Specificity of mental development. Specifics of child development Development of objective activities at an early age

What happens? It seems that a person does not have any natural prerequisites for development along the “human path”, and at the same time, only a human cub can become a person. So, there is still human body something that allows him to so quickly and successfully master all forms of human behavior, learn to think, experience, control himself.

Yes there is. Oddly enough, the main advantage of the child is his innate helplessness, his inability to any specific forms of behavior. The extremely complex structure of the brain and its capacity is one of its main features that ensure mental development. In animals, most of the brain matter is already "occupied" by the time of birth - innate forms of behavior - instincts - are fixed in it. The brain of a child is open to new experiences and is ready to accept what life and upbringing give him. Scientists have proven that in animals the process of brain formation basically ends by the time of birth, while in humans this process continues 7-8 years after birth and depends on the living conditions and upbringing of the child. These conditions not only fill the “blank pages” of the brain, but also affect its very structure. Therefore, the first, childhood years are so important, of cardinal importance for the formation of a person.

From a physiological point of view, the human brain has practically not changed since the time of our distant ancestors, who lived several tens of thousands of years ago. At the same time, humanity has taken a giant step in its development over the years. This happened because the development of man is carried out fundamentally differently than that of animals. If in the animal world certain forms of behavior are inherited, as well as the physical structure of the organism, or are acquired in the process of individual experience of an individual, then in a person, the forms of activity characteristic of him and mental qualities arise in a different way - through the inheritance of cultural and historical experience. Each new generation "stands on the shoulders" of the entire previous history of mankind. It comes not to the natural world, but to the world of culture, in which there are music and computers, houses and sciences, machines and literature, and much more. Including ideas about how children should develop and what they should become by adulthood. All this the child himself will never invent, but he must master this knowledge in the process of his "human" development. This is the specificity of the development of the child.

As you know, an object can change, but not evolve. Growth, for example, is a quantitative change in a given object, including a mental process. There are processes that fluctuate between "less-more" - these are growth processes in the proper and true sense of the word. Growth occurs over time and is measured in terms of time. The main characteristic of growth is the process of quantitative changes in the internal structure and composition of its individual elements without significant changes in the structure of individual processes. For example, when measuring the physical growth of a child, we see a quantitative increase. L.S. Vygotsky emphasized that growth phenomena are also present in mental processes, for example, the growth of the vocabulary without changing the functions of speech.

But against the background of these processes of quantitative growth, other phenomena and processes can occur. Then the growth processes become only symptoms, behind which are hidden significant changes in the system and structure of processes. During such periods, jumps in the growth line are observed, which indicate significant * changes in the body itself, for example, the maturation of the endocrine glands. In such cases, when significant changes occur in the structure and properties of a phenomenon, we are dealing with development.

Development is primarily characterized by qualitative changes, the appearance of neoplasms, new mechanisms, new processes, new structures. X. Werner, L.S. Vygotsky and other psychologists have described the main features, or criteria, of development. The most important among them are:
differentiation, dismemberment of a phenomenon that was previously unified;
the emergence of new aspects, new elements in development itself;
restructuring of links between different sides of the object.

As psychological examples, we can mention the differentiation of the natural conditioned reflex into "position under the chest" and the "complex of revival"; the emergence of a sign function in infancy; change during childhood of the systemic and semantic structure of consciousness. Each of these processes corresponds to the listed development criteria.

The concept of "development" includes development: progressive, regressive and abnormal.

Progressive development is characterized by increasing differentiation and organization of mental processes, accompanied by an improvement in functioning and formation; regressive - by processes of disorganization, accompanied by a slowdown and cessation of growth and accumulation of mental abilities; abnormal - partial or continuous violations of the process of growth, differentiation and organization of mental functions, which is accompanied by a decrease in the ability to form and function (Schmidt G.-D., 1978).

There are different types of development. Therefore, it is important to correctly find the place that among them is occupied by the mental development of the child, i.e. determine the specifics mental development child among other developmental processes. L.S. Vygotsky distinguished between preformed and unpreformed types of development.

A preformed type is a type when at the very beginning both the stages that the phenomenon (the organism) will pass through and the final result that it will achieve are set, fixed, fixed. Here everything is given by nature.

Examples are embryonic development, physical development (from birth to aging). Despite the fact that embryogenesis has its own history (there is a tendency to reduce the underlying stages, the newest stage affects the previous stages), this does not change the type of development.

