Structure of the defect in intellectual disability (mental retardation)
Primary defect Inactivity (inactivity)
Secondary defect Mental disorders
Structure of the defect in hearing impairment
Primary defect: Shutdown or gross insufficiency of auditory perception
Secondary defect Speech impairment
Tertiary defect Specifics of thinking Specifics of personality development Disadaptation
Structure of the defect in visual impairment
Primary defect: Shutdown or gross insufficiency of visual perception
Secondary defect Underdevelopment of psychomotor skills Impaired spatial orientation
Tertiary defect Specific personality development Disadaptation
Structure of the defect in cerebral palsy
Primary defect Movement disorders
Secondary defect Visual perception impairment Speech impairment Impairment of spatial gnosis and praxis
Tertiary defect Specific personality development Disadaptation
Structure of the defect in speech impairment
Primary defect Speech disorders
Secondary defect Mental retardation
Tertiary defect Specific personality development Disadaptation
Structure of the defect in early childhood autism
Primary defect Energy deficiency Violation of the instinctive-affective sphere Low sensory thresholds with a pronounced negative background of sensations
Secondary defect Autistic attitudes
Tertiary defect Specific personality development Disadaptation
The idea of the structural organization of dysontogenesis belongs to L.S. Vygotsky. The structure of a defect consists of primary, secondary and subsequent orders of defects (violations). Let us present the definitions of the components of the defect structure given by V.M. Sorokin. Primary, or nuclear, disorders are slightly reversible changes in the operating parameters of a particular function caused by the direct influence of a pathogenic factor. This problem in special psychology currently requires detailed study; it is complex and ambiguous. There are two points of view on the structure of the defect: 1) the concept of “primary defect” is considered as a disorder underlying the clinical picture; 2) the concept of “primary defect” is considered as a primary violation of the operation and mental function. There are indications in the literature that the primary defects are organic lesions of the brain and analytical systems. In fact, in our opinion, such violations do not represent psychological phenomena and cannot be included in the structure of psychological analysis (M.V. Zhigoreva, A.M. Polyakov, E.S. Slepovich, V.M. Sorokin, I A. Shapoval, etc.). Primary disorders directly result from the biological nature of the disease. However, we are talking about violations in the work of mental functions, and not their anatomical and physiological prerequisites. For example, the primary defect in hearing impairment is loss or insufficiency of auditory perception, and not the absence of hearing! Disturbed development is determined by the time of occurrence of the primary disorder and the severity of its severity. The presence of a primary disorder affects the entire course of further development of the child. Secondary, or systemic, disorders are reversible changes in the development of mental functions directly related to the primary one. For example, a secondary defect in hearing impairment is speech impairment. Such disorders have a greater degree of reversibility under the influence of corrective measures, but the correction of these disorders can be very lengthy and labor-intensive, which does not exclude the possibility of spontaneous recovery in some cases. Secondary disorders and preserved functions are the main object of psychodiagnostics and psychological and pedagogical correctional influence. The presence of a primary disorder does not automatically lead to the appearance of secondary deviations, the formation of which is associated with the action of various mechanisms. The same primary disorder will change the composition of secondary deviations with age. This explains the significant differences in the structure of the latter in the same nuclear disorder in people of different ages. In addition, the differences largely depend on the individual characteristics of a person, in particular on his compensatory capabilities, and even more so on the timeliness and adequacy of correctional work, the effectiveness of which is higher, the earlier it begins. As a result of the combination of primary and secondary disorders, a complex picture of disorders is formed, which, on the one hand, is individual for each child, and on the other, has many similar characteristics within each type of impaired development.
Differential psychology. Individual and group differences in behavior. Anastasi A.
Translation from English D. Guryev, M. Budynina, G. Pimochkina, S. Likhatskaya
Scientific editor candidate of psychological sciences Krasheninnikov E.E.
This fundamental work by Anna Anastasi has established itself as one of the best classic textbooks on world-class differential psychology, with which any student studying this discipline should begin. The textbook examines in an accessible and engaging manner the problems of individual differences in a person as an individual and as a representative of a particular group, and explores the causes and mechanisms of his behavior.
Chapter 1. ORIGIN OF DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Man has always understood that living beings are different. His theories, beliefs and superstitions, in which he tried to understand the reasons for these differences, were numerous and were a reflection of his worldview. But at all times he took the existence of these differences as a given. Among the earliest traces of human activity there is evidence that people were aware of individual differences and took them into account. At a time when there was no writing yet, people already existed - primitive artists, healers and leaders - who could not but have special abilities and personal properties. Whatever the level of development a culture is at, it cannot exist without division of labor, and therefore presupposes the recognition of differences between people.
The stranger saw that individual differences are characteristic not only of people, but also of animals! Both in scientific and fiction literature one can find recognition that elephants, buffaloes and similar herd animals have individuals who perform the functions of leaders, “leaders” in the herd. The often-mentioned “hierarchy of eaters,” common among chickens, for example, also suggests this. Typically, chickens exhibit social dominance relationships when distributing feed. In this case, individual A attacks individual B, but not vice versa. A fight arises when someone begins to challenge the authority of the “main eater.” This and many other examples illustrate the presence of different reactions of an individual to other representatives of his group.
The objective quantitative study of individual differences in behavior is the subject of differential psychology. What is the nature of these differences, to what extent
6 Differential psychology
are they big? What can be said about their reasons? How are they affected by the preparation, development, and physical condition of individuals? How do different characteristics relate to each other and coexist? These are some of the fundamental questions that differential psychology deals with and which we will consider in the first part of this book.
In addition, differential psychology is interested in analyzing the nature and properties of most traditional groups - marginal and brilliant people, differing in gender, race, nationality and culture. This is the subject of the last seven chapters. The purpose of studying such group differences is threefold. Firstly, to characterize modern society through specific groups, therefore their detailed study has practical benefits: information about them can influence society’s perception of these groups and ultimately help improve intergroup relations.
Second, comparative research between different groups will help clarify fundamental issues about individual differences in general. In such groups you can see how individual differences manifest themselves and trace what they lead to. Group differences in behavior, considered in conjunction with other associated differences between groups, provide an effective way to analyze the causes of differences between individuals.
Third, comparing how a psychological phenomenon manifests itself in different groups can lead to a clearer understanding of the phenomenon itself. The conclusions of general psychology, tested on a wide variety of groups, sometimes turn out to be not so “general”. Studying the phenomenon in all its various manifestations allows us to better understand its essence.
In contrast to previously widespread ideas about individual differences formed in the process of adaptation to everyday life, the systematic study of such differences has appeared in psychology relatively recently. We will therefore begin by considering the conditions that contributed to the emergence of modern differential psychology.
Origins of Differential Psychology 7
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN EARLY PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES 1
One of the earliest examples of explicit study of individual differences is Plato's Republic. The main purpose of his ideal state was, in fact, the distribution of people in accordance with the tasks assigned to them. In the second book of “The Republic” you can find the following statement: “... two people cannot be exactly the same, each differs from the other in his abilities, one should do one thing, the other another” (11, p. 60). Moreover, Plato proposed “demonstrative exercises” that could be used in an ideal state to select soldiers. These "exercises," designed to select men possessing qualities essential to military valor, constitute the first systematically constructed and recorded aptitude test.
Aristotle's versatile genius also could not ignore individual differences. In his works, a significant place is devoted to the analysis of group differences, including differences in species, race, social and gender, manifested in the psyche and morality. Many of his works also contain an implicit assumption of individual differences, although Aristotle did not explore them extensively. It seems that he considered the existence of such differences too obvious and therefore did not require special consideration. That he attributed these differences partly to innate factors appears from his statements, which are similar to the following:
“Perhaps someone can say: “Since it is in my power to be just and kind, then if I want, I will become the best of people.” This, of course, is impossible... A person cannot
1 In addition to the brief historical overview of the field of individual differences research presented in this and subsequent sections, we recommend that the reader consult the classic works in the history of psychology by Boring (7), Murphy (23), and Rand (28).
8 Differential psychology
to become the best if he does not have the natural inclinations for this” (29, “Great Ethics”, 1187b).
Aristotle's Ethics repeatedly contains statements that indirectly refer to individual differences. For example, the following statement leaves no doubt about what Aristotle thought about this matter:
“Having made these divisions, we must note that in every extended and divisible thing there is excess, deficiency and value - all this exists in relation to each other or in relation to others to us, for example, in the gymnastic or medical arts, in construction and navigation , in any action, scientific or unscientific, skillful or unskillful (29, Eudemian Ethics, 1220b).
After this, Aristotle describes the qualities of people who have an excess or deficiency of temper, courage, modesty, etc.
In medieval scholasticism, individual differences received relatively little attention. Philosophical generalizations about the nature of the mind were formulated primarily on a theoretical rather than an empirical basis. Therefore, research on individuals, if at all, played a very small role in the development of such doctrines. About the special interest in differential psychology of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas attests to their “psychology of faculties.” Abilities such as “memory”, “imagination” and “will” are now considered by some scientists as preceding the qualities and factors currently determined by means of statistical analysis of test values. Be that as it may, these newly identified factors differ in a number of significant respects from the abilities that were speculatively deduced by scholastic philosophy.
Representatives of the many varieties of associationism that flourished from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries also had little to say about individual differences. Associationists were primarily interested in the mechanism by which ideas are combined and which allows complex thought processes to arise. They formulated general principles that left no room for individual differences. However, Bane, the last of the so-called pure associates
Origins of Differential Psychology 9
pianists, in his works he paid attention to individual differences. The following excerpt is taken from his book "Senses and Intelligence" (“The Senses and the Intellect”, 1855): “There is a natural faculty of association, peculiar to each type of people, and distinguishing individuals from each other. This property, like all other characteristic properties of human nature, is not distributed among people in equal proportions” (3, p. 237).
The parallel development of educational theory is directly related to the subject we are considering. The writings and practices of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century group of "naturalist" educators, including Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Herbart, and Froebel, reflect a clear increase in interest in the individuality of the child. Educational strategy and methods were determined not by external criteria, but by the study of the child himself and his abilities. However, the emphasis continued to be on treating each child as a representative of humanity rather than on what made them different from other children. Despite the fact that in the works of the Enlightenment one can find many statements about individuals who differ from each other and about education, which should take these differences into account, they emphasized the importance of free, “natural” education rather as a counterweight to pedagogical influences imposed from the outside than as a result of actual awareness the significance of individual differences. The concept "individual" has often been used as a synonym for "human".
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN CALCULATIONS IN ASTRONOMY
It is rather curious that the first systematic measurement of individual differences did not come from psychology, but from the much older science of astronomy. In 1796, Maskelyn, an astronomer at the Greenwich Astronomical Observatory, fired his assistant, Kinnebroek, for timing the passage of a star a second later than he did. At that time, such observations were carried out using the method
10 Differential psychology
"eye and ear" This method involved not only the coordination of visual and auditory impressions, but also the formulation of rather complex judgments about space. The observer noted the time on the clock to the nearest second, then began to count the seconds by striking the clock, while simultaneously observing how the star crossed the telescope field. He noted the position of the star at the last stroke of the clock before it reached the “critical” field line; immediately after the star crossed this line, he similarly marked its position at the first blow. Based on these observations, from the moment the star passed through the critical line, an estimate was made every tenths of a second. This procedure was standard and allowed measurements to be made with an accuracy of one or two tenths of a second.
In 1816, the Konigsberg astronomer Bessel read in the history of the Greenwich Astronomical Observatory about the Kinnebroek incident and became interested in the personal characteristics of the calculations made by various observers. Personal equalization originally referred to the recording of the difference in seconds between two observers' estimates. Bessel collected and published data from several trained observers and noted not only the presence of such personal differences and differences in assessments, but also the variability of calculations in each new case. This was the first publication of quantitative measurements of individual differences.
Many astronomers took Bessel's data into account. In the second half of the nineteenth century, with the advent of chronographs and chronoscopes, it became possible to measure the personal characteristics of a particular observer without comparing him with other observers. It was an attempt to reduce all observations to objectively correct values without recourse to a time system tied to any observer whose observations were taken as the standard. The astronomers also analyzed the various conditions that affect the characteristics of the calculations of different observers. But all this related more to the problem of astronomical observations than to the measurement of individual differences, which was later undertaken by representatives of early experimental psychology in their studies of “reaction time”.
Origins of Differential Psychology 11
ORIGINS OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
During the second half of the nineteenth century, psychologists began to venture out of their office chairs and into the laboratory. Most of the representatives of early experimental psychology were physiologists, whose experiments gradually began to acquire psychological overtones. As a result, the ideas and methods of physiology were often transferred directly to psychology, which as a science was still in its early stages of development. In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt opened the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig. Experiments of a psychological nature had already been carried out by Weber, Fechner, Helmholtz and others, but Wundt's laboratory was the first created exclusively for psychological research and at the same time providing opportunities for teaching students the methods of the new science. Naturally, it had a significant influence on the development of early experimental psychology. Wundt's laboratory attracted students from different countries, who, upon returning home, founded similar laboratories in their own countries.
The problems that were studied in the first laboratories showed the similarity of experimental psychology with physiology. The study of visual and auditory impressions, reaction speed, psychophysics and associations - that's almost all that experiments were carried out on. Initially, experimental psychologists tended to ignore individual differences or view them simply as random “deviations,” because the more individual characteristics expressed in a phenomenon, the less accurate the generalizations made about it would be. Thus, the degree of individual differences determined the “probability of deviations” that could be expected in the manifestation of general psychological laws.
It is obvious that the emergence of experimental psychology did not contribute to the development of interest in the study of individual differences. Her contribution to differential psychology was to demonstrate that psycho-
12 Differential psychology
logical phenomena are open to objective and even quantitative study, that psychological theories can be tested against objective data, and that psychology can become an empirical science. This was necessary so that instead of theorizing about the individual, a concrete study of individual differences could emerge.
