Psychological boundaries- a very complex and broad concept that includes philosophical, biological, sociological and other components. A thorough theoretical analysis suggests that the following aspects of the phenomenon under consideration can be distinguished: dynamic (control, regulation, activity, “feeling” and understanding of the boundaries of the “I”) and instrumental (ways of protecting the boundaries of the “I” - physical, verbal, emotional, rational and etc.).
What needs to be assessed during diagnosis psychological boundaries in children? Among the main parameters we name the following.
- - the ability to maintain a static position of the boundaries of the Self, ensuring the preservation of the sense of “I”. This is the ability to keep psychological boundaries closed. For example, boundaries can be strictly controlled (no one is allowed through), weakly (someone is allowed to “be naughty” and disturb the peace) or not controlled at all (any influence throws people off balance).
- - the ability to change the spatial component of the phenomenon being studied, ensuring interaction with the environment. This parameter indicates how the child “coexists” with other people’s opinions, boundaries, physical space: with difficulty or quite simply and easily.
- - the ability to go beyond one's own boundaries. For example, boundaries can be independent, active, when the child himself initiates any adaptive actions, or stereotypical, passive, when the actions of an authority figure are repeated.
- Awareness and “feeling” of psychological boundaries- understanding the presence of boundaries.
- Ways to protect the boundaries of “I”(reactions to violation of rules, behavior in problematic situations, etc.).
(A full description of these criteria and how to See Appendix for manifestations.)
Let us dwell on the general trends in normative development during childhood, which serve as starting points for analyzing the data obtained. From 2 to 10 years, the following features of the boundaries of the “I” should be formed, indicating psychological health and well-being:
- “feeling”, and subsequently understanding the presence of psychological boundaries both in oneself and in another person;
- the ability to use dynamic characteristics, the absence of rigidity and static psychological boundaries;
- a wealth of manifestations (markers) of the boundaries of the “I”, that is, a wide range of ways to protect psychological boundaries.
The “weakness” of each selected criterion, its small representation in the structure of the boundaries of the “I” indicates that the development of the individual follows a certain distorted trajectory and it is necessary to make special efforts to help the child develop harmoniously.
These criteria for the development of psychological boundaries are quite general, but they allow us to set the direction for assessing the boundaries of the self in different groups of children. Let us note that at the moment there are no diagnostic tools aimed at studying the boundaries of the “I” in children 2–10 years old. Therefore, we develop non-standardized methods. These methods involve observing the child and assessing his “I” boundaries based on the above criteria (see the table in your Personal Account).
Methodology “Reading the fairy tale “The Three Bears”
Purpose: to describe the essence of the phenomenon of “I” boundaries in children 2–10 years old, to identify the current development of psychological boundaries and development zones. This fairy tale most clearly demonstrates the violation of psychological boundaries; it is rich in examples for discussion, which makes it possible to formulate children’s basic ideas about the phenomenon being studied. It contains the category “home”, which symbolizes safety, confidence for preschoolers, and, most importantly, the concept of violation of “my living space”, which allows us to provoke changes in the state of the boundaries of the “I”.
Stages
1. Reading the fairy tale “The Three Bears”
The psychologist reads the fairy tale, and observers briefly record the emotional state, comments, and characteristics of the children’s spontaneous behavior while listening. All data is entered into an observation table in the form of a brief description of the children’s reactions and answers. The purpose of this stage: to clarify the current state of psychological boundaries in children 2–10 years old, to describe the boundaries of the “I” “at rest and tension.”
2. Discussion of content
The psychologist offers the children the following questions for discussion: did the girl do good or bad when she went into the bears’ house, why? What made you sad/excited/angry/happy in the fairy tale, why? If you found a house, knocked, and they didn’t open it, what would you do, why? Is it possible to enter a house without asking, why? In what cases is it possible? If someone enters your house without asking, what will you do, why? In what cases can people come to you without asking, why?
The purpose of this stage: to assess the understanding and current state of the boundaries of the “I”, that is, whether children show negative reactions when their boundaries are violated, whether they monitor the fact of violation, how they react, etc. Answers and behavioral characteristics, verbal reactions are also strictly recorded and recorded to the observation table.
3. Staging a problem situation
“The girl went into the bears’ house without asking, taking advantage of their absence. After some time, the owner of the house returned and saw the unexpected guest.” The psychologist invites children to become Masha (a symbol of intervention into other people’s psychological boundaries) and Bear (a symbol of broken boundaries and ways to protect the boundaries of the “I”) and show how they will behave in the story they read. The organization is carried out as follows: children split up in pairs and act out scenes, changing roles. The purpose of this stage is to describe the phenomenon at the level of action, that is, we assess the state of boundaries during our own and others’ intervention, as well as ways to protect them. It is important to use as many adjectives as possible to describe the observed reactions.
Methodology “My Home”
Purpose: description of the properties of psychological boundaries, their dynamic features and methods of protection. Materials: cubes, various constructors, building blocks, ribbons, threads, floor constructors, buttons, fabric, chairs, etc. Stages
1. “Building a house”
Goal: collection of empirical material at the action level. The psychologist suggests building a house from the proposed options on any free space in the room you like: “Friends, each of us has a house. In it we feel good and calm. I suggest you build your home here. Look around: there are various materials from which you can build your home. Think about what you might need. Look around: where would you like to build your house in this room, in what place? Take the necessary materials and build a house in the chosen place."
The psychologist helps children organize the process, but does not interfere with free and spontaneous play, intervening in conflicts only as a last resort (physical or verbal aggression, actions that threaten the child’s safety). At this time, the spatial location of the house is noted, its physical characteristics(size, building materials used, presence/absence of neighbors, internal structure of the house - number of rooms/floors, decorations), method of construction (was it inside or outside the house, did you ask for help or built it yourself, shared building materials, selected, took first or waited until everyone was dialed, conflict situations, their causes, ways to overcome, etc.). It is necessary to record both the result of the game and the child’s behavior during the construction process.
This material allows you to characterize the child’s psychological boundaries at the level of ideas and symbols, and subsequently compare them with a verbal description. The resulting differences will allow us to make assumptions about the real development of the boundaries of the “I” and their ideal representation; this is a certain zone of development of the phenomenon being studied.
2. “A story about your home”
Goal: collection of empirical material at the level of ideas and sensations. The psychologist invites the children to tell about their house: “Friends, each of you built your own house. Everyone has their own, special one. Let’s give a tour and everyone will tell us what kind of house they have, how it’s built, what’s in it.” The psychologist invites each child to tell about his home, and he himself records the answers and behavioral characteristics in an observation table. It is also important to note the reaction of the child telling the story to other people’s comments; this provides information about ways to regulate, control and protect the boundaries of the “I” at the verbal level.
3. “We invite you to visit”
Goal: description of control, regulation and ways to protect the boundaries of the “I” at the level of actions. The psychologist invites the children to play and visit: “Friends! We often invite guests to our home to make our lives more interesting and fun. Look around: which of the guys would you invite to visit? Or would you invite other people? Or fairy-tale heroes? What do you suggest guests do?”
Organizationally, it looks like this: the owner chooses those children whom he wants to invite to visit (or names the names of those whom he would like to see next to him - loved ones, other people, fairy-tale characters, etc.), and invites them to his home. After placement in the house, the psychologist invites the owner to tell how he will entertain his guests. Then (if conditions allow) you can stage these situations.
— What will you do if your sister/brother or an unfamiliar guest touches your things without permission?
— What will you do if your sister/brother or an unfamiliar guest makes noise at night and disturbs your sleep?
— What will you do if your sister/brother or a stranger laughs at your drawing?
All situations can be divided into two groups: reaction to loved one and to the unfamiliar, which affect various spheres of psychological sovereignty (the sphere of things, habits, values, territory). It is assumed that the reaction to “strangers” and “insiders” will be different. The discrepancy between these reactions will indicate the dynamic characteristics of psychological boundaries, differences in the methods of protecting the boundaries of the “I”. All data is strictly recorded.
“Pie” technique
Purpose: description of the state of psychological boundaries and ways to protect them. Materials: large carpet, room free of furniture.
Instructions. Friends! Each of us loves to eat delicious food. There is a pie in front of us, very appetizing. Tell me, which piece would you choose for yourself (from the middle or from the edge, large or small, with or without decoration, etc.)? (It is advisable not to use these tips, giving the children the opportunity to describe what they want.) Now take up as much space on the carpet as you would like to eat. Why did you choose this particular place? Did everyone get exactly the piece they dreamed of? Is everyone comfortable in your seats, why? What needs to be done to make it more convenient? Tell us why you deserve the biggest and most delicious piece?
The technique is based on the archetypal stimulus “food”, which actualizes the child’s oppositional position “I - others”, as it involves addressing a vital need and its limited resource. This opposition makes it possible to describe the state of psychological boundaries in children in the interpersonal space, that is, in the situation of the need to take into account the boundaries of the “I” of another person. During the technique, it is necessary to sketch a diagram of the children’s location on the carpet, noting the size of the space occupied, and record the children’s emotional and behavioral reactions to the task and questions.
Examples
Thanks to the described diagnostic tools, it is possible to characterize the specifics of psychological boundaries in children 2–10 years old. For convenience, you can use observation tables (see Appendix 1 in your Personal Account), noting the severity of one or another characteristic of psychological boundaries. The described techniques have great practical value, since they can be used in correctional and developmental work, remembering one of the main functions of psychological boundaries at the age of 2–10 years - maintaining the necessary level of adaptation to environmental conditions.
Let's consider how you can use the described techniques in practical work.
— Boy, 7 years old. Parents and teachers complain that he cannot refuse anyone, agrees to any action, even one that will obviously bring him trouble, never declares his desires, and is guided by the opinions of others. Intellectually, the boy is very developed, well-read, well-mannered. As a result of the study, it turned out that he did not feel his psychological boundaries, which was expressed in the inability to say “no” or refuse the proposed “pranks”. Psychological work was carried out, after which the boy began to listen to himself and express his desires.
— Girl, 9 years old. Teachers and parents noted some behavioral features, in particular, strong resistance to everything new (she refused to move to a new place in the class, put on new clothes, claiming that they were uncomfortable, etc.). The world is divided into “black and white” without shades, he is friends with only one girl, making no attempts to establish contact with the rest of his classmates, despite the fact that the atmosphere in the class is quite prosperous. She refuses to take part in general class events (excursions, tea parties), although she really wants this, etc. The girl is capable, studies successfully, understands “the absurdity of her position, but cannot help herself” (in her words). During her participation in the study, it turned out that her psychological boundaries are very strict, closed, and she does not know how to change their state in accordance with environmental conditions. Special work was carried out during which the girl learned to see different behavior options and choose the most optimal and comfortable one for her.
— Boy, 4 years old. Educators and parents note a high level of verbal aggression over the most insignificant occasion (someone looked, accidentally touched, touched his toy or clothes). The boy is smart, cheerful, friendly, and after his “breakdowns” he always asks for forgiveness from the offended person. As a result of the diagnostics, it turned out that this was the only way he knew of protecting the boundaries of the “I”; their narrowness was also noted. Based on the data obtained, psychological work was carried out, which allowed the boy to learn more adequate ways to protect the boundaries of the “I”, as well as strengthen the idea of his own boundaries.
Diagnosis of the state of psychological boundaries
Description of methods and observation criteria
Application
Approximate criteria for describing the boundaries of the self in children 2–10 years old
| Observation category | Description Criteria |
| Control of psychological boundaries- ability | — The ability to keep borders closed, suppress any attempts to change the sign, or disrupt psychological well-being. |
| Regulating psychological boundaries– the ability to change the spatial component of the phenomenon being studied, ensuring interaction | - Has difficulty “adjacent” to other people’s opinions, boundaries, physical space. |
| Activity of psychological boundaries– ability to go out | — The boundaries are independent, active, and initiate any adaptive actions. |
| Awareness and "feeling" psychological boundaries | — There is an understanding of boundaries. |
| Ways to protect boundaries | — The owner’s reaction to violation of the rules: directively prohibits, gently persuades, allows and corrects (puts the house in order). |
| Description of the essence of the phenomenon of boundaries of the Self in children 2–10 years old | — A sign of emotion when listening to a task. |
| Boundaries of Self | — Taking care of your own boundaries: impact on others (physical, etc.) – impact on yourself (accept, ignore, calm down, shrink, etc.). |
METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Psychodiagnostics- This region psychological Sciences, within which methods, methods, techniques are developed recognition of individual typological characteristics personality.
