Development of thinking in younger schoolchildren. Development of conceptual thinking in junior schoolchildren Development of spatial thinking in children

Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation

Federal state budget educational institution

higher vocational education

"Tomsk State Pedagogical University"

Department of Pedagogy and Methods of Primary Education

Course work

Development of thinking in younger schoolchildren

Work completed:

2nd year student of 601 PF group

Kolyushina N.

I checked the work:

Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and

primary education methods

Menshikova E.A.

Introduction

Chapter I. Psychological and pedagogical nature of thinking

1 The essence of thinking as a cognitive process

2 Types and types of thinking. Individual characteristics of thinking

3 Difficulties in children's thinking

Chapter II. Features of the development of thinking in younger schoolchildren

1 Features of thinking junior school student

2 The influence of training on the development of thinking in primary school students

3 Identification of individual characteristics of thinking development using diagnostic techniques

Conclusion

List of used literature

Application

Introduction

The study of the development of a child’s thinking is of great theoretical and practical interest. It is one of the main paths to in-depth knowledge of the nature of thinking and the laws of its development. Studying the ways in which a child’s thinking develops is of understandable practical pedagogical interest. Numerous observations of teachers have shown that if a child does not master examples of mental activity in the lower grades of school, then in the middle grades he usually falls into the category of underachievers. One of the important directions in solving this problem is the creation in primary school conditions that ensure the full mental development of children, associated with the formation of stable cognitive interests, skills of mental activity, mental qualities, and creative initiative.

However, such conditions are not yet fully provided in primary education.

The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that thinking in primary school age develops on the basis of acquired knowledge, and if there is no knowledge, then there is no basis for the development of thinking, and it cannot mature fully. A common example in teaching practice is the organization by teachers of students’ actions according to a model: too often teachers offer children training-type exercises based on imitation that do not require thinking. Under these conditions, such qualities of thinking as depth, criticality, flexibility, which are aspects of its independence, are not sufficiently developed. This problem was addressed by such scientists as: Zh.Zh. Piaget, L.S. Vygotsky, A.I. Lipkina, N.A. Menchinskaya, P.Ya. Galperin, V.S. Rotenberg, S. M. Bondarenko, A. I. Leontyev, S. L. Rubinstein.

Methodological basis. We took as a basis the following theories of psychologists: Zh.Zh. Piaget's theory of cognitive development: the development of all types of mental processes such as perception<#"justify">1.Analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature on the problem of development of thinking in primary schoolchildren.

2.Disclosure of the psychological and pedagogical nature of thinking.

.Studying the features of thinking development in younger schoolchildren.

Chapter I. Psychological and pedagogical nature of thinking

1.1 The essence of thinking as a cognitive process

“Common sense has a wonderful sense of smell, but it has dull teeth,” - this is how one of his most interesting researchers K. Duncker, obviously contrasting it with common sense. It is difficult to disagree with this, bearing in mind that thinking in its highest forms is not reducible to either intuition or life experience, which form the basis of the so-called “common sense”.

What is thinking? What are its differences from other ways of human knowledge of reality?

First of all, thinking is the highest cognitive process. It represents the generation of new knowledge, an active form of creative reflection and transformation of reality by man. Thinking generates a result that does not exist either in reality itself or in the subject at a given moment in time. Thinking (in elementary forms it is found in animals) can also be understood as the acquisition of new knowledge, the creative transformation of existing ideas.

The difference between thinking and other psychological processes is also that it is almost always associated with the presence of a problem situation, a task that needs to be solved, and an active change in the conditions in which this task is given. Thinking, unlike perception, goes beyond the limits of the sensory data and expands the boundaries of knowledge. In thinking based on sensory information, certain theoretical and practical conclusions are made. It reflects existence not only in the form of individual things, phenomena and their properties, but also determines the connections that exist between them, which most often are not given directly to man in his very perception. The properties of things and phenomena, the connections between them are reflected in thinking in a generalized form, in the form of laws and entities.

In practice, thinking as a separate mental process does not exist; it is invisibly present in all other cognitive processes: perception, attention, imagination, memory, speech. Higher forms These processes are necessarily associated with thinking, and the degree of its participation in these cognitive processes determines their level of development.

Thinkingis a movement of ideas that reveals the essence of things. Its result is not an image, but a certain thought, an idea. A specific result of thinking can be a concept - a generalized reflection of a class of objects in their most general and essential features.

Thinking- this is a special kind of theoretical and practical activity that involves a system of actions and operations included in it of an indicative, research, transformative and cognitive nature.

Thinking- this is a generalized and indirect reflection of reality by a person in its essential connections and relationships. A generalized reflection of reality, which is thinking, is the result of processing not only the experience of an individual person and his contemporaries, but also of previous generations. A person resorts to indirect cognition in the following cases:

direct cognition is impossible due to our analyzers (for example, we do not have analyzers to capture x-rays);

direct cognition is possible in principle, but impossible under the given conditions;

direct knowledge is possible, but not rational.

Thinking makes it possible to understand the patterns of the material world, cause-and-effect relationships in nature and in socio-historical life, as well as the patterns of the human psyche. The source and criterion of mental reality, as well as the area for applying its results, is practice.

The physiological basis of thinking is the reflex activity of the brain, those temporary nerve connections that are formed in the cerebral cortex. These connections arise under the influence of signals from the second system (speech), reflecting reality, but with mandatory reliance on signals from the first system (sensation, perception, ideas). In the process of thinking, both signaling systems are closely connected with each other. The second signaling system relies on the first and determines the continuous connection of the generalized reflection of reality, which is thinking, with sensory knowledge of the objective world through sensations, perceptions, and ideas.

In its development, thinking goes through two stages: pre-conceptual and conceptual.

Pre-conceptual thinking is inherent in a child under 5 years of age. It is characterized by insensitivity to contradictions, syncretism (the tendency to connect everything with everything), transduction (the transition from the particular to the particular, bypassing the general), and the absence of the idea of ​​​​the conservation of quantity (S. Rubinstein).

Conceptual thinking develops gradually from the child’s simple folding of objects through the establishment of similarities and differences between them to conceptual thinking itself, which is formed by the age of 16-17.

The human thought process is carried out in two main forms: the formation and assimilation of concepts, judgments and conclusions and the solution of problems (mental tasks).

Conceptis a form of thinking that reflects the essential properties, connections and relationships of objects and phenomena, which is expressed in a word or group of words. For example, the concept of “person” includes such very significant features as articulate speech, labor activity and the production of tools.

Concepts are usually distinguished by the degree of abstraction (concrete and abstract) and by volume (single and general). When, from all the characteristics of an object, a certain set of characteristics is identified that characterizes this particular object or a group of similar ones, we are dealing with a specific concept (for example, “city”, “furniture”). If, with the help of abstraction, a certain feature is highlighted in an object and this feature becomes the subject of study and, in addition, is considered as a special subject, then an abstract concept arises (for example, “justice”, “equality”).

As a structural unit of thought, a judgment is built on a set of concepts. Judgment- this is a form of thinking that reflects the connections between objects and phenomena of reality and their properties and characteristics. For example, the Earth revolves around the Sun. Judgments are formed in two ways: directly, when they express what is perceived, and indirectly - through inferences or reasoning.

Inferenceis a form of thinking in which a conclusion is drawn based on several judgments. For example, all planets solar system revolve around the Sun. The Earth is a planet in the solar system, which means it revolves around the Sun.

Conclusions can be reached using the methods of induction, deduction or analogy. Induction- this is a logical conclusion that reflects the direction of thought from the particular to the general. Deduction- this is a logical conclusion that reflects the direction of thought from the general to the specific. An analogy is a logical conclusion that reflects the direction of thought from particular to particular.

Each act of thinking is a process of solving a problem that arises in the course of human cognition or practical activity. Depending on the style of mental activity of a person and the accessibility of the content of the problem for him, its solution can be carried out different ways. The least desirable method is trial and error, in which there is usually neither a sufficiently clear understanding of the task nor the construction and purposeful testing of various hypotheses. This method, as a rule, does not lead to the accumulation of experience and does not serve as a condition for human mental development. As methods for solving a mental problem, which not only allow you to quickly find an answer, but are also conditions for a person’s mental development, such as the passive and active use of an algorithm, targeted transformation of the conditions of the problem, and heuristic ways of solving the problem can be named.

The problem solving process consists of five stages:

motivation (desire to solve a problem);

problem analysis;

searching for a solution to a problem based on a known algorithm, on the basis of choosing the optimal option, and on the basis of a fundamentally new solution, taking into account logical reasoning, analogies, heuristic and empirical techniques. Problem solving is often facilitated by insight;

proof and justification of the correctness of the decision;

implementation and verification of the solution, and, if necessary, its correction.

In order to identify objective relationships and interconnections between objects and phenomena during the formation of concepts, judgments, conclusions and solving mental problems, a person resorts to mental operations - compares, analyzes, generalizes and classifies.