INFLUENCE OF BIOLOGY
At the end of the nineteenth century, biology, under the influence of Darwin's theory of evolution, developed very quickly. This theory, in particular, contributed to the growing interest in comparative analysis, which involves observing how the same qualities are manifested in representatives of different species. In search of evidence to support the truth of evolutionary theory, Darwin and his contemporaries collected a huge primary database of animal behavior. Beginning with the description of some unusual cases and the analysis of observations, these researchers ultimately contributed to making it possible to conduct true, highly controlled experiments with animals in the twentieth century. Such studies of animal behavior have proven to be very useful in all respects for the development of differential psychology. We will consider examples of relevant research in detail in Chapter 4, in particular, we will talk about the study of evolutionary series in the context of the discovery of the principles of the development of behavior; about the study of anatomical and other organic changes corresponding to certain behavioral changes, and about numerous experiments showing the dependence of behavior on changing external conditions.
Particularly important for differential psychology are the studies of the English biologist Francis Galton, one of Darwin's most famous followers. Galton was the first to try to apply the evolutionary principles of variation, selection and adaptability to the study of human individuals. Galton's scientific interests were many-sided and varied, but they were all related to the study of heredity. In 1869 he published a book entitled
Origins of Differential Psychology 13
eat "Hereditary Genius" ("Hereditary Genius") in which, using the now well-known generic historical method, he tried to demonstrate how abilities for certain types of activities are inherited (cf. Chapter 9 to get a more complete picture). After that, he wrote two more books on this topic: “English Scientists” (“English Men of Science”, 1874), and "Heredity" ("Natural Inheritance" 1889).
For Galton, who studied human heredity, it soon became obvious that in order to determine the degrees of similarity between individuals, they could be measured - each individually, in comparison with each other, purposefully and in large groups. For this purpose, he developed numerous tests and measurement procedures, establishing his famous anthropometric laboratory in 1882 at the South Kensington Museum in London.
In it, people for a small fee could measure the level of receptivity of their senses, motor abilities and other simple qualities.By measuring sensory processes, Galton hoped to be able to assess a person's intellectual level. In the collection "A Study of Human Abilities" (“Inquiries into Human Faculty”), published in 1883, he wrote: “All the information we perceive about external events comes to us through the channels of our senses; the more subtle differences a person’s senses are capable of perceiving, the more opportunities he has for forming judgments and carrying out intellectual activity” (13, p. 27). In addition, based on the reduced level of sensitivity he discovered in idiots, he concluded that sensory discrimination capabilities “in general should be highest in the intellectually gifted” (13, p. 29). For this reason, the measurement of sensory abilities, such as vision and hearing, occupy a relatively large place in the tests that Galton designed and created. For example, he created a scale for visually determining length, a whistle for demonstrating auditory sensitivity to extremely high sounds, kinesthetic tests based on a series of weighings, as well as tests for straightness of movement, the speed of simple reactions, and many others. Galton also pioneered the use of free association tests, a technique that he later used and developed
14 Differential psychology
Wundt. Equally innovative was Galton's exploration of individual and group differences in imaginative thinking. This was the first extensive application of the questionnaire method in psychology.
The development of modern genetics also had a significant impact on the formation of differential psychology. Mendel's laws of heredity, rediscovered in 1900, led to renewed experimental work in the field of inheritance mechanisms. Differential psychology was influenced in many ways by the highly productive study of the inheritance of physical traits in animals, the most prominent of which was the study of the fruit fly fruit flies. It, firstly, made it possible to clarify and more clearly formulate the concept of heredity. Secondly, it made it possible to obtain numerous genetic models in a short time, allowing one to collect data on the behavior of their carriers. Thirdly, it led directly to experimentation with animals to develop new psychological characteristics in them (cf. Chapter 4). Finally, the development of human genetics has made it possible to use methods of statistical analysis to find similarities and differences, which has become widely used in psychology (cf. Chapter 9).
DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATISTICAL METHOD
Statistical analysis is one of the main tools used by differential psychology. Galton was very aware of the need to adapt statistical methods to the procedures for processing the data he collected on individual differences. For this purpose he attempted to adapt numerous mathematical procedures. Among the fundamental statistical problems that Galton dealt with were the problem of the normal distribution of deviations (cf. Chapter 2) and the problem of correlation. As for the latter, he did a lot of work and eventually derived a coefficient that became known as the correlation coefficient. Karl Pearson, who was his student, subsequently developed the mathematical apparatus of the theory of cor-
Origins of Differential Psychology 15
relations. Thus, Pearson contributed to the development and systematization of what previously belonged only to the field of statistics.
Another British scientist whose contributions significantly influenced the development of statistics was R. A. Fisher. Working primarily in agricultural research, Fisher developed many new statistical methods that proved highly useful in many other fields, including psychology, and opened up vast possibilities for data analysis. His name is most associated with variability analysis, a method that allows simultaneous analysis of the results of several variants of the same experiment.
Proficient interpretation of virtually any research in differential psychology requires an understanding of certain fundamental statistical concepts. It is not the scope of this book to discuss them in depth or describe their computational procedures. There are many good textbooks on psychological statistics, and students should consult them to gain a better understanding of the details 1 . Nevertheless, it will be useful to reveal the essence of two statistical concepts that play a critical role in differential psychology, namely, statistical significance and correlation.
Statistical significance levels. The concept of statistical significance refers primarily to the degree to which similar results are reproducible in repeated studies. How likely is it that a re-examination of the same problem might reverse the original conclusion? Obviously, this question is fundamental to any research. One reason for the expected discrepancy between the new results and the previous ones is due to sampling bias. Such “random deviations,” which cause uncontrollable fluctuations in the data, arise because the researcher is in a state of
"A short introduction to psychological statistics was recently published by Garrett (14). For more detailed information, we recommend the textbooks by Garrett (15), Guilford (18), and McNemar (21), which contain information on more recent research in this area.
16 Differential psychology
only sample from the total populations, which this study may concern.
For example, if a researcher wanted to know the height of 8-year-old American children, he could measure 500 8-year-old boys living throughout the country. In theory, the sample for this purpose should be completely random. Thus, if he has the name of every 8-year-old boy, he must write down these names separately and draw them by lot until he has 500 names. Or he could alphabetize all the names and select every tenth one. A random sample is one in which all individuals have an equal chance of being included in it. This condition implies that each choice is independent of the others. For example, if the selection procedure involved the exclusion of all relatives, then the resulting sample cannot be considered completely random.
Most likely, in practice, the researcher will create a representative sample, claiming that the composition of his group corresponds to the composition of the entire population of 8-year-old boys, taking into account such factors as the ratio of those living in the city and rural areas, the ratio of those living in different regions of the country, socioeconomic level, type of school, etc. In any case, the height value of sample members can only be strictly approximate in relation to the value characterizing the entire population; they cannot be identical. If we repeat the experiment and recruit a new group of 500 8-year-old American boys, then the resulting value for their height will also differ from the value obtained in the first group. It is these random variations that constitute what is known as “sampling error.”
There is another reason why random variations may influence our results. If we measured the running speed of a group of children and then repeated these measurements on the same group the next day, we would probably get slightly different results. It may be that some children who were tired during the race on the first day became fit during the race on the second day. In the case of repeated runs and measurements of running speed, random deviations will represent a certain average.
Origins of Differential Psychology 17
unspecified meaning. But the measurement results on any given day can be very high or very low. In this case, we can view them on any given day as what together constitutes the "population" of measurements that can be made on the same group.
Both types of random deviations can be assessed by applying a measurement level of statistical significance. There are formulas available to calculate the reliability of values, differences between values, measurement variability, correlations, and many other measures. By using these procedures we can predict the possible limits within which our results may vary due to random variations. An important element in all of these formulas is the number of cases in the sample. All other things being equal, the larger the sample, the more stable the results will be, so in large groups there is almost no random variation.
One of the most common problems with measurement reliability in differential psychology concerns how significant the difference is between two values obtained. Is it large enough to be considered beyond the probabilistic limits of random deviations? If the answer is yes, then we can conclude that the difference is statistically significant.
Suppose that, on a verbal intelligence test, women score on average 8 points higher than men. To assess how significant this difference is, we calculate the level of statistical significance. By analyzing a special table, we can see whether it is possible by chance that the resulting values of one group exceed the resulting values of another group by 8 points or more. Suppose we discovered that this probability, denoted by the letter R, is 1 in 100 (p = 0.01). This means that if verbal intelligence were independent of gender, and if we were to draw 100 random men and women from the population, there would only be one discrepancy between the results. Therefore, we can say that the difference in gender is significant
18 Differential psychology
at the 0.01 level. This statement expresses the level of statistical significance of the finding. Thus, if a researcher concludes that his results indicate a difference by sex, the probability that he is wrong is 1 in 100. Conversely, the probability that he is right is, of course, 99 in 100. Also One level of statistical significance often reported is p = 0.05. This means that an error is possible in 5 cases out of 100, and the message will be statistically significant in 95 cases out of 100.
Another problem for which we need a relationship with the value R, is an analysis of the effectiveness of a certain experimental condition, for example, the effectiveness of prescribing vitamin preparations. Did the group given the vitamins actually do significantly better than the group given the placebo or control pills? Does the difference between the indicators of the two groups reach a significance level of 0.01? Could this difference be the result of random variation more often than one in a hundred?
This also applies to testing the same people twice - before and after an experiment, such as a special training program. In this case, we also need to know how much the achieved results exceed the expected random deviations.
It should be added that the magnitude of the statistical significance level does not have to strictly correspond - and in fact rarely does - exact values such as 0.05; 0.01, or 0.001. If, for example, a researcher wants to designate a level of statistical significance of 0.01, then this means that, according to his conclusion, the probability of random deviation is one case in a hundred or less than that. Therefore, when they report the value R, then they do it in the following form: R less than 0.05 or R less than 0.01. This means that the probability of a certain conclusion being wrong is less than 5 cases out of 100, or correspondingly less than 1 case out of 100.
Correlation. Another statistical concept that a differential psychology student should know is called correlation. It expresses the degree of dependence, or
Origins of differential psychology 19
correspondence between two series of measurements. For example, we might want to know how correlated are the results obtained on two different tests, such as a numeracy test and a mechanical agility test, administered to the same people. Or the problem may be to find the degree of agreement between the results of relatives, for example, fathers and sons, on the same test. And the task of another study may be to find out the correlation of the results of the same people on the same tests, but conducted at different times, for example, before and after some tests. Obviously, there are many problems in differential psychology that require this type of analysis.
An example of the most common measurement of correlation is the Pearson correlation coefficient, which is usually denoted by the symbol r. This coefficient is a single index of the final correlation and its sign for the group as a whole. It can range from +1.00 (absolutely positive correlation) to -1.00 (absolutely negative, or inverse, correlation).
A correlation of +1.00 means that the individual obtains the highest results in one series of measurements and in the other series of measurements, as well as in the remaining series, or that the individual consistently ranks second in two series of measurements, that is, in any case, when an individual’s indicators coincide at least twice. On the other hand, a correlation of -1.00 means that the highest results obtained as a result of a measurement in one case are replaced by the lowest indicators obtained in another case, that is, they are inversely correlated with the group as a whole. A zero correlation means that there is no relationship between the two sets of data, or that something in the design of the experiment led to a chaotic mixture of indicators. The correlation between the results of different individuals, for example, fathers and sons, is interpreted in the same way. Thus, a correlation of +1.00 would mean that the highest-ranking fathers in the group also have the highest-ranking sons, or the second-highest-ranking fathers have second-ranking sons, and so on. Sign of the correlation coefficient, half
2 0 Differential psychology
resident or negative, shows the quality of dependence. A negative correlation means an inverse relationship between variables. The numerical value of the coefficient expresses the degree of closeness, or correspondence. Correlations derived from psychological research rarely reach 1.00. In other words, these correlations are not absolute (neither positive nor negative), but reflect some individual variability within the group. We exhibit a tendency to maintain high resulting values, which exists alongside exceptions that occur within the group. The resulting correlation coefficient in numerical terms will be between 0 and 1.00.
An example of a relatively high positive correlation is given in Figure 1. This figure shows a “two-way distribution,” or a distribution with two options. The first option (the data for it is located at the bottom of the figure) is a set of indicators obtained during the first test of the “hidden words” test, in which the subjects had to underline all four-letter English words printed on a colorful sheet of paper.
The second option (the data for it are located on the vertical axis) is a set of indicators obtained from the same subjects as a result of passing the same test for the 15th time, but in a different form. Each tally stick in the figure shows the result of one of the 114 subjects on both the initial test and the fifteenth test. Let's take, for example, a subject whose initial performanceRice. 1. Bivariate distribution of the 114 subjects' scores on the initial and final hidden word tests: correlation = 0.82. (Unpublished data from Anastasi, 1.)
Origins of Differential Psychology 21
were in the range from 15 to 19, and the final ones were in the range between 50 and 54. Having done the necessary calculations, we find that the Pearson correlation coefficient between these two sets of values is 0.82.
Without going into mathematical details, we note that this correlation method is based on taking into account each case of deviation of the resulting value of an individual from the group value in both options. Thus, if all individuals score much higher or much lower than the group value, the correlation will be +1.00 on both the first and last tests. It is easy to notice that Figure 1 does not show such a one-to-one correspondence. At the same time, many more counting sticks are located on the diagonal connecting the lower left and upper right corners. This bivariate distribution shows a high positive correlation; there are no individual values that are very low on the first test and very high on the last test, or very high on the first test and very low on the last test. The coefficient of 0.82 essentially shows that there is a clear tendency for subjects to maintain their relative position in the group both at the beginning and at the end of the trials.
By analyzing many cases in which the correlation was calculated, we can estimate the statistical significance of the obtained coefficient r using the methods discussed at the beginning of this section. Thus, in an analysis of 114 cases, r = 0.82 would be significant at the 0.001 level. This means that the error could arise from a case that would have a probability of less than one in a thousand. This is the basis for our belief that the results are indeed correlated with each other.