Structure of psychodiagnostics:
Iblock– general theory of psychological measurement
IIblock– private theories and concepts, as well as methods based on them
Eysenck personality test – 2 factors
16 factor questionnaire Catella – 16 factors
IIIblock– outside test diagnostics.
Psychodiagnostic methods:
- conversation
- observation(structured, fixed)
- experiment(laboratory, natural)
- testing(distinguished by its measurement and testing focus. The result is a quantitative assessment of the phenomenon being measured)
- survey, survey
- pedagogical documentation forchild– what, how many visited, difficulties of work, products of activity
- medical documentation– anamnesis, developmental history, illness
- collection of psychological history– information about family, environment. Personality research method – A.E. Lichko
- psychobiographical history– collection of information about the development situation
Testing
Primary requirements to psychodiagnostic tools:
1) Standardization– instructions, stimulus material, procedure, results, norm
2) Validity– compliance with the child’s development level, subject of study, age.
Anna Anastasi “Psychological Testing”: Test validity is a characteristic of what exactly the test measures and how well it does it.
3)Reliability– accuracy and reliability of measurements. The more reliable it is, the less its results depend on the influence of extraneous factors.
Types of validity:
1) Differential diagnostic– a characteristic of how much the test results allow one to differentiate subjects according to the indicator being studied (for example, normal from pathological)
2) Current– to what extent the test results reflect the child’s current level of development
3) Prognostic- from the word forecast. Characteristics of how the test results can determine the future development of the child (ZPD - zone of proximal development)
4) Criteria– from the word criterion – when the test results correspond to an external criterion.
Basic psychodiagnostic approaches
3 ways to get information:
Objective approach
Subjective approach
Projective approach
Objective– diagnostics is based on assessing the results of the subject’s activity and the methods of this activity (all tests of intelligence and cognitive activity)
Subjective– diagnostics is based on the subject’s self-assessments, characteristics of his personality (character, value orientations, etc.) – personality questionnaires and scale methods
Projective– diagnostics is based on the mechanism of personality projection onto weakly structured ambiguous stimulus material (all projective techniques). Roshikh techniques (ink blots)
Drawing tests are impressive - the drawing is already ready. It remains only to be interpreted. Rosen-Zweik test (for frustration tolerance)
Expressive - the child draws - a cactus, a house-tree-man, a non-existent animal, etc.
An unfinished sentence is a problem area in a person’s personality system.
The projective approach is very popular, but the difficulty is that the professional is subjective when processing the results.
The most successful diagnosis is one that uses all approaches.
The main stages of a psychological examination of a child (individual)
I. Preparatory
II. Basic
III. Final
Preparatory stage– listening to complaints from parents (teachers) and requests to a psychologist. The request must be recorded in writing. Familiarity with all documentation. Study of works, activities. Conversation with the child, observing his behavior and reactions. A rough idea of what kind of child it is and what the problem might be. Cognitive environment, emotional-volitional sphere, etc.
Get internal agreement child to work with a psychologist. Positive motivation for examination.
Main stage- implementation of the planned plan. Beginning of the examination. We uncover the problem and adjust the original plan.
The final stage– 1) initial processing of the result (calculation of raw points)
2) translation of primary estimates into standard ones - to compare different methods with each other
3) Comparative analysis of these estimates with the standards that are given.
4) analysis and interpretation of the results obtained
5) drawing up a conclusion
Conclusion diagram:
must be targeted. Psychological and pedagogical recommendation.
3 main parts.
Part 1 – during the conversation….
Conversation and observation. How he came into contact, easily (reluctantly, etc.) related to the examination, etc., how conscientiously he completed the task, reaction to success and failure, formation of self-control, activity in solving problems, anxiety, perseverance/restlessness, exhaustion, understanding of instructions, how, from what point times.
Everything that can help in diagnosis is recorded.
Part 2 – description of all research results
2 basic rules: (1) – Description and analysis of the result in detail.
Data are analyzed according to the subject of study, and not according to methods.
The subject is not the emotional-volitional sphere, but the understanding of emotions, anxiety, etc.
(2) – It is necessary to analyze not only the weaknesses of the child’s development, but also his strengths in order to identify compensation mechanisms.
Interpretation is a psychological description of the results obtained.
Part 3 – summarizing the data obtained
What comes to the fore comes to the background.
Summary. The psychologist does not make a diagnosis! He makes only a psychological diagnosis, i.e. He does not identify any nosologies like F84 or others.
L.S. Vygotsky wrote that the final result of the activity of a diagnostic psychologist is the establishment of a psychological diagnosis, the content of which is associated with the determination of individual typological characteristics of a person.
Psychological diagnosis is associated with psychological prognosis.
The concept of psychological diagnosis and psychological prognosis according to L.S. Vygotsky:
3 conditions of psychological diagnosis:
1) symptomatic– identification of any violation, underdevelopment
2) etiological– identification of the cause, origin of the violation
3) typological– identification, the ability of the psychologist to fit the identified violations into the dynamic picture of the personality.
The personality is seen more holistically. But it is necessary to take into account the child’s development factor
Psychological prognosis – the ability of a psychologist, based on knowledge about the past and present development of a child, to understand the logic of this development in order to predict his future development.
In addition to IQ given by a psychologist, there is a structure of intelligence - a graph for various indicators.
LV – lag in all indicators.
ZPR – indicators are uneven, lagging behind.
for some, normal for others
The concept of functional diagnosis
(medical, but advanced) Originated in rehabilitation medicine. The main motto of rehabilitation medicine is an appeal to the personality of the sick person. F.D. = medical part(u/o, from psychologist IQ and structure of intelligence) + psychological part(work of a social teacher: conditions, family, etc. Socio-demographic passport for the child)
The psychological part and the social part make up the psychological history.
Diagnostic training experiment as a method of psycho-pedological diagnostics (DOE)
Training, training, learning ability. Which of this is a pedagogical concept and which is a psychological one?
Education– the process of transferring knowledge, skills, abilities from one to another. Pedagogical technology and effectiveness are assessed by teachers.
Training– the degree of assimilation of knowledge, skills and abilities in the learning process. Pedagogical learning diagnostic tool - quizzes, tests, answers at the board, on the spot, etc.
Learning ability– the child’s ability to absorb knowledge.
Psychological technology. The psychologist determines what the child’s potential is. Reveals the structure, abilities, what is lower, higher or normal. Specifies what exactly the child is capable of.
DOE is a popular psychodiagnostic method aimed at studying a child’s potential for learning in specially organized conditions under the influence of an adult. DOE is intended for qualitative and quantitative assessment of a child’s learning ability.
A child’s learning ability has 3 main components:
1) activity in solving intellectual problems - interest in knowledge
2) receptivity to adult help
3) the formation of a logical transfer of the learned method of solving problems to new, similar ones.
The methods developed in the DOE version are distinguished by high predictive validity, as well as differential diagnostic validity.
This DOE is developed based on the concepts of L.S. Vygotsky on the zone of proximal development and the relationship between learning and development.
Learning entails development, so learning is aimed at the zone of proximal development – the ZPD.
An example of a technique developed for DOE is method A.Ya. Ivanova entitled "Classification geometric shapes».
Purpose: to identify the level of mental development of a 6-9 year old child, an indicator of his learning ability.
Stimulus material: 2 sets of cards, 24 cards each, depicting geometric figures of different shapes, colors and sizes.
1 set – 4 shapes (circle, square, diamond, triangle) – 3 colors (red, yellow, blue) – 2 sizes (large, small)
2 set – 3 shapes (circle, square and pentagon) – 4 colors (red, yellow, blue and green) – 2 sizes (large, small)
The first set comes with a table showing all the figures in this set.
DOE consists of 2 parts:
1) educational– three types of assistance are provided:
Stimulating
Organizing
2) similar to task– stimulating assistance. organizing if necessary.
Training assistance only in the first part. Strictly dosed. Each dose of help is a hint lesson (no. 1, no. 2, no. 3, etc.)
The second part - a similar task is given. It looks like the first stage of the experiment has been mastered, transferring the learned methods of solving problems to independent activity.
Based on the methodology carried out, it is possible to calculate the learning ability indicator - LP.
PO = OR + VP + LP
OR = indicative response. passive = 0 points, active = 1 point.
RP = receptivity to help. PI is a manifestation of inertia. 1 point for each. KU – number of lessons.
LP – logical transfer – PPSLF = 0 points. Complete transfer of verbal-logical form - named and showed 3 forms.
CHPSLF = partial transfer of verbal-logical form = named and showed 2 forms = 1 point
PPNDF = complete transfer of visually effective form. didn't say, made 2 forms = 2 points
PPNDF = partial transfer of visually effective form. didn’t say, showed 2 forms = 3b.
OLP = lack of logical transfer = 4 points.
Standards:
Software norm – 0-5 points
PO ZPR – 5-9 points
PO OU – 9-18 points
Identifies risk groups. Good for preparing for school.
(Book: Rubinstein S.Ya. Moscow. “Experimental methods of pathopsychology”, 2011.
Volume 1 – description, Volume 2 – stimulus material)
Intelligence and cognitive tests
Very popular, aimed at assessing general abilities to understand the world around us. The result is IQ (quantitative assessment) and the level of formation of individual cognitive processes (structure of intelligence).
2 theories:
KTL (culture of free intelligence) - intelligence is determined by the social conditions of the child.
Intelligence is a hereditary factor.
The first measured mental abilities - Galton(work - Measurements of a person's mental abilities)
1905– a scale appeared Binet-Simone. Allowed to differentiate normal from pathology.
List of tasks for 5-10 years. They give a 6-year-old child a 6-year-old test. The answer is correct – IQ norm. If he doesn’t answer, they give him a test for 5 years, etc.
Modification scales - 1908-1911 - they themselves. Not only the norm from the pathology, but also the range of the norm. Their merit is that they found a way to diagnose intelligence in the normal range and introduced the concept of “mental age.”
1927 – L.S. Vygotsky wrote an article criticizing the Binet-Simon scale, but emphasized its enormous psychodiagnostic value.
1909 - Russia - development of Rassolimo - proposed a test to differentiate educational attainment from the norm, proved that underachieving children are not always successful.
Not only IQ, but also drew the structure of intelligence.
Components mental development child:
1) mental tone
3) thinking
Compiled 7 types of mental development. Each parameter in detail - “Psychological profile”
Raven's Test - "Progressive Matrices" - 1936
Attention, thinking on a non-verbal level.
Reliable, valid, for the study of non-verbal intelligence.
Adult version - from 11 years old - black and white. Children - 5-11 years old - color.
Black and white version – 60 matrices. 5 episodes. 12 tasks.
1, A – the easiest difficulty and series
12, E – the most difficult.
Children's – 36 matrices, 3 series. A, A/B, B. A/B – intermediate series.
The result is the level of intelligence in %.
The structure of intelligence cannot be drawn.
The procedure is used on children and adolescents as a performance test.
Advantages and limitations of the Raven test:
Since the test is non-verbal, it can be used with children who are deaf, with speech impairments, or with migrant children.
You can't measure verbal intelligence.
Amthauer test - 1953
The direction of problems of professional selection and career guidance. For teenagers and adults (from 11 years old).
176 tasks – 90 minutes. The result is grouped into 9 subtests. Based on the result drawing of the structure of intelligence.
"Structure of Intelligence"
Several similar versions. You can track the dynamics of the child's development. You can get IQ. The test is working, diagnostic, effective.