Let us outline the essence of the main mental operations:

analysis- mental division of the integral structure of the reflected object into its constituent elements;

synthesis- reunification of elements into an integral structure;

comparison- establishing relations of similarity and difference;

generalization- identification of common features based on the combination of essential properties or similarities;

abstraction- highlighting any side or aspect of a phenomenon that in reality does not exist as an independent entity;

specification- abstraction from general features and emphasizing the particular, individual;

systematization or classification- mental distribution of objects and phenomena into groups and subgroups.

All these operations, according to S.L. Rubinstein, are different aspects of the main operation of thinking - mediation (i.e., the disclosure of increasingly significant connections and relationships).

1.2 Types and types of thinking. Individual characteristics of thinking

There are different approaches to defining types of thinking.

According to the degree of development of the tasks being solved, thinking is distinguished discursive(inferential) and intuitive- instantaneous, characterized by minimal awareness.

Based on the nature of the problems being solved, thinking is divided into theoretical(conceptual) and practical,carried out on the basis of social experience and experiment. The theoretical is at the same time divided into conceptualAnd figurative, and practical thinking on visual-figurativeAnd visually effective. (Scheme 1.)

Theoretical conceptual thinking is such thinking, using which a person, in the process of solving problems, refers to concepts, performs actions in the mind, without directly dealing with experience gained through the senses. He discusses and searches for a solution to a problem from beginning to end in his mind, using ready-made knowledge obtained by other people, expressed in conceptual form, judgments, and inferences. Theoretical conceptual thinking is characteristic of scientific theoretical research.

Theoretical figurative thinking differs from conceptual thinking in that the material that a person uses here to solve a problem is not concepts, judgments or inferences, but images. They are either directly retrieved from memory or creatively recreated by the imagination.

This kind of thinking is used by workers in literature, art, and in general people of creative work who deal with images.

A distinctive feature of visual-figurative thinking is that the thought process in it is directly related to the thinking person’s perception of the surrounding reality and cannot be accomplished without it.

Visually effectivethinking is based on the direct perception of objects, the real transformation of the situation in the process of actions with objects. Visual-figurative thinking is characterized by reliance on ideas and images. Its functions are related to the presentation of situations and changes in them that a person wants to obtain as a result of his activities that transform the situation. In contrast to visually effective thinking, it is transformed only in terms of the image (J. Piaget).

Verbal-logicalthinking is carried out using logical operations with concepts. Within this type, the following types of thinking are distinguished: theoretical, practical, analytical, realistic, autistic, productive, reproductive, involuntary and voluntary.

Analytical(logical) thinking is temporary, structural (stage-by-stage) and conscious in nature.

Realistic thinking is aimed at the outside world and is governed by the laws of logic.

Autisticthinking is associated with the realization of human desires.

Productive- this is reproducing thinking based on novelty in mental activity, and reproductive is reproducing thinking in a given image and likeness.

Involuntary thinking involves the transformation of dream images, and voluntary thinking involves the purposeful solution of mental problems.

Thinking has a pronounced individual character. The peculiarities of individual thinking are manifested in different relationships of types and forms, operations and procedures of mental activity. The most important qualities of thinking are the following.

Independence of thinking- the ability to put forward new problems and find ways to solve them without resorting to the help of other people.

Initiative- constant desire to seek and find ways and means of solving a problem.

Depth- the ability to penetrate into the essence of things and phenomena, to understand the causes and underlying patterns.

Latitude- the ability to see multilateral problems, in connection with other phenomena.

Rapidity- speed of problem solving, ease of reproducing ideas.

Originality- the ability to produce new ideas that are different from the generally accepted ones.

Inquisitiveness- the need to always find the best solution to assigned tasks and problems.

Criticality- objective assessment of objects and phenomena, the desire to question hypotheses and decisions.

Haste- ill-conceived aspects of a comprehensive study of the problem, snatching only individual aspects from it, expressing inaccurate answers and judgments.

Thinking is need-motivated and goal-oriented. All operations of the thought process are caused by the needs, motives, interests of the individual, his goals and objectives. We must not forget that it is not the brain itself that thinks, but the person, the personality as a whole. Of great importance is a person’s active desire to develop his intellect and the willingness to actively use it in useful activities.

One of the difficult problems of studying at school and university (especially technical) is the emphasis on the development of formal - logical thinking to the detriment of imaginative thinking. As a result, pupils and students become, as it were, enslaved by their own formal-logical thinking: the desire for creativity and high spiritual needs seem to some of them to be absolutely unnecessary. It is necessary that both of these types of thinking develop harmoniously, so that imaginative thinking does not become constrained by rationality, so that a person’s creative potential does not dry out. According to D. Guilford, creative thinking has the following features:

originality and unusualness of ideas, their intellectual novelty;

the ability to demonstrate semantic flexibility, i.e. the ability to see an object from a new angle;

figurative adaptive flexibility, i.e. the ability to change perception to see all aspects of an object that are hidden from observation;

semantic spontaneous flexibility when comparing different ideas.

A serious obstacle to creative thinking is the adherence to old methods of solution: the tendency to conformism, the fear of seeming stupid and funny, extravagant and aggressive; fear of making mistakes and fear of criticism; overestimation of one's own ideas; high level anxiety; mental and muscle tension.

The conditions for successfully solving creative problems are the more frequent discovery and application of new methods; successfully overcoming existing stereotypes; the ability to take risks, freed from fear and defensive reactions; a combination of optimal motivation and an appropriate level of emotional arousal; diversity and multidirectionality of knowledge and skills that orient thinking towards new approaches.

1.3 Difficulties of children's thinking

Concrete and abstract in children's thinking.

What I can do is not required, what is required I cannot. “All ages are subject to certain difficulties of mental work.” The specificity of a schoolchild's thinking is that the child has insufficiently developed abilities for certain forms of thinking, primarily for logical thinking, and his imaginative thinking, with all its potential wealth, is not sufficiently ordered and remains a “thing in itself.”

This difference in the thinking of an adult and a schoolchild is one of the reasons for the described misunderstanding between the teacher and the student: the teacher, an adult, often no longer remembers what difficulties he experienced while sitting at his desk. Sometimes he unconsciously measures children by his own standard, expects that children will be able to understand or do as he himself can understand and do, and punishes those who do not live up to his expectations by lowering their grades. This misunderstanding of the age-related capabilities of schoolchildren is the source of many misunderstandings that poison the lives of both those who study and those who teach.

The better we know, the more we take into account the peculiarities of schoolchildren’s thinking, both those that can be good allies of the teacher, but sometimes remain unused, and those that have an inhibitory effect on educational work, the more successfully we will help children free themselves from everything that fetters their mental work, the more effectively we will promote the intellectual development of children.

Difficulties of generalization and abstraction.

Let's remember a scene familiar from childhood: a girl with blue hair gives an arithmetic lesson to a mischievous wooden boy with a long nose.

“You have two apples in your pocket.

Pinocchio winked slyly:

You're lying, not a single one...

“I say,” the girl repeated patiently, “suppose you have two apples in your pocket.” Someone took one apple from you. How many apples do you have left?

Think carefully.

Pinocchio wrinkled his face - he thought so great.

I won’t give Nect the apple, even if he fights!

“You have no ability for mathematics,” the girl said sadly.”

Poor Pinocchio! He did not deserve this reproach at all. The failure that befell him was not at all the fault of his wooden head with short thoughts. It’s just that the author, Alexei Tolstoy, noticed and reflected in this sketch an age-related feature of children’s thinking, namely concreteness.

The ability of a child’s mind to perceive everything concretely, literally, the inability to rise above a situation and understand its general meaning is one of the main difficulties of children’s thinking, which is clearly manifested when studying such abstract school disciplines as mathematics or grammar.

The difficulties of developing general concepts in children are described in detail in the work of the outstanding psychologist L.S. Vygotsky “Thinking and Speech”. The author talks about the experimental teaching of a mute child. This child without much difficulty learns a number of words: “table”, “chair”, “cabinet”, “sofa”, “shelf”. He could increase such a series of words as much as he liked. But he is unable to assimilate the word “furniture” as a sixth word, since this word means more general concept. Learning the word “furniture” is not at all the same as adding a sixth word to the existing five. Here it is necessary to master the relation of generality, to acquire a higher concept, which includes the entire series of more particular concepts subordinate to it.

The same child easily learns a series of words: “shirt”, “hat”, “fur coat”, “pants” - and can easily continue this series, but cannot learn the word “clothes”.

Analyzing these facts, L.S. Vygotsky comes to the conclusion that at a certain stage of development, such relations of generality between concepts are generally inaccessible to the child.

The appearance of the first higher concept, standing above a number of previously formed concepts, the appearance of the first word like “furniture” or “clothing” is no less important a symptom of progress in the development of the semantic side of children’s speech than the appearance of the first meaningful word.