In addition to the method for calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient, there are other methods for measuring correlation that are applicable in special situations. For example, when the results list subjects or place them into several categories based on relevant attributes, the correlation between the attributes can be calculated using other formulas. The resulting coefficients will also be expressed as a number from 0 to
22 Differential psychology
1.00 and can be interpreted in much the same way as Pearson's r.
The rapidly developing statistics has enriched differential psychology not only with such concepts as statistical significance and correlation, but also with many other concepts and techniques. We highlighted the concepts of statistical significance and correlation because, having addressed them from the very beginning, we will use these concepts in almost every topic. Thus, in Chapter 2 we will look at the distribution of variances and the measurement of variability. And methods of factor analysis, which make it possible to further analyze correlation coefficients, will be considered by us in connection with the study of the configuration of characteristics (Chapter 10).
TESTING IN PSYCHOLOGY
Along with statistics, psychological testing is an important tool in differential psychology 1 . We have already said that the original tests contained in Galton's pioneering works were simple sensorimotor experiments. The next stage in the development of psychological testing is associated with the name of the American James McKean Cattell. In his work, Cattell combined two parallel trends: experimental psychology and psychology based on the measurement of individual differences. During Wundt's doctoral studies in Leipzig, Cattell wrote a dissertation on the manifestation of individual differences in the time of onset of a reaction. He then lectured in England, where his interest in individual differences was further developed by his contact with Galton. Returning to America, Cattell organized laboratories for experimental psychology and actively disseminated psychological testing methods.
“For a more detailed study of issues related to both the origin of testing and psychological testing itself, we recommend that the student familiarize himself with the latest work in this area, such as, for example, the research of Anastasi (2).
The origins of differential psychology 2 3
The first intelligence tests. The concept of an “intelligence test” first appeared in an article Cattell wrote in 1890 (9). This article described a series of tests administered annually to college students to determine their intellectual level. The tests that were offered on an individual basis included the measurement of muscle strength, weight, speed of movement, sensitivity to pain, visual and hearing acuity, reaction time, memory, etc. By his choice of tests, Cattell supported Galton's point of view that the measurement intellectual functions should be carried out through testing of sensory selectivity and reaction time. Cattell preferred these tests also because he considered simple functions accessible to precise measurements, unlike more complex functions, and he considered measuring complex functions almost hopeless.
Cagtell tests were common in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Attempts to measure more complex psychological functions, however, could be found in tests of reading, verbal association, memory, and basic arithmetic (22, 30). Such tests were offered to schoolchildren, college students and adults. At the Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, Jastrow invited everyone to test their senses, motor skills, and simple perceptual processes and compare the resulting values with normative ones (cf. 26, 27). Several attempts to evaluate these initial tests have produced discouraging results. Individual scores were inconsistent (30, 37) and correlated poorly or not at all with independent measures of intellectual achievement, such as school grades (6, 16) or academic degrees (37).
Many similar tests were collected by European psychologists of this period, including Orn (25), Kreipelin (20) and Ebbinghaus (12) in Germany, Gucciardi and Ferrari (17) in Italy. Binet and Henry (4), in an article published in France in 1895, criticized most well-known test series for being too sensory and placing too much emphasis on specific performance abilities. In addition, they argued that one should not strive for high accuracy when measuring more complex
2 4 Differential psychology
functions, since individual differences are more pronounced in these functions. To confirm their point of view, Binet and Henry proposed a new series of tests covering such functions as memory, imagination, attention, intelligence, suggestibility and aesthetic feelings. In these tests it is already possible to recognize what in the future led to the development of Binet’s famous “intellectual tests”.
Intelligence tests. IN 1 In 904, the French Minister of Public Education created a commission to study the problem of educational retardation among schoolchildren. Especially for this commission, Binet and Simon developed the first intellectual scale for calculating the general coefficient of the individual level of intellectual development (5). In 1908, Binet refined this scale, using which tests were grouped by age and subjected to careful empirical testing. For example, for the age of three, tests were selected that a three-year-old child could pass, for the age of four, tests that were available for a four-year-old child were selected, and so on, until the age of thirteen. The results obtained from children tested on this scale were then declared to be the norms inherent in the corresponding “intellectual age,” that is, the capabilities of normal children of a certain age, defined by Binet.
The Binet-Simon tests attracted the attention of psychologists around the world even before the scale was improved in 1908. They have been translated into many languages. In America, these tests have undergone various changes and modifications, the most famous of which was the modification developed under the leadership of Theremin at Stanford University and known as the Stanford-Binet test (34). This was precisely the scale within which the concept of intellectual quotient (IQ), or the relationship between intellectual and actual age, was first introduced. The modern version of this scale is more commonly referred to as the Theremin-Merrill scale (35), and is still the most widely used system for testing human intelligence.
Group testing. Another important direction in the development of psychological testing was the development of group
The origins of differential psychology 2 5
scales Binet scales and their later models are called “individual tests,” that is, designed to test only one subject at a time. These tests are such that only a very well trained specialist can perform them. These conditions are not suitable for group testing. The advent of group testing scales was probably a major factor in the rise in popularity of psychological testing. Group tests not only allow large groups of people to be tested at the same time, but are also much easier to administer.
The impetus for the development of group testing was the urgent need to study the one and a half million US Army, which arose during the First World War by 1917. Military tasks required a fairly simple procedure for quickly distributing recruits according to their intellectual abilities. Army psychologists responded to the request by creating two group scales, known as Army Alpha and Army Beta. The first was intended for general use, the second was a nonverbal scale designed to test illiterate recruits and foreign conscripts who were not fluent in English.
Subsequent development. Since the end of the First World War, there has been a rapid development of the variety of tests available for use, the development of ever new methods and their application to a wide variety of aspects of behavior. Group intelligence scales were created for all ages and types of subjects, from those in kindergarten to senior students. Soon additional tests were added to identify special abilities, for example, to music or mechanics. They appeared even later multifactorial research systems. These tests arose as a result of extensive research on human qualities (they will be discussed in Chapters 10 and 11). The important thing is that instead of single, common outcome values such as IQ, multifactorial systems provide data on a whole range of basic abilities.
In parallel with this, there was a proliferation of psychological testing non-intellectual qualities,- through
2 6 Differential psychology
the use of personal experience, projective techniques (methods) and other means. This type of testing began with the creation of Woodworth's Personality Data Sheet during World War I and quickly evolved to include measures of interests, beliefs, emotions, and social traits. But although enormous effort has been expended in creating appropriate tests, the success has been less than in developing aptitude tests.
Test concepts. As in statistics, in psychological tests there are certain basic concepts that should be known to the student of differential psychology. One of them is the concept norms. No resultant scores from psychological tests are meaningful until they are compared with test norms. These norms arise in the process of standardizing a new test, when a large number of subjects are tested, representing the population for which the test was developed. The resulting data is then used as a standard to evaluate individuals' performance. Norms can be expressed in different ways, for example: as intellectual age, as percentages or as standard values - but they all allow the researcher, by comparing the results of the subject with the results of a standardized sample, to determine his “position”. Are his results in line with the group average? Are they higher or lower than the average, and if so, by how much?
Another important concept is test reliability. It implies how stable results it is capable of producing. If an individual is retested on a different day, or takes the same test in a different form, how much might the result change? Reliability is usually determined by the correlation of results obtained on two occasions by the same individual. It should be noted that the reliability of the test depends on one of the types of random deviations we described earlier. The reliability of the test, of course, cannot but be affected by random deviations in the relative test results of a particular individual. The impact of such deviations on group results is not related to the reliability of the test.
The origins of differential psychology 2 7
One of the most important questions that arises during psychological testing is the question of test validity, that is, about the extent to which it actually measures what it is supposed to measure. Validity can be established by comparing the results of a given test with numerous data obtained in other ways - with school grades, the labor success index, or leadership ratings.
Data on the norms, reliability, and validity of a test must be collected while the test is being tested, that is, before it can be released for general use. Available tests lack the desired specificity and completeness of the data obtained. To systematize the problems and improve the situation, the American Psychological Association published in 1954 a collection of Technical Guidelines for the Development of Psychological Tests and Diagnostic Procedures (“Technical Recommendations for Psychological Tests and Diagnostic Techniques”)(39). It discussed different types of norms, ways to measure reliability and validity, and other issues related to test scoring. The reader who wishes to study in more detail modern research on psychological tests should refer to this publication.
THE APPEARANCE OF DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY
By the beginning of the century, differential psychology began to take on concrete forms. In 1895, Binet and Henry published an article entitled "The Psychology of Individuality" ("La psychologie individuelle")(4), which represented the first systematic analysis of the goals, subject matter, and methods of differential psychology. This did not seem pretentious, since it reflected the real status of this branch of psychology at that time. They wrote: “We are beginning a discussion of a new subject, complex and practically unexplored” (4, p. 411). Binet and Henry put forward two as the main problems of differential psychology: firstly, the study of the nature and extent of individual differences in psychological processes and, secondly, the discovery of the relationships between mental processes
2 8 Differential psychology
individual which can make it possible to classify qualities and the ability to determine which functions are the most fundamental.
In 1900, the first edition of Stern’s book on Differential Psychology “The Psychology of Individual Differences” appeared. ("Uber Psychologie der individuellen Differenzen")(32). Part 1 of the book examines the essence, problems and methods of differential psychology. To the subject of this section of psychology, Stern included differences between individuals, racial and cultural differences, professional and social groups, as well as gender. He characterized the fundamental problem of differential psychology as triune. First, what is the nature of the psychological life of individuals and groups, what is the extent of their differences? Second, what factors determine or influence these differences? In this connection he mentioned heredity, climate, social or cultural level, education, adaptation, etc.
Third, what are the differences? Is it possible to record them in the writing of words, facial expressions, etc.? Stern also considered such concepts as psychological type, individuality, norm and pathology. Using the methods of differential psychology, he assessed introspection, objective observation, the use of historical and poetic materials, cultural studies, quantitative testing and experimentation. Part 2 of the book contains a general analysis and some data concerning individual differences in the manifestation of a number of psychological qualities - from simple sensory abilities to more complex mental processes and emotional characteristics. Stern's book, in a substantially revised and expanded form, was republished in 1911, and again in 1921 under the title “Methodological Foundations of Differential Psychology” (“Die Differentielle Psychologie in ihren methodishen Grundlagen”)(33).In America, special committees were created to study testing methods and collect data on individual differences. At its convention in 1895, the American Psychological Association formed a committee "to consider the possibility of cooperation between the various psychological laboratories in the collection of mental and physical
Origins of differential psychology 2 9
ical statistical data" (10, p. 619). The following year, the American Association for Scientific Advancement formed a standing committee to organize an ethnographic study of the white population of the United States. Cattell, who was one of the members of this committee, noted the importance of including psychological tests in this study and the need to coordinate it with the research work of the American Psychological Association (10, ee. 619-620).
The main stream of research also included the application of newly created tests to various groups. Kelly (19) in 1903 and Northworth (24) in 1906 compared normal and mentally retarded children on tests of sensorimotor and simple mental functions. Their discoveries shed light on the continuing division of children according to their abilities and made it possible to assert that the mentally retarded do not constitute a separate category. Thomson's book "Intellectual Differences of the Sexes" was published in 1903. (“The Mental Traits of Sex”)(36), which contained the results of a variety of tests on men and women over several years. This was the first comprehensive study of psychological sex differences.
It was also the first time that sensory acuity, motor abilities, and some simple mental processes were tested in different racial groups. Some studies appeared before 1900. In 1904, Woodworth (38) and Bruner (8) tested several primitive groups at the St. Louis. In the same year, an original paper by Spearman appeared, who put forward his two-factor theory of mental organization and proposed a statistical technique to study the problem (31). This publication by Spearman opened the field of study of the relationship of qualities and paved the way for modern factor analysis.
It is clear that within a short period of time after 1900 the foundations of virtually all branches of differential psychology were laid. The prerequisites that influenced
% 3 0 Differential psychology
The formation of a new field of research included philosophical treatises by representatives of pre-experimental psychology, attempts by astronomers to make accurate measurements using individual differences in reaction time, the development of the experimental method in psychology, important discoveries in the field of biology and statistics, and the development of psychological testing tools.
The directions in which modern differential psychology is developing were partly predetermined by discoveries in such related fields as biology and statistics, as well as the consistent development of psychological testing. In addition, the development of areas of modern differential psychology was influenced by anthropology and social psychology - areas that have many points of contact with it. The relationship of differential psychology to the latter two disciplines will become more apparent after reading the chapters that discuss group differences and cultural influences.
Pioneers in the field of statistical methods such as Galton, Pearson, and Fisher equipped differential psychologists with effective techniques for analyzing data. The most important statistical concepts used in differential psychology are the concepts of statistical significance and correlation. Psychological testing, with its roots in the work of Galton, was developed by the work of Cattell, Binet, Theremin, and the Army psychologists of the First World War, who created the original scales for group testing of the level of intellectual development. In later stages, special ability testing, multifactorial systems, and measures of non-intellectual qualities began to develop. The main test concepts that a student should know are the concepts of norm, reliability and validity.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Anastasi, Anne. Practice and variability. Psychol. Monogr., 1934, 45, No. 5.
2. Anastasi. Anne. Psychological testing. N.Y.: Macmillan, 1954.
Origins of Differential Psychology 31
3. Bain. A. The senses and the intellect. London: Parker, 1855.
4. Binet, A., and Henri, V. La psychologie individuelle. Annepsychoi, 1895
5. Binet, A., and Simon, Th. Methodes nouvelles pour If diagnostic du niveau
intellectual des anormaux. Anne psychoi, 1905, 11, 191-244.
6. Bolton, T. L. The growth of memories in school children. Amer. J. Psychol
1891-92, 4, 362-380.