Wechsler test
Basic principles for diagnosing deviations in the child’s birth defects at the PMPK
PMPK – psychological, medical and pedagogical K-commission, K-consultation, K-consilium (school). PR – mental development
Consilium:
Determine a child assistance program
1 month to implement - again consultation
Send to commission to see dynamics
Consultation:
Expand the functions of the commission
Before organizing the commission, assistance to parents and children
Operate as psychological assistance centers for children
They organize correctional and developmental groups
Communication with maternity hospitals for statistics and information in the Regional Educational Institution, etc., how many children were born and with what pathologies.
PMPCommission
1 principle– an integrated approach to examining a child for PMPKthe child is examined by different specialists and a psychological study is an integral part of the clinical, neuropsychological and socio-pedagogical examination of the child. Familiarity with medical documentation. Only a psychologist gives IQ.
2 principle– age validity of the selected methods.
Rozanova T.V. – 9 age stages.
3 principle– a dynamic approach to the study of a child. Any study of a child should be organized taking into account the factor of child development. Those. Not only the child’s current level is assessed, but also the zone of proximal development (ZPD).
To put this principle into practice, the psychologist relies on: - from top to bottom (age task, easier, 6 year old, even easier, even easier, 5 year old…….)
From bottom to top (task is easy - done - harder - done - harder......)
4 principle– a psychologist conducts a comprehensive and holistic examination
5 principle– interaction, activity approach.
Compliance with the conditions for conducting psychological research.
Studying a child’s attitude towards himself during a crisis period of 3 years.
The technique was developed by Guskova T.V. and Elagina M.G. and is intended to diagnose the characteristics of a child’s attitude towards himself during the crisis of the age of three.
To conduct the research, you need to select several pictures depicting animals, plants, objects and draw up questions for a conversation with the child based on their content.
The study is carried out individually with children 2-3 years old. It consists of alternately looking at pictures depicting animals, plants, objects and the child’s answers to the adult’s questions about their content. The child meets with the experimenter several times in two different situations, depending on which the adult demonstrates his attitude towards the child and his answers:
I situation- only successful answers are noted and assessed accordingly;
II situation- only unsuccessful answers are noted and evaluated, for which the child receives a negative mark.
In each situation, the research goes through a number of stages:
Stage I- a general friendly and interested attitude towards the child before looking at the picture;
Stage II- during a conversation based on pictures, the experimenter evaluates the correct answer: " Okay, you know it", incorrect answer: " Too bad you don't know it";
Stage III- a general friendly and interested attitude towards the child after looking at the pictures.
The child’s behavioral reactions are recorded in the table. Each type of reaction is assigned the following symbol:
O - indicative, D - motor, E - emotional, R - working.
Data processing.
To determine the child’s emotional attitude towards himself, the baby’s basic behavioral reactions in situations 1 and 2 are compared. On this basis, conclusions are drawn about the extent to which the child’s general attitude toward himself has differentiated from the specific one, based on his actual achievement in solving the problem. They determine how this differentiation depends on the type of assessment and the context of relationships with adults.
Studying the manifestation of a sense of pride in one’s own achievements in 3-year-old children.
The technique was developed by Guskova T.V. and Elagina M.G. and is aimed at studying the main personal developments in children during the crisis of three years of age.
To conduct the research, it is necessary to prepare a pyramid, its image (sample) and a constructor.
The study is carried out individually with children 2 years 6 months old. - 3 years 6 months. The experiment consists of 5 series, each of which includes 3 tasks.
For example, the first series includes tasks:
1) assemble a pyramid using a sample picture;
2) build a house from construction kit parts (without a sample);
3) build a truck from construction kit parts (without a sample).
The four other series are constructed similarly to identify stable characteristics of the child’s behavior in relation to the objective world and adults.
For the 1st task, regardless of the quality of execution, the child receives praise, for the 2nd - the assessment “did” or “did not do”, according to his result, the solution to the 3rd task is not assessed.
If there are difficulties, the experimenter offers the child help.
When processing data, children’s activity during tasks is analyzed according to two parameters:
1) the child’s connection with the objective world reflects the value of achievements in the activity being carried out (acceptance of the task, indicating the interest and motivational support of the activity, determination in completing the task), involvement in solving the problem (the depth of involvement in the process of the activity itself), the child’s assessment of the productivity of his activity;
2) the child’s connection with an adult reflects independence in completing tasks (the child’s attitude towards the adult’s help, his emotional manifestations); seeking an adult’s assessment and attitude towards it.
Activity indicators are assessed on the following scale:
With the maximum severity of the indicator, the child is given 3 points,
with average - 2 points,
if low - 1 point.
Thus, level I of activity is 0-7 points, level II is 7-14 points, level III is 14-21 points.
They analyze how the child’s activity increases in seeking an adult’s assessment.
They track emotional reactions when receiving or not receiving an assessment. They find out whether affective forms of behavior (exaggeration of one’s achievements, attempts to devalue failure) appear in the event of failure or lack of adult assessment of the child’s success.
Summarizing the results obtained, they detail the conclusion about the emergence of such a personal new formation as “pride in one’s own achievements” (it integrates an objective attitude to reality, an attitude towards an adult as a model, an attitude towards oneself mediated by achievement).
If the study is carried out in a group of children, it seems advisable to introduce an age gradation:
Compare the results of activity indicators depending on the age group 2 years 6 months. - 2 years 10 months, 2 years 10 months. - 3 years 2 months , 3 years 2 months - 3 years 6 months
Methodology for studying children's self-awareness and gender and age identification.
The technique was developed by N. L. Belopolskaya and is intended to study the level of formation of those aspects of self-awareness that are associated with the identification of gender and age. Designed for children from 3 to 11 years old. It can be used for research purposes, for diagnostic examination of children, for counseling a child and for correctional work.
Stimulus material.
Two sets of cards are used, on which a male or female character is depicted in different periods of life from infancy to old age (drawing cards).
Each set (male and female) consists of 6 cards.
The appearance of the character depicted on them demonstrates typical features corresponding to a certain phase of life and the corresponding gender and age role: infancy, preschool age, school age, youth, maturity and old age. The research is carried out in two stages. The task
first stage
is an assessment of the child’s ability to identify his present, past and future gender and age status on the visual material presented to him. In other words, the child’s ability to adequately identify his life path is tested. Procedure."You can sequentially point to 2-3 pictures and ask: " Such? (Like this?)"However, in the case of such a “hint,” one should not point to those pictures whose image corresponds to the real image of the child at the time of the study.
If the child has made an adequate choice of picture, we can assume that he correctly identifies himself with the appropriate gender and age, which is noted in the protocol. If the choice is made inadequately, this is also recorded in the protocol. In both cases, you can continue the study.
In cases where the child cannot identify himself at all with any character in the pictures, for example, declaring: " I'm not here“, it is not advisable to continue the experiment, since even identification with the image of the present has not been formed in the child.
After the child has chosen the first picture, he is given additional instructions to show what he was like before. You can say: " Okay, this is who you are now, but what were you like before?". The choice is recorded in the protocol. The selected card is placed in front of the one that was chosen first, so that the beginning of the age sequence is obtained.
Then the child is asked to show what he will be like later. Moreover, if the child copes with the choice of the first picture of the image of the future (for example, a preschooler chooses a picture with the image of a schoolchild), he is asked to determine subsequent age-related images. All pictures are laid out by the child himself in the form of a sequence. An adult can help him with this, but the child must find the right age image strictly on his own. The entire sequence obtained in this way is reflected in the protocol.
If the child has correctly (or almost correctly) compiled the sequence for his gender, he is asked to arrange cards with a character of the opposite gender in age order.
On second stage The study compares the child’s ideas about the real self, the attractive self and the unattractive self.
first stage
Both sequences of pictures lie on the table in front of the child. The one that the child made (or the sequence corresponding to the child’s gender) lies directly in front of him, and the second one is a little further away. In the case when the sequence compiled by the child is significantly incomplete (for example, it consists of only two cards) or contains errors (for example, rearrangements), it is this one that is located in front of him, and the rest of the cards, in a disordered form, are located slightly further away. They should all be within his or her field of vision.
The child is asked to show which image of the sequence seems most attractive to him.
Example instructions: " Look carefully at these pictures again and show me what you would like to be"After the child has pointed to a picture, you can ask him 2-3 questions about why this image seemed attractive to him.
Then the child is asked to show a picture with the most unattractive age image for him.
Example instructions: " Now show me in pictures what you would never want to be". The child chooses a picture, and if the child’s choice is not very clear to the experimenter, then you can ask him questions clarifying the motives for his choice.
The results of both elections are recorded in the protocol.
To record the progress of the procedure, it is recommended to use protocol forms (sample protocol). They mark the positions of the correct gender and age sequence, against which the child’s choice is indicated, and positions are also reserved for marking positive and negative preferences.
The choice of an “identical” character is marked with a cross in a circle, the rest - with a simple cross. Missed positions are marked with a minus sign, and if the sequence is violated, the numbers of the selected cards are indicated in the corresponding position.
For example, if a preschooler correctly identified himself and his previous status, but placed the young man behind the man and put the card with the old man aside, then his result is recorded in the table:
The selected attractive and unattractive images represent serial number pictures in sequence:
It is also useful to record the child’s immediate statements and reactions in the process of carrying out the instructions given to him and his answers to the experimenter’s questions about the motives for this or that choice.
Interpretation of results.
Children with normal mental development are characterized by the following gender and age identification.
Children 3 years old most often (in 84% of cases) they identify themselves with the baby and do not accept further instructions. However, already by 4 years Almost all children are able to identify themselves with a picture depicting a preschooler of the corresponding gender.
Approximately 80% of children of this age can identify their past image with the image of a baby in a picture. Children choose different pictures as an “image of the future”: from a picture of a schoolboy (72%) to a picture of a man (woman), commenting on it like this: “ then I will be big, then I will be mom (dad), then I will be like Tanya (older sister)". Typical for children of this age is the gender and age sequence reflected in the table:
Beginning from 5 years old children no longer make mistakes when identifying their real age and gender status. Children of this age can correctly construct the identification sequence: infant - preschooler - schoolchild. About half of them continue to build the sequence and identify themselves with the future roles of a boy (girl), man (woman), however, calling the latter “dad” and “mom”.
Thus, 80% of 5-year-old children build the sequence shown in the table:
And 20% of children of this age - a shorter sequence:
Almost all children aged 6 - 7 years correctly establish the sequence of identification from infant to adult (pictures 1 to 5), but have difficulty identifying themselves with the image of “old age”.
All children 8 years capable of establishing a complete identification sequence of 6 pictures. They already identify themselves with the future image of old age, although they consider it the most unattractive.
The image of a “baby” also turns out to be unattractive for many. Children 9 years and older
form a complete identification sequence and adequately identify themselves with gender and age.
"Draw yourself" technique.
The test is intended for children 4-6 years old and is aimed at identifying the child’s level of self-esteem. Average time
completing the task - 30-40 minutes. Necessary materials:
a standard sheet of white unlined paper, folded in half, four colored pencils - black, brown, red and blue.
The first page remains blank; after the work is completed, the necessary information about the child is recorded. On the second, third and fourth pages, in a vertical position at the top, the name of each picture is printed in large letters - respectively: “Bad boy/girl” (depending on the gender of the child), “Good boy/girl”, “Myself”. Instructions: "".
Now we will draw. First we will draw a bad boy or a bad girl. We will draw it with two pencils - brown and black. The worse the boy or girl you draw is, the smaller the drawing should be. Now we will draw a good boy or a good girl.".
We will draw them with a red and blue pencil. And the better the girl or boy, the larger the drawing should be. A very good one will take up the entire sheet of paper. Before the third picture the following instructions are given: "".
Let each of you draw a picture of yourself on this piece of paper. You can draw yourself with all four pencils
Results processing scheme.