The ability to form concepts, that is, to identify a few of the most general properties of objects and phenomena, the strongest and most stable connections between them, refers to the “left-hemisphere” contribution to the unified process of thinking. This ability should be developed purposefully through schooling, and therefore the Estonian scientist P. Tulviste calls it “ scientific thinking" He examined representatives of various ethnic groups not involved in civilization, and found that this form of thinking is not sufficiently developed not only in children, but also in adults who have not undergone schooling. But it is by no means ethnic peculiarities of thinking, for it turns out that several years of attending school are enough to form these abilities.

Observations show that difficulties of this kind are experienced not only by deaf-mutes and not only by very young children. Quite often, quite normal teenagers, and even adults studying in evening schools, difficulties arise in mastering the grammatical topic “Generalizing words in homogeneous members offers". The reason for these difficulties is a lack of understanding of exactly which words are generalizing.

These difficulties experienced by children and adolescents in mastering words with a general meaning are a kind of repetition of the difficulties experienced by humanity in creating language as a means of communication.

As noted by P.P. Blonsky, for the “underdeveloped little schoolchild” when memorizing educational material it is much easier to memorize it than to remember its general meaning for subsequent transmission in your own words. To remember the general meaning, to remember in general terms, means replacing these particular ideas and concepts with more general ones, but for this you need to have these concepts at your free, easy disposal. But finding a logically higher concept is difficult even for ten-year-old children.

In this regard, the difficulties that primary schoolchildren experience when they need to understand the general meaning of a root in related words are very typical. As studies show, children do not recognize both the cognate words “sentry” and “clock” (“Because the clock shows the time, and the sentry stands guard and guards the borders”), “dawn” and “candle” (“Because it is dawn when the sun rises, and the candle is lit when it is already dark").

Invariance, or the same thing in a different form.

The inability to identify the general and the most important leads to significant difficulties in mastering the concept of invariance. As studies by the outstanding Swiss psychologist J. Piaget have shown, young children do not understand that the same amount of water will actually be the same in a narrow glass, where the water level rises high, and in a wide glass, where this level is low. They do not understand this even when water is poured in their presence and they see that its quantity neither decreases nor increases. (When such a study was carried out with small inhabitants of Africa, they, seeing how the water level changed when pouring from a narrow glass into a wide one, believed that this was due to the white man’s witchcraft.)

Children cannot understand that the plasticine ball and the sausage that was rolled out of this ball before their eyes contain the same amount of plasticine.

If a row of saucers and a cup on each of them is placed in front of a child who does not yet know how to count, then when asked which is more, cups or saucers, the child answers: the same. When, in front of the child’s eyes, the cups are placed in a separate row, parallel to the row of saucers, the row of saucers, according to the child, turns out to be longer and when asked what is more here, the child answers that the saucers are getting bigger.

Difficulties of the same type - difficulties in recognizing the same thing in another form - exist not only in young children, but also in schoolchildren. We had to observe the work of fourth-graders who, to a question posed in the textbook, had to give a detailed answer in their own words, and then compare their answer with the answer given in the textbook. Often, children who gave the correct answer were stumped when checking their answer in the textbook: they did not know whether they answered correctly if the same idea was expressed in different words in the textbook.

Mastering the concept of invariance is associated with difficulties for a child that the teacher is often unaware of.

Schoolchildren's thinking and unnecessary details.

Try asking your familiar schoolchildren an old comic riddle: “A pound of flour costs twelve kopecks. How much do two five-kopeck rolls cost?” Watch how they solve it: whether they divide, multiply, or do something else, in most cases they will start with the cost of a pound of flour. The inability to discard something that is “not here” is one of the most difficult mental operations for a student. The ability to discard what is unnecessary for a given task is another aspect of the ability to form an unambiguous context, to isolate a few connections from all their abundance.

One of the most serious “areas” of manifestation of this difficulty is grammatical rules with exceptions. When it is difficult for children to isolate something and consider it separately from the general rule, they either remember only the rule, forgetting the exceptions, or they remember only the exceptions, completely without relating them to the rule.

As psychologist N.A. Menchinskaya notes, the need to discard certain elements of this or that content is a particularly difficult task for children, and even more difficult the less developed the child’s ability to manage his mental work.

A curious fact in this regard is described in the book by A.I. Lipkina “Development of thinking in explanatory reading lessons.” Younger schoolchildren were given the task of reproducing Melnikov-Pechersky’s story “Forest Fire”, but at the same time not saying anything about the travelers who found themselves in the forest.

Some of the children simply could not exclude the travelers from their story; for the other part, this exclusion was worth a considerable struggle with themselves: the travelers were expelled from one phrase and immediately strove to fit into another. This is what one of these retellings looked like: “... you can’t talk about travelers, but can you talk about animals? Squirrels, wolves, and bears ran away from the fire. There is no need to talk about travelers. What else was there? A herd of moose ran (pause). I would like to say about the travelers...” And only the most developed children were able to painlessly ignore the travelers.

Isolating the essential is one side of the abstraction process (positive). Distraction from the unimportant is its other side (negative).

Numerous observations and studies show that in both children and adults, the negative side of the abstraction process is more difficult than the positive one: abstracting from the unimportant occurs with greater difficulty than isolating the essential. The ability to cope with the negative side of the abstraction process is, according to psychologist Menchinskaya, “a very subtle indicator of the formed ability to hold a task and subordinate one’s mental activity to a given task. This ability (or skill), apparently very closely related to mental development, has a direct impact on the success of educational activities."

Therefore, if we do not want schoolchildren to write essays that are “irrelevant,” it is necessary to persistently teach children not only to highlight the main thing, but also to abandon the unnecessary or unimportant.

How to teach this? First of all, systematically set such a task for children.

From abstract to concrete.

The road of a little traveler making the ascent from the concrete to the abstract is difficult, but it is no easier when one must move from abstract knowledge to its use in concrete situations. The path from a grammatical rule to its application, from knowledge of physical laws to laboratory work, from a well-learned knowledge of plant life to the application of this knowledge in the garden is strewn with thorns rather than roses. As soon as pure, abstract knowledge encounters reality in all the diversity of its manifestations, the famous song sounds: “Tili-tili, trali-vali! We didn’t go through this, we weren’t asked this.”

When a student is faced with the task of independently applying abstract knowledge in a specific situation that “we have not gone through,” he must himself identify in all the variety of specific conditions those components that are necessary to solve the issue or task, leaving aside the rest, i.e. independently carry out such a difficult process of abstraction for him.

But we do not specifically teach the student this difficult action: “we were not asked to do this.” Therefore, applying a rule turns out to be more difficult than learning it, solving a mathematical problem is more difficult than an example using the same rule and with the same quantities, and a physical problem that requires working with instruments is more difficult than a problem solved with a fountain pen.

Abstractions purify and simplify the material and thus significantly facilitate actions, but if you start with such simplified material (as is done in conventional teaching), then the difficulty arises of combining theoretical knowledge with practical actions.

If a student can overcome these difficulties on his own, this means that he has achieved a lot.

The most significant indicator of mental development is the degree of ease with which students see the abstract in the concrete, move from abstract concepts and laws to practical actions with machines and mechanisms and back - from practical actions to concepts, to solving cognitive problems.

Theoretical knowledge, divorced from their practical application, are learned only formally. They are not rich in figurative ideas and therefore weak. On the contrary, the ease of transition from the abstract to the concrete and back indicates a good integration of the two components of thinking described above - “right- and left-hemisphere”. It is this integration that testifies to the maturity, completeness and flexibility of thinking, and school education should provide exactly that.

The combination of theoretical knowledge with practical actions must be specially taught. To do this, it is not enough to first fill the student with theoretical principles, and then give him training material: let him hurt himself on it until, through trial and error, he learns the correct method of action.

The trial and error method is unreliable and irrational. A much more effective way is to equip children with those mental work techniques that are necessary to apply knowledge.

Chapter II. Features of the development of thinking in younger schoolchildren

.1 Peculiarities of thinking of a junior schoolchild

The peculiarities of thinking of younger schoolchildren cannot be considered without taking into account the peculiarities of thinking of children up to school age. As is known, children as young as 5-6 years old already have visual-figurative thinking. Older preschoolers operate in their reasoning with specific ideas that arise in them during play and in everyday life practice. The preschooler begins to develop the rudiments of verbal and verbal thinking (they are already constructing the simplest forms of reasoning and discovering an understanding of elementary cause-and-effect relationships).

Hence, initial training picks up and uses the form of thinking that arose in preschool children.

As already mentioned, thinking includes a number of operations, such as comparison, analysis, synthesis, generalization and abstraction. With their help, one penetrates into the depths of a particular problem facing a person, examines the properties of the elements that make up this problem, and finds a solution to the problem. Each of these operations at primary school age has its own characteristics, discussed by B. S. Volkov:

* Analysis. Practical and sensual analysis predominates; the development of analysis proceeds from the sensory to the complex and systemic.