7. Boring, E. G. A history of experimental psychology.(Rev. Ed.) N.V.; Appleton-
Century-Crolls, 1950.
8. Bruner, F. G. The hearing of primitive peoples. Arch. Psychol., 1908, No. 11. .9. Cattell, J. McK. Mental tests and measurements. Mind, 1890, 15, 373-380.
10. Cattell, I. McK., and Furrand, L. Physical and mental measurements of the
students of Columbia University. Psychol. Rev., 1896, 3, 618-648.
11. Davies, J. L., and Vaughan, D. J. (Transs.) The republic of Plato. N.Y.:
12. Ebbinghaus, H. Uber eine neue Methode zur Prutung geistiger Fahigkeiten
und ihre Anwendung bei Schulkindern. Z. Psychol., 1897, 13, 401-459.
13. Galton, F. Inquiries into Imam faculty and its development. London:
Macmillan, 1883.
14. Garrett, H. E. Elementary statistics. N.Y.: Longmans, Green, 1950.
15. Garrett, H. E. Statistics, in psychology and education.(5th Ed.) N.Y.:
Longmans, Green, 1958.
16. Gilbert, J. A. Researches on the mental and physical development of
school children. Stud. Yale psychoi. Lab., 1894, 2, 40-100.
17. Guicciardi, G., and Ferrari, G. C. I testi mentali per Lesame degli alienati.
Riv. spcr. freniat., 1896, 22, 297-314.
18. Guilford, J.P. Fundamental statistics in psychology and education.(3rd Ed.)
N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1956.
19. Kelly, B. L. Psychophysical tests of mentally deficient children. Psychol.
Rev., 1903, 10, 345-373.
20. Kraepelin, E. Der psychologische Versuch in der Psychiatric Psychol.
Arbeit., 1895, 1, 1-91.
21. McNemar, Q. Psychological statistics.(2nd Ed.) N.Y.: Willey, 1955.
22. Munsterberg, H. Zur Individualpsychologie. Zbl. Nervenheilk. Psychiat.,
1891, 14, 196-198.
23. Murphy, G. An historical introduction to modern psychology.(Rev. Ed.)
N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace, 1949.
24. Norsworthy, Naomi. The psychology of mentally deficient children. Arch.
psychoi, 1906, No. 1.
25. Oehrn, A. Experimented Studien zur Individualpsychologie. Dorpaterdisser.,
1889 (also publ. in Psychol. Arbeit., 1895, 1, 92-152).
26. Peterson, J. Early conceptions and tests of intelligence. Yonkers-on-Hudson,
N.Y: World Book Co., 1926.
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27. Philippe, J. Jastrow-exposition d "anthropologie de Chicago-tests
psychologiques, etc. Anne psychoi, 1894, 1, 522-526.
28. Rand, B. The. classical psychologists. N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin, 1912. *ts
29. Ross, W. D. (Ed.) The works of Aristotle. Vol. 9. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
30. Sharp, Stella E. Individual psychology: a study in psychological method.
Amer. J. Psychol, 1898-99, 10, 329-391.
31. Spearman, C. “General intelligence” objectively determined and measured.
Amer. J. Psychol., 1904, 15, 201-293.
32. Stern, W. Uber Psycologie der individuallen Differenzen (Ideen zur einer
"Differentielle Psychologie"). Leipzig; Barlh, 1900.
33. Stern, W. Die differentielle Psychologie in ihren metodischen Qxundlagen.
Leipzig: Barth, 1921.
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35. Terman, L. M., and Merrill, Maud A. Measuring intelligence. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 1937.
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1. Differential psychology
Differential psychology- (from the Latin diffеgentia - difference) is a branch of psychology that studies psychological differences both between individuals and between groups of people united on any basis, as well as the causes and consequences of these differences.
The subject of differential psychology (DP) are the patterns of emergence and manifestation of individual, group, typological differences. According to the definition of the founder of differential psychology, V. Stern, it is the science of significant differences in mental properties and functions.
Differential psychology has a three-part structure that includes the areas of individual, group, and typological differences.
Objectives of differential psychology:
1. Study of sources of variability in measured traits. The area of individual differences most closely related to this DP task.
2. Analysis of group distribution of characteristics. This task intersects with such a section of DP as the area of group differences. Within the framework of this task, the psychological characteristics of groups united by any characteristic - gender, age, racial-ethnic, etc. are studied.
3. Studying the features of the formation of types in various typologies. Related to this task is the area of DP, which studies typical differences (type - symptom complex, stable combination of certain characteristics) based on the analysis of individual typologies (for more details, see Topic 8). As an example, here we can cite one of the oldest typologies - the typology of temperament, based on the predominance of a certain fluid in the body (blood, mucus, bile, black bile), and the types of temperament (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic) identified in this typology.
2. The place of differential psychologyamong other scientific disciplines
DP studies the individual specifics of the course of cognitive mental processes, emotions, abilities, intelligence, etc. In this area of its study, DP is in close intersection with general psychology.
DP studies the age specificity of cognitive processes, response styles, explores individual variability in the relationships of psychological, social, biological, calendar ages, existing periodizations of mental development, etc. In this area of its study, DP is in connection with developmental psychology.
Speaking about individual variability in the properties of the nervous system, interhemispheric asymmetry, temperament, etc., DP finds its relationships with psychophysiology.
DP studies individual variability due to the social status of the subject, his belonging to a certain socio-economic group, and in this area of his study is in connection with social psychology.
Speaking about different approaches to understanding the “norm” and deviations from it, developmental deviations, character accentuations, DP forms connections with medical psychology.
DP explores individual characteristics determined by the ethnocultural affiliation of the subject. This area of DP is in intersection with ethnopsychology.
It is possible to trace connections between DP and a number of other psychological disciplines. It is only necessary to note that in DP the main emphasis is placed not only on identifying and stating certain characteristics of the subject, but also on the factors, causes and consequences that are associated with these characteristics.
3 . Methods for studying individual differences
Differential psychology is characterized by:
1. General scientific methods (observation, experiment).
2. Actually psychological methods - introspective (self-observation, self-esteem), psychophysiological (method of galvanic skin reactions, electroencephalographic method, dichotomous listening method, etc.), socio-psychological (conversation, interview, questionnaire, sociometry), developmental psychological (" transverse" and "longitudinal" sections), testing, analysis of activity products.
3. Psychogenetic methods.
There are several types of psychogenetic methods, but all of them are aimed at solving the problem of determining the dominant factors (genetics or environment) in the formation of individual differences.
A) Genealogical method- a method of studying families and pedigrees, which was used by F. Galton. The premise for using the method is the following: if a certain trait is hereditary and encoded in genes, then the closer the relationship, the higher the similarity between people on this trait. Thus, by studying the degree of manifestation of a certain trait in relatives, it is possible to determine whether this trait is inherited.
B) Adopted children method
IN) Twin method
· control group method
The method is based on the study of two existing types of twin pairs: monozygotic (MZ), formed from one egg and one sperm and having an almost completely identical chromosome set, and dizygotic (DZ), whose chromosome set is only 50% identical. DZ and MZ pairs are placed in an identical environment. A comparison of intrapair similarity in such mono- and dizygotic twins will show the role of heredity and environment in the emergence of individual differences.
Separated twin pair method
The method is based on the study of intra-pair similarity between mono- and dizygotic twins separated at an early age by fate. In total, about 130 such pairs are described in the scientific literature. It was found that separated MZ twins exhibit greater intrapair similarity than separated DZ twins. Descriptions of some pairs of separated twins are sometimes striking in the identity of their habits and preferences.
Twin pair method
The method consists of studying the distribution of roles and functions within a twin pair, which is often a closed system, due to which the twins form a so-called “total” personality.
control twin method
Particularly similar monozygotic pairs are selected (perfectly identical experimental and control groups), and then within each pair, one twin is exposed and the other is not. By measuring differences in the traits targeted in two twins, the effectiveness of the intervention is assessed.
It should be noted that numerous twin studies show that:
The correlation between the results of tests on mental development of monozygotic twins is very high, for fraternal twins it is much lower;
In the area of special abilities and personality traits, the correlations between twins are weaker, although here too monozygotic twins show greater similarity than dizygotic twins;
For many psychological traits, differences within pairs of dizygotic twins do not exceed differences within pairs of monozygotic twins. But significant differences appear most often among dizygotes;
In relation to schizophrenia, the percentage of concordance between monozygotic, dizygotic and siblings is such that it indicates the presence of a hereditary predisposition to this disease. Here, the case of four monozygotic twins (Jeniyan quadruplets), well known in the history of psychogenetics, may be very interesting; all four twins, albeit at different times, developed schizophrenia.
4. Mathematical methods.
The use of statistical analysis methods was one of the prerequisites for distinguishing differential psychology into a full-fledged science. It should be noted that here, too, one of the pioneers was the famous Englishman F. Galton, who began to use this method to prove his theory of the heritability of genius.
4 . Channels for obtaining information about individuality
personality individual heredity cerebral
Sometimes methods for studying personality are divided into three groups - based on the channel through which the information was received.
L (life gеsоd dаtа) - data based on recording human behavior in everyday life. Since even for scientific purposes it is impossible for one psychologist to comprehensively study human behavior under different conditions, experts are usually brought in - people who have experience interacting with the subject in a significant area.
It is difficult to make L-data valid because it is impossible to get rid of distortions associated with the personality of the observer, the halo effect (systematic distortions) operates, and instrumental distortions associated with imperfect survey methods (incorrectly formulated questions) are also possible. Another disadvantage of L-data is its high time consumption.
To increase validity, you need to comply with the requirements for expert assessments:
1) define traits in terms of observable behavior (preliminarily agree on what we will record as a manifestation of anxiety, aggressiveness, etc.),
2) ensure the duration of observation,
3) involve at least ten experts per subject,
4) rank subjects during one meeting according to no more than one attribute, so that there is no induction effect and experts do not repeat their list.
Assessments must be formalized and expressed in quantitative form.
T (objective test data) - data from objective tests (tests) with a controlled experimental situation. Objectivity is achieved due to the fact that restrictions are placed on the possibility of distortion of test scores and there is an objective way of obtaining assessments based on the test subject’s reaction.
Examples of the use of T-data are the well-known experiments of G.V. Birenbaum and B.V. Zeigarnik on remembering unfinished actions, experiments with modeling situations to study altruistic behavior. That is, it is necessary to create a holistic objective situation for the manifestation of certain personality traits.
This data acquisition channel also requires a lot of time and personnel and is used more often at the pilot stage to define a hypothesis, which is then tested using other, more cost-effective methods.
In order to increase the validity and heuristics of the study, it is useful to use the following tactics:
1) masking the true purpose of the research,
2) unexpected setting of tasks,
3) uncertainty and vagueness in formulating the goals of the study to create a zone of uncertainty and stimulate the activity of the subject,
4) distracting the subject’s attention,
5) creating an emotional situation during testing (“Everyone before you completed this task with ease!”),
6) use of the emotional content of the test situation,
7) recording automated reactions,
8) fixation of involuntary indicators (electrophysiological, biochemical, vegetative changes),
9) fixation of “background” indicators (physical status, level of activity and fatigue, etc.).
Q (questionnaige data) - data obtained using questionnaires, questionnaires and other standardized methods. This channel occupies a central place in personality research due to its high efficiency (can be used in a group, automatically process the results). However, it is not considered highly reliable.
Distortions in the information received may be associated with the following reasons: the low cultural and intellectual level of the subjects (it is difficult for rural residents and children under ten years of age to fill out questionnaires), lack of self-knowledge skills and special knowledge, the use of incorrect standards (especially in a limited society, when a person compares himself with relatives rather than the population as a whole). In addition, different motivations of subjects can lead to distortions either towards social desirability (dissimulation, weakening of symptoms) or emphasizing their defects (aggravation and simulation).
Thus, there is no absolutely perfect way of knowing individuality, but by being aware of the disadvantages and advantages of each of the listed methods, you can learn to obtain completely reliable information with their help. But scientific research does not end there.
Techniques and methods of scientific classification
The received data (regardless of the channel) can be combined (9). Let's assume that we examined a certain large sample of subjects (Ivanov, Sidorov, Petrov, Fedorov) according to psychological manifestations, which we can conventionally designate as A, B, C, D, and brought them into a single table.
It is easy to notice that Ivanov’s results resemble Fedorov’s results. We can combine them into one column instead of two and give a name to the personality type we introduced (for example, IvaFedoroid). We can now classify everyone who resembles Ivanov and Fedorov in their psychological qualities as one type. That is, a type is a generalization made from a group of subjects with similar qualities. At the same time, of course, as a result of such a generalization, we lose the individual differences between Ivanov and Fedorov (for example, we ignore the discrepancy in indicators for trait D).
Next, we can pay attention to the fact that signs A and C, B and D take almost the same values. This may be due to the fact that there is a common factor behind these manifestations. And we can combine the columns of our matrix, assigning new names to psychological qualities - for example, instead of A and C ac, and instead of B and D - bd. A consistent way of behaving in different situations and conditions is called a personality trait.
And the table is reduced, and the psychologist receives data on personality types and personality traits (in a rigorous study, these procedures, of course, are carried out using factor analysis).
Ultimately, it is not very important which methodology was chosen to study the individual properties of a person, the main thing is that it is applied correctly and turns out to be useful for increasing new scientific knowledge. And for this to happen, the results obtained must be generalized (the procedure of dividing a certain set into subsets is called taxonomy, or classification).
In the psychology of individual differences, not all typologies have been compiled with these requirements in mind. However, among the empirical (non-scientific) classifications there are very interesting ones, while a strictly scientific one may turn out to be completely useless.