1. Analysis of the “self-portrait”: the presence of all the main details, the completeness of the image, the number of additional details, the thoroughness of their drawing, the “ornamentation”, the static nature of the drawing or the representation of the figure in motion, the inclusion of “oneself in some kind of plot-game”, etc. .
The initial number of points is 10. For the absence of any detail from the main ones, 1 point is deducted. For each additional detail, “decoration”, representation in the plot or movement, 1 point is awarded. The more points, the more positive the attitude towards the drawing, i.e. towards oneself (norm 11-15 points). On the contrary, the absence of necessary details indicates a negative or conflictual attitude.
- 2. Comparison of the “self-portrait” with the drawing of “good” and “bad” peers according to the parameters: Size
“self-portrait” (approximately coincides with “good” - 1 point is awarded, much more -
- 2 points, coincides with “bad” - minus 1 point, much less - minus 2 points, less than “good”, but more than “bad” - 0.5 points). Colors
, used in the “self-portrait” (more blue and red colors - 1 point, more black and brown colors - minus 1 point, colors approximately equal - 0 points). Repetition in "self-portrait" details
- drawings of “good” or “bad” (clothing, headdress, toys, flowers, slingshot, etc.). The total number generally coincides more with the “good” child - 1 point is awarded, a complete match - 2 points. The total number coincides more with the “bad” child - minus 1 point, complete match - minus 2 points. There are approximately equal numbers of both - 0 points. General impression
about the similarity of a “self-portrait” to a “good” drawing - 1 point, to a “bad” drawing -
minus 1 point.
3. The location of the “self-portrait” on the sheet. The image of the picture at the bottom of the page - minus 1 point, if in addition the figure is depicted as small - minus 2 points This situation indicates the child’s depressed state, the presence of a feeling of inferiority. The most unfavorable is the location of the figure in the lower corners of the sheet and depicted in profile (as if striving "run away" from the sheet) - minus 3 points.
The drawing is located in the center of the sheet or slightly above - 1 point, the drawing is very large, occupies almost the entire sheet - 2 points, in addition to the last one it is also located frontal (facing us) - 3 points.
Diagnostics of interpersonal relationships.
Family Relations Test (for children from 3 to 11 years old).
This diagnostic technique is intended to study the characteristics of the relationship between a child and his family members as the main core of possible tension in family interpersonal relationships.
The researcher's task is to help the child include, for emotional or logical reasons, or exclude important persons from the family circle. Moreover, the family group he created in the test situation does not necessarily correspond to his sociological family. The resulting distinction between the idea of family expressed by the child and his family provides information about the child's emotional life at home.
Emotional background playing main role in the child’s interpersonal relationships, includes: strong feelings love or hate, “sexual or aggressive” in the broad sense of these words, weaker experiences such as “like-dislike”, “pleasant-unpleasant” and reactions of jealousy and competition. It also includes the child's self-directed, "autoerotic" or "auto-aggressive" experiences, and defenses against awareness of feelings directed toward him. Experiences of older children
differ more subtly than the feelings of the younger ones. In young children, experiences of something or love for someone, trouble or strong hatred easily flow from one to another.
In this sense, the test examines less formalized relationships in working with young children. The option for older children is aimed at exploring the following relationships:
1) two types of positive attitude: weak and strong. Weak feelings are associated with friendly approval and acceptance, strong feelings are associated with “sexualized” experiences related to intimate psychic contact and manipulation,
2) two types of negative attitude: weak and strong. The weak are associated with unfriendliness and disapproval, the strong express hatred and hostility,
3) parental indulgence, expressed by questions like " Mom spoils this family member too much",
4) parental overprotection, presented in questions like " mom is worried that this person might catch a cold".
All of these items, except for the items regarding overprotection and indulgence, represent two directions of feelings: do the feelings come from the child and are directed to other people, or does the child feel like an object of the feelings of others. An example of the first category would be: " I love snuggling with this family member.". And the second example is " this man loves to hug me tightly".
The version for young children contains the following relationships:
1) positive feelings. Both types come from the child and are experienced by the child as coming from others,
2) negative feelings. Both types come from the child and are experienced by him as coming from others,
3) dependence on others.
Test material.
The Family Relations Test is designed to provide specific insights into the child's family. It consists of 20 figures representing people of various ages, shapes and sizes, stereotypical enough to represent various members of a child's family, and ambiguous enough to represent a specific family. There are figures from grandparents to newborn children. This gives the child the opportunity to create his own family circle from them. In addition to family representatives, other important figures are included in the test. For those questions that do not correspond to any family member, the figure “nobody” is adapted.
Each figure is equipped with a mailbox-like box with a slot. Each question is written on a separate small card. The child is told that the cards contain messages and that his task is to put the card in the box of the figure to which it corresponds most.
The test situation thus becomes a game situation, and the test material should prepare the subject for the upcoming emotional response.
The child's task is to obey the maneuvers of the test. He is not asked to analyze the complex set of feelings he has for his family. The child is expected to express himself in a choice of emotional positions, which will be collected from a variety of sources sufficient to understand the basis of the child's relationships. The question is thus fixed. But his place is not strictly defined and the question is allowed to be given to the figure “Nobody”.
Feelings “thrown” at the figure immediately disappear from view, leaving no trace of blame. In this way, the child has no visible reminder of the distribution of his love or hate, and therefore the feeling of guilt does not interfere with freedom of expression.
Research procedure.
The room in which testing takes place must contain a table for recording test results and a table on which the 21 test pieces are placed. All figures should be placed in front of the child entering the room and distributed in the following order into groups - 4 women, 4 men, 5 girls, 5 boys, an old man and an infant, “nobody”.
On first stage research needs to find out who makes up the child’s family. When the child has entered the room and contact has been established, the tester asks the child the following questions:
1) tell me about the people who live in the house with you;
2) tell me who is in your family.
The task is to clarify from the child his concept of family, and both of these questions can be repeated and clarified if this seems necessary. The people mentioned by the child are listed on a piece of paper. This sheet does not have a special place to write down that the child has a father and mother. But if a child comes from a single-parent family, then this fact must be noted in the form column.
To interpret test results, it is important to know whether one or both parents have died, whether they are divorced or separated, whether one parent is temporarily absent, and who the child is currently living with. The same thing needs to be found out about the child’s brothers and sisters, if any. It may happen that the child's mother died, the father remarried, and the child says that he has two mothers. For a more accurate understanding of the child’s feelings, it is advisable to include both mothers in the test. There is a space on the form to describe other family members, where such mom and dad can be noted.
The same space on the form allows you to note an aunt or uncle, a grandparent, a child's wet nurse, or an older sister. This marked worksheet also includes space for the siblings' names and ages. If the child does not know how old they are, the tester may ask the following questions: "?", "He's bigger than you?", "Who is older: Sasha or Olya?".
On second stage Sasha goes to school or he goes to work research is necessary to establish the child’s family circle. After the tester has established who makes up the child’s family and has written down the family members on the form, he tells the child: “".
Now you and I are going to play this game. Do you see all the figures standing there? We'll pretend some of them are your family Then the tester brings the child closer to the figures, pointing to four female figures and asks: " Which one do you think is better to make a mother? "He allows the child to make a choice and point to the chosen figure, then asks to put it on the table or desk. Then he points to the male figures and asks: " Now tell me, which of them is best to make a dad?
"The selected figure is placed by the child on the same table. Then the experimenter points to the figures of boys and girls (depending on the gender of the subject) and asks: " Which one would you like to be yourself?
", - and the figure is transferred to the table. This continues until the child places figures on the table for each family member. If the child wants to make several choices, he is allowed to do so. He can also include forgotten brothers, sisters, grandmother. When the family circle is complete, the test taker can say: " Now we have all the family members assembled, but there will be one more figure in our game ". He takes out the "nobody" figure, places it next to the family members and says: "".
This person's name is "nobody". He will also play. Now I'll tell you what he will do Third stage You see, there are a lot of little cards with messages written on them. I will read to you what they say, and you will put each card to the figure that it fits best.".
If the message on the card doesn't suit anyone, you give it to "nobody." See what I mean? Sometimes you feel like the message applies to more than one person. Then say so and give me these cards. Now attention! I repeat: if a card suits one person the most, you give that card to that figure, if the card suits no one, you give it to the "nobody" figure, if the card suits several people, you give it to me
The test situation tends to create a "defense" system against feelings that make the child feel guilty. These defenses are conventional defenses modified by the limitations imposed by the test material. The test results may reveal the following defense mechanisms:
1) refusal, i.e. the child gives most of the positive and negative points to “nobody”; 2) idealization, i.e. the child gives the predominant number of questions positive character
family members, while most negative ones are given to “no one”;
3) mixing, i.e. the child gives most of the points to peripheral family members;
4) fulfillment of desires, regression. These defenses can be revealed if the child directs most of the questions to himself, expressing over-patronizing, over-indulging feelings.
The results obtained during the test in the clinic helped to detect the following types of protection:
Projection, i.e. the child exaggeratedly and unrealistically attributes positive and negative feelings and at the same time denies them to himself;
Formation reaction, i.e. the child replaces his answers with the opposite ones in order to hide too bright positive or negative feelings.
If research shows an excessive expression of strong positive or negative feelings, we can talk about a lack of security.
Presentation of results.
When the child completes the task, the researcher takes the cards from the figures and notes on the form to whom each item was addressed. Processing consists of recording the question numbers in the appropriate boxes and summing the number of questions that were assigned to each person within each group of questions. This will show how much of “each kind of feeling” the child sends to each family member.
Finally, the conclusions drawn from the quantitative and qualitative results are recorded.
The test usually takes 20-25 minutes. Processing of the received data will take about 15 minutes.
The family structure is entered into the table, i.e., all those who were selected at the stage of establishing the child’s family circle, the characteristic features of this case, the child’s family status, parenting style, as well as the numbers of cards received by each family member are indicated.
In addition to the general table, the technique makes it possible to analyze how feelings are distributed among its members in a family. For this purpose, the various types of relationships determined by the questionnaire are presented in the form of a table:
Preschool children have a number of psychological and behavioral characteristics, knowledge of which is necessary in order to obtain reliable results in the process of their psychodiagnostic examination. These features primarily include a relatively low level of consciousness and self-awareness.
When we talk about consciousness in the context of psychodiagnostics, we mean volition, internal volitional control and mediation by speech of the child’s basic cognitive processes, his perception, attention, memory, imagination, thinking. As consciously regulated processes, these processes are at a relatively low level of development in the majority of preschoolers, since cognitive development at this age is still far from complete. Acquisition of cognitive skills
Part I Psychological diagnostics
processes of voluntariness begin in a child at approximately three or four years of age and are completed only by the end of adolescence. Therefore, when carrying out psychodiagnostics of preschool children, especially early children, it should be borne in mind that test tasks should not require highly developed voluntary control of their cognitive processes from the child. If this condition is not taken into account, then as a result of testing there is a danger of obtaining data that does not fully correspond to the real level of cognitive development of the child. In order to correctly judge the level of development achieved by a child, it is necessary to select psychodiagnostic test tasks in such a way that they are simultaneously designed for both voluntary and involuntary levels of regulation of the cognitive sphere. This will allow us to adequately assess, on the one hand, the degree of arbitrariness cognitive processes, and on the other hand, the real level of their development if they are not yet voluntary.
As for children of older preschool age, from three to four to five to six years old, they already have elements of volition in managing their cognitive processes. At the same time, a significant part of children of this age are still characterized by the dominance of involuntary cognitive processes, and it is precisely such processes that the child relies on when learning about the world around him. Psychodiagnostics of children of this age, therefore, should be two-directional: both for a detailed study of the development of natural, or involuntary, cognitive processes, and for the timely detection and accurate description of voluntary cognitive actions and reactions.
When we talk about the relatively low level of development of self-awareness in preschoolers, we give it the following meaning: preschool children, especially under the age of four, are still very poorly aware of their own personal qualities and are not able to give a correct assessment of their behavior. Their self-esteem and level of aspirations have not yet developed enough to have a clear idea of themselves, their strengths and weaknesses.
