A parallelogram of development is a single pattern of the origin and development of higher forms of human behavior, which consists in the transition from direct methods of behavior, first to externally mediated with the help of symbol signs, and then to internally mediated forms that arise in the process of cultural development - higher psychological functions [1] [ 2] .
Central to the cultural and historical theory of L. S. Vygotsky, the idea of mediating higher psychological functions was analyzed in detail by A. N. Leontyev on the example of the psychology of remembering and attention. The results of this study were published in 1931 in the monograph of Leontyev "Development of memory: An experimental study of higher psychological functions." A.N. Leontyev showed that the memory of a modern person is a product of cultural and historical development and goes through the development of memorization with the help of external stimuli-signs to memorize internally mediated: the interpsychic processes distributed between people are transformed into intrapsychic processes that are the property of the individual. After more than half a century, similar results regarding a parallelogram of development were obtained by the American psychologist M. Cole when studying the genesis of thinking in African and American cultures. [3]
A parallelogram of development is a graphic display of the results of experimental studies of one of the main properties of higher psychological functions - mediation. These studies were carried out by A. N. Leontyev based on the ideas of L. S. Vygotsky about two kinds of stimuli (stimulus-objects and stimulus-means) and using the method of double stimulation created by Vygotsky and his coworkers. [4] The graph obtained as a result of research, in fact, only resembles a parallelogram : the two curves approach each other and form a figure that looks like a not quite correct parallelogram with two cut corners. [one]
Double Stimulation Method
The “double stimulation” method was first introduced by Vygotsky no earlier than 1927 under the name “instrumental method”. This is a method of researching higher psychological functions, developed on the basis of the theory of L. S. Vygotsky about their sign-mediated character. The study is carried out using two rows of stimuli: one row of stimuli serves as the object to which the subject's activity is directed, and the other row serves as the stimulus-means (signs) with which this activity is organized.
For the first time, the double stimulation method was applied in a joint study by Vygotsky and Sakharov in studying the process of formation of concepts. The version of the method used in this study is known as the Vygotsky-Sakharov technique . However, it was also used in other studies in the study of mediated memory processes by A. N. Leontyev and A. R. Luria , therefore this method can be considered as a whole series of techniques based on the principle of sign mediation. [five]
Experimental memory research
The study involved 1200 subjects: preschool children (4-5, 6-7 years old), school children (7-12 years old, 10-14 years old, 12-16 years old), students (22-28 years old). The experiment consisted of four series. In the first series, subjects were asked to remember a series of ten meaningless syllables. In all other series, rows of 15 words were used as material for memorization. In the third and fourth series, the subjects were asked to choose one of 30 cards with pictures, so that later with her help to remember the word. Pictures were not directly related in content to words. [one]
When analyzing the results obtained, the following regularity was found: starting from preschool age, the rate of development of memorization using external means exceeds the rate of development of memorization without the help of cards. However, starting from school age, indicators of outwardly direct memorization grow faster than indicators of indirect memorization with the help of cards. [one]
The introduction into the experiment of the second row of stimulus signs (cards with pictures) does not increase the effectiveness of memorization among preschoolers: memorization is still direct. At the next stage of the development of memorization, the introduction of stimuli of signs in schoolchildren significantly increases the effectiveness of memorization: this is the moment of the greatest discrepancy between the indicators of the second (direct memorization) and third (indirect memorization) series. However, from this moment on, the rate of increase of indicators in both series changes: there is a slower increase in indicators of externally mediated memorization, it seems to continue the rate of development of direct memorization. At the next stage (adults) due to the rotation of external stimuli-funds, a transition to externally direct memorization is carried out and the indicators of the two series come together again. [one]
The simplest expression of the dynamics of these two lines of memory development is the “parallelogram of development”, a pair of opposite angles of which is formed by the convergence of the indicators of the second and third series in the upper and lower limits, and the other two angles connected by a shorter diagonal correspond to the moment of the greatest discrepancy between the indices of direct and indirect memorization. [one]
Thus, the parallelogram principle reflects the general law of the development of higher symbolic forms of memory along the line of transformation of externally mediated memorization into internally mediated memorization.
Attention Pilot
The study involved 30 subjects - children of preschool, school age and adults. The experiment was carried out in the form of a game, with the ability to win a certain “bonus”. Each series asked eighteen questions, seven of which were questions about the color of things. Each question had to be answered in one word as quickly as possible, and the question of color - necessarily the name of the color. In the first series, there were no additional restrictions. In the second series, it was impossible to repeat the name of one color twice and name two forbidden colors. In the third and fourth series, nine color cards were proposed as an aid. [one]
The solution to the problem without cards was quite complicated even for adult subjects. Preschool children easily learned how to use cards to solve problems in the third series. If preschoolers could not successfully use the cards to solve the problem in the third series, before the fourth series they were shown how to do this using the example of other subjects. However, as a rule, even in this case, preschoolers only externally imitated what they saw and could not successfully use the cards. [one]
The discrepancy between the indicators of the second and third series among preschoolers is minimal: the cards not only do not help, but even prevent the preschooler from coping with the task. The results of schoolchildren in the third series increase significantly due to the successful use of cards. Using cards with adults also improves results. [one]
Thus, the results obtained are consistent with the results of memory research, and their graphical display repeats in shape the graph obtained in the memory study, and also resembles a parallelogram.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Leontyev A.N. Memory development. An experimental study of higher psychological functions . M .; L .: Uchpedgiz, 1931 .-- 280 p.
- ↑ Leontyev A.N. Memory development. An experimental study of higher psychological functions // A. N. Leontyev. The formation of the psychology of activity: early work / Ed. A.A. Leont'ev , D.A. Leont'ev , E.E.Sokolova. - M. Sense, 2003 .-- S. 27-198.
- ↑ Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy, 2013
- ↑ General Psychology: In 7 vols. / Ed. B. S. Bratusya. Volume 1. Sokolova E. E. Introduction to Psychology: Textbook for students. higher textbook. institutions. - M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2005. - 352 p.
- ↑ Great psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EUROSIGN. Ed. B. G. Meshcheryakova, Acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003.
See also
- Higher psychological functions
- Interiorization
- Vygotsky-Sakharov Methodology