So, it is obvious that some methods are used to study traits, and others to study individuality. Therefore, to draw up a program of scientific or practical research, it is necessary to consistently determine the following points:
1. What is the subject of consideration - a sign or an individuality?
2. To what level of individuality does the phenomenon under consideration belong?
3. Which paradigm does the researcher adhere to - natural science or humanities?
4. What is preferable to use - qualitative or quantitative methods?
5. Finally, what specific techniques should be introduced into the program?
5 . The concepts of personality, man, individual, individuality and their relationship
Along with the concept of “personality,” the terms “person,” “individual,” and “individuality” are used. These concepts are substantively intertwined.
Man is a generic concept, indicating that a creature belongs to the highest degree of development of living nature - to the human race. The concept of “man” affirms the genetic predetermination of the development of actually human characteristics and qualities.
An individual is a single representative of the species “homo sapiens”. As individuals, people differ from each other not only in morphological characteristics (such as height, bodily constitution and eye color), but also in psychological properties (abilities, temperament, emotionality).
Individuality is the unity of the unique personal properties of a particular person. This is the uniqueness of his psychophysiological structure (type of temperament, physical and mental characteristics, intelligence, worldview, life experience).
The relationship between individuality and personality is determined by the fact that these are two ways of being a person, two different definitions of him. The discrepancy between these concepts is manifested, in particular, in the fact that there are two different processes of formation of personality and individuality.
The formation of personality is the process of socialization of a person, which consists in his assimilation of a generic, social essence. This development is always carried out in the specific historical circumstances of a person’s life. The formation of personality is associated with the individual’s acceptance of social functions and roles developed in society, social norms and rules of behavior, and with the formation of skills to build relationships with other people. A formed personality is a subject of free, independent and responsible behavior in society.
The formation of individuality is the process of individualization of an object. Individualization is the process of self-determination and isolation of the individual, his separation from the community, the design of his individuality, uniqueness and originality. A person who has become an individual is an original person who has actively and creatively demonstrated himself in life.
The concepts of “personality” and “individuality” capture different aspects, different dimensions of a person’s spiritual essence. The essence of this difference is well expressed in the language. With the word “personality” such epithets as “strong”, “energetic”, “independent” are usually used, thereby emphasizing its active representation in the eyes of others. Individuality is spoken of as “bright”, “unique”, “creative”, meaning the qualities of an independent entity.
Personality structure
There are statistical and dynamic personality structures. The statistical structure is understood as an abstract model abstracted from the actually functioning personality that characterizes the main components of the individual’s psyche. The basis for identifying personality parameters in its statistical model is the difference between all components of the human psyche according to the degree of their representation in the personality structure. The following components are distinguished:
· universal properties of the psyche, i.e. common to all people (sensations, perceptions, thinking, emotions);
· socially specific features, i.e. inherent only to certain groups of people or communities (social attitudes, value orientations);
· individually unique properties of the psyche, i.e. characterizing individual typological features. Characteristic only of one or another specific person (temperament, character, abilities).
In contrast to the statistical model of personality structure, the dynamic structure model fixes the main components in the individual’s psyche no longer abstracted from a person’s everyday existence, but, on the contrary, only in the immediate context of human life. At each specific moment of his life, a person appears not as a set of certain formations, but as a person who is in a certain mental state, which is one way or another reflected in the momentary behavior of the individual. If we begin to consider the main components of the statistical structure of personality in their movement, change, interaction and living circulation, then we thereby make a transition from the statistical to the dynamic structure of personality.
6 . Environment and heredity in the determination of individual differences
Determining the sources of individual variations in the psyche is the central problem of differential psychology. It is known that individual differences are generated by numerous and complex interactions between heredity and environment. Heredity ensures the stability of the existence of a biological species, the environment ensures its variability and the ability to adapt to changing living conditions. Heredity is contained in the genes passed on by parents to the embryo during fertilization. If there is a chemical imbalance or incompleteness of genes, the developing organism may have physical abnormalities or mental pathologies. However, even in the usual case, heredity allows for a very wide range of behavioral variations, which are the result of the summation of reaction norms at different levels - biochemical, physiological, psychological. And within the boundaries of heredity, the final result depends on the environment. Thus, in every manifestation of human activity one can find something from heredity, and something from the environment; the main thing is to determine the extent and content of these influences.
In addition, humans have social inheritance, which animals lack (following cultural patterns, transferring accentuation, for example schizoid, from mother to child through cold maternal upbringing, forming family scripts). However, in these cases, rather, a stable manifestation of characteristics is noted over several generations, but without genetic fixation. “The so-called social heritage in reality cannot withstand the influence of the environment,” writes A. Anastasi.
There are several prejudices regarding the concepts of "variability", "heredity" and "environment". Although heredity is responsible for the stability of a species, most hereditary traits are modifiable, and even hereditary diseases are not inevitable. It is also true that traces of environmental influences can be very stable in the psychological appearance of an individual, although they will not be genetically transmitted to subsequent generations (for example, developmental disorders of a child as a result of birth trauma).
Different theories and approaches assess differently the contribution of two factors to the formation of individuality. Historically, the following groups of theories have emerged from the point of view of their preference for biological or environmental, socio-cultural determination.
1. In biogenetic theories, the formation of individuality is understood as predetermined by congenital and genetic inclinations. Development is the gradual unfolding of these properties over time, and the contribution of environmental influences is very limited. Biogenetic approaches often serve as the theoretical basis for racist teachings about the original differences between nations. A supporter of this approach was F. Galton, as well as the author of the theory of recapitulation Art. Hall.
2. Sociogenetic theories (a sensationalistic approach that asserts the primacy of experience) claim that initially a person is a blank slate (tabula gasa), and all his achievements and characteristics are determined by external conditions (environment). A similar position was shared by J. Locke. These theories are more progressive, but their drawback is the understanding of the child as an initially passive being, an object of influence.
3. Two-factor theories (convergence of two factors) understood development as the result of the interaction of innate structures and external influences. K. Bühler, W. Stern, A. Binet believed that the environment is superimposed on the factors of heredity. The founder of the two-factor theory, V. Stern, noted that one cannot ask about any function whether it is external or internal. We must be interested in what is in it from the outside and what is from the inside. But even within the framework of two-factor theories, the child still remains a passive participant in the changes taking place in him.
4. The doctrine of higher mental functions (cultural-historical approach) L.S. Vygotsky argues that the development of individuality is possible thanks to the presence of culture - the generalized experience of humanity. The innate properties of a person are the conditions for development, the environment is the source of his development (because it contains what a person must master). Higher mental functions, which are characteristic only of man, are mediated by signs and objective activities, which represent the content of culture. And in order for a child to appropriate it, it is necessary that he enter into a special relationship with the world around him: he does not adapt, but actively appropriates the experience of previous generations in the process of joint activity and communication with adults who are carriers of culture.
The contribution of heredity and environment is attempted to be determined by the genetics of quantitative traits, which analyzes various types of dispersion of trait values. However, not every trait is simple, fixed by one allele (a pair of genes, including a dominant and a recessive one). In addition, the final effect cannot be considered as the arithmetic sum of the influence of each of the genes, because they can, while appearing simultaneously, also interact with each other, leading to systemic effects. Therefore, by studying the process of genetic control of a psychological trait, psychogenetics seeks to answer the following questions:
1. To what extent does genotype determine the formation of individual differences (i.e., what is the expected measure of variability)?
2. What is the specific biological mechanism of this influence (on what part of the chromosome are the corresponding genes localized)?
3. What processes connect the protein product of genes and a specific phenotype?
4. Are there environmental factors that change the genetic mechanism being studied?
The heritability of a trait is recognized by the presence of a correlation between the indicators of biological parents and children, and not by the similarity of the absolute values of the indicators. Suppose that research has revealed similarities between the temperamental characteristics of biological parents and their children given up for adoption. Most likely, children in adoptive families will be influenced by common and different environmental conditions, as a result of which, in absolute terms, they will also become similar to their adoptive parents. However, no correlation will be noted.
Currently, the debate between supporters of the factors of heredity and environment has lost its former sharpness. Numerous studies devoted to identifying the sources of individual variations, as a rule, cannot provide an unambiguous assessment of the contribution of the environment or heredity. For example, thanks to the psychogenetic studies of F. Galton, carried out in the 20s using the twin method, it was discovered that biologically determined characteristics (skull size, other measurements) are determined genetically, and psychological qualities (intelligence quotient according to various tests) give a large scatter and are determined by the environment. It is influenced by the social and economic status of the family, birth order, etc.
The current state of affairs in the field of studying the interaction of environment and heredity is illustrated by two models of environmental influences on intellectual abilities. In the first model, Zajonc and Markus argued that the more time parents and children spend together, the higher the correlation of IQ with the older relative (exposure model). That is, in terms of intellectual abilities, the child is similar to the one who has been raising him longer, and if the parents, for some reason, devote little time to the child, he will be similar to the nanny or grandmother. In the second model, however, the opposite was stated: McAskie and Clark noted that the highest correlation was observed between the child and the relative who is the subject of his identification (identification model). That is, the most important thing is to be an intellectual authority for the child, and then he can be influenced even remotely, and regular joint activities are not at all necessary. The coexistence of two essentially mutually exclusive models once again shows that most differential psychological theories are narrowly limited in nature, and practically no general theories have yet been created.
7. Methods
Adopted children method. The method consists in the fact that the study includes 1) children who were given up to be raised by biologically alien parents-educators as early as possible, 2) adoptive and 3) biological parents. Since children have 50% of genes in common with each biological parent, but do not have common living conditions, and with adopted children, on the contrary, they do not have common genes, but share environmental characteristics, it is possible to determine the relative role of heredity and environment in the formation of individual differences.
Twin method. The twin method began with an article by F. Galton, published in 1876, “The History of Twins as a Criterion for the Relative Strength of Nature and Nurture.” But the beginning of real research in this direction occurs at the beginning of the 20th century. There are several varieties of this method.
8 . Asymmetry of the hemispheres as a factor in the development of individuality
One of the most important individual properties is functional asymmetry and specialization of the hemispheres - a characteristic of the distribution of mental functions between the right and left hemispheres. The process of asymmetry formation is called lateralization. Asymmetry is a property of all living things, manifesting itself in different ways - in tropisms, the direction of folding of the molecular helix, etc. (the phenomenon of asymmetry in the living world is called chirality). In animal physiology, the concept of “paw” (similar to “hand”) is used, and observations show that in mammals, too, all paired organs have one or another degree of asymmetry; there are dominant (leading) and subordinate limbs. Taking into account the early habituation of children to right-handedness, practical psychologists sometimes suggest focusing on the criterion of “posity” to determine the leading hemisphere.
Cerebral dominance and dominance of the hand (ear, eye) are usually connected by contralateral relationships (i.e., with the leading right hand, the left hemisphere is responsible for speech). But sometimes they also have an ipsilateral relationship (located on one side of the body). There is no absolute dominance either - each person has an individual combination of cerebral dominance, dominance of the arm, leg, eye and ear. There are people who are equally skilled with their right and left hands - they are called ambidextrous. Left-handedness sometimes brings inconvenience to a person, but it can have different origins, and therefore the upbringing and education of left-handed children should be based on the data of a neuropsychological examination.
Cerebral dominance in function is not a condition, but a process that occurs throughout a person’s life. If in the early stages of studying asymmetry data were mainly used from clinical practice, then with the advent of new methods (in particular, the dichotic listening method), it was established that any mental function is carried out thanks to the joint work of both hemispheres, and its anatomical substrate is represented twice - in the right hemisphere figurative, concrete level of function implementation, and in the left - abstract, verbal-logical. And if at first only the principle of dominance for speech functions was noted, now they talk about different strategies for processing information: the left hemisphere carries it out sequentially, similarly, the right hemisphere - in parallel, synthetically.
The left hemisphere is usually responsible for operating with verbal-sign information, reading and counting, the right hemisphere is responsible for operating with images, spatial orientation, distinguishing sounds and melodies, recognizing complex objects, and producing dreams. Since left-hemisphere thinking is analytical, it acts by carrying out a series of sequential operations, resulting in the formation of an internally consistent model of the world, which is easy to consolidate in signs and words.
Right hemisphere thinking is spatial-figurative, simultaneous (one-time) and synthetic, which makes it possible to simultaneously grasp heterogeneous information. The result of the functioning of the right hemisphere is polysemy, which, on the one hand, is the basis of creativity, and on the other, complicates understanding between people, because it is based more on symbols than on meanings. In men, the asymmetry is more pronounced than in women, which, apparently, limits their compensation capabilities and learning ability.
The dominance of the hemispheres in the implementation of a particular function is not fixed, but depends on the content of the activity, when changing which it is possible not only to smooth out the asymmetry, but even to change the sign to the opposite. It usually determines the most developed area of the psyche - for example, right-hemisphere people have better developed emotions and intuition, left-hemisphere people have better perception and thinking, however, both can include different hemispheres, and the concept of “right hemisphere” itself does not mean that the center of speech is necessarily located on the right - it only emphasizes the fact that the right hemisphere is most involved in the process under discussion. Depending on the ratio of dominant and subordinate functions, the structure of the personality as a whole is formed, as K.-G wrote about. Jung, and the subordinate function is often the strongest. (It is more difficult to control, because a person in relations with the world is accustomed to relying on other information channels and here he finds himself defenseless. So, for example, a mathematician-programmer, accustomed to interacting with the world “left hemisphere,” may completely not control his own emotions and easily fall into a state love or affect.) In twin pairs, usually one relies on symbolic information, the other on symbolic; dominance also determines the content of typical neuroses (whether they arise in the sphere of ideas or feelings).
Right-handed people have greater control over the muscles on the right side of the body, so hidden emotions are more likely to be seen on the left side of the face. Since right-handedness predominates in our culture, it is understandable that most modern people lack this.