Chapter 3. Methods of psychodiagnostics of preschool children
Older children, from four to six years old, already have such opportunities and are able to evaluate themselves as individuals, but still within limited limits, mainly those personality traits and behavioral characteristics that were drawn to when communicating with the child, those around him repeatedly Adults.
It follows from the above that methods of personal and behavioral psychodiagnostics of children under four years of age should not include tasks and questions that are focused on the child’s self-awareness and require on his part a conscious, balanced assessment of his own personal qualities. Violation of this rule may result in the child either not answering the questions posed, or giving answers to them mechanically, without properly understanding the essence of the questions themselves.
Children aged four to six years can already be offered personality and behavioral questionnaires based on adequate self-esteem. However, even in this case, it should be borne in mind that the self-esteem capabilities of a child of a given age are still not unlimited.
In connection with the above, when conducting personal and behavioral psychodiagnostics of preschool children, it is recommended to more often use the method external, expert assessment, using independent, professionally trained adults who know the child well as experts. In older preschool age, you can add the child’s self-esteem to expert assessments, but still trust adults’ judgments about him more.
There are certain difficulties and limitations associated with the use of survey-type psychodiagnostic methods at this age. For preschool children, personality questionnaires containing direct judgments of a self-evaluative type, addressed to insufficiently realized personal qualities, are not entirely suitable. If we are talking about indirect judgments, then they should also not include features of psychology and behavior that the preschool child is not yet well aware of. In general, the use of such questionnaires in
__________ Part I. Psychological diagnostics _____________
psychodiagnostic purposes in preschool age should be kept to a minimum, and if turning to them is inevitable, then each question must be explained in detail and clearly to the child.
Let us note one more feature associated with the involuntary processes in preschool children, which must be taken into account when performing their psychodiagnostics. Only then will preschoolers demonstrate their abilities in the process of psychodiagnostics, i.e. show results that correctly reflect the level of their psychological development, when the methods themselves and the psychodiagnostic tasks they contain arouse and maintain interest throughout the entire period of psychodiagnostics. As soon as the child’s immediate interest in the tasks being performed is lost, he ceases to show the abilities and inclinations that he actually possesses. Therefore, if we want to identify the actual level of psychological development of a child and his capabilities, for example, the zone of potential development, it is necessary in advance, by drawing up instructions and methods, to ensure that all this evokes involuntary attention on the part of the child and is interesting enough for him.
Finally, one should take into account the characteristics of the involuntary cognitive processes themselves, for example, the inconstancy of involuntary attention and increased fatigue in children of this age, caused primarily by psychogenic factors. In this regard, the series of test tasks he proposes should not be made too long or require a lot of time. The optimal time for completing test tasks for preschool children is considered to be in the range from one to five minutes, and the younger the child’s age, the shorter it should be.
Let's consider some other, in addition to those already mentioned above, features of psychodiagnostics of preschoolers, dividing them as follows by age:
1. Early age, from one to three years.
2. Junior and middle preschool age, from three to five years.
3. Senior preschool age, from five to six to seven years. Psychodiagnostics of young children can mainly
be only objective, i.e. only to a very small extent describes
Chapter 3. Methods of psychodiagnostics of preschool children
focus on the child’s self-esteem and self-analysis. The greatest value at this age is psychodiagnostic material associated with an expert assessment of the child’s externally observable actions and reactions. Therefore, the main means of collecting information about children at this age is observation, and the main psychodiagnostic method is a natural experiment in which some life situation, quite familiar to the child. The best psychodiagnostic results in children of this age can be obtained by observing them in the process of engaging in the leading activity for this age - object-based play.
When conducting psychodiagnostics of children of primary and secondary preschool age, one should keep in mind both the change in the form of play and the emergence of a new type of social activity leading to the psychological development of the child - interpersonal communication. Children of this age for the first time begin to show interest in their peers as individuals and engage in joint games with them. Accordingly, psychodiagnostic methods should be developed so that they involve not only observation of children in individual objective activities, but also in a collective role-playing game. Its participants can be not only children, but also adults. Such a game with a child can, for example, be organized and conducted for psychodiagnostic purposes by the psychologist himself.
In addition, at this age, to a certain extent, it is already possible to rely on the data of children’s self-awareness and on the assessments that they themselves give to other children and adults. This especially applies to the manifestation of various individual qualities in communication with other people.
In older preschool age, games with rules are added to these types of activities and, in addition, elementary reflexive (see reflection) abilities arise. Older preschoolers not only realize and are guided in their behavior by certain rules of interpersonal interaction, especially in games, but within certain limits they can, while engaged in one or another type of activity, for example, learning and playing, analyze their own behavior in it, give
Part I. Psychological diagnostics
assessments of yourself and those around you. This opens up the possibility of using at this age those psychodiagnostic techniques that are usually used to study the psychology of schoolchildren and adults. The above primarily relates to methods for studying cognitive processes, but partly concerns personality and interpersonal relationships.
All these comments and limitations were taken into account in the standardized set of psychodiagnostic techniques described in detail below, designed to study and determine the level of psychological development of preschool children, from three to five to six years old 1.
Memory test for children 6 - 7 years old. "Memorizing 10 words by A.R. Luria
The technique is intended to study the process of voluntary memorization in children aged 6-7 years. The very process of memorization gives an idea of the stability and concentration of attention, the ability to work, and the child’s ability to perform rather boring, purposeful activities. Conducted in silence. Stimulus material - 10 simple words that are not related to each other in meaning.
For example: 1) year, elephant, ball, soap, salt, noise, river, floor, spring, son or: 2)g ora, saw, rose, soap, leg, feather, glasses, river, sofa, bread
It is advisable to have several such sets.
Instructions: “Now I want to check how you can remember words. I will tell you the words, and you listen to them carefully and try to remember. Since no one remembers all the words the first time, I will read them to you several times. After each time you will repeat all the words you remember, in any order." Instructions for the 2nd presentation: “Now I will repeat the words again, and you remember and repeat after me everything you remember, including those you said last time.” At presentations 3 and 4, it is enough to say “Listen again,” at presentation 5, “Now I will read the words for the LAST time, and you will try to repeat more.” In cases where the child reproduces words very slowly and uncertainly, you can stimulate him with the words “More! Try to remember more!” After memorizing, the child engages in other tasks, and at the end of the study, it is necessary to check how many words remain in his memory (delayed reproduction).
Normally, on the first presentation, 3-5 words are reproduced, on the fifth - 8-10. Delayed playback - 7 - 9 words. The results are entered into
STUDY PROTOCOL
| № | Mountain | Saw | Rose | Soap | Leg | Feather | Glasses | River | Sofa | Bread | Additional words | Bottom line |
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Evaluation of results:
4 points - High level- remembered 9-10 words after the 5th presentation, 8-9 words during delayed recall.
3 points - Average level - remembered 6 - 8 words after the 5th presentation, 5 - 7 words during delayed recall.
2 points - Below average - remembered 3 - 5 words after the 5th presentation, 3 - 4 words during delayed recall.
1 point - Low level - remembered 0 - 2 words after the 5th presentation, 0 - 2 words during delayed reproduction, or at the age of 6-7 years does not make contact, or cannot organize himself to perform this activity.
Psychological children's diagnostics, tests
Psychological diagnostics and tests for children from 5 to 7 years old. (79)
A 5-year-old child’s interest is increasingly directed towards the sphere of relationships between people. An adult’s assessments are subject to critical analysis and comparison with one’s own. Under the influence of these assessments, the child’s ideas about the real self (what I am, what I am according to the attitude of my parents towards me) and the ideal self (what kind of me, how good can I be?) are differentiated more clearly.
There is further development of the cognitive sphere of the personality of a preschool child.
Development of arbitrariness and strong-willed qualities allow the child to purposefully overcome certain difficulties specific to a preschooler. Subordination of motives also develops (for example, a child may refuse noisy play while adults are relaxing).
Interest in arithmetic and reading appears. Based on the ability to imagine something, a child can decide simple geometry problems.
The child can already remember something purposeful.
In addition to the communicative function, the planning function of speech develops, i.e. the child learns build your actions consistently and logically(formation of self-control and regulation), talk about it. Self-instruction develops, which helps the child in advance organize your attention on upcoming activities.
An older preschooler is able to distinguish the entire spectrum of human emotions, he develops stable feelings and relationships. “Higher feelings” are formed: emotional, moral, aesthetic.
To emotional feelings can be attributed to:
- curiosity;
— curiosity;
- sense of humor;
- astonishment.
Towards aesthetic feelings can be attributed:
- sense of beauty;
- feeling heroic.
To moral feelings can be attributed:
- feeling of pride;
- feeling of shame;
- feeling of friendship.
Against the background of emotional dependence on the assessments of an adult, the child develops a claim to recognition, expressed in the desire to receive approval and praise, to confirm his importance.
Quite often at this age, children develop such a trait as deceit, that is, a deliberate distortion of the truth. The development of this trait is facilitated by a violation of parent-child relationships, when a close adult, with excessive severity or a negative attitude, blocks the development of a positive sense of self and self-confidence in the child. And in order not to lose the trust of an adult, and often to protect himself from attacks, the child begins to come up with excuses for his mistakes and shift the blame onto others.
Moral development of an older preschooler in depends largely on the degree of participation of an adult in it, since it is in communication with an adult that a child learns, comprehends and interprets moral! norms and rules. It is necessary to form the habit of moral behavior in a child. This is facilitated by the creation of problematic situations and the inclusion of children in them in the process of everyday life.
By the age of 7, children of senior preschool age have already developed a fairly high competence in various types of activities and in the field of relationships. This competence is manifested primarily in the ability to make one’s own decisions based on existing knowledge, skills and abilities.
The child has developed a stable positive attitude towards himself and confidence in his abilities. He is able to show emotionality and independence in solving social and everyday problems.
When organizing joint games, he uses an agreement, knows how to take into account the interests of others, and to some extent restrain his emotional impulses.
The development of volition and volition is manifested in the ability to follow the instructions of an adult and adhere to the rules of the game. The child strives to complete any task efficiently, compare it with a model and redo it if something did not work out.
Attempts to independently come up with explanations for various phenomena indicate a new stage in the development of cognitive abilities. The child is actively interested in educational literature, symbolic images, graphic diagrams, and makes attempts to use them independently. Children of senior preschool age tend to predominate socially significant motives over personal. In the process of assimilating moral norms and rules, an active attitude towards one’s own life is formed, empathy and compassion develop.
The self-esteem of a child of senior preschool age is quite adequate; it is more typical to overestimate it than to underestimate it. The child evaluates the result of an activity more objectively than the behavior.
At the age of 6-7 years, visual-figurative thinking with elements of the abstract develops. However, the child still experiences difficulties in comparing several features of objects at once, in identifying the most significant in objects and phenomena, in transferring the acquired skills of mental activity to solving new problems.
In an older preschooler, the imagination needs support from an object to a lesser extent than at previous stages of development. It turns into internal activity, which manifests itself in verbal creativity (counting books, teasers, poems), in the creation of drawings, modeling, etc.
There is a gradual transition from play as a leading activity to learning.
Psychological readiness for school.
| Components of psychological readiness | Content characteristics |
| Intelligent Readiness |
Having a broad outlook and stock of knowledge. Formation of initial skills in educational activities. Analytical thinking (the ability to comprehend signs and connections between phenomena, the ability to act according to a pattern). Logical memorization. Development of fine motor skills and sensorimotor coordination. The ability to identify a learning task and translate it into an independent goal of activity. Development of phonemic hearing |
| Personal readiness |
Acceptance of a new social position. A positive attitude towards school, teachers, educational activities, and oneself. Development of cognitive criteria, curiosity. Developing a desire to go to school. Voluntary control of one's behavior. Objectivity of self-esteem. Loss of “childhood”, spontaneity |
| Social and psychological readiness |
Flexible mastery of ways to establish relationships. Development of the need for communication. Ability to obey rules and regulations. The ability to act together and coordinate your actions. |
| Emotional-volitional readiness |
Development of “emotional anticipation” (anticipation and experience of long-term consequences of one’s activities). Emotional stability. Formation of not being afraid of difficulties. Self-esteem. The ability to limit emotional outbursts. Ability to systematically complete tasks. |
Psychological diagnostics and tests for children
Test for the attention of a child 4 - 7 years old "Find the difference"
This technique is intended for children 4-7 years old and allows you to determine the level of attention.