* Synthesis. Development goes from simple summation to complex broad synthesis; The development of synthesis is much slower than the development of analysis.

* Comparison. Replacing comparison with a simple juxtaposition of objects: first, students talk about one object, and then about another; Children find it very difficult to compare objects that cannot be directly manipulated, especially when there are many signs and they are hidden.

* Abstraction. External, bright, often perceived signs are sometimes mistaken for essential signs; It is easier to abstract the properties of objects and phenomena than the connections and relationships that exist between them.

* Generalization. Replacement of generalization by grouping according to certain cause-and-effect relationships and the interaction of objects; three levels of development of generalization: practically-effective, figurative-conceptual, conceptual-figurative.

Primary school age contains, as R. S. Nemov notes, a significant potential for the mental development of children, but it is not yet possible to accurately determine it. Various solutions of this issue, proposed by scientific teachers and practical teachers, are almost always associated with the experience of using certain methods of teaching and diagnosing the child’s capabilities, and it is impossible to say in advance whether children will be able or not able to master a more complex program if advanced teaching tools and methods are used. learning disability diagnostics.

During the first three to four years of school, progress in children's mental development can be quite noticeable. From the dominance of visual-effective and elementary figurative thinking, from the pre-conceptual level of development and thinking poor in logic, the student rises to verbal-logical thinking at the level of specific concepts. The beginning of this age is associated, if we use the terminology of J. Piaget and L. S. Vygotsky, with the dominance of pre-operational thinking, and the end - with the predominance of operational thinking in concepts.

The complex development of children's thinking at primary school age goes in several different directions: the assimilation and active use of speech as a means of thinking; connection and mutually enriching influence on each other of all types of thinking: visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical; allocation, isolation and relatively independent development of two phases in the intellectual process: preparatory and executive. In the preparatory phase of solving a problem, its conditions are analyzed and a plan is developed, and in the executive phase this plan is practically implemented. The result obtained is then related to the conditions and problem. To all that has been said, one should add the ability to reason logically and use concepts.

The first of these areas is associated with the formation of speech in children, with its active use in solving various problems. Development in this direction proceeds successfully if the child is taught to reason out loud, reproduce the train of thought in words and name the result obtained.

The second direction in development is successfully implemented if children are given tasks that require, in order to solve, both developed practical actions, the ability to operate with images, and the ability to use concepts and reason at the level of logical abstractions.

If any of these aspects are poorly represented, then the child’s intellectual development proceeds as a one-sided process. When practical actions dominate, visual-effective thinking develops predominantly, but figurative and verbal-logical thinking may lag behind. When imaginative thinking predominates, delays in the development of practical and theoretical intelligence can be detected. With special attention only to the ability to reason out loud, children often experience a lag in practical thinking and a poverty of the imaginative world. All this, ultimately, can hinder the child's overall intellectual progress.

Thus, from the above it is clear that the thinking of a primary school student is formed in the learning process, that is, in the process of children acquiring certain knowledge.

Summarizing all of the above, it should be noted that primary education uses the form of thinking that arose in preschool children. Most child psychologists call the main type of thinking in primary school age visual-figurative. By the end of primary school education, a transition occurs from visual-figurative thinking to verbal-logical thinking. This transition is carried out through the learning process, that is, in the process of children acquiring certain knowledge.

2.2 The influence of training on the development of thinking in primary school students

The leading role of training in mental development is also evidenced by the phenomenon zones of proximal development , discovered by L. S. Vygotsky. Learning is only good, wrote L. S. Vygotsky, when it goes ahead of development. . As L. S. Vygotsky writes, the zone of proximal development determines functions that have not yet matured, but are in the zone of maturation... The level of actual development characterizes the successes of development, the results of development as of yesterday, and the zone of proximal development characterizes mental development for tomorrow.

The famous teacher P. P. Blonsky noted the connection between the development of thinking and the knowledge that a child receives in the learning process. He believed that ...thinking develops on the basis of acquired knowledge, and if the latter is absent, then there is no basis for the development of thinking, and the latter cannot mature fully.

Using the form of thinking that arose in preschool children, the thinking of children of primary school age, however, is already significantly different: so if the thinking of a preschooler is characterized by such quality as involuntariness, low controllability both in setting a mental problem and in solving it, They think more often and more easily about what is more interesting to them, what fascinates them, then younger schoolchildren, as a result of studying at school, when it is necessary to regularly complete tasks without fail, learn to manage their thinking, to think when necessary.

In many ways, the formation of such voluntary, controlled thinking is facilitated by the teacher’s instructions in the lesson, encouraging children to think.

When communicating in primary school, children develop conscious critical thinking. This happens due to the fact that in the class, ways to solve problems are discussed, various solution options are considered, the teacher constantly requires students to justify, tell, prove the correctness of their judgment, i.e. Requires children to solve problems independently.

The ability to plan one’s actions is also actively developed in younger schoolchildren during their schooling. Studying encourages children to first trace a plan for solving a problem, and only then proceed to its practical solution.

A junior schoolchild regularly and without fail joins the system when he needs to reason, compare different judgments, and make inferences.

Therefore, at primary school age, verbal-logical abstract thinking begins to develop intensively, in contrast to the visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking of preschool children.

In primary school lessons, when solving educational problems, children develop such methods of logical thinking as comparison, associated with the selection and verbal designation of various properties and signs of generalization in an object, associated with abstraction from non-essential features of the subject and combining them based on the commonality of essential features.

As children study at school, their thinking becomes more voluntary, more programmable, more conscious, more planned, i.e. it becomes verbal-logical.

Thus, the dependence of the mental development of younger schoolchildren on learning becomes obvious.

Summarizing all of the above, it should be noted that at primary school age, under the influence of learning, conscious critical thinking is formed in children; the ability to plan one’s actions is actively being developed; such techniques of logical thinking as comparison, generalization and unification are formed. Thus, under the influence of learning, children’s thinking becomes more voluntary, more programmable, more conscious, more planned, i.e. it becomes verbal-logical.

Thus, thinking is an activity based on a system of concepts, aimed at solving problems, subordinate to a goal, taking into account the conditions in which the task is carried out. To successfully complete a task, it is necessary to constantly maintain this goal, implement a program of operations, and compare progress with the expected result. Based on this comparison, incorrect moves are corrected. In modern psychology, the following somewhat conventional classification of types of thinking has been accepted and widespread on such various grounds as: genesis of development; the nature of the tasks being solved; degree of deployment; degree of novelty and originality; means of thinking; thinking functions, etc. Thinking goes to solving problems using a variety of operations, such as comparison, analysis, synthesis, abstraction and generalization. Experts include such qualities of the mind as individual characteristics of thinking: breadth of thinking, independence of thinking, speed, haste and criticality of the mind. Thinking occurs according to laws common to all people; at the same time, age and individual characteristics person. Most child psychologists call the main type of thinking in primary school age visual-figurative. By the end of primary school education, a transition occurs from visual-figurative thinking to verbal-logical thinking. This transition is carried out through the learning process, that is, in the process of children acquiring certain knowledge. Under the influence of learning, conscious critical thinking is formed in children of primary school age; the ability to plan one’s actions is actively being developed; such techniques of logical thinking as comparison, generalization and unification are formed. Thus, under the influence of learning, children’s thinking becomes more voluntary, more programmable, more conscious, more planned, i.e. it becomes verbal-logical. Consequently, the dependence of the mental development of younger schoolchildren on learning becomes clearly obvious. Thus, students primary classes visual-figurative thinking dominates; Most children have an average level of development, but with targeted, systematic work on its development, most students will have an average and high level of development of thinking.

2.3 Identification of individual characteristics of thinking development using diagnostic techniques

thinking cognitive abstraction learning

In our work, we offer teachers the following methods for developing thinking in younger schoolchildren.

Studying the influence of attitude on the way of solving mental problems

Target. Find out the influence of attitude on the way of solving mental problems.

Methodology

Experimental group. All subjects (8-10 people) are divided into 2 groups participating in the experimental and control series.

The experimental group consists of one experimenter and one subject, with whom the study is carried out either according to the experimental or control series. The number of subjects participating in each series of the study should be equal. Processing of materials and comparison of data is carried out on the basis of an analysis of the results of solving problems by all subjects of both series.

Research procedure. For a study with an experimental group, you need a piece of paper with simple arithmetic problems written on it, and a stopwatch (or a watch with a second hand). The subjects are presented with the following problems to solve, next to which they must write their solution:

1.Three vessels are given - 7, 21 and 3 liters. How to measure exactly 10 liters of water?

2.Three vessels are given - 37, 24 and 2 liters. How to measure exactly 9 liters of water?

.Three vessels are given - 39, 22 and 2 liters. How to measure exactly 13 liters of water?

.Three vessels are given - 38, 25 and 2 liters. How to measure exactly 9 liters of water?