In psychology, an attempt was made to represent mental development on the principle of embryonic development. This concept belongs to St. Hall. It is based on the biogenetic law of E. Haeckel: ontogeny is a brief repetition of phylogeny. Mental development was considered by Hall as a brief repetition of the stages of mental development of the ancestors of modern man.

The unpreformed type of development is the most common on our planet. According to this type, the development of the galaxy, the Earth, the process of biological evolution, the development of society takes place. The unpreformed path of development is not predetermined; from the very beginning, all stages of development and its final result are unknown.

The process of mental development of the child also belongs to this type. Children of different eras develop differently and reach different levels of development. From the very beginning, from the moment the child is born, neither the stages through which he must go, nor the end he must reach are given. Child development - special process, which is determined not from below, but from above, by the form of practical and theoretical activity that exists at a given level of development of society. (As the poet said: “Just born, Shakespeare is already waiting for us.”) This is the peculiarity of child development. Its final forms are not given by nature, but are set in the forms of the material and spiritual culture of society. “In the development of a child,” Vygotsky wrote, “what should happen at the end of development, as a result of development, is already given in the environment from the very beginning. And it’s not just given in the environment from the very beginning, but it influences the very first steps in the development of the child” (Vygotsky L.S., 2001). Not a single process of development, except ontogenetic, is carried out according to a ready-made model. Human development follows the pattern that exists in society. Vygotsky proposed to call “this developed form, which should appear at the end of child development ... the final, or ideal, form - ideal in the sense that it is a model of what should appear at the end of development, or final - in the sense that he should succeed at the end of development. According to Vygotsky, the process of a child's mental development is a process of interaction between real and ideal forms. If in the environment, he notes, there is no corresponding ideal form and the development of the child proceeds outside these specific conditions, i.e. out of interaction with the final form, then the corresponding form will not develop in the child.

The task of a child psychologist is to trace the logic of mastering ideal forms. The child does not immediately master the spiritual
and the material wealth of mankind, but outside the process of assimilation of ideal forms, development is impossible at all. The process of ontogenetic development is a process unlike anything else, an extremely peculiar process that takes place in the form of assimilation of the material and spiritual culture of society.

What is development? How is it characterized? What is the fundamental

the difference between development and all other changes in the object? As you know, the object

may change but not evolve. Growth, for example, is a quantitative

change of the given object, including the mental process. There is

processes that fluctuate within "less-more". These are growth processes.

in the proper and true sense of the word. Growth occurs over time and

measured in time coordinates. The main characteristic of growth is

the process of quantitative changes in the internal structure and composition of

object of individual elements, without significant changes in the structure of individual

processes. For example, when measuring the physical growth of a child, we see

quantitative increase. L. S. Vygotsky emphasized that there are phenomena

growth and mental processes. For example, an increase in vocabulary without changing

speech functions.

But these processes of quantitative growth may be followed by other

phenomena and processes. Then the processes of growth become only symptoms, beyond

which hide significant changes in the system and structure of processes.

During such periods, jumps in the growth line are observed, which indicate

significant changes in the body itself. For example, glands mature

internal secretion, and in the physical development of a teenager, deep

changes. In such cases, when there are significant changes in

structure and properties of the phenomenon, we are dealing with development.

Development is primarily characterized by qualitative changes,

emergence of neoplasms, new mechanisms, new processes, new

structures. X. Werner, L. S. Vygotsky and other psychologists described the main

signs of development. The most important among them are: differentiation, dismemberment

formerly a single element; emergence of new sides, new elements in

the development itself; restructuring of links between the sides of the object. As

psychological examples, we can mention the differentiation of natural

a conditioned reflex to the position under the breast and a recovery complex; appearance

sign function in infancy; change during childhood

systemic and semantic structure of consciousness. Each of these processes

meets the listed development criteria.

As L. S. Vygotsky showed, there are many various types development.

Therefore, it is important to correctly find the place that occupies among them

mental development of the child, that is, to determine the specifics of the mental

development among other development processes. L. S. Vygotsky distinguished:

/^reformed and non-reformed types of development. preformed type

This is such a type, when at the very beginning they are set, fixed, fixed as

the stages that the phenomenon (organism) will pass through, and the final result,

which the phenomenon will reach. Here everything is given from the very beginning. Example --

embryonic development. Despite the fact that embryogenesis has its own history

(there is a tendency to reduce the underlying stages, the newest stage

affects the previous stages), but this does not change the type of development.

In psychology, there was an attempt to present mental development according to the principle

embryonic development. This is the concept of St. Hall. It is based on

Haeckel's biogenetic law: ontogeny is a brief repetition of phylogeny.