9. Gender in the structure of personality
On the one hand, individual characteristics are not reducible to a biological foundation, and on the other hand, they are largely determined by innate regulatory mechanisms. Thus, the main idea of the theory of integral individuality of B.S. Merlin and the special theory of individuality of V.M. Rusalova’s idea of the hierarchical subordination of all individual differences with the determining role of biological factors constantly gaining confirmation. This fully applies to the psychology of gender. When studying gender issues, two terms are used abroad: seX, when it comes to the biological basis of behavior, and gendeG, when they mean the sociocultural content of behavior.
Gender as a biological phenomenon refers to individual characteristics - it is determined at the moment of conception of a person, it cannot be changed. However, a person can accept or reject their gender, experience it as a reward or punishment in different ways under the influence of cultural and social influences: parents’ expectations, ideas about the purpose of their own gender, its value, etc. Therefore, the natural foundations of behavior can either be strengthened or, conversely, inhibited, weakening the productivity of human activity and leading to the emergence of neuroses. (Recall that libido (sexual desire) in psychoanalysis was considered as the main drive that determines human activity and is transformed through sublimation into creative energy, and in Jung’s theory it began to be considered as a source of life force in general.)
As for the differences in psychological qualities among people of different sexes, they began to stand out as a subject of research relatively recently, especially in Russian psychology, which is focused on understanding personality as a set of social relations. This is largely due to the fact that universal human culture, including psychoanalysis, was created mainly by men, and the word “man” in various languages often coincides with the word “man” and differs from the word “woman”.
Both features related to reproductive behavior (mating behavior, reproduction, caring for offspring), and simply the quality of cognitive processes, emotional sphere and behavior may differ in male and female groups. At the same time, ideas about gender-role psychological variations include both everyday prejudices and cultural stereotypes about what is due to men and women. It is not always possible to separate real facts and everyday ideas, but attempts in this direction have been made for a long time.
Thus, back in 1942, K. McNemar established and confirmed statistically that girls have more developed aesthetic tastes, they have better speech, and finer coordination, while boys have better mathematical and mechanical abilities. Girls have better verbal fluency; women are more adaptive, educated, they have a higher level of social desirability, while men are more intelligent, resourceful, and inventive. All new types of professions are first mastered by men, and only then by women. In addition, women prefer stereotypical types of professional activities, while men, on the contrary, are more likely to experience neuropsychiatric disorders in those types of activities that are stereotypical.
So, biological sex and psychological sex are ambiguously connected: it is obvious that a man can have a feminine character, and a woman can behave like a man. In order for a person to accept, realize his gender and learn to use its resources, he must successfully go through a process called gender-role socialization. (Nartova-Bochaver).
10. Biological mechanisms of sexual differentiation
The question of why boys and girls are born has interested humanity for a long time. Various explanations have been given for this. For example, Aristotle believed that the main thing is how a man and a woman caress each other, who is more passionate during sexual intercourse. If a man is more passionate, then the result will be a boy, if a woman, then a girl.
The mystery of the appearance of a child of a certain gender was revealed only in the second half of the twentieth century. with the help of geneticists.
As is known, the carrier of hereditary properties is the chromosomal apparatus. Each human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes - 22 pairs of so-called autosom, identical for men and women, and one pair sex chromosomesm, which differs between them. For women it's two X-chromosomes (pattern XX), men have one X-- and one U - chromosomes (pattern XU),T. e. male genetic sex is heterogameticm, and female - homogametic.
The embryo is initially programmed to develop into a female individual. However, the presence U-chromosomes stop the development of the fetal genital organs that have not yet been differentiated (which otherwise would have turned into ovaries) and directs their development according to the male type, turning them into testes.
The process of sexual differentiation begins from the moment of fertilization of the egg and goes through a number of stages, each of which has its own specific tasks, and the developmental results achieved at each stage become. The main stages and components of sexual differentiation are reflected by J. Money (1980) in the following diagram (Fig. 1.1).
Rice. 1.1. Stages and components of sexual differentiation
Genetic sex determines true, or gonadal, sex, i.e. sex determined by the structure of the gonad (testicle or ovary). Yes, pattern XU, characteristic only of male cells and making them incompatible with the immunological system of the female body, programs, due to the presence in U-chromosome gene SGU, the transformation (at 4-8 weeks) of the rudimentary gonads of the male fetus into testes capable of producing sperm. On the chromosome X pattern XX there is a gene DSS, which directs the development of the indifferent sex gland into the ovaries, which are capable of producing eggs. The appearance of testicles or ovaries causes gameticfloor (from Greek gAmetes- husband, gAmete-- spouse). So the gene DSS plays at the pattern XX same role as gene SGU at the pattern XU.At the end of the 3rd month, the testicles begin to produce the male sex hormone testosterone (androgens). Arises hormonal l , which in the embryo determines the differentiation of internal reproductive organs (internal morphological sex ) and external genitalia (external morphological sex ), as well as special nervous mechanisms, the so-called “genital centers”, which further regulate masculine or feminine behavior person. With the onset of puberty in boys, the amount of androgens increases, since they are produced not only in the adrenal cortex, as in women, but also in the male gonads. And the more androgens in the body, the more masculine behavior manifests itself.
The hypothalamus, in which the reproductive centers are located, not only differentiates under the influence of germinal hormones, but is itself a psychoendocrine organ; his prenatal program, oriented towards male and female behavior, determines the nature of his reaction to the sex hormones of puberty, and this reaction, in turn, causes the corresponding sex-dimorphic behavior.
During puberty, a large number of hormones are released that ultimately determine biological differences in sex. During this period, testosterone levels in boys increase 18 times, and in girls estradiol levels increase 8 times.
In the absence or deficiency of embryonic androgens during the corresponding critical period, sexual differentiation automatically, regardless of chromosomal sex, occurs according to the female type. An example is the development of a child in cases where, due to the pathological influence of ecology (intoxication, radiation), the gonads do not form ( state of agonadism). On the other hand, if the mother takes drugs during pregnancy that stimulate the appearance of the male hormone (testosterone), then the female embryo can be “defeminized,” which will subsequently manifest itself in the masculinization of female behavior. Such girls prefer the company of boys and games typical of boys; they are self-confident and independent, that is, they are defined as tomboys. All this proves that androgens play a significant role O a greater role for intrauterine sex differentiation than estrogens.
It has been established that the younger the parents are, the higher the likelihood of having a boy. Thus, for mothers 18-20 years old, the ratio of boys born to girls was 120:100, and for mothers 38-40 years old - 90:100. The type of pregnancy also matters: first-time mothers give birth to boys more often; The higher the birth order, the lower the probability of having a son. In addition, if by the time of ovulation the sperm is already in the woman’s genital tract, the likelihood of having a girl is greater, but if it gets there after ovulation, the likelihood of having a boy increases. Already in the 19th century. It has been observed that pregnancy with a boy lasts a week longer than pregnancy with a girl.
Differences in the speed of development of male and female organisms are visible already at the embryonic stage. In girls, skeletal development occurs faster. After birth, they are 1-2 weeks ahead of boys in bone formation. At the same time, in terms of length and weight, boys at birth are 2-3% larger than girls. (Ilyin, psychophysiology)
11. The expediency and biological purpose of the presence of two sexes in nature
The biological purpose of men and women could be expressed very briefly: the task of men is to impregnate women, and the task of women is to give birth to children. This position reflects the most influential concept of the 19th century. - Darwinism and its development in the form of social Darwinism XX V . , which focuses on “natural selection” and the main and highest purpose of a woman in society - motherhood, which is an integral factor in the prosperity of the nation. As I.I. believed Mechnikov, for the sake of this mission, nature allows women to lag in development. Here is what he wrote about this at the beginning of the twentieth century: “Many naturalists are fully aware of the fact that a woman appears as if corresponding to a man in adolescence, therefore, lingers at a certain stage of development. No one, of course, will deduce from my words, so that I assert that a woman is incapable of development. I only assert that the progressive development of a woman must be accomplished at the expense of her ability to reproduce, feed and raise children, just as the increased activity of worker bees, ants and termites could not appear otherwise, how, together with the appearance of infertility or fertility in emergency exceptional cases, factual proof of this opinion is presented to us by the United States.Yankee women have been concerned about their own development for a long time and have made enormous strides in this regard, but they were accomplished, apparently, at the expense of reproduction and family life" (1913). Of course, the speech is from I.I. Mechnikov is not talking about the loss of the ability to bear children as a result of the emancipation of women, but about a change in their social role in family life and attitude towards the birth of a large number of children. It is no secret that the more educated a woman is, the fewer children she has. This is payment for her intellectual development.
From the perspective of social Darwinism , the majority of representatives of science and education unanimously opposed women’s attempts to achieve social equality, proving the physiologically determined limitation of not only the physical, but also the mental and social activity of women. In 1887, the Chairman of the British Medical Association proposed that, in the interests of social progress and the betterment of the human race, the education and other activities of women should be prohibited by the constitution as potentially dangerous, causing overload of the female body and the inability to produce healthy offspring.
Even such a progressive figure as Herbert Spencer, in his work “Principles of Biology” (1867), argued that excessive mental work negatively affects the physiological development and reproductive functions of women.
“Finally, women, who participate in the production process on an equal basis with men, have the opportunity to manage the life of the outside world together with them. But they also have the exclusive right to control the procreation. At any moment they can refuse to give birth to children. And in the near future, thanks to artificial After insemination, they will be able to decide this issue on their own. The reverse process is impossible: a woman is needed for procreation. Thus, the seemingly unshakable idea of the union of the two sexes as the primary condition for childbirth is being called into question today. And when biologists and geneticists predict that it will soon be possible to fertilize the nucleus female cell without a sperm, it becomes clear how close we have come to the seemingly fantastic idea of parthenogenesis, which in this case will be female.
Even if the women of the third millennium do not take advantage of this opportunity, it is likely that men will be sensitive to such a change in their status. Apparently, they are facing serious tests. Perhaps they will feel even more acutely the loss of characteristics characteristic of their gender, their uniqueness and need. Therefore, we can assume that they will try with all their might to regain at least part of their former power. Already, biologists are predicting the incredible: in less than half a century, men will be able to “bear” children. And this is no longer science fiction. Soon we will have to radically reconsider the relationship of the sexes, the definition of their specific qualities and the attitude towards their equality" (Elisabeth Badinter. - UNESCO Courier. 1986).
But in the statement of I.I. Mechnikov also has a biological subtext: nature regulates the development of females reproducing offspring, and there really is a mystery in this regulation. Girls outpace boys in development for many years, overtake them in absolute terms, and suddenly, with the end of puberty, they begin to lag behind male subjects in development. For what it happens? For what Should a woman be inferior to a man in physical development?
Although the role of men in the reproduction of offspring cannot be discounted, the main role is still assigned to the woman: it is she who bears the fetus, the usefulness of this fetus depends on her efforts, and the effect of these efforts is closely related to the nature of her professional and social activities, to the lack of physical and mental stress, so characteristic of a woman striving to make a professional or social career. Therefore, one can understand the fears of many scientists: whether as a result of such aspirations, the family structure and upbringing of children will suffer. G. Spencer, guided by such fears, considered it necessary to limit the possibilities of any activity of a woman so that all her energy was devoted to the child and home life, since only such a way of life is, from his point of view, the most effective form of human organization. Among the Germans, this principle was developed in the form of three K intended for a woman: KindeG children), KbWithhe (kitchen) and KiGWithhe (church).
As J. Williams and D. Best (1986) note, a woman's freedom of movement was limited, since she always needed to care for babies. And since the woman found herself “locked in a cave,” it made sense for her to take up housekeeping. At the same time, men could be away from home and therefore could engage in hunting and wars. This was also beneficial because women’s engagement in dangerous activities could lead to the disappearance of female offspring.
D. Bass (1989), and also D. Kenrick (1987), those who adhere to the biosocial, or evolutionary, view, it is believed that traits such as male dominance and female caring could have appeared through natural selection and evolution. From their point of view, men were chosen for traits associated with dominance and social status, and women for traits indicating high reproductive capabilities and the ability to care for offspring. It is assumed that such traits have a positive effect on the reproductive process and, therefore, begin to occur more often in the population. Research on couple mate choice does show that women are more attracted to men who appear dominant, while men are more attracted to attractive and younger women, with these differences showing up across cultures. (Ilyin, Psychophysiology)
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The relevance of research into the variability, diversity and specificity of individual forms of normative development of children in ontogenesis is considered. The need for a typological analysis of the dynamics characterizing individual characteristics of mental development and the creation of differential developmental psychology as a special section of developmental psychology is substantiated. As a basis for constructing a typological picture of ontogenesis, it is proposed to use basic psychological neoplasms of successive age stages.
Keywords : ontogeny, normative development, age and individual differences, typological analysis, psychological neoplasms.
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally the systemic model of ontogeny periodization, created through the efforts of several generations of domestic psychologists and called the Vygotsky–Leontiev–Elkonin periodization , , . Revealing the central psychological content of successive ontogenetic stages, the leading forms of activity, as well as the system of macro- and microsocial conditions necessary for the implementation Regulatory Child development, this periodization at the same time is an indispensable theoretical basis for the practical activities of psychologists working in the fields of education, healthcare, and counseling.
But while setting the main guidelines in solving various practical problems in the development of children, this periodization does not contain any indications Variability of specific forms of implementation of normative development, does not show the diversity of lines in the formation of a child’s personality. Meanwhile, in his practical activities, a psychologist always deals not with normative development as such, but with its specific, individualized, and often very specific forms.
Practicing psychologists today are forced to resolve this contradiction on their own - on the basis of personal experience and intuition, which cannot exclude significant difficulties, errors and failures. Thus, the relevance of research into the differential aspect of age-related development is dictated primarily by the most pressing needs of psychological practice.
However, from the point of view of the logic of development of developmental psychology itself, one should recognize the urgent task of creating a special section of it,
Displaying colossal variability, diversity and specificity of forms
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 2
Individual development in ontogenesis. We believe that this special section of developmental psychology should be called Differential developmental psychology , .