.Three vessels are given - 29, 14 and 2 liters. How to measure exactly 11 liters of water?

.Three vessels are given - 28, 14 and 3 liters. How to measure exactly 10 liters of water?

7.Three vessels are given - 26, 10 and 3 liters. How to measure exactly 10 liters of water?

8.Three vessels are given - 27, 12 and 3 liters. How to measure exactly 9 liters of water?

.Three vessels are given - 30, 12 and 3 liters. How to measure exactly 15 liters of water?

.Three vessels are given - 28, 7 and 5 liters. How to measure exactly 12 liters of water?

Exactly 2 minutes are allotted to solve each problem.

After the time has elapsed, the subject is asked to move on to solving the next problem.

Analysis of problem solving:problems No. 1 - 5 can be solved in only one way - by sequentially subtracting both smaller numbers from the larger one (for example, No. 1: 37 - 21 - 3 - 3 = 10 or No. 2: 37 - 24 - 2 - 2 = 9, etc. .d.). Problems No. 6 - 9 can be solved in some other more in a simple way(for example, No. 6: 14 - 2 - 2 = 10). Problem No. 7 does not require any computational operations at all, because To measure 10 liters of water, you can use the existing 10-liter vessel. Problem No. 8 also allows the following solution: 12 - 3 = 9. Problem No. 9 can also be solved by addition: 12 + 3 = 15. Finally, problem No. 10 has only one solution: 7 + 5 = 12.

The control group study is conducted as follows. The experimenter dictates the condition of task No. 6 to the subject and gives him two minutes to solve it. The subject silently solves the problem and writes down the method of solution, for example: 28 - 14 - 2 - 2 = 10 or 14 -2 - 2 = 10. The solution to subsequent problems No. 7 - 10 is carried out in the same way.

Sheets with solved problems are handed over to the experimenter.

Instructions to subjects.You will be given arithmetic problems. Write down their solutions sequentially on a piece of paper.

Processing the results.You should calculate:

a) the percentage of cases when subjects of the experimental group used the same solution method when solving problems No. 6 - 10 that they used for problems No. 1 - 5;

b) the percentage of cases when subjects in the control group used a method that was suitable for tasks No. 1-5 when solving problems No. 6 - 10.

Analysis of results and conclusions.Having analyzed the number of problems (in %) that subjects solved in an inadequate way, and comparing these results with the results of the control group, conclusions should be drawn about the influence of the attitude on the process of problem solving.

Study of visual elements of thinking.

Target.Qualitative analysis of visual-figurative techniques and elements in the process of solving mental problems.

Equipment.The “Cipher” task from the Theremin test set (1927) is used as a task for subjects. The written message coding system used in this task must be completed (clearly and large) on a special poster that is easy for visual perception.

Progress.The subject is shown a poster with a picture of the coding system. It is explained that this cipher actually had a place in the coding practices of the US Army in the First World War. In this interpretation of the cipher in Russian, there are five letters missing: E, Y, Shch, Y, E.

Then you need to explain the code system again and give a command to memorize it. After 5 - 7 minutes (from the start of the show), the poster with the code is removed, and the subjects are given instructions for implementing an explanation of the code.

Instructions.Using the cipher we learned, you must now write two words: “before the evening.” In this case, it is prohibited to write both the words themselves and to reproduce the entire code on paper.

You cannot make any marks on the sheet at all, except for writing code symbols. Work carefully, focused, confident. 7 minutes are allotted for this work.

Processing the results.

1.Carefully present self-observation data, describe difficulties in work and methods for searching for code. What did you remember from the code and how did you remember it? What images did you have and how did you build them (visually or logically)? Was the order of the letters in the encoded message confused? What did you do with your hands and eyes, did you check what you wrote? What interfered from the outside, did you have enough time, etc.?

2.Check the result of your own coding with the correct one, while missing a period in the code or using it incorrectly, as well as rearranging letters, count as 0.5 errors, everything else as 1 error.

Note.In the interpretation of the author of the Theremin test, the criterion for its completion was the presence of correctly encrypted words in 6 minutes of work (with complete writing of the given task) and the presence of no more than two errors.

Draw conclusions about the role of visual-figurative techniques in the process of solving a mental problem for the subject.

Research into creative thinking processes.

Look at this picture (Fig. 1).

To an ordinary person, it reminds one of an apple or, at best, the top of someone’s head with one hair. A resourceful person will see, for example, a tornado on the globe when viewed from space. And ask me to think about the next two pictures. All answers are correct, except the banal ones.

One more task:come up with some unusual pattern based on a circle.

An ordinary circle. What comes to your mind? Little man? More! Tomato?

A little better, and what else? Moon, sun, cherry... It's a pity if these are the answers. These are banal, standard answers that the majority gives.

But what about “a trace of an unknown animal”, “a swarm of viruses under a microscope” or “a sky the size of a sheepskin when it gets dark in your eyes” (Fig. 2).

This is already non-standard. These are creative answers. Offer this task to your student. I wonder what answer he will give? This task was taken from the methodology of the famous American psychologist P. Torrance, who, while working at school, paid attention not to excellent students (they already had enough attention), but to poor students. It was the poor students (according to the study of P. Torrance) who gave creative answers and turned out to be more original than the obedient, disciplined excellent students. But this is in America. And we have?

Solving mental problems.

Now try to solve several intelligence problems proposed by psychologists at Moscow University. Do not think that there is a universal key to solving creative problems; its existence would only mean the end of creativity.

1.Remove 6 matches to leave 3 squares (Fig. 3).

2.By rearranging 2 matches, make 4 equal squares out of 5.

3.Intersect the quadrilateral with one straight segment so that you get 4 triangles.

Definition of adaptability.

The ability to successfully solve creative problems is often associated with the ability to adapt to a new environment. Czechoslovakian psychologists have found that adaptation largely depends on a person’s ability to notice the relationships between various elements. Each new situation gives rise to new problems, and the easier you solve them, the faster you identify the elements of the situation and their relationships. The following test reveals this ability. In each line, the characters are arranged in a certain sequence. At the end of each series, place the next element that corresponds to the proposed pattern. For example, a series of numbers 25, 20, 15, 10 means that the next number should be 5. Each correct answer is worth 4 points. The total solution time is 10 minutes.

1. 31, 25, 19, 13…;12. A, Z, I, B, J, K, C...;2. G, g, d, h, e, i...;13. A, B, D, E, J...;3. 28, 27, 24, 23, 20, 19…;14. 35, 7, 42, 6, 48…;4. A A A B C C D …;15. A, B, D, E, F, K, L...;5. * ** *** *** ** …;16. 1, W, Z, H, 4...;6. 2, 6, 18, 54…;17. 2, B, 4, G, 6...;7. 62, 54, 47, 41…;18. 2, 9, 4, 8, 6…;8. 8, 3, 9, 4, 10, 5…;19. O, R, N, J, I, K, E...;9. * *** ** **** ***…;20. 24, 15, 9, 6…;10. a B B g E D e...; 21. c, O, e, R...;11. 12, 10, 20, 17, 51, 47…;22. V, d, V, D, f, D...;23. You read, we talk

Evaluation of results.

72 - 92 points - you have excellent adaptability;

71 points - good abilities;

60 points - satisfactory abilities;

40 points - ability to adapt is unsatisfactory.

Study of generalization processes.

Instructions.After reading the words of each row, you need to cross out the extra word and say what unites the remaining words.

1.Dog, cow, sheep, elk, cat;

Dog, cow, sheep, elk, horse.

2.Football, hockey, handball, basketball, water polo;

Football, hockey, handball, basketball, badminton.

.Yenisei, Pechora, Ob, Lena, Indigirka;

Yenisei, Pechora, Ob, Lena, Don.

Summarizing the answers, it is advisable to draw a conclusion about the relationship of all mental operations, about their role in the thought process, about the possibilities of generalization, analysis, comparison on various grounds, about the importance of choosing essential bases.

Study of verbal and logical thinking.

Target:study of individual characteristics of verbal and logical thinking.

Progress:It is proposed to determine the general and essential features of the proposed concepts.

Pairs of concepts:

Apple - orange; Hammer - Axe; North - South; Air - Water; Egg - Grain; Wood - Alcohol; Fly - Tree; Dress - Suit; Cat - Dog; Ear - Eye; Table - chair; Poem - Picture. Encouragement - punishment;

Instructions. Read these pairs of words and find the common and essential feature of each pair of concepts. Write this sign down using a word, phrase, or sentence.

Processing the results. Depending on the accuracy of the answer, a certain number of points are awarded for each answer.

point - if there is a name of a common and essential feature;

point - if the definition of similarity is given according to a common but essential feature expressing some single property;

points - for inappropriate generalizations.

Interpretation of results:

Apple - Orange

2 points - fruits, fruits;

point - food, have peel, vitamins;

points - insignificant signs.