Mental development was considered by Art. Hall as a brief recap

stages of mental development of animals and ancestors of modern man.

The unpreformed type of development is most common in our

planet. It also includes the development of the Galaxy, the development of the Earth, the process

biological evolution, the development of society. The process of mental development

child also belongs to this type of processes. unpreformed path

development is not predetermined. Children of different eras develop differently and

reach different levels of development. From the very beginning, from the moment you were born

the child is given neither the stages through which he must pass, nor the outcome

which he must achieve. Child development is the unpreformed type

development, but this is a very special process - a process that

determined not from below, but from above, by that form of practical and theoretical

activities that exist at a given level of development of society (as

said the poet: "Just born, Shakespeare is already waiting for us"). This is a feature

child development. Its final forms are not given, but given. No process

development, except ontogenetic, is not carried out according to a ready-made

sample. Human development follows the pattern that exists in

society. According to L. S. Vygotsky, the process of mental development is

the process of interaction between real and ideal forms. The task of a child psychologist

Follow the logic of mastering ideal forms. The child does not immediately learn

spiritual and material wealth of mankind. But outside the learning process

ideal forms are generally impossible to develop. So inside

unpreformed type of development, the mental development of the child is a special

process. The process of ontogenetic development is a process unlike anything else,

the process is extremely peculiar, which takes place in the form of assimilation.

4. Strategies for researching the child's mental development

The level of theory development determines the research strategy in science. it

fully applies to child psychology, where the level of theory forms

goals and objectives of this science. At first, the task of child psychology was to

accumulation of facts and their arrangement in time sequence. This

corresponded to the task surveillance strategy. Of course, already then

researchers tried to understand the driving forces of development, and every psychologist about

dreamed of this. But there were no objective possibilities to solve this problem...

The strategy of observing the real course of child development in those conditions in which

which it spontaneously develops, has led to the accumulation of various

facts that needed to be brought into the system, highlight the stages and stages

development, in order to then identify the main trends and general patterns

the development process itself and finally understand its cause.

To solve these problems, psychologists used strategy

natural science ascertaining experiment, which allows

establish the presence or absence of the studied phenomenon under certain

controlled conditions, measure its quantitative characteristics and give

qualitative description Both strategies - observation and ascertaining

experiment -- widespread in child psychology. But their

limitations become more and more evident as it becomes clear

that they do not lead to an understanding of the driving causes of mental development

person. This is because neither observation nor ascertaining

experiment cannot actively influence the development process, and its

learning is only passive.

Currently being intensively developed new strategy

research -- strategy for the formation of mental processes, active

intervention, building a process with given properties Precisely because

the strategy of the formation of mental processes leads to the intended

result, we can judge its cause. So the criterion for

identifying the causes of development can serve as the success of the formative

experiment.

Each of these strategies has its own history of development. What already

It was said that child psychology began with a simple observation. Huge

factual material on the development of the child in early age was collected

parents, famous psychologists as a result of long-term observations

development of their own children (V Preyer, V. Stern, J. Piaget, N. A. Rybnikov, N.

A. Menchinskaya, A. N. Gvozdev, V. S. Mukhina, M. Kechki and others). ON THE. Rybnikov in

work "Children's diaries as a material on child psychology" (1946) gave

a historical outline of this basic method of studying the child. Analyzing

the significance of the first foreign diaries (I. Ten, 1876;

Ch Darwin, 1877; V. Preyer, 1882), the appearance of which became a turning point

point in the development of child psychology, N. A. Rybnikov noted that Russian

psychologists can rightfully claim primacy, since A.S.

Simonovich already in 1861 conducted systematic observations of speech development

child from birth to 17 years of age.

Long-term systematic observation of the same child,

daily registration of behavior, thorough knowledge of the entire history of development

child, closeness to the child, good emotional contact with him - all this

constitutes the positive side of the observations. However, observations

together. In addition, as a rule, in the first diaries there was no

a single technique of observation, and their interpretation was often subjective

character For example, often already during registration they described not the fact itself, but

attitude towards him.

The Soviet psychologist M. Ya. Basov developed a system of objective

observation - this main, from his point of view, method of children's

psychology. Emphasizing the importance of naturalness and ordinary conditions

observations, he described as a caricature such a situation when in childhood

the team comes observer with paper and pencil in hand, directs

his view of the child and constantly writes something down. "No matter how much the child

changed its position, no matter how it moved in the surrounding

space, the gaze of the observer, and sometimes he follows with his whole person

he is always looking out for something, while he is silent all the time and writes something "M. Ya.

