in “loud speech without objects.” Consciousness of an action presupposes the ability to give a complete and correct verbal expression of an action in the process of its execution. “When a rational action is torn away from things and transferred to the plane of loud speech, then it is the speech form that becomes the support of its implementation and the main subject of development.” The participation of speech in the course of mastering an action is a condition not only for its consciousness, but also for its volition.
The process of formation of mental actions, in accordance with the concept of P.Ya. Galperin, has the following stages:
The first stage is characterized by the formation of an indicative basis for future action. The main point of this stage is familiarization in practice with the composition of the future action, as well as with the requirements that it (the action) must ultimately meet.
The second stage of the formation of mental action is associated with its practical development, which is carried out using objects.
The third stage is associated with the continuation of mastering a given action, but without relying on real objects. At this stage, the action is transferred from the external, visual-figurative plane to the internal plane. The main feature of this stage is the use of external (loud) speech as a substitute for manipulating real objects. P.Ya. Halperin believed that the transfer of action to the speech plane means, first of all, the verbal performance of a certain objective action, and not its voicing.
At the fourth stage of mastering mental action, external speech is abandoned. The external speech execution of an action is transferred entirely to internal speech. A specific action is performed “to oneself.”
At the fifth stage, the action is performed entirely internally, with appropriate reductions and transformations, with the subsequent departure of the execution of this action from the sphere of consciousness (that is, constant control over its implementation) into the sphere of intellectual skills and abilities.
The development of a child’s thinking influences not only the simultaneous development of his speech, but also determines the development of other mental cognitive processes, including the development of ideas.
Halperin wrote: “Psychological evolution proceeds from extensive external action with particular objects to the most generalized, abbreviated and automated action, which is carried out in an ideal plan and with concepts as with new objects.” At the same time, he noted that the given sequence of action development is an “ideal construction”, which does not indicate the actual formation of the action, but only what should be present in a full-fledged action.
By the end of the 60s, the scheme for the formation of mental actions turned into a developed theory of the origin of specific mental processes and phenomena, confirmed by numerous experimental studies (L.I. Aidarova, G.A. Butkin, M.B. Volovich, I.A. Volodarskaya , L. S. Georgiev, M. M. Gokhlerner, A. N. Zhdan, I. P. Kaloshina, L. F. Obukhova, N. S. Pantina, A. I. Podolsky, Z. A. Reshetova, N L.G. Salmina, V.P. Sokhina, N.F. Talyzina, Kh.M. Teplenkaya, etc.). This was reflected in the dissertation work of P.Ya. Galperin “Main results of research on the problem of “formation of mental actions and concepts.” Theory P.Ya. Galperin allowed us to take a new approach to the problem of creativity and the problem of developmental education. The approach proposed by Galperin was successfully tested in the study of perceptual activities, as well as in the formation of various professional and production skills. The results of these studies not only experimentally confirmed the correctness of P.Ya. Galperin's initial scheme for the transition of external material actions into internal, ideal ones, but also significantly supplemented the original idea of this process. The initial scheme for the formation of mental actions has turned into a developed theory of the origin of specific mental processes and phenomena. Thus, the 60-70s turned out to be very fruitful for Halperin and his students. The theory developed, and with it ideas about the parameters of mental actions.
Galperin considers several other characteristics to be the primary parameters of mental actions: level of execution, completeness of links, differentiation, tempo and rhythm of action. It is of interest to highlight “differentiation”, since Halperin previously used the term “generalization”. Noteworthy is the fact that it is associated with “switching”: according to the author, differentiation creates the prerequisites for easy switching to different types of material, and subsequently to other actions. Halperin's synonym for switchability (or switchability) is flexibility. In the works of P.Ya. Halperin 60s. there is a definition of reasonableness as flexibility. Therefore, in this case we can say that differentiation is a condition for the formation of intelligent action. The author assigns a big role to flexibility. In archival materials P.Ya. Halperin in the early 70s, his very interesting discussions on the development of action were discovered. As is known, the selection of action mastery as a primary parameter was later criticized. And Galperin wrote back in 1966: “The last, fourth, parameter of action is its mastery (in any form and variety, which are obtained from a combination of different indicators of the previous parameters).” Turning to physical action, Halperin defined mastery as the discrepancy between the existing executive and orienting parts of the action at the same level. The executive part remains (although it changes in other parameters) at the same level, and the indicative part changes spontaneously or systematically: this is mainly looking ahead and the formation of higher units and recoding from perceptual control to control by agreement/mismatch (in other words, muscle control) . The end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s also included discussions about automation as the highest degree of mastery, which, according to Galperin, necessarily involves a reduction in: situation recognition to recognition, choice of action to recognition of tasks “by type”, control of execution to feeling (agreement/disagreement).