Indeed, until recently, the main task of age-related developmental psychology was considered to be the establishment of general patterns of ontogenesis. The focus was on studying the characteristics of developmental stages and transition mechanisms that apply to most typically developing children. At the same time, in both domestic and foreign psychology, the concentration of researchers on the search for patterns of development was accompanied, by their own admission, with a conscious distraction from the individual variability of those specific forms in which only any natural connections can be realized , .
This does not mean that in Russian developmental psychology one cannot find examples of research into the individual characteristics of children. On the contrary, in the classical works of D. B. Elkonin , L. I. Bozhovich and her employees , , M. I. Lisina , N. S. Leites and many other psychologists, the problem of “the relationship between age and individual characteristics” was raised as one of the central ones for understanding child development. Specific research in this direction, carried out in the 1960–1970s, affected such areas of development as cognitive activity, communication, and some aspects of the personal development of children. However, at the same time, the focus of psychologists almost always remained in line with the search for age-related characteristics, and the study of individual characteristics faded into the background, serving as specific illustrations of the manifestation of age-related patterns.
However, since the 1980s and especially the 1990s. attention to individual developmental characteristics began to increase noticeably. At first, this trend affected the most problematic children - the so-called difficult, pedagogically neglected, underachievers, children with accentuations of character, deviant forms of behavior, etc. Later, it began to spread to more and more diverse options for actually normal development, which, as is known, is completely does not exclude difficulties and problems ( , , , and etc.).
But the expansion of research in this area in itself has not led to a qualitative shift in the general state of the problem of the ontogenesis of individual differences. Studies of individual or group characteristics, often dictated by purely practical goals, result in information about certain relatively independent symptom complexes. As a result, the data obtained remain largely fragmentary, and their connection with the age-related logic of development is not disclosed. Thus, in the absence of a unified methodology for studying the ontogenesis of individual differences, the accumulation of valuable, but still purely empirical and unrelated data on the manifestation of certain individual psychological properties in children, naturally, could not lead to a certain general picture of development options - a picture that can serve as a conceptual basis for analyzing the diverse problems of a particular child.
It should be recognized that the study of individual differences in ontogenesis leads researchers to pose special methodological problems, since it requires a combination Differential psychological Analysis with tracking Speakers Changes in individual characteristics in the process of child development at successive age stages. As for the current state of affairs, then, somewhat roughly speaking, we can say that developmental psychology gives a general picture
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 3
Ontogenetic development without taking into account Variability Its real forms, while differential psychology shows the variety of individual psychological differences mainly Beyond their development, without taking into account the clear age-related dynamics of their changes (with some and quite rare exceptions).
The principles of classical differential psychology (a thorough presentation of which only relatively recently appeared in Russian psychology - see. , ), although they provide important guidelines for the study of individual differences, but, naturally, are completely insufficient in relation to ontogenesis, since they are traditionally intended for the study of individual psychological characteristics outside the context of their genesis and age-related development. How can one imagine the general features of a methodologically based (rather than empirical) approach to the study of the ontogeny of individual differences?
We believe that substantive grounds for identifying and analyzing individual development options in ontogenesis must be sought in the age milestones of normative development, i.e. in the main Neoplasms Age stages. This means that relying on the methodology of the systems approach and the concept of psychological age as a unit of analysis of ontogenesis , it is logical to take as a starting point the scheme of age-related periodization of development developed in Russian psychology, since it records the most important milestones of the normative course of development (in the form of neoplasms). In this case, the specificity of the developmental psychological approach to the differential aspect of child development will be to analyze all the most significant age-related neoplasms in order to determine those qualitatively specific forms in which they arise.
In other words, the essence of the approach is based on the position that the most important age-related neoplasms are formed in an individual-typical form. It is the definition of such forms that can, in our opinion, become the decisive link that connects abstract age-related patterns with the uniqueness of development in each specific, individual case. It can be assumed that age-related developmental psychology will be a fundamentally incomplete and insufficient system of knowledge about ontogenesis until the main types, forms, and development options of all the most important psychological neoplasms are described, and on their basis - the diversity of individual characteristics.
Thus, the colossal Gap Between the patterns of development reflected in periodization, on the one hand, and the picture of the development of a particular child, on the other, as the experience of differential psychology, personality psychology and some other areas suggests (see, for example, recent studies by E. D. Chomskaya and her colleagues - ), must be filled in Typological picture Individual development options in ontogenesis.
It should be recognized that the very idea of typological analysis of individual variability of development in ontogenesis is not new at all. In particular, such a task was quite definitely posed by L. S. Vygotsky, who in his programmatic work for developmental psychology “Diagnostics of Development and Pedological Clinic of Difficult Childhood” (1931/1983) wrote about the need “instead of a static, abstractly constructed typology to create Dynamic typology"(our italics - G.B.) child development . However, this idea of L. S. Vygotsky has not yet received a direct continuation, in contrast, for example, to the vivid embodiment of ideas
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 4
Typological analysis in
Domestic differential psychophysiology ( , and etc.).
If we turn to the original methodological meaning of the concept “typology”, we will see that it is not only some classification and description, but first of all a method of scientific knowledge, a procedure. The essence of typology is the analysis and systematization of the objects or properties under study in accordance with a certain idealized model expressing their qualitative certainty. At the same time, the typology is not limited to the structural analysis of the system; it is intended to reflect the system in its development, which is especially important for developmental psychology. Typology based on disclosure Genetic relationships, can serve not only as a means of solving narrowly practical problems, but also as a means of constructing a truly theoretical explanation. What, in this case, can become the basis for a typology of a child’s mental development (more precisely, typologies, since a complex developing object requires many typological descriptions, not just one)?
From the point of view of developmental psychology, the most important age-related neoplasms are most adequate to such a function. We believe that it is precisely the basic forms of implementation of normative new formations that turn out to be the decisive link, the establishment of which can ultimately lead us to an understanding of the general in its specific, individual embodiment, that is, in the personality of the child. Let us emphasize that formally any new formation can be used as the basis for a typology, but not every new formation, but only one that is truly central for a particular age stage, can give originality to the entire course of a child’s development and, to some extent, direct him along a certain path.
If from these positions we consider the richest factual heritage of age
Developmental psychology, then in it one can already find individual confirmations in favor of
1 The fruitfulness of the typological approach , , , , , . These
The studies have one essential feature in common: the types described in them are not
Other than qualitatively unique forms of implementation of the most important normative
Formations (a teenager’s sense of adulthood, an infant’s emotional attachment to
Mothers, operational structures of the intellect of a junior schoolchild, etc.). Such
Typologies, at least to a first approximation, correspond to the idea of revealing genetic connections
In development and at the same time serve as orientation to important from a practical point of view
Developmental options for children and their typical problems.
At the same time, the named typologies should be distinguished from outwardly similar ones Empirical typologies, although the importance of the latter for understanding certain aspects of child development also cannot be underestimated. In fact, any study of the real diversity of individual manifestations of the psychological property being studied inevitably leads to attempts to streamline and systematize them. In empirical typologies, the description of various manifestations of psychological properties and developmental variations is, as a rule, based either on a single characteristic or on a set of heterogeneous characteristics ( , , and etc.).
Emphasizing the important role of new formations as the basis for constructing psychological typologies proper, one cannot help but admit that such an approach cannot be the only possible one. The practice of psychological counseling shows that among the many unfavorable development options for children (in
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 5
Within the framework of a widely understood norm), a prominent place is occupied by those in which the primary source
The peculiarities are not psychological, but, for example, neurophysiological characteristics. Naturally, such typologies are also extremely necessary, since they can significantly clarify the nature of difficulties in learning and mental development of a fairly large category of children who do not have clinical forms of disorders, but whose development is nevertheless complicated because it occurs under conditions of peculiarly altered cerebral systemogenesis .
Thus, typologies based on age-related new formations, of course, do not exclude typologies of development in ontogenesis, built on other foundations, but they themselves should not be replaced by schemes brought from other (albeit close to age-related developmental psychology) disciplines. Meanwhile, due to the insufficient development of a number of problems, typologies from related disciplines penetrate into the field of developmental psychological knowledge and spread quite widely. The most striking example here is the well-known concept of character accentuations by A. E. Lichko . Under its powerful influence, the problem of character formation in childhood is presented in the literature on child psychology (especially aimed at practical psychologists) almost exclusively on the basis of clinical rather than psychological taxonomy of types of accentuations. At the same time, accentuations as “edge variants of the norm” are perceived as guidelines for describing the entire range of the norm, since there is no sufficiently clear differentiation of characterological types from the perspective of age-related psychological analysis.
To illustrate the application of the typological approach presented above, let us briefly dwell on the results of two extensive experimental studies. The first of them, conducted by me together with N. S. Chernysheva (1997), was devoted to the formation Characteristic features In children of primary school age.
As a key basis for identifying the types of characterological differences in children, we took such an important age-related new formation in the sphere of communication of an older preschooler, described by G. A. Tsukerman, as “the ability to coordinate actions taking into account the position of another” . The longitudinal study showed that this ability, which is born within the joint play and other activities of a preschooler, can already take three qualitatively different forms by the beginning of primary school age. The first form is expressed in the ability and willingness to agree with a communication partner, accept his demands and obey him. The second is characterized by a willingness to object, insisting on one’s position. The third form is associated with the willingness to leave a situation of active interaction, without yielding to the partner, but also without defending one’s position .
The first form was called Compliant; second - Dominant; third - Detached. Each form has its own Leading way of interaction. At the same time, children with adequate behavior use all three methods of interaction quite flexibly. However, in the case of sufficient expression (sharpness) of characterological features, a more or less stable predominance of one of the methods is revealed.
The system-forming function of the leading mode of interaction manifested itself here in
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 6
The formation of specific symptom complexes of behavior, as well as the characteristic features of motivation, self-awareness and the most typical difficulties that arise in children of the named characterological groups in educational activities and communication with peers and adults. At the same time, the specifics of these children’s difficulties were dictated by the uniqueness of their motivational-10
Need sphere. For example, a compliant type of behavior made children extremely dependent on the psychological climate of learning, and their focus on communication prevailed over interest in the actual educational activity. In the case of the dominant type of behavior, self-affirmation motives dominated, often distorting the system of educational motivation and creating the ground for conflicting relationships with others. Finally, the detached type of behavior was characterized by the least developed need for personal communication, which led to the fact that in the conditions of mass education, detached children were more likely than others to experience a feeling of psychological tension and discomfort.
It is significant that, along with the difficulties specific to each characterological type, a number of “vulnerabilities” common to them were also identified: the complexity and duration of adaptation to new conditions; inflexibility of behavior in unusual conditions; insufficient activity in acquiring experience in cooperation with an adult performing social functions and in using different patterns of interaction; an increase in aggressiveness in conditions that interfere with the usual response; inability to establish equal relationships with peers; selectivity in self-perception, narrowing the possibilities of adequate behavior in situations that affect self-esteem, etc. A two-year longitudinal tracking of the dynamics of the named characterological types showed, firstly, their relative stability during the period of study in primary school and, secondly, partial transformation during the transition period by adolescence .
Of course, the three-vector typology of character development presented in this study does not reveal (and cannot exhaustively reveal) all aspects of the complex content of characterological development. However, it clarifies some very significant, fundamental character traits of the child and at the same time shows their internal prototypical connection with the known characterological types found in adults . Thus, the intended typology connects the general, normative new formation in the sphere of communication activities (including its motivation and methods of implementation) with the originality of the emerging individuality. In practical terms, typological analysis guides the strategy of diagnostic examination, and also suggests the vectors of a conditionally variant prognosis, always presented in the form of a tree (fan) of possible lines of further development of the child, depending, on the one hand, on the implemented form of the neoplasm, and on the other, on the character developing conditions, primarily the characteristics of the social situation of development .
Another experimental study in line with the typological approach was carried out by me together with I. V. Zabegailova (2000) and was an attempt to apply this method of analysis to the dynamics of the mental development of children with pronounced features of voluntary regulation.
It is known that the study of age-related patterns of development of voluntariness
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 7
It showed that, as the most important new formation, voluntary regulation of behavior first appears towards the end of preschool age, and then - already at primary school age - it becomes a central aspect of the transformation of not only behavior, but also mental processes. As a result, arbitrary forms of memory, attention, and thinking develop; The organization of the child’s activities also becomes arbitrary ( , , , and etc.). However, in practice, this normative picture of the development of voluntariness results in an extremely wide range of individual differences between children, while a low level of its development is found in a significant number of children.
Parts (up to 25% or more) of primary school students. What could serve as a genetic basis for constructing a typology covering these pronounced individual differences in the development of voluntariness in children of primary school age?
Analysis of the problem showed the need to take into account two aspects in development
voluntary regulation. Firstly, in terms of content, its formation
is a process Assimilation A child's means and ways of organizing his
behavior and activity, mastery of behavior and activity with the help of cultural
given means (L. S. Vygotsky, L. A. Wenger, D. B. Elkonin, E. O. Smirnova and others).
Secondly, the process of a child’s assimilation of means of voluntary control occurs at
background of certain Style
Features
His activities
(impulsivity/reflexivity), largely determined by constitutional factors - the properties of the nervous system and temperament ( , and etc.).
It was natural to assume that the process Mastering the means of voluntary regulation Occurs with varying degrees of success on Against the background of an impulsive or reflexive style of action, characteristic of a child. Accordingly, the different dynamics and success of the development of voluntariness in children may be due to a different combination of the actions of two factors: 1) the formation (learning) of techniques and ways of organizing behavior and activity; 2) the strength of impulsive tendencies as a stylistic feature of activity.
As a result of an experimental study in which 160 second-grade students aged 7;10–8;6 years took part, at the first stage five groups of children were identified with different ratios of voluntariness, on the one hand, and reflexivity/impulsivity, on the other: 1) impulsive with a low level of development of volition; 2) impulsive with a disharmonious level of development of voluntariness; 3) plastic; 4) reflexive with a disharmonious level of development of voluntariness; 5) reflexive with a high level of development of voluntariness .