Basov correctly believed that research work should lead with children

the teacher himself, raising and teaching children in a team in which

the observed child enters.

Currently, most psychologists to the method of observation as

the main method of researching children is skeptical. But how often

said D. B. Elkonin, "a sharp psychological eye is more important than a stupid

experiment". The experimental method is remarkable in that it "thinks" for

experimenter. The facts obtained by the method of observation are very valuable. AT.

Stern, as a result of observing the development of his daughters, prepared a two-volume

research on language development. A. N. Gvozdev also published a two-volume

a monograph on the development of children's speech based on observations of the development of their

only son.

In 1925, in Leningrad, under the leadership of N. M. Shchelovanov, a

clinic of normal development of children. They watched the child 24 hours a day.

day and it was there that all the main facts characterizing the first

year of a child's life. It is well known that the concept of sensorimotor development

intelligence was built by J. Piaget on the basis of observations of his three

children. Long-term (for three years) study of adolescents from one

class allowed D. B. Elkonin and T. V. Dragunova to give a psychological

characteristic adolescence. Hungarian psychologists L. Garai and M.

Kechki, observing the development of their own children, followed how

differentiation of the child's social position in the family. V. S. Mukhina

described for the first time the behavioral development of two twin sons. These examples can

continue, although it is already clear from what has been said that the method of observation as the initial

the stage of research has not outlived its usefulness and should not be treated lightly.

However, it is important to remember that this method can

reveal only phenomena external symptoms development.

At the beginning of the century, the first attempts at experimental

research on the mental development of children. French Ministry of Education

ordered the well-known psychologist A. Binet to develop a methodology for selecting children in

special schools. And since 1908 it begins test examination

child, there are measuring scales of mental development. A. Binet created

method of standardized tasks for each age. A bit later

American psychologist L. Theremin proposed a formula for measuring the coefficient

intellect.

It seemed that child psychology had entered a new path of development -

mental ability through special tasks | (tests) can be

reproduced and measured. But these hopes were not justified. It soon became clear

that in the examination situation it is not known which of the mental abilities

investigated through tests. In the 1930s, the Soviet psychologist V. I. Asnin

emphasized that the condition for the reliability of a psychological experiment is not

the average level of problem solving, but how the child accepts the task, which

he solves the problem. In addition, the intelligence quotient for a long time

considered by psychologists as an indicator of hereditary giftedness,

which remains unchanged throughout a person's life. To the present

time, the idea of ​​a constant intelligence quotient is strongly

shaken, and in scientific psychology it is practically not used.

With the help of the test method in child psychology, a lot of

studies, but they are constantly criticized for the fact that they always

the average child is presented as an abstract carrier of psychological

properties characteristic of most of the population of the corresponding age,

identified using the method of "transverse" sections. With this measurement, the process

development looks like a uniformly increasing straight line, where all

qualitative neoplasms are hidden.

Noticing the shortcomings of the slicing method for studying the developmental process,

researchers supplemented it with the method longtime("longitudinal")

studying the same children for a long time. It gave

some advantage - it became possible to calculate the individual

development curve of each child and determine whether his development corresponds to

age norm or it is above or below the average level. Longitudinal

the method made it possible to detect turning points on the development curve, at which

significant qualitative changes take place. However, this method is not free from

shortcomings. Having received two points on the development curve, it is still impossible to answer

to the question of what is going on between them. This method also does not

the ability to penetrate behind phenomena, to understand the mechanism of mental phenomena.

The facts obtained by this method can be explained by various hypotheses.

There is a lack of precision in their interpretation. Thus, for all

intricacies of the experimental technique that provide reliability

experiment, the strategy of ascertaining does not give an answer to main question: what

happens between two points on the development curve? This question may

answer only the strategy of experimental formation of mental

We owe the introduction of the formation strategy to child psychology to L.S.

Vygotsky. He applied his theory of the mediated structure of higher

mental functions for the formation of one's own ability to remember. By

eyewitness accounts, L. S. Vygotsky could demonstrate in front of a large

the audience remembering about 400 randomly named words. For this purpose he

used auxiliary means - associated each word with one of

Volga cities. Then, following mentally along the river, he could reproduce

each word by its associated city. This method was named by L.S.

Vygotsky experimental genetic method, which allows you to identify

qualitative features of the development of higher mental functions.