The most interesting, but at the same time least studied, are the ideas about the parameters of mental actions developed by Galperin in the 70-80s. It is known that he was preparing the second edition of the book “Introduction to Psychology,” which was supposed to be the result of his entire life. When filling out questionnaires, when asked about his type of activity, Pyotr Yakovlevich invariably answered: general psychology. And the future book was to be called “General Fundamentals of Psychology.” However, the manuscript of this book sets out in a generalized form both his general theoretical views and ideas about specific mechanisms for the formation of mental actions.
“For example, someone needs to be trained not to make certain grammatical errors. Those grammatical rules for which mistakes are made are written down on the cards. They are organized on the card in the order in which they should be applied to the written phrase. First, the student is required to read the first rule aloud and apply it to the phrase, then the second rule is read aloud, and so on until the end of the card. At the second stage, when the rules are memorized, you can put the card aside, but you should still say the rules out loud. The next stage involves pronouncing the rules to yourself when applying them. Finally, at the final stage, a person is able to apply the rules without saying them out loud, or to himself, and without even realizing them - in a collapsed and submerged form.”
Galperin psychologist theory mental action
Bibliography
1. Galperin Petr Yakovlevich: Obituary //Psychological Journal. – 1988. – T.9, No. 6. – P.164-165.
2. Golu P. The problem of internal motivation for learning and types of orientation in the subject: Cand. dis. – M., 1965.
3. Davydov V.V., Markova A.K. Formation of educational activities of schoolchildren. – M., 1982.
4. Zhdan A.N. History of psychology. From antiquity to modernity. – M.: Pedagogical Society of Russia, 1999. – P.411-414.
5. Educational psychology. Textbook for universities. – Vlados, 2006.
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Other publications by the author
- Galperin P.Ya., Danilova V.L. Education of systematic thinking in the process of solving small creative problems // Questions of psychology. 1980. No. 1
- Galperin P.Ya., Podolsky A.I. Positivism in the history of Russian philosophy and psychology // Questions of psychology. 1981. No. 6
- Galperin P.Ya., Kotik N.R. On the psychology of creative thinking // Questions of psychology. 1982. No. 5
- Galperin P.Ya. Origin and current state of cognitive psychology // Questions of psychology. 1983. No. 3
- Galperin P.Ya. Psychological study of early alcoholism // Questions of psychology. 1985. No. 5
- Galperin P.Ya. Theoretical and experimental study of the active nature of mental reflection // Questions of psychology. 1987. No. 2
- Galperin P.Ya. On the subject of psychology (Report at the meeting of the Moscow branch of the Society of Psychologists on November 23, 1970)
- Galperin P.Ya. Development of research on the formation of mental actions // Psychological science in the USSR. T. 1. M., 1959;
- Galperin P.Ya. The main results of research on the problem of “Formation of mental actions and concepts.” M., 1965;
- Galperin P.Ya. Experimental study of attention. M., 1974 (co-author);
- Galperin P.Ya. Introduction to Psychology. M., 1976;
- Galperin P.Ya. Current problems of developmental psychology. M., 1978;
- Galperin P.Ya. Teaching methods and mental development of the child. M., 1985;
- Galperin P.Ya. Psychology as an objective science. M., 1998.
- Galperin P.Ya. Psychological difference between human tools and animal auxiliaries. Candidate's dissertation, Kharkov, 1937.
- Galperin P.Ya. About the attitude in thinking. - Proceedings of the Republican Conference on Pedagogy and Psychology. Kyiv, 1941 (in Ukrainian)
- Galperin P.Ya. On the issue of inner speech. (Reports of the APN RSFSR, 1957, No. 4), idem, idem
- Galperin P.Ya. Psychology of thinking and the doctrine of the gradual formation of mental actions. - Research on thinking in Soviet psychology. M., 1966 // Introduction to psychology. M., 1976.
Also searched with this author:
P.Ya. Galperin - Introduction to Psychology.
Biography
In 1926-1941. P.Ya. Galperin worked at the Kharkov Psychoneurological Academy, conducted pedagogical work in Kharkov and Donetsk (Stalino), and actively participated in the work of the Kharkov group of psychologists (A.N. Leontiev, etc.).
In 1941-1943. - in the Red Army, head of the medical unit of the evacuation hospital (Sverdlovsk region).