Child's assignment
You need to look carefully at the two pairs of pictures and note how they differ.
There are 10 distinctive features in the first pair of pictures, and 7 in the second. Therefore, the child can score a maximum of 17 points for this test. The time to complete this task is 4 minutes.
Evaluation of results
16-17 points- high level;
4-7 points - below the average;
13-15 points - above average;
0-3 points- low level.
8-12 points -average level;
Test "Ability to learn at school" for children 5 - 7 years old
Target: Diagnostics of the psychological readiness of children 5 - 7 years old for schooling, the level of mental development of the child.
The test consists of 15 tasks. Each of them has its own scoring system, which is specified in the test manual. All results are recorded on the registration form. It is used exclusively individually and requires good preliminary preparation of the researcher.
Test Guide
Introductory task. (Not assessed, as it is used to establish contact with the child, as well as to facilitate his understanding of the essence of the first task).
The task consists of a series of three consecutive pictures based on the plot “The story of the construction of the tower” (Fig. 1 - 3). The pictures need to be arranged in correct sequence in front of the child. The adult himself tells the story, each time pointing to a picture corresponding to a particular phrase.
Instructions: “Look at these pictures. They will tell us a story. A little girl is building a tower from cubes, she is glad that the tower turns out so beautiful (1st picture). Suddenly one mischievous boy came and deliberately destroyed the tower with his foot (2nd picture). The girl was very upset and cried bitter tears (3rd picture).”
Then the pictures are removed, and the child is asked to repeat the story he heard, but without looking at the pictures. Regardless of the quality of the story, the researcher once again briefly formulates the essence of the plot: “Very good. The boy destroyed the girl’s tower, and that’s why she cried.”
First task: “History in pictures” (Fig. 4 - 6)
The task consists of three pictures, which are laid out sequentially in front of the child with a request to tell the story that he sees on them. In this case, no help is provided to the child. After the child has composed a story, the pictures are removed and he is asked to briefly retell the essence of the story again (see Introductory task).
Assignment rating:
7 points - The child very well reflected the semantic connection of all three pictures, paying attention to the main thing in the plot. The summary consisted of a basic summary of the story.
5 points - The child reflected the semantic connection well in the pictures. The essential and the minor are described with equal attention. Secondary is also included in brief retelling stories.
3 points - The child was able to correctly and independently reflect the semantic connection between only two pictures. A resume focuses on minor details.
2 points - The child was unable to find a semantic connection between the pictures and described them separately from each other.
0 points - The child was unable to compose a story.
Second task: “Knowledge of color”
Place a board with 12 colors in front of the child (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, pink, black, gray, white, brown) and alternately, in any order, ask him to name one color or another.
Assignment rating: For each correctly named color, 1 point is awarded.
Third task: “Memorizing quatrains”
Instructions (consists of three stages):
Introductory part: “Now we will learn one good poem, which you try to remember, so that you can later tell it to your dad (grandmother, sister...) at home. Listen here:
“How he treasures any day
Little bee! -
It hums and curls over the flower,
Diligent and sweet."
Stage 1: “Now I will tell the first part of the poem, and then you will repeat it:
“How he treasures any day
Little bee!
Stage 2: If the child made mistakes when repeating, then he is told: “You told it well, but not everything is correct yet.” At the same time, they indicate what mistakes he made and how the phrase should sound correctly. Then they ask him to repeat it again. If the child makes mistakes again, the phrase can be repeated no more than three times.
Then, by analogy, the second part of the poem is memorized:
"It hums and curls over the flower
Diligent and sweet."
Stage 3: When both parts of the poem are more or less memorized, the researcher says to the child: “Very good. Now let's repeat the entire poem. And I’ll read it to you again, and then you repeat it in full.” Both parts are read. If there are errors, do the same as in the first part.
The progress of learning (the number of errors and the amount of assistance offered and accepted) is recorded in the registration form.
Assignment rating:
8 points - Correct complete reproduction of all three parts.
5 points - Rearranging, omitting or adding words in any part.
3 points - Reproduce the meaning of the quatrain in your own words.
2 points - Individual semantic connections are preserved, but the integral semantic connection is broken.
0 points - A set of meaningless words or complete refusal.
Fourth task: “Knowing the names of objects.”
Any 9 pictures are laid out in front of the child: apple, carrot, rose, pear, tulip, cabbage, sunflower, cherry, clove.
Then they are asked to name each item. When answering, for example, “This is a flower,” they ask to clarify which one. If the child names objects incorrectly, the researcher must correct his mistakes at the end of the task.
Assignment rating:Each correct answer is worth one point.
Fifth task: “Counting process.”
Pictures from the fourth task are used. The child is asked: “Tell me now, how many objects are there?” If he finds it difficult to answer or gives an erroneous answer, then he is prompted: “You can count.” (Then, if necessary, you can offer to count again).
Assignment rating:
5 points - Counting without motor components.
4 points - Silent pronunciation (lip movement).
3 points - Speaking in a whisper, perhaps with a nod of the head.
2 points - Pointing with a finger at counting objects without touching them.
1 point - Touching objects with a finger or moving them when counting.
0 points - Refusal to answer.
Sixth task: “Counting order.”
All children who have completed the fifth task are asked: “Count in order as much as you can.” If the child does not understand the task, the researcher helps him: “1, 2, 3...”. Then the child is asked to start over on his own. When the counting stops, the researcher says: “That’s right, what number is next?” There is no need to count beyond 22.
Assignment rating:
The number to which the child correctly counted is given as a score.
Seventh task: “Classification of objects.”
Pictures from the fourth task are used. A sheet of paper with a picture of three baskets is placed in front of the child.
Instructions: “Here are three baskets. This (show) a basket for fruits, this (show) for vegetables, this (show) for flowers. Please collect all the fruits here, all the vegetables here, all the flowers here (the corresponding baskets are also indicated).”
Assignment rating:
One point is awarded for each correctly classified item.
Eighth task “Perception of quantity”.
Consists of two parts.
Part 1: Materials from the seventh task of the seventh are in the last position. They cover the basket with flowers with a sheet of paper and say: “Now please tell me how many items there are in total?” If there is no correct answer, then the child is helped:
First aid: items are removed from the baskets and laid out in a chain, but space is left between fruits and vegetables. They ask: “How many objects are there?”
Second help: they close the gap between vegetables and fruits by moving them and say: “How many items are there?” If the child finds it difficult, then ask him to count.
Part 2: Then the same thing is done for all three baskets, that is, they are asked to say how many items are in them together using the same system of assistance.
Assignment rating:
Correct, independent answers are scored 3 points for each part of the task, that is, the maximum possible score is 6 points. For each type of assistance, 1 point is calculated, that is, the more assistance, the lower the amount of points. If there is no solution or an incorrect result - 0 points.
Ninth task: “Placement of figures.”
Materials: three cards with drawings of a circle, triangle, square; nine cut out geometric shapes: circles, triangles, squares
Part 1: The child is asked, pointing to the cards: “What is drawn here?” It is acceptable if instead of “square” he says “rectangle” or “quadrangle”. If the child does not know the names of the figures, then they should be named.
Assignment rating: One point is awarded for each correct name.
Part 2: Then the child is asked: “Why do you think a triangle is called a triangle, a quadrilateral is called a quadrangle, and a circle is called a circle?”
Right answers: A triangle has three angles, a quadrilateral has four angles, and a circle is round.
For each correct explanation - one point.
Part 3: Nine cut-out figures are placed scatteredly in front of the subject and, at a distance from them, three cards with drawings of a circle, a triangle and a square.
Instructions (they point at three cards in turn): “Here we have a triangle, here we have a square, and here we have a circle. Please collect and put here (pointing to the square) all the quadrilaterals, here (pointing to the triangle) - all the triangles, here (pointing to the circle) - all the circles.”
Assignment rating: For each correctly collected pile, one point is awarded.
Tenth task: “Comparing pictures.”
Material: Four pairs of compared pictures.
Alternately laying out and removing each pair of pictures after completion, the child is asked: “Why do you think this picture (show) looks different from this one (show)?” If the child has difficulties, they help him: “What is different in this picture? What’s drawn here and what’s here?”
Assignment rating:
2 points - Correct solution without help.
1 point - Correct solution with help.
0 points - No solution.
Each pair is evaluated separately, therefore, the maximum amount for 4 pairs of pictures is 8 points.
Eleventh task: “Differentiation of color and shape.”
A sheet of paper with drawings of unfinished figures is placed in front of the child.
Instructions: “Rectangles are drawn here (show). Each of them is missing a piece (show). For each rectangle, select a suitable piece from all those drawn here (show). Look which piece fits this rectangle (point to the first figure)?”
Then they sequentially point to the remaining figures, asking them to select the missing parts for them.
Assignment rating: Each correct solution should be worth one point.
Twelfth task: “Reproduction of quatrains.”
The child is asked to reproduce the poem from the third task. “You and I were learning a poem. Do you remember him? Try to tell me. “If the child makes mistakes or has completely forgotten the poem, then the learning process is repeated according to the same pattern as the third task. To evaluate the result, the same criteria for the quality of work are used as in the third task.
Thirteenth task “Finding analogies.”
Instructions: “Please answer a few questions:
It's light during the day, but at night?...
(dark)
The bird sings, and the dog?...
(barks)
The car is moving, but the plane?...
(flies)
The dove flies, but the fish?...
(floats)
A cat has fur, and a duck?...
(feathers)
The dress is made of fabric, and the shoes?...
(leather)
Assignment rating: One point is awarded for each correct answer.
Fourteenth task “Drawing”.
Figures are offered for sketching, for middle group- a square and a triangle (Fig. 16), and for the older one - a triangle and a cross and two patterns reminiscent of a capital font (Fig. 17).
Instructions; “There are two figures and two patterns drawn here (show). Try to draw the figures here as best as possible (show) and continue the patterns here (show).”
Assignment rating: Exhibited separately for each drawing. Changes in sample size and minor spatial distortions are not taken into account.
6 points - The drawing is similar, adequate to the shapes and proportions of the sample.
3 points - The drawing is generally similar to the sample, some distortions of shapes are allowed.
2 points - The drawing is partially similar to the sample: the main shapes are unrecognizable, but some details can be guessed.
0 points - The drawing is not at all similar to the sample, scribbles.
Fifteenth task: “Description of the picture.”
The child is shown a picture
and they say: “Please tell me about what is happening in the picture (Fig. 18).”
Assignment rating:
a) Conversational speech.
2 points - Fluent speech without hesitation
1 point - Quite fluent speech, but there are pauses.
0 points - Speech is stuttering, intermittent.
b) Constructing sentences.
8 points - Well structured complex sentences, used connecting conjunctions.
6 points - Complex sentences, one conjunction is used stereotypically.
4 points - Mostly simple sentences.
1 point - Mostly incomplete sentences.
0 points - The construction of sentences is broken.
c) Articulation.
2 points - Clear pronunciation of sounds.
1 point - Unclear pronunciation of sounds.
d) Fantasy, imagination.
It is scored 1 point if the child not only talks about what is shown in the picture, but also about the experiences, thoughts of the characters, speculates about what was or will be, etc.
Thus, the maximum score for the entire task is 13 points.
PROCESSING AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS:
The sum of points received for all tasks is calculated. The overall total indicator is converted into percentages using the standard table. The result obtained is an indicator of the child’s mental development and his intellectual readiness for school.