Hammer - ax

2 points - tools, instruments;

1 point - used by carpenters when processing wood;

0 points - have handles and are made of metal.

North South

2 points - sides of the horizon, parts of the world;

score - geographical terms;

points - distance, remoteness.

Air - Water

2 points - substances necessary for the functioning of the body, for the body;

score - habitat, vehicle, chemical substances;

points - physical phenomena, there is water in the air, elements.

Egg - Grain

2 points - embryo, beginning of life;

point - means of reproduction, give life;

points - food, food, products, round.

Wood - Alcohol

2 points - organic compounds, have carbon;

score - fuel, used in production as fuel, raw material for industry;

points - non-essential features are called.

Fly - Tree

2 points - living organisms, wildlife;

point - breathe, grow, need nutrition;

points - the fly has wings, the tree has leaves, they don’t think, the fly sits on a tree.

Dress - Suit

2 points - clothing, uniforms;

point - made of fabric, retain heat, protect the body, things to wear;

points - the suit is warmer than the dress, it has buttons.

Cat dog

2 points - animals, mammals;

point - have a tail;

points - external insignificant signs are noted.

Ear - Eye

2 points - sense organs, analyzers;

point - parts of the body, we gain knowledge through them;

points - necessary for a person, located on the head.

Table chair

2 points - furniture;

point - household items;

points - they eat on a table, sit on a chair, have four wooden legs.

Poem - Painting

2 points - works of art;

point - made by man, monuments of art;

points - inanimate objects.

Reward - punishment

2 points - methods of education;

point - ways to obtain the desired results;

points - extracting benefit from a person.

Interpretation of results.The total number of points is summed up and conclusions are drawn about the level of development of verbal and logical thinking.

Table for converting points into the grading system:

Table 1.

ScoreLowAverage Closer to lowMediumAverage closer to highHighPoints12345Number of points16 and less17 - 18 19 - 22 23 - 24 25 - 26

Study of the comparison operation.

Target:determine the development of the comparison operation.

Instructions.Compare concepts (find similarities and differences).

Material for comparison.

1. Nail and handle.

Horse and cow.

A book and a notebook.

On a piece of paper on the left, write down the similarities, on the right - the differences between the concepts. Time for each option is 3 - 4 minutes. Total time - 10 minutes.

Processing the results.The conclusion about the level of development of the comparison operation is made by the number of similarities and differences found. The inability to find common and different concepts, assistance in searching, and leading questions indicate that the comparison operation is unformed or has a low or average level of development.

Additional material for the method:

Morning evening;

Cat dog;

Pilot - tanker;

Skis - skates;

Tram - bus;

River - lake.

Determination of the speed of thought processes.

Target:study of the speed of thought processes.

Instructions. You need to quickly fill in the missing letters in the words of each row.

I-rad-r-voP-l-aS-i-o-tG-raZ-m-kO-r-K-s-a-nikP-leK-m-nK-r-onU-i-e-k- saS-r-yZ-r-oA-e-b-int-loN-v-dV-s-okS-a-ts-yaP-lyaKh-l-dS-g-obCh-r-i-aS-zhaK- z-lV-t-aK-p-s-aD-shaZ-l-nP-d-akT-u-o-tR-kaT-l-gaB-l-onK-n-o-aTime...Time...Time... Time…

Processing the results.The high speed of thought processes is evidenced by completing the task in no more than 10 minutes.

Methodology “Study of lability of thinking”

Target.Study of lability of thinking.

Instructions.For auditory perception, the experimenter reads the words aloud sequentially. For every word you hear spoken by the experimenter, you need to quickly write down your own word that matches the meaning. (Type of semantic connection: “species-genus”. For example: table - furniture, tit - bird). There is no need to write down the word you hear. Time is limited. No more than three minutes are allotted for 40 words.

Hearing Material

HammerEagleTbilisiChamomileEyePlatePoplarPistolAstronomyMozartTigerReedsLemonadeIronHatShepherdMarsBeadsBeeWaltzChessBootsPikeDoctorCatAlpsGrassFranceViolinHockeyDollLermontovPaintingCobraWinterAntarcticaTractorHydrogenPineSit ec

Processing the results. “Lable” participants in the experiment make up to 2 mistakes. “Average” - 3-5 errors. “Inert” - 6 errors or more.

Conclusion

The central place in a person’s life is occupied by the solution of certain problems that arise during the process of his activity. A person often deals with problematic situations, he must comprehend them, identify the problem and find ways to solve it.

Developed practical intelligence is characterized by the ability to “quickly understand difficult situation and find the right solution almost instantly,” i.e. what is usually called intuition, in which figurative (visual) and verbal-logical thinking are uniquely combined.

The process of active thinking includes the ability to listen carefully and the ability to express one's thoughts clearly and concisely. It allows you to find optimal ways to achieve maximum results and greater benefits with less cost and effort. He puts ideas into action, resulting in good team management.

The process of active thinking is a habit. Developing this habit, like any other, requires constant attention and practice.

List of used literature

1.Blonsky P.P. Selected pedagogical and psychological essays. In 2 volumes. T.2./ Ed. Petrovsky A.V. - M.: Pedagogy, 1979. - 400 p.

2.Bogoyavlensky D.N. Psychology of spelling acquisition. - M., 1966.

.Bruner J. The learning process. - M., 1962. - 245 p.

.Volkov B.S. Psychology of junior schoolchildren. - M.: Pedagogical Society of Russia, 2002. - 128 p.

.Vygotsky L.S. Thinking and speech // Collection. Works: In 6 volumes - M., 1982. Vol.1. - 273 p.

.Vygotsky L.S. Psychology. - M.: EKSMO - Press, 2000. - 1008 p.

.Galperin P.Ya. Research of thinking in Soviet psychology // Ed. E.V. Shorokhova. - M., 1969. - 914 p.

.Dubrovina I.V., Prikhozhan A.M., Zatsepin V.V. Developmental and educational psychology: a reader: tutorial For university students. - Publishing center "Academy", 2007. - 368 p.

9.Lipkina A.I. Development of thinking in explanatory reading lessons. Ed. N. A. Menchinskaya. - M.: Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the RSFSR, 1961. -164 p.

10.Lyublinskaya A.A. To the teacher about the psychology of a junior schoolchild. - M.: Education, 1977. - 224 p.

11.Menchinskaya N. A. Thinking in the learning process // Research on thinking in Soviet psychology. - M., 1966.- 372 p.

.Menshikova E.A. Psychology. Experimental psychology: the study of cognitive processes in practical classes. Educational and methodological manual. - Tomsk State Pedagogical University - Tomsk, 2006. 64 p.

.Nemov R.S. Psychology: Textbook. for students higher ped. textbook Establishments: 4th ed. - M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 2003. - Book. 1: General Basics psychology. - 688 p.

.Nemov R.S. Psychology. In 3 books. - M.: Humanitarian Publishing Center VLADOS, Book. 2, 1997. - 608 p.

.Nikolaenko V.M., Zalesov G.M. and others. Psychology and pedagogy. - Moscow - Novosibirsk, 1999. - 46 p.

.Uruntaeva G.A. Preschool psychology. - M.: Academy, 2001. - 336 p.

Application

Picture 1.

Figure 2.

The development of thinking in primary school age plays a special role. With the beginning of schooling, thinking moves to the center of the child’s mental development (L. S. Vygotsky) and becomes decisive in the system of other mental functions, which under its influence become intellectualized and acquire a voluntary character.

The thinking of a child of primary school age is at a critical stage of development. In this period a transition is made from visual-figurative to verbal-logical, conceptual thinking, which gives the child’s mental activity a dual character: concrete thinking, associated with reality and direct observation, is already subject to logical principles, but abstract, formal logical reasoning is not yet available to children.

In this regard the thinking of first-graders is most revealing. It is predominantly concrete, based on visual images and ideas. Typically, understanding general provisions is achieved only when they are concretized through specific examples. The content of concepts and generalizations is determined mainly by the visually perceived characteristics of objects.

As you master learning activities and master the basics scientific knowledge the schoolchild gradually becomes familiar with the system of scientific concepts, his mental operations become less connected with specific practical activities and visual support. Children master the techniques of mental activity, acquire the ability to act in the mind and analyze the process of their own reasoning. The development of thinking is associated with the emergence of such important new formations as analysis, internal action plan, and reflection.

Primary school age is of great importance for the development of basic mental actions and techniques: comparison, identification of essential and non-essential features, generalization, definition of a concept, derivation of a consequence, etc. The lack of full-fledged mental activity leads to the fact that the knowledge acquired by the child turns out to be fragmentary, and sometimes simply wrong. This seriously complicates the learning process and reduces its effectiveness. For example, if students are unable to identify the general and essential, they have problems with generalizing educational material: summarizing mathematical problem under an already known class, highlighting the root in related words, a brief (highlighting the main) retelling of the text, dividing it into parts, choosing a title for a passage, etc.