Briefly, the distinctive features of these groups can be outlined as follows. Children from First The groups (10.7%) were characterized by pronounced impulsiveness when making decisions and an inability to restrain impulsive, situational desires and emotions. Second The group of children (10%) was distinguished primarily by an insufficient level of development of personal reflexivity (a tendency to immediately realize situational, impulsive desires and impulses) and intellectual reflexivity. Third A group of children (64%) did not show any stable style of action (impulsive or reflexive). These children were called “plastic”, since their style of action was determined by the conditions
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 8
Specific situation and fluctuating motivation. In some cases they were more reflexive, in others (when they did not show much interest in the results of their actions) - more impulsive. In addition, the majority of children in this group had a satisfactory level of voluntary development (average or even high). For children from Fourth The group (12%) was characterized by insufficient awareness when performing educational tasks, along with difficulties in planning and implementing independent actions. At the same time, they had a high level of development of personal reflexivity (the ability to restrain impulsive desires and emotions) and a satisfactory level of development of intellectual reflection. Finally, in Fifth- the smallest group (3.3%) - included children with a high level of development of behavioral self-regulation and voluntary regulation of activity, characterized by a high level of development of both personal and intellectual reflection.
The second stage of this work consisted of a comprehensive psychological examination of selected groups of children based on a broader system of indicators. Not only the success of children in educational and cognitive activities was studied (the level of development of voluntary attention, memory, conceptual thinking, the formation of components of educational activity), but also the specifics of their relationships with teachers, parents and peers, as well as some aspects of motivational and personal development (self-esteem) . The results obtained convincingly showed that the identified types of formation of voluntary regulation at primary school age, in turn, set five broad characteristic psychological Symptom complexes.
As one would expect, the most unique and expressive picture of development turned out to be in the marginal groups of children, while the largest group of “plastic” children with average levels of proficiency in the means of self-regulation and a relatively unexpressed style of action traditionally occupied a middle, intermediate position. In addition, difficulties in the sphere of communication that arise in children due to the insufficient level of development of voluntariness (inability to cooperate and establish equal relationships with peers, insufficient focus on a partner, poor development of communication skills) and self-awareness (inadequate self-esteem, a distorted idea of one’s own) were highlighted. success in educational activities, etc.).
Thus, the typological approach allowed us to see behind the endless variety of individual variations in the development of voluntariness, its five Qualitatively specific options (types), showing the strengths and weaknesses of self-regulation mechanisms, and therefore allowing us to determine possible forms of targeted correctional psychological work.
So, what can a typological analysis of development, built on the basis of the most important age-related neoplasms, provide? In theoretical terms, this is the way of meaningful development of the ontogenetic process, as opposed to the empirical description of diverse private specific lines of development, in which, as a rule, Post Factum It is not possible to combine them into a coherent picture. Typological features must take their rightful place - place Intermediary link In the classic dichotomy of age and individual
The theoretical basis for studying various aspects of the mental development of children and adolescents in developmental psychology is traditionally 9
Features of development.
It is equally important that the detailed typological picture of development meets the needs of practice, which is already facing a difficult task Combinations Analysis logic Natural and unique In the development of a child or adolescent. Of course, the creation of a typological picture of ontogenesis, and on its basis - differential developmental psychology as an independent section of developmental psychology, requires a wide range of special studies. This is primarily research of a theoretical and methodological nature. The accumulated experience in constructing typological concepts deserves careful analysis, not only in psychology, but also in other sciences, where the typological approach has led to the solution of a number of serious problems (linguistics, etc.). It is also necessary to study the possibilities of applying the methodological principles of the typology developed in the general theory of systems to a specific area of mental development. However, these and many other issues require separate discussion.
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Received by editor 23.I2002
1 A wider range of studies, one way or another related to the typological approach to
The ontogeny of individual differences, analyzed in my other work .
126 CRITICISM AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
It is important to separate two concepts: underdevelopment and speech impairment. Underdevelopment (lag) of a specialist’s speech is understood as a qualitatively lower level of formation of a particular speech function or the speech system as a whole.
Speech disorder refers to an attitude (disorder) caused by changes in the structure or functioning of the speech and auditory systems or a delay in the general and psychological development of the child. Underdevelopment or retardation of speech is primarily associated with the upbringing and living conditions of the child, while speech impairment is a serious but normal defect caused by pathological changes in the child’s body. Speech development delays may be due to:
1 – insufficient communication between the child and the adult;
2 – the second reason for delayed speech development of a child can be caused by insufficient development and functioning of the motor (motor) sphere. A close connection has been revealed between the formation of speech and the development of finger movements (fine motor skills). A structural speech defect is understood as the totality (composition) of speech and non-speech symptoms of a given speech disorder and the nature of their connections. In the structure of a speech defect, there is a primary, leading disorder (core) and secondary defects, which are in a cause-and-effect relationship with the first, as well as systemic consequences. The different structure of a speech defect is reflected in a certain ratio of primary and secondary symptoms and largely determines the specifics of targeted corrective action. The structure of the defect in speech disorders includes specific deviations in mental development. In speech disorders of various origins, the mechanisms of speech disorder are varied and ambiguous in terms of severity, time and location of brain damage. Thus, the picture of mental disorders against the background of early intrauterine damage is characterized by various developmental delays - intellectual, motor and psycho-emotional. With lesions caused by the disintegration of speech functions, first of all, gross disturbances of cognitive processes, thinking, as well as serious personal problems arise. At the same time, it is impossible to unambiguously link the chronological maturation of the psychological activity of children with speech disorders with the degree of developmental delay. Certain forms of mental disorders, including cognitive activity. There is no direct relationship between the severity of a speech defect and motor or mental disorders, such as anxiety, aggressiveness. Reduced self-esteem and others. At the same time, attention should be paid to the high plasticity of the child at an early age, which manifests itself in significant possibilities for compensating for the defect, which makes it possible to weaken primary disorders and achieve unique results in habilitation and correction of not only speech, but also behavior in general. ?One of the first principles to formulate for the analysis of speech disorders was Levin. She identified three principles: development, a systematic approach and consideration of speech disorders in the relationship of speech with other aspects of the child’s psychological development. The development principle involves an evolutionary-dynamic analysis of the occurrence of a defect. It is important not only to describe the speech defect, but also to dynamically analyze its occurrence. In children, neuropsychic functions are in the process of continuous development and maturation, it is necessary to evaluate not only the immediate results of the nervous defect, but also its delayed effect on the formation of speech and cognitive functions. Analysis of a speech defect in the dynamics of a child’s age-related development, assessment of the origins of its occurrence and prediction of its consequences require knowledge of the characteristics and patterns of speech development at each age stage, the prerequisites and conditions that ensure its development. Based on modern psychological data, the principle of analyzing speech disorders with a developmental position interacts with the principle of an active approach. The child’s activity is formed in the process of his interaction with adults, and each stage is characterized by one that is closely related to the development of speech. Therefore, when analyzing a speech disorder, assessing the child’s activity is important. For a child of the first year of life, the leading form of activity is emotionally positive communication with an adult, which is the basis for the formation of the prerequisites for verbal communication. Only on its basis does the child develop a need to communicate with an adult, its prerequisites develop in the form of vocal reactions, their coloration, sensory functions, i.e. the entire communication and cognitive complex, which is of decisive importance in the further psychological development of the child. In children in whom this type of activity develops poorly, for example, a long-term illness requiring hospitalization, or insufficient communication with others, the prerequisites for speech development are not sufficiently formed, and such a child may lag behind in speech development in the first years of life. In a child of the second year of life, the leading form of activity that stimulates his speech development is objective-based communication with an adult. Only in the process of performing the simplest objective actions with an adult does the child learn the basic purpose of objects, the experience of social behavior, develop the necessary stock of knowledge and ideas about the environment, passive and active vocabulary, and begin to use forms of verbal communication. If there is no change in the leading form of activity, and emotional-positive communication continues to predominate, then the child experiences a delay in speech development. This is observed in children with cerebral palsy. From the age of three, play becomes the leading form of activity, during which intensive development of speech occurs. Special studies have shown the connection between the development of speech and symbolic play in children of primary preschool age. In this regard, the game is proposed as a way to assess and predict speech development, as well as for the purpose of correcting speech disorders. And finally, at school age, leading educational activities form the basis for improving the child’s oral and written speech. Speech disorders are considered in speech therapy within the framework of clinical-pedagogical and psychological-pedagogical approaches.
Clinical and pedagogical classification of speech disorders: it can be divided into two groups depending on what type of speech is impaired: oral or written. Speech disorders, in turn, can be divided into two types:
I. Phonation (external) design of utterances, which are called violations of the pronunciation aspect of speech
II. Structural-semantic (internal) design of statements, which in speech therapy are called systemic or polymorphic disorders.
1. I dysphonia (aphonia) – absence or disorder of phonation as a result of pathological changes in the vocal apparatus. It manifests itself either in the absence of phonation (aphonia), or in a violation of the strength, pitch and timbre of the voice (dysphonia), can be caused by organic or functional disorders of the voice-forming mechanism of central or peripheral localization and occur at any stage of the child’s development.;
2. bradylagia - pathologically slow rate of speech. Manifests itself in the slow implementation of the articulatory speech program, is centrally conditioned, can be organic or functional;
3. Tahilalia - pathologically accelerated rate of speech. Manifests itself in the accelerated implementation of the articulatory speech program, is conditioned, organic or functional; acceleration of speech may be accompanied by agrammatisms. These phenomena are sometimes identified as independent disorders, expressed in terms of battarism, paraphasia. In cases where tachylalia is accompanied by unreasonable pauses, hesitations, and stumbling, it is designated by the term poltera;
4. stuttering is a violation of the tempo-rhythmic organization of speech, caused by a convulsive state of the muscles of the speech apparatus, is centrally conditioned, has an organic or functional nature, and occurs during the speech development of the child;
5. dyslapia – a violation of sound pronunciation with normal hearing and intact innervation of the speech apparatus. It manifests itself in incorrect sound design of speech: in distorted pronunciation of sounds, in replacement of sounds or in their mixing. In case of anatomical defects, the violation is organic in nature, and in their absence, it is functional;
7. dysarthria - a violation of the pronunciation side of speech, caused by insufficient innervation of the speech apparatus. Dysarthria is a consequence of an organic disorder of a central nature, leading to movement disorders. Depending on the location of the central nervous system lesion, various forms of dysarthria are distinguished:
II (1) alalia – absence or underdevelopment of speech due to organic damage to the speech areas of the cerebral cortex in the prenatal or early period of a child’s development;
(2) aphasia – complete or partial loss of speech caused by local brain lesions due to traumatic brain injury or brain tumors.
Impaired written speech:
1- dyslexia – partial specific disorder of the reading process. Manifests itself in difficulties in identifying and recognizing letters, in difficulties merging letters into syllables and syllables into words;
2- dysgraphia – a partial specific disorder of the writing process. It manifests itself in the instability of the optical-spatial image of the letter, in confusion or omission of letters, in distortions of the sound-voice composition of the word and the structure of sentences.
Psychological and pedagogical classification. Speech disorders in this classification are divided into two groups:
The first group is a violation of the means of communication (phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment and general underdevelopment of speech):
1- phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment of speech - a violation of the processes of formation of the pronunciation system of the native language in children with various speech disorders as a result of defects in the perception and pronunciation of phonemes;
2- general underdevelopment of speech - various complex speech disorders in which the formation of all components of the speech system related to the sound and semantic side is impaired. Common signs include: late onset of speech development, poor vocabulary, agrammatism, pronunciation defects, and phoneme formation defects. Underdevelopment can be expressed to varying degrees: absence of speech or its babbling state to expanded speech, but with elements of phonetic and lexico-grammatical underdevelopment.
The second group is a violation of the use of means of communication, which includes stuttering, which is considered as a violation of the communicative function of speech with correctly formed means of communication. A combined defect is also possible, in which stuttering is combined with general speech underdevelopment.
Since the 30s of the 20th century, the mechanism of stuttering began to be considered based on Pavlov’s teachings about the higher nervous activity of man and, in particular, about the mechanism of neurosis. At the same time, some researchers considered stuttering as a symptom of neurosis, others - as a special form of it. Stuttering, like other neuroses, occurs due to various reasons that cause overstrain and the formation of a pathological conditioned reflex. Stuttering is not a symptom or a syndrome, but a disease of the central nervous system as a whole.
Levina, considering stuttering as a speech underdevelopment, sees its essence in the primary violation of the communicative function of speech. A study of attention, memory, thinking, and psychomotor skills in people who stutter showed that the structure of their mental activity and its self-regulation are altered. They already perform activities that require a high level of automation (and therefore rapid inclusion in the activity), but the differences in productivity between people who stutter and those who do not stutter disappear as soon as the activity can be performed at a voluntary level. The exception is that psychomotor acts are performed largely automatically and do not require voluntary regulation; for people who stutter, regulation is a complex task that requires voluntary control. Some researchers believe that people who stutter are characterized by greater inertia of psychological processes than normal speakers; they are characterized by the phenomenon of perseveration associated with the mobility of the nervous system.
The mechanisms of stuttering from the position of psycholinguistics suggest at what stage of damage to speech utterances convulsions occur in the speech of a stutterer. The following phases of speech communication are distinguished:
(1) the presence of a need for speech, or communicative intention;
(2) the birth of the idea of a statement about inner speech;
(3) sound realization of the utterance.
Abeleva believes that stuttering occurs at the moment of readiness to speak when the speaker has a communicative intention, a speech program and the fundamental ability to speak normally. The author proposes to include a phase of readiness for speech during which the pronunciation mechanism of a stutterer “breaks down”, all its systems: generator, resonator and energy. Roads emerge that clearly manifest themselves in the final phase. The mechanisms of stuttering are heterogeneous.