TABLE OF STANDARD INDICATORS
Table 1
| Interest | 4 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 98 | 100 |
| Total indicator | 71 | 76 | 79 | 85 | 90 | 92 | 96,5 | 99 | 102 | 108,5 | 111 | 117 |
The average norm for the subjects is considered to be an indicator of mental development of approximately 60% or more percent.
The test allows you to diagnose the current level of mental development of a child in three areas: learning ability, level of thinking development and level of speech development. There are certain components of mental development necessary for learning at school, which together form the child’s intellectual readiness for learning at school. These components are correlated with specific test items in Table 2.
This table facilitates the analysis of the subject’s answers, his most or least developed components of mental development.
table 2
| Components of mental development | Job numbers |
| 1. Learning ability (as the ability to learn) | 3, 8, 12 |
| 2. Level of education of concepts | 1, 4, 13 |
| 3. Level of speech development | 1, 15 |
| 4. General awareness (knowledge about the world around you) | 1, 4, 9, 13 |
| 5. Mastery of set relations | 5, 6, 7, 8 |
| 6. Knowledge of forms and their differences | 9, 11 |
| 7. Ability to differentiate sensations, level of development of perception | 2, 10, 11, 13, 14 |
| 8. Ability to work with pen and pencil, orientation in small spaces | 14 |
| 9. Ability to classify objects | 7, 9 |
| 10. Memory | 3, 12 |
Registration form for the test
Table 3
| Job numbers | Child's answers | Notes | Ratings |
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | |||
| 14 | |||
| 15 |
Test tasks for children 5-6 years old
Purpose: Checking the level of development of auditory memory.
Description: Invite your child to memorize 10 words. Words should be simple and short.
It could be like this: Cat, spruce, house, winter, needle, car, sister, horse, glasses, table.
You slowly read the words to your child and ask him to repeat everything he remembers. Then you read the same words a second time, and the child again repeats everything he remembers. The procedure is repeated until the child remembers all 10 words. (but no more than 5 times).
Rating: Normal - the child remembers 4-5 words the first time, and all 10 words after 3-5 repetitions.
2. Test for studying visual memory.
Purpose: Using this test, you can examine the characteristics of a child’s visual memory.
Description: Show your child 10 pictures. Show each picture for 5 - 6 seconds. After showing your child all 10 pictures, ask him to name the objects that he remembers. The playback order does not matter.
Rating: Good result - 8-10 pictures.
Satisfactory result - 5-7 pictures.
Unsatisfactory result - less 5 pictures.
3. Tapping test.
Goal: Determination of neurodynamic features.
Description: The child’s task is to put dots in the work square as quickly as possible ( see figure 1 ) and on a signal move to another. 5 seconds are allotted to work in each square. Then the child moves on to the next square and so on until the sixth. The top row of squares is filled with the right hand, the bottom row with the left, starting with the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Scoring: Calculate the average number of dots in each square (add the dots in all squares and divide by 6).
1-16 points - the child is slow, he will complete all tasks at a slow pace, there is no point in rushing him. It is better to work on the automaticity of movement, due to this the speed of work can increase.
16-20 points - the child is able to work at a normal, average pace. Will have time to cope with the given amount of work.
20 and more dots - a fast kid, in whom everything simply “burns in his hands.” It makes sense to pay attention to the quality of work.
4. Classifications.
Purpose: the task reveals the level of development of the child’s conceptual, verbal and logical thinking, the ability to find significant signs and, based on these signs, combine various objects.
Description: We pronounce 4 words, the child must which word is extra, and explain why.
- Snake, hedgehog, hare, horse.
- Violin, guitar, harp, drum.
- Notebook, textbook, notepad, pencil.
- Beetle, spider, butterfly, fly.
- Nest, yurt, house, multi-storey building.
- Pear, banana, tomato, apples.
- Cornflower, poppy, rose, cactus.
- Owl, swallow, sparrow, dove.
- Boy, woman, man, old man.
- Airplane, rocket, helicopter, tank.
5. Test Correction test.
Purpose: A task to determine the amount of attention (the number of letters viewed) and its concentration (the number of mistakes made). You can use tasks like these as exercises to train your attention.
Description: Any printed text is suitable for proofreading: magazines, newspapers. The child must find certain letters as quickly as possible, crossing them out.
Rating: If a child looks at 400 characters or more in 5 minutes, he has good attention.
If he makes less than 5 mistakes, we can talk about high degree concentration.
Kindergarten - drawing technique
A test to check the psychological comfort of children staying in a kindergarten group.
Sometimes a teacher needs to understand how comfortable the students feel.
The most convenient option in this case is to invite the children to draw a picture on the topic “I am in my kindergarten group.”
This will not take the teacher much time during the working day, and he can reflect on the results at his leisure.
The proposed drawings of children can be divided into three groups.
1. The child draws only the building.
2. The child draws a building with elements of a playground.
3. The child depicts himself in the room or on the street.
The first group of drawings is the most alarming. If there is nothing in the picture but a building, it means that the baby perceives the kindergarten as something alienated, faceless. This means that life in kindergarten does not evoke positive emotions in him and he is not identified with the events taking place there.
The situation that inspires the most optimism is when a child depicts himself in a drawing. In this case, you can put a bold cross next to the child’s last name: the events that happen in kindergarten are personally significant for him.
But the analysis of the situation is not limited to this. You need to pay attention to other elements of the picture. Are there children in the picture? Teacher? Playing field? Toys?
Their presence allows the teacher to put another cross: the child has reflected in his work many different connections and relationships. The playing field, for example, is very important element. If a child depicts himself standing on the carpet, on the floor, on the ground (children often depict their support as a straight line), this is a good indicator. This means that he “stands firmly on his feet” and feels confident. It’s good if the picture shows flowers, the sun, birds - all these are details that indicate “peace” in the soul.
You need to try to understand what the child is expressing when drawing the teacher. On the one hand, her appearance in the picture is a positive thing. This means that a teacher is a significant character for a child, whose presence he must reckon with. But it is important how the teacher faces the child - with her back or face, how much space she takes up in the picture, how her hands and mouth are depicted.
The emphasis on the mouth and the many lines around it may indicate that the child perceives the teacher as a bearer of verbal aggression.
The color scheme of the picture is also important.
A positive emotional mood is indicated by the child’s use of warm colors (yellow, pink, orange) and calm, cold colors (blue, cyan, green).
A rich violet color, which covers quite large areas of the picture, may indicate the stress that the child is experiencing, and an abundance of red may indicate an overabundance of emotional stimuli.
Abuse of black color, thick shading that presses through the paper, similar to crossing out, signal the child’s increased anxiety and emotional discomfort.
A patterned drawing cannot be considered diagnostic when a child depicts familiar and familiar elements that he has drawn many times, and a patterned drawing made in a drawing class or in an art studio.
During testing drawing, the teacher should not comment on the children’s actions and tell them directly or indirectly what elements can be added to the drawing.
In this case, it is also impossible to evaluate children’s work. It is better if the teacher simply asks the kids to give him drawings as a souvenir.
What is attention?
Attention- direction and concentration of the psyche on a specific object. Psychologists distinguish between two types of attention.
It is easiest to focus on those objects in the surrounding world that are interesting and important at the moment. A bright light, a sudden sound, a pungent smell, an unusual taste, something tonal, unexpected, surprising, interesting for a person - all this involuntarily attracts our attention. This type of it is called involuntary. Involuntary attention does not require a controlled choice of the object of attention, does not require effort to retain and maintain it. It is characteristic of all people from birth, and in preschool age it is predominant. That is why, when a child’s education begins at this stage, it is built primarily on play, colorful visuals, and awakening the child’s interest in the object of attention.
Voluntary attention is distinguished by its awareness and purposefulness: we ourselves choose the object on which we want to focus. Without managing your attention, it is impossible to successfully study at school, at a university and work effectively. The child makes his first attempts to control his attention at the age of 6, when he forces himself to concentrate on something important, sacrificing something interesting. Such attempts require physical effort and will from him, so it is difficult for the baby to do the same thing for a long time, he is easily distracted and tired. However, adults can help a preschooler learn to control his attention even in kindergarten - with the help of games and exercises that develop attention.
Properties of attention
Before introducing educational games, you should determine the current level of development of the child’s attention. To do this, let’s look at the properties of attention: it is their development that we will check by diagnosing the attention of younger schoolchildren.
1. Volume attention- the number of objects to which the child’s attention can be simultaneously directed. This property of attention will be useful to the student when mastering counting skills.
A child’s attention span at 4-5 years old is 1-2 objects (and the brightest and most unusual ones), at 6 years old - already 3 objects, at school age - up to 5 objects. Compare: the attention span of an adult is 7 objects.
2. Sustainability of attention shows how long a child can focus on an object of attention. This property of attention helps a person to understand the world around him, without being distracted by extraneous connections and unimportant characteristics, and also to form an internal plan of action. The skill of solving arithmetic problems, writing creative texts, creating drawings - all this requires sustained attention.
Research shows that children 5-6 years old can engage in activities that are of little interest to them 4 times longer than children 2-3 years old. However, even at this age, children can be most actively and productively engaged in a task for no more than 10-15 minutes.
3. Concentration of attention determines how strongly a child is able to focus on the object of attention and resist distractions. We use this property of attention when mastering reading skills.
4.Switching attention - the speed of a child’s deliberate transition from one object (or type of activity) to another. Poor attention span can sometimes manifest itself in such a widespread phenomenon as absent-mindedness.
5.Distribution of attention - dispersing attention to several objects at the same time, the ability to perform several actions at once. Essential for learning to write.
The last three properties of attention in preschoolers, as a rule, are poorly developed.
It is to identify individual characteristics These properties of attention are the focus of attention diagnostic techniques, as well as attention tests for children.
Methods for diagnosing attention
There are several methods for diagnosing the level of development of attention and its properties in children. Below is a brief description of them; pictures for each technique can be downloaded at the end of the article.
When testing, follow two basic rules:
- your child will show the best results in the first 15 minutes, after which his attention will decrease, so limit yourself only to this time;
- the leading type of attention in preschool and primary school age is involuntary attention, so be sure to conduct tests in the game, interesting for a child form.
So, all methods are divided into:
1. tasks for diagnosing the level of attention:
— “Find differences/similarities”, “Find two identical objects/pairs”
- “What has changed in the picture?”, “What has been removed/added in the picture?”
— “Find the circle/rectangle/triangle “hidden” in the picture”
- “Go through the maze.” Attention! In this task, younger children (3-4 years old) are allowed to help themselves with a pencil or finger; older children should try to “go through the maze” only with their eyes).
2. tasks for diagnosing the volume and concentration of attention:
— “Corrective test” technique
The child is given a form with letters. In each row you need to cross out the same letters as the one with which the row begins. Operating time -5 minutes.
The number of letters viewed indicates the amount of attention, and the number of mistakes made indicates its concentration. The norm for attention span for children 6-7 years old is 400 characters and above, concentration is 10 errors or less; for children 8-10 years old - 600 characters and above, concentration - 5 errors or less.
3. tasks for diagnosing attention stability:
- “What is shown in the picture?”
The child must carefully examine the picture and answer questions like “What animals are drawn in the picture? Which animals live here and which ones live in warm countries? What animals are there in the picture? Pay attention to how the child views the picture: is he active, interested, is he focused.
- “Find and cross out”
The picture shows simple figures in random order. Before the test, the child receives instructions:
“Let's play an attentiveness game with you. I will show you a picture with objects familiar to you. When I say the word “begin,” you will begin to search line by line and cross out the items that I name. You must search and cross out until I say the word “stop.” At this time, you must stop and show me the image of the object that you saw last. After that, I will mark on your drawing the place where you stopped and again say the word “begin.” After that you will continue to do the same thing, i.e. e.look for and cross out given objects from the drawing. This will happen several times until I say the word “end.” This is where the game ends."
Operating time is 2.5 minutes, during which the words “stop” and “start” are said to the child five times in a row (every 30 seconds). Next, the number of objects found for each time interval is calculated: an approximately equal number of them will indicate a high stability of attention.