Mastery of basic mental operations is required of students already in the first grade. Therefore, at primary school age, attention should be paid purposeful work on teaching children the basic techniques of mental activity.

As already noted, the thinking of younger schoolchildren is inextricably linked with perception. Whether the student perceived only certain external details and aspects of the educational material or grasped the most essential, basic internal dependencies is of great importance for understanding and successful assimilation, for the correct completion of the task.

Let's give an example.
First-graders were shown a reproduction of N. S. Uspenskaya’s painting “Children.”

The boy sits in the middle of the room on a chair, his feet are in a basin of water, in one hand he holds a doll and pours water from a mug on it. A girl stands nearby, looks at her brother with fear and clutches another doll to her, afraid, as you can see, that this doll will get it too. A frightened cat runs away, hit by splashes of water.

A sheet of white paper covered the basin, doll and mug in the boy's hands - now it is not visible what he is doing.

Assignment: “Look carefully at the picture. What can be drawn here to restore the picture completely?” The paper covers the main connecting semantic link, without which the entire image looks implausible and absurd. To restore this link, to reveal the semantic situation depicted in the picture, is the main task of the child.

Some children solve this problem quite successfully. They start with reasoning: “Why is the girl looking scared? Why does the cat run away? Scared? What? It is clear that the cat was not frightened of the girl, she was frightened herself. So it's the boy. What is he doing? Not all children adhere to this scheme, but some elements of it are present in their reasoning.

Ira R.: “The cat is leaving... There is a puddle here, and cats are afraid of water. The boy is probably pouring water, that’s why there is a puddle here, and the girl is afraid that the boy will wet the doll.”

Valya G.: “We need to draw that the boy is knocking. (“Why do you think that?”) His hands are positioned this way. He knocks with a stick. The girl looks scared - why is he knocking, he’ll knock the doll again. And the cat got scared of the noise.”

These children, with different answers, grasped the main thing - the dependence of the fear of the girl and the cat on the behavior of the boy. They perceive them as a single, indissoluble whole.

Children who do not have reasoning skills do not see the interdependence of the behavior of the characters in the picture and cannot grasp the depicted semantic situation. They simply begin to fantasize without any analysis.

Andrey Y.: “A boy plays paper with a cat. (“Why did the cat get scared and run away?”) He was probably playing and somehow scared her away. (“Why was the girl scared?”) The girl thought that the cat would be so scared that it might die.”

Sasha G.: “The boy is probably drawing. (“Why does the cat run away?”) He threw his sandals and the cat ran. Or he drew a dog - it got scared.”

Some children cannot complete the picture at all.
Sasha R.: “We need to finish drawing the legs, we’ll finish drawing the arms. Let's finish the sandals, and half the cat. I don’t know what else to draw.”

When completing this task, the individual differences of schoolchildren are clearly manifested. Some children come to the answer to a question through logical reasoning, which gives them the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of what is depicted and justifiably fill in the missing elements. Other first-graders, without trying to reason logically, vividly imagine what is happening in the picture; their image seems to come to life, the characters begin to act. At the same time, the image that appears in their head often takes them far from the content of the picture.

Those children who had well-developed verbal-logical and visual-figurative thinking completed the task most successfully.

Some younger schoolchildren immediately discern significant connections between individual elements in the educational material and identify what is common in objects and phenomena. Other children find it difficult to analyze the material, reason, and generalize based on essential features. The individual characteristics of a student’s thinking are especially evident when working with mathematical material.

Children are given five columns of numbers and asked to complete the task. “The sum of the digits of the first column is 55. Quickly find the sum of the digits of the remaining four columns”:
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25

Some students immediately find the general principle of constructing series.
Lena V. (right there): “The second column is 60. (“Why?”) I looked: each number in the next column is one more, and there are five numbers, which means 60, 65, 70, 75.”

Other children need more time and certain exercises to identify the principle of constructing a vertical series of numbers.

Zoya M. performed this task in this way: she calculated the sum of the second vertical row, got 60, then the third - got 65; Only after that did she feel some kind of pattern in the formation of the rows. The girl reasons: “First - 55, then - 60, then - 65, everywhere it increases by five. This means that in the fourth column there will be 70. I’ll take a look (counts). That's right, 70. So, each number in the next column is greater by one. And all the numbers are five. Of course, each column is five more than the other. The last column is 75.”

Some children were unable to grasp the general principles of constructing rows of numbers and counted all the columns in a row.

Similar thinking features also manifest themselves in working with other educational material.

Third-graders were given 10 cards, each of which had the text of a proverb printed on it, and were asked to group the proverbs into groups according to the main meaning contained in them.

Tasks, exercises, games that promote the development of thinking

In shaping the thinking of schoolchildren, educational activities play a decisive role, the gradual complication of which leads to the development of students’ mental abilities.

However, to activate and develop children’s mental activity, it may be advisable to use non-academic tasks, which in a number of cases turn out to be more attractive for schoolchildren.

The development of thinking is facilitated by any activity in which the child’s efforts and interest are aimed at solving some mental problem.

For example, one of the most effective ways The development of visual and effective thinking is the inclusion of the child in object-tool activities, which are most fully embodied in construction (cubes, Lego, origami, various construction sets, etc.).

The development of visual-figurative thinking is facilitated by working with constructors, but not according to a visual model, but according to verbal instructions or according to the child’s own plan, when he must first come up with a design object, and then independently implement the idea.

The development of this same type of thinking is achieved by including children in a variety of role-playing and director's games, in which the child himself comes up with a plot and independently embodies it.

Tasks and exercises to find patterns, logical problems, and puzzles will provide invaluable assistance in the development of logical thinking.

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COURSE WORK

DEVELOPMENT OF THINKING IN JUNIOR SCHOOLCHILDREN

Introduction

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Thinking is a form of human cognition. Thinking is a process of human cognitive activity, characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection of objects and phenomena of reality in their essential properties, connections and relationships.

Thinking occurs according to laws common to all people; at the same time, the age and individual characteristics of a person are manifested in thinking. Thus, psychologist A.A. Smirnov noted that the thinking of a junior schoolchild is “a generalized reflection of reality, carried out through words and mediated by existing knowledge, closely connected with sensory knowledge of the world.”

Studying at school significantly changes the content of the knowledge a child acquires and the ways he uses it. This leads to a restructuring of children’s mental activity. Development plays a huge role native language- reading and writing, mastering numbers and mathematical operations with numbers. First-graders become familiar with signs, symbols, and conventions: a letter is a designated sound, a number is a sign of a number, the quantity of something. All actions with such signs require abstraction, distraction and generalization. In the process of mastering the rules (spelling and mathematical), they are constantly specified in examples and exercises. Children learn to reason and compare, analyze and draw conclusions.

Psychological research shows that during this period, the further development of thinking becomes of primary importance. Moreover, the thinking of a child of primary school age is at a turning point in development. During this period, a transition occurs from visual-figurative thinking, which is basic for a given age, to verbal-logical, conceptual thinking.

The relevance of the topic is due to the fact that during the period of primary school age, significant changes occur in the child’s psyche; the assimilation of new knowledge, new ideas about the world around them rebuilds the everyday concepts that children had previously developed, and school thinking contributes to the development of theoretical thinking in forms accessible to students of this age.

Thanks to the development of a new level of thinking, a restructuring of all other mental processes occurs, i.e., according to D.B. Elkonin “Memory becomes thinking, and perception becomes thinking.” Therefore, it is the restructuring of the entire cognitive sphere in connection with the development of theoretical thinking that constitutes the main content of mental development in primary school age.

The purpose of this work is to consider the state of development of various forms of thinking in primary schoolchildren, to diagnose the level of development of thinking and analyze the results.

Object of study: thinking of children of primary school age.

Subject of research: development of forms of thinking in children of primary school age.

Analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature on the research problem;

Studying the thinking characteristics of younger schoolchildren;

The methodological basis of the study is psychological concepts that reveal the nature of human thinking and systems approach to the study of mental processes of such scientists as S.L. Rubinstein, L.S. Vygotsky, J. Piaget, P.P. Blonsky, P.Ya. Galperin, V.V. Davydov, A.V. Zaporozhets, A.N. Leontyev, A.R. Luria, D.B. Elkonini et al.

To solve the problems, the following research methods were used: a) bibliographic; b) empirical: psychological and pedagogical experiment; c) data processing methods: quantitative and qualitative analysis; d) methods of data presentation: diagrams, diagrams, tables.

Base: Municipal educational institution "Secondary comprehensive school No. 18" Municipal educational institution secondary school No. 18, Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

1. Theoretical studies of the problem of development of thinking in children of primary school age

1.1 Thinking as a mental process. Ontogenetic course of development of forms of mental activity

Thinking - This is a socially conditioned cognitive mental process inextricably linked with speech, characterized by a generalized and mediated reflection of connections and relationships between objects in the surrounding reality. (See Appendix A)

From a physiological point of view, the thinking process is a complex analytical and synthetic activity of the cerebral cortex. The entire cerebral cortex takes part in the implementation of thinking processes. For the thinking process, first of all, those complex temporary connections that are formed between the brain ends of the analyzers are important. Since the activity of individual areas of the cortex is always determined by external stimuli, since the neural connections formed during their simultaneous excitation reflect the actual dependencies between phenomena and objects of the objective world.