The strategy for the formation of mental processes eventually acquired

widespread in Soviet psychology. Today there are several

ideas for the implementation of this strategy, which can be summarized

in the following way:

Cultural and historical concept of L. S. Vygotsky, according to which

the interpsychic becomes intrapsychic. Genesis of higher mental

functions is associated with the use of a sign by two people in the process of their communication, without

fulfilling this role, the sign cannot become a means of individual

mental activity.

The theory of activity of A. N. Leontiev: every activity is

conscious action, then as an operation, and as it forms, it becomes

function. Movement is carried out here from top to bottom - from activity to

The theory of the formation of mental actions by P. Ya. Galperin:

the formation of mental functions occurs on the basis of the objective

action and goes from the material performance of the action, and then through it

the speech form passes into the mental plane. This is the most developed concept

formations. However, everything that is obtained with its help acts as

laboratory experiment. How do laboratory data compare?

experiment with real ontogeny7 The problem of correlation between the experimental

genesis with a real genesis - one of the most serious and still

unresolved. Its importance for child psychology was pointed out by A. V. Zaporozhets

and D. B. Elkonin. A certain weakness of the formation strategy is

that it has so far been applied only to the formation of the cognitive sphere

personality, and emotional-volitional processes and needs remained outside

pilot study.

The concept of educational activity - research by D. B. Elkonin and V. V.

Davydova, in which a strategy for the formation of personality was developed not in

laboratory conditions, and in real life - by creating

experimental schools.

The theory of "initial humanization" by I. A. Sokolyansky and A. I.

Meshcheryakova, which outlines the initial stages of the formation of the psyche in

deaf-blind children.

Strategy for the formation of mental processes one of the achievements

Soviet child psychology. This is the most appropriate strategy for

modern understanding of the subject of child psychology. Thanks to the strategy

formation of mental processes, it is possible to penetrate into the essence of mental

child development. But this does not mean that other research methods

can be neglected. Any science goes from a phenomenon to the disclosure of its nature.

TOPICS FOR SEMINARS

Childhood as a sociohistorical phenomenon

Strategies, methods and techniques for studying the development of the child.

Leading is such an activity in which the main psychological changes in the child's personality occur, other types of activity arise and differentiate, individual mental processes are formed or restructured, preparing the child's transition to a new, higher stage of development. At the same time, the formation of the leading activity of the child cannot be complete in isolation from communication with the people around him, primarily adults, since it is through them that the transmission of universal, cultural experience to the younger generation is carried out. A feature of the child's behavior at this age is his connection with the situation, dependence on it. A kid of 1-2 years old is interested in everything that surrounds him, he reaches out to everything that is in his field of vision. As the German psychologist K. Levin figuratively said, a staircase beckons a child to go along it, a door or a box - to close or open them, a bell - to ring it, a round ball - to roll it. Each thing is charged for him with an affective attraction or repulsion force, which "provokes" him to action, directs him. L.S. Vygotsky pointed out that such a situation-related visual field reflects the uniqueness of the activity of the consciousness of an early age child. The dominance of the visual situation determines many features of children's behavior in a variety of circumstances. This applies, for example, to the child following the instructions of an adult. So, in the experiments of A.R. Luria, toys were placed in front of a young child, the experimenter asked him to “take a fish”, which was either located further than other objects, or was less bright than them. The child immediately fixed the named toy with his eyes, reached for it, but along the way he met another one, and he took it, and not the one that the adult asked for. Thus, a directly stronger impression can slow down or interrupt an action initiated by the child. In the experiments of L.S. Slavina, who studied the child’s ability to distract himself from the situation, to say something other than what he sees in front of him, found that a two-year-old baby can easily repeat the phrases after an adult: “The chicken is coming”,

“The dog is running,” but he cannot say: “Tanya is walking” when Tanya is sitting on a chair in front of him. In response to an adult's request to repeat after him words that did not correspond to the visual situation, all the children participating in the experiments said: "Tanya is sitting." Only towards the end of an early age does the child develop the ability to abstract from the situation, to say something other than what it really is.