Since 1943 - at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov; Associate Professor, Professor (since 1966), Head. Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University (since 1971), consulting professor (since 1983).
Galperin is one of the leading Russian scientists in the field of general, developmental and educational psychology, the author of world-famous theories and approaches. He put forward an original understanding of the subject of psychological research, the specifics of human mental development. Developing the worldview traditions of Russian psychology, Galperin cogently put forward and developed the position about the primacy of purposeful formation as the basic method of psychological research. Galperin’s theory of the systematic, step-by-step formation of human mental activity has gained worldwide fame. Within this theory, provisions were put forward and developed about the types and properties of human actions, about the types of indicative basis of action and the corresponding types of teaching, and a scale of gradual formation. As theories of the second level, Galperin puts forward and experimentally substantiates the theory of linguistic consciousness, the theory of attention, and a number of other private psychological theories that are included in the golden fund of Russian science. Paying tribute to Galperin’s specific contribution to general, genetic, educational psychology, it is necessary to especially highlight the approach he formulated, unique in its internal integrity and systematicity, to the essence of mental phenomena and processes, to the mechanisms of their formation and development. The doctrine of the subject of psychology, the objective necessity of the psyche, the basic laws of its development in philo-anthropo- and ontogenesis, the laws of the formation of ideal actions, images and concepts as elements of mental activity - these are the main components of Halperin’s psychological concept. The desire to solve the fundamental questions of our science not with reductionist, but with psychological methods itself, and to study mental activity and its development objectively, is characteristic of all of Galperin’s scientific work.
He created a psychological worldview that has no analogues in modern human science, not only opening up radically new perspectives for rethinking mental reality, but also providing a reliable basis for qualitatively improving teaching in various subjects at different age levels. Halperin’s general psychological approach, the theories he put forward (and above all, the theory of the systematic, step-by-step formation of human mental activity) have repeatedly become the subject of special symposiums and round tables at international and national congresses and conferences.
Scientific activity
He introduced into activity psychology the systematic development of orientation towards future action and created on this basis a theory of the phased formation of mental actions.
Media materials
Lecture by Pyotr Yakovlevich Galperin
1902-1988) - Sov. psychologist, in the 1930s. was a member of the Kharkov school of psychologists, the author of the original theory of the gradual formation of mental actions (see also Mental actions), as well as a specific solution to the problem of the subject of psychology in a dialectical-materialist spirit: psychology is the science of the orienting activity of the subject. G.'s theory has found wide application in the practice of educational psychology, the psychology of adult education, correction of pedagogically neglected children, psychodiagnostics of intellectual development, etc. During the war, G. dealt with the problems of restoring movements in the wounded using the ideas of the activity approach. A number of G.’s works are devoted to problems of attitude, attention, instincts, history of psychology, etc. (E. E. Sokolova.)
Galperin Petr Yakovlevich
(October 2, 1902, Tambov - March 25, 1988) - domestic psychologist,
Biography. In 1926 he graduated from the Kharkov Medical Institute with a degree in psychoneurology. He worked as a psychoneurologist and then as a psychologist in medical and pedagogical institutions of Ukraine. In the 1930s he was a member of the Kharkov School of Activity, one of A.N. Leontiev’s closest collaborators. During the Great Patriotic War, he worked in an evacuation hospital and analyzed the restoration of movements in the wounded based on the ideas of the activity approach. In 1943, he was invited by S.L. Rubinstein, who headed the Department of Psychology at Moscow State University, to work in this department as an assistant professor. Since 1965, he has been a professor in the Department of Psychology at Moscow State University. From 1970 to 1983, he has been the head of the Department of Children’s and genetic psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University.
Research. At the turn of the 1940-50s. developed the concept of the gradual formation of mental actions. The main core of this concept was a description of the totality of psychological conditions and mechanisms that reveal the patterns of formation of human actions, concepts, and images. The following conditions were described: formation of adequate motivation; formation of complete orientation; transfer of actions to a given plan; changing the internalized action according to a number of parameters (generalization, abbreviation, etc.). He proposed a new theory of attention and developed the concept of three main types of learning. He proposed an interpretation of psychology as a science about the orienting activity of the subject.
Essays. Development of research on the formation of mental actions // Psychological science in the USSR. T. 1, M., 1959;
Psychology of thinking and the doctrine of the stage-by-stage formation of mental actions // Research of thinking in Soviet psychology. M., 1966;
On the problem of the child’s intellectual development // Questions of psychology. 1969, no. 6;
Reasonableness of action and the subject of science // Psychological research. Tbilisi, 1974;
Introduction to Psychology. M., 1976