4. tasks for diagnosing attention switching:
— “Red-black table” technique
There is a table with red and black numbers from 1 to 12, arranged in random order, eliminating logical memorization. The child is asked to show on the table first the black numbers from 1 to 12 in ascending order, and then the red numbers in descending order from 12 to 1 (the execution time in both cases is fixed). Next task: alternately show black numbers in ascending order, and red numbers in descending order (the time is also fixed).
An indicator of attention switching will be the difference between the time in the third task and the sum of time in the first and second tasks: the smaller it is, the more developed this property of attention is.
5. tasks for diagnosing attention distribution:
— “Different counting” technique
The child must write the numbers from 1 to 20, while simultaneously counting out loud from 20 to 1. Option: the child must count out loud from 1 to 31, without naming numbers that include three or multiples of three, but saying instead the word “I won’t get lost.” If the child immediately begins to get confused, the distribution of attention is poorly developed.
— “Ring” technique
The table shows rings that have a gap in different parts. The child must find and cross out as quickly as possible two types of rings with a gap in the indicated places (for example, on the right and on top). Working time - 2 minutes (10-11 lines for a child 6-7 years old).
6. other tasks:
A. for diagnosing selectivity of attention (“Color in the letters first, then the numbers”)
b. on the level of development of thinking and attention (search for inconsistencies “What did the artist mix up?”)
V. for diagnostics of memory and attention:
Within 30 seconds, the child is presented with a picture of objects, then the picture is removed and the child must answer questions from memory like “What objects are drawn in the picture? How many objects did you see in the picture? What did you see, a pen or a pencil? How many candies are in the picture?
g. on the speed of indicative-search eye movements:
- Schulte tables. The child must show and name all the numbers from 1 to 25 on the table as quickly as possible and without errors. At the signal “Start!” The stopwatch starts and the time spent working with each table is recorded. The norm is 30-50 seconds per table.
Each indicated technique can be used not only as a test, but also as a developmental exercise.
Attention is a special property of the human psyche. Memory, thinking, and even success in life are based on it. By developing your child’s attention in a timely manner, you can not only prepare him for school, but also create for him the potential opportunity for successful self-realization in adulthood.
Test “Palette of Feelings”
The test is intended to study the emotional state of the child.
To carry out this test, you will need a sheet of white paper (A3 or A4) and a palette form (Table No. 1).
| Love | |
| Hatred | |
| Happiness | |
| Sadness | |
| Anger | |
| Fear | |
| Loneliness | |
| Guilt |
This test can be carried out only with a child or with the whole family. The child is asked to draw a picture of absolutely any subject on a sheet of white paper (A3 or A4). After the child finishes the drawing, he is given a form with table No. 1. And the rules are read:
“In this palette, feelings are written on the left, and empty squares on the right. Choose a color for each of the feelings and fill in the empty square on the right with the color you think is appropriate.”
In this test, both the color that was chosen by the child for each of the senses and the style of painting itself are important.
Test result
When analyzing the results, it is necessary to correlate the color selected for each feeling in the palette with the quantity and quality of the image of this color in the drawing.
This test is designed to help your child express in words those feelings that he may not be able to express in words. And it will help parents to better hear and understand the feelings of their child, and possibly themselves, if they take this test together.
Test “Tree of Wishes” V.S. Yurkevich
The purpose of the test is to study cognitive activity children (pictures and verbal situations)
1.If a powerful wizard could fulfill 5 of your wishes. What would you ask him for? (time given to answer 6 minutes)
2.The most a wise man I could answer any of your questions in the world. What questions would you ask him? (the first 5 answers are marked) - time to answer 6 minutes.
3. The magic carpet is ready to take you wherever your heart desires in an instant. Where would you like to go? (the first 5 answers are recorded) - time for answer is also 6 minutes.
4. The miracle robot can do everything in the world: sew, bake pies, wash dishes, make any toys. What would you ask him to do? - response time 5 minutes.
5. The most important book in the land of Fantasy. It contains any stories about everything in the world. What would you like to learn from this wonderful book? - response time 5 minutes.
6. You were a fool and ended up with your mother in a place where anything is possible. You can do whatever you want there. Think about what you would like to do in such a place? - (the first 5 answers are marked) - the time to answer is 4 minutes.
From all your child’s answers, answers related to the desire to learn something new are selected.
A high level of cognitive need is 9 answers or more.
The average level of cognitive need is from 3 to 8 answers.
Low level of cognitive need - 2 or fewer answers.
1. A high level is an indicator of the desire to penetrate into the logical chains of connections between phenomena; in this case, the child has an exploratory interest in the world.
2. Average level - there is a need to learn new things, but the child is for the most part attracted only to specific information, and rather superficial information at that.
3. Low level - children are ready to be satisfied with information presented in monosyllables, for example, they may be interested in how real it is what they once heard in a fairy tale, epic, etc.
All these judgments are to varying degrees educational character, but differ in varying levels of difficulty.
The answers of “consumer” content are to have toys, to spend leisure time simply playing, without learning anything.
Test "Invent a game yourself"
The child is given the task to come up with some kind of game in 5 minutes and tell about it in colors, answering the following questions from parents:
1. What is the name of your game?
2. What is the point of the game?
3. How many people should participate?
4. What roles would you assign to the participants in the game?
5. How will your game play?
6. What are the rules of the game you invented?
7. How should the game end?
8. How will you evaluate the results of the game and the success of the people participating in it?
Test results
The child’s answers evaluate not speech, but the very content of the game he created. Therefore, when asking a child, a parent needs to help him - by asking leading questions, but without telling him the answer.
The criteria for assessing the meaning of the game conceived by the child in this test are as follows:
1. Creativity.
2. Thoughtfulness of all conditions.
3. The presence of roles in the game for many participants.
4. The presence of certain rules in this game.
5. Accuracy of criteria for assessing the success of completing the game.
For each of the above criteria, a game invented by a child can be scored from 0 to 2 points. A score of 0 points means the complete absence of any of the features in the game (the game is scored separately for each of them). 1 point – the presence of a sign, but its severity is very weak. 2 points - the presence and distinct expression of a particular feature in the game.
Based on all these criteria and characteristics, a game created by a child’s imagination can receive a total score from 0 to 10 points. And based on the total number of points calculated, a conclusion is made about the level of imagination development.
10 points - very high.
8-9 points - high.
6-7 points - average.
4-5 points - low.
0-3 points - very low.
Test "Make up a story yourself"
Give your child the task of coming up with a fairy tale or story. During the story, the child’s imagination is assessed according to the following criteria:
1. Speed of imagination.
2. Unusual, creative images.
3. Wealth of imagination.
4. Depth and elaboration (detail) of images.
For each of these characteristics, the story should receive from 0 to 2 points.
0 points are given only when this feature is practically absent from the story. A story receives 1 point if this feature is present, but not very strongly expressed. A story earns 2 points only when the corresponding feature is not only present, but also very strongly expressed.
If within 1 minute the child has not come up with a plot for the story, then the parent conducting the test himself suggests a plot to him and gives him 0 points for the speed of imagination. If the child himself was able to come up with the plot of the story by the end of the minute allotted to him, then for the speed of imagination he receives a score of 1 point. And finally, if the child managed to come up with the plot of the story very quickly, during the first 30 seconds of the allotted time, or if within one minute he came up with not one, but two or even three different plots, then based on the “speed of imagination processes” the child is given 2 points.
Creativity and originality of images are determined in this way.
If the child simply retold what he once heard from someone or saw somewhere, here he gets 0 points. If a child retells what is known, but at the same time makes adjustments to it and comes up with new details, then the originality of his imagination is assessed at 1 point. And finally, if a child came up with something that he could not see or hear anywhere before, then the originality of his imagination receives a score of 2 points.
The richness of a child’s imagination is also manifested in the variety of images he uses. When assessing this quality of fantasy processes, the total number of different living beings, objects, situations and actions, various characteristics and signs attributed to all of this in the child’s story is recorded.
If the total number named exceeds 10, then the child deservedly receives 2 points for the richness of his imagination. If the total number of parts above the specified type is in the range from 6 to 9, then the child receives 1 point. If there are few signs in the story, but overall no less than 5, then the richness of the child’s imagination is assessed at 0 points.
The depth and elaboration of images are determined by how diversely the story presents details and characteristics related to the image (person, animal, fantastic creature, object, subject, etc.) that plays a key role or occupies its central place in its story. Grades are also given here on a three-point system.
A child receives 0 points when the central object of his story is depicted very superficially, without a detailed elaboration of all its features. 1 point is given if, when describing the central object of the story, its detail is quite moderate. A child receives 2 points for the depth and elaboration of images if main image his story is described in great detail, with many characteristics and details.
The impressionability or emotionality of images is assessed by how much interest and emotions it all evokes in the listener.
If the images used by the child in his story are uninteresting, ordinary, and do not make an impression on the listener, then according to the criterion under discussion, the child’s fantasy is assessed at 0 points. If the images of the story arouse considerable interest on the part of the listener and some emotional response, but this interest, together with the corresponding reaction, soon fades away completely, then the impressionability of the child’s imagination receives a score of 1 point. And, finally, if the child used bright, very interesting images, the listener’s attention to which, once aroused, did not fade away and even intensified towards the end, accompanied by emotional reactions such as surprise, admiration, fear, etc., then the impressionability of the story The child is assessed with the highest score - 2.
Thus, the maximum number of points that a child can receive for his imagination in this test is 10, and the minimum is 0.
To make it easier for a parent, while listening to a child’s story, to record and further analyze the creations of the child’s imagination according to all the parameters listed above, it is recommended to use the diagram presented in the table. It must be prepared in advance, before the examination begins.
Assessment of a child’s imagination and fantasy
0 1 2
1. Speed of fantasy processes
2. Unusual, creative images
3. Richness of imagination (variety of images)
4. Depth and elaboration (detail) of images
5. Impressionability, emotionality of images
As the child’s story progresses, the child’s fantasy ratings in points are marked with a cross in the required column of this table.
Conclusions about the level of development
10 points – very high.
8-9 points - high.
4-7 points - average.
2-3 points - low.
0-1 point - very low.
Criteria for assessing a child’s aggressiveness
- At times it seems that he has been possessed by evil spirit.
2. He cannot remain silent when he is dissatisfied with something.
3. When someone does him harm, he always tries to repay the same.
4. Sometimes he feels like cursing for no reason.
5. It happens that he breaks toys with pleasure, breaks something, guts it.
6. Sometimes he insists on something so much that others lose patience.
7. He doesn't mind teasing animals.
8. It’s difficult to argue with him.
9. He gets very angry when he thinks that someone is making fun of him.
10. Sometimes he has a desire to do something bad, shocking others.
11. In response to ordinary orders, he strives to do the opposite.
12. Often grouchy beyond his age.
13. Perceives himself as independent and decisive.
14. Likes to be the first, to command, to subjugate others.
15. Failures cause him great irritation and a desire to find someone to blame.
16. Easily quarrels and gets into fights.
17. Tries to communicate with younger and physically weaker people.
18. He often has bouts of gloomy irritability.
19. Does not consider peers, does not yield, does not share.
20. I am confident that he will complete any task better than anyone else. - A positive answer to each proposed statement is scored 1 point.
- High aggressiveness - 15-20 points.
Average aggressiveness - 7-14 points.
Low aggressiveness - 1-6 points.Aggression criteria (child observation scheme)
1. Often loses control of himself.
2. Often argues and quarrels with adults.
3. Often refuses to follow rules.
4. Often deliberately annoys people.
5. Often blames others for his mistakes.
6. Often gets angry and refuses to do anything.
7. Often envious and vindictive.
8. Sensitive, reacts very quickly to various actions those around him (children and adults), who often irritate him.It can be assumed that a child is aggressive only if at least 4 of the 8 listed signs have been manifested in his behavior for at least 6 months.
A child whose behavior shows a large number of signs of aggressiveness needs the help of a specialist: a psychologist or a doctor.