Development substantive activity in young years

In infancy, in the second half of the year, objective activity is manipulative in nature (the child performs actions without understanding the meaning of actions). After a year, PD takes on an imitative character. Approximately by the age of 1.5 years, the PD changes again - the stage of functional actions begins and the child chooses another object and transfers the actions. The most detailed study was by D.B. Elkonin and he identified 2 areas of activity: 1. The development of action from joint with an adult to independent performance. 2. The development of means and methods of orientation of the child in the conditions of the implementation of the action. It goes through 3 stages. The first stage: a) in the non-specific use of tools (manipulation of objects); b) using an object when the ways of using it have not yet been formulated (n., the child knows what a spoon is for, but when eating it takes it very low. c) mastering a specific way of using it. The second stage begins when the child begins to perform actions in an inadequate situation, i.e. transferring an action with an object to another. The third stage is accompanied by the emergence of a game action. Objective activity as the main unit considers the concept - objective action. An objective action is the use of an object for its intended purpose (. N., ball - throw, roll;, bite, lick, not an objective action). Psychologists distinguish 2 types of objective actions: - instrumental - these are actions in which the object acts as a tool (n., spoon). Instrumental actions go a long way in their development: the instrument, as an extension of the hand; mastering the scheme of action; the action itself. correlating actions - this is the performance of actions with objects that are somehow connected with each other (for example, boxes, a pyramid, a designer, a nesting doll, etc.). These actions also go through a path in their development. These activities need to be taught to the child. The result of learning will be perceptual actions, i.e. actions of perception - (n., selection of an object, analysis of properties, comparison, ratio, classification, etc.). By the age of 3, a game is infected in PD.

Elkonin singled out 2 sides of substantive actions: - technical (how to do it?); - semantic (what to do?). These 2 sides develop unevenly - semantic faster.

CONCLUSION: there is an intensive development of PD. It is possible only with joint activities based on learning.

Development is mainly characterized by growth. These are processes of growth in the proper and true sense of the word. The main characteristic of growth is the process of quantitative changes without changes in the internal structure and composition of its individual elements, without significant changes in the structure of individual processes.

L. S. Vygotsky emphasized that there are phenomena of growth in mental processes as well. For example, the growth of vocabulary without changing the functions of speech. Development, first of all, is characterized by qualitative changes, the emergence of neoplasms, new mechanisms, new processes, new structures. X. Werner, L. S. Vygotsky and other psychologists described the main signs of development. The most important among them are: differentiation, dismemberment of the previously single element; the emergence of new aspects, new elements in development itself; restructuring of links between the sides of the object. L. S. Vygotsky distinguished between preformed and unpreformed types of development. A preformed type is a type when at the very beginning, both the stages that the phenomenon (the organism) will pass and the final result that the phenomenon will achieve are set, fixed, fixed. Here everything is given from the very beginning. An example is embryonic development. Despite the fact that embryogenesis has its own history (there is a tendency to reduce the underlying stages, the newest stage affects the previous stages), but this does not change the type of development. The unpreformed type of development is the most common. The process of mental development of the child also belongs to this type of processes. The unpreformed path of development is not predetermined. Children of different eras develop differently and reach different levels of development. From the very beginning, from the moment the child is born, neither the stages through which he must go, nor the end he must reach are given. Child development is an unpreformed type of development, but it is a very special process - a process that is determined not from below, but from above, by the form of practical and theoretical activity that exists at a given level of development of society. This is the nature of child development. Its final forms are not given, not given. Not a single process of development, except ontogenetic, is carried out according to a ready-made model. Human development follows the pattern that exists in society. According to L. S. Vygotsky, the process of mental development is the process of interaction between real and ideal forms. The child does not immediately master the spiritual and material wealth of mankind. But outside the process of assimilation of ideal forms, development is generally impossible. Therefore, within the unpreformed type of development, the mental development of the child is a special process. The process of ontogenetic development is a process unlike anything else, an extremely peculiar process that takes place in the form of assimilation. In the process of its development, the child learns not only the content of cultural experience, but the methods and forms of cultural behavior, cultural ways of thinking. In the development of the child's behavior, therefore, two main lines must be distinguished. One is the line of natural development of behavior, closely connected with the processes of general organic growth and maturation of the child. The other is the line of cultural improvement of psychological functions, development of new ways of thinking, mastery of cultural means of behavior. So, for example, an older child can remember better and more than a younger child in two absolutely various reasons. The processes of memory went through a certain development during this period, they rose to a higher level, but along which of the two lines this development of memory proceeded can be revealed only with the help of psychological analysis. There is every reason to assume that cultural development consists in the assimilation of such methods of behavior, which are based on the use and use of signs as means for the implementation of one or another psychological operation; that cultural development consists precisely in the mastery of such auxiliary means of behavior that mankind has created in the process of its historical development, and what are the language, writing, number system, etc. We are convinced of this not only by the study of the psychological development of primitive man, but also by direct and immediate observations on children (also according to Vygotsky).