These connections and associations, naturally caused by external stimuli, constitute the physiological basis of the thinking process.

In this case, thinking is provided by systems of functionally united neurons in the brain, which are responsible for specific mental operations and have their own characteristics, i.e. codes.

The thinking process is characterized by the following features:

1. Thinking correlates the data of sensations and perceptions - it compares, compares, distinguishes, reveals relationships, mediations, and through the relationships between directly sensually given properties of things and phenomena reveals new, not directly sensually given, abstract properties of them; By identifying relationships and comprehending reality in these relationships, thinking deeply understands its essence. Thinking reflects being in its connections and relationships, in its diverse mediations.

2. Thinking is based on the knowledge a person has about general laws nature and society. In the process of thinking, a person uses the knowledge of general provisions that has already been established on the basis of previous practice, which reflects the most general connections and patterns of the surrounding world.

3. Thinking is always indirect. In the process of thinking, using the data of sensations, perceptions and ideas, a person at the same time goes beyond the limits of sensory knowledge, i.e. begins to recognize such phenomena outside world, their properties and relationships, which are not directly given in perceptions and therefore are not directly observable at all.

4. Thinking is always a reflection of connections and relationships between objects in verbal form. Thinking and speech are in inextricable unity. Due to the fact that thinking takes place in words, the processes of abstraction and generalization are facilitated, since words by their nature are very special stimuli that signal reality in the most generalized form. Only by using the means of language can a person, based on data obtained through sensations and perceptions, rise to abstract thinking and reflect the essential patterns of observed phenomena.

5. Thinking, as a cognitive theoretical activity, is closely connected with action. A person cognizes reality by influencing it, understands the world by changing it. Thinking is not simply accompanied by action, or action by thinking; action is the primary form of existence of thinking. The primary type of thinking is thinking in action and through action, thinking that occurs in action and is revealed in action.

6. Thinking is purposeful. The starting point of the thinking process is usually a problem situation. A person begins to think when he has a need to understand something. Thinking usually begins with a problem or question, with surprise or bewilderment, with a contradiction. This problematic situation determines the involvement of the individual in the thought process; it is always aimed at solving some problem.

Such a beginning presupposes a certain end. Solving a problem is the natural conclusion of the thought process. Any cessation of it until this goal is achieved will be experienced by the subject as a breakdown or failure. The entire process of thinking as a whole seems to be a consciously regulated operation.

The means of solving a problem are such mental operations as analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, generalization.

Analysis is the mental decomposition of a whole into parts or the isolation of its sides, actions, and relationships from the whole.

Synthesis is understood as the mental unification of parts, properties, actions into a single whole.

Analysis and synthesis are interconnected processes. Analysis always presupposes synthesis, since it is based on the relationship with other properties of objects. Any comparison or correlation is a synthesis.

Comparison is the establishment of similarities and differences between objects, phenomena or any characteristics.

Generalization is a mental unification of objects and phenomena according to some essential properties.

Abstraction consists of isolating some aspects of an object while abstracting from the rest. In this way, the shape, color, size, movement and other properties of objects are highlighted.

Processes of abstraction and generalization are necessary for the formation of concepts. Thus, in order for a person to form concepts about a plant, animal, or mineral, it is necessary to abstract the characteristic features inherent in all plants, all animals, and all minerals, and then generalize a number of previously perceived objects on the basis of the similarities existing between them.

All thought processes: analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization, as well as judgments and inferences, occur in a person with the help of language, with the help of external or internal speech. L.A. Wenger argues that it is verbal signaling that makes it possible to abstract individual properties from other properties inherent in a given object, and at the same time generalize similar immediate stimuli, which constitutes the physiological basis of thinking processes.

Thinking can be carried out with the help of practical actions or at the level of operating with ideas (images), as well as words, that is, on the internal plane. Thus, based on the form of mental activity, the following types of thinking are distinguished: (see Appendix B)

Visual-effective thinking, which necessarily includes external actions with an object, while the child uses various objects as a means to achieve a goal.

An important feature of this way of thinking is that practical action, which is carried out by trial, serves as a means of transforming a situation. According to E.A. Strebeleva, when identifying the hidden properties and connections of an object, children use the trial and error method, which in certain life circumstances is necessary and the only one. This method is based on discarding incorrect options for action and fixing correct, effective ones and, thus, plays the role of a mental operation.

When solving problems practical problems the identification, “discovery” of the properties and relationships of objects or phenomena occurs, the hidden, internal properties of objects are discovered.

Visual-figurative thinking, which involves operating with images of objects and their parts. The ability to operate with images “in the mind” is not a direct result of the child’s acquisition of knowledge and skills. It arises and develops in the process of interaction of certain lines of mental development: the development of objective actions, substitution actions, speech, imitation, play activities, etc. In turn, images can differ in the degree of generalization, in the methods of formation and functioning.

Mental activity itself acts as the operation of images. The images used by people in visual-figurative thinking are constructed differently than the images of perception. These are abstract and generalized images in which only those features and relationships of objects that are important for solving a mental problem are highlighted. In the actions of figurative thinking, as well as in the actions of perception, the child uses the means created by society. In the course of its development, visual forms were developed in which one can record knowledge, imagine and depict different relationships of things. These are visual models: layouts, plans, maps, drawings, diagrams, diagrams, graphs. By mastering the principles of their construction, the child masters the means of visual and figurative thinking.

Verbal-logical or conceptual thinking includes, depending on the generality, level of formation of concepts and the nature of the material used: concrete conceptual; abstract-conceptual.

Concrete conceptual thinking is characterized by the fact that the child reflects not only those objective relations that he learns through his practical actions, but also the relations that he has acquired as knowledge in speech form. He thinks in concepts. However, mental operations at this stage are still connected to specific content and are not sufficiently generalized, that is, the child is able to think according to the strict rules of logic only within the limits of acquired knowledge.

Abstract-conceptual thinking, when mental operations become generalized, interconnected and reversible, which is expressed in the ability to arbitrarily perform any mental operations in relation to the most diverse material, concrete and abstract.

The formation of each subsequent stage occurs within the old one. Specifically, this is expressed in the fact that “... the dominant methods of mental activity characteristic of a lower stage still remain dominant, but the child is able to apply the new ways of thinking that are emerging in him to an ever-expanding range of tasks.”

The displacement of old methods by new methods does not consist in a complete rejection of the old methods, but in their transformation, changing their structure, and incorporating more complex methods. Thus, methods characteristic of the stage of visual-effective thinking, for example, transforming an object with the help of external action, are part of those methods that are used in solving various practical problems by children and adults and occupy an important place in design and technical thinking.

Similarly, at the stages of conceptual thinking, those methods of mental activity that played a leading role at the stage of visual-figurative-speech thinking are significantly transformed. Operating with images of objects represents mental actions not only with images of specific objects, as was the case at the visual-figurative-speech stage, but also with generalized ideas, with symbolic diagrams. At the same time, the operation itself becomes much more complicated. If initially it consisted in establishing the identity or difference between the image of a previously perceived and a newly perceived object, then gradually a variety of mental operations begin to be performed with images of varying degrees of generality and abstraction: isolating certain features and establishing relationships between them, detecting similarities, classification, seriation and etc.

Thus, the transition to higher genetic stages is expressed not only in the development of new types of thinking, but also in a change in the level of all those that arose at the previous stages. It is not thinking itself that develops, but a person, and as he rises to a higher level, all aspects of his consciousness, all aspects of his thinking rise to a higher level.

According to the nature of the problems being solved, thinking can be theoretical, i.e. based on theoretical reasoning and inferences and practical - on the basis of judgments and inferences based on solving practical problems.

According to the degree of novelty and originality, thinking is divided into: reproductive, reproducing thinking based on images and ideas drawn from certain sources. Productive, creative thinking based on creative imagination.

1.2 Features of the thinking of children of primary school age

Development of thinking in childhood passes through a number of successive stages that are closely related to each other and therefore cannot be strictly distinguished.

In early childhood, visual-effective thinking predominates, when the child, not yet speaking, learns the world mainly through perception and action (pre-school age).

At the next stage of development, visual-figurative and verbal thinking begins to dominate (prevail, dominate), in which objects or their images are associated with words. This type of mental activity is characteristic of preschool age, when the child thinks in images, and the word he owns helps him make generalizations. The child gains the ability to reason (within the limits of his experience).

With the beginning of schooling, children begin to develop conceptual thinking faster than before school, during which the child operates with concepts. At first, it is closely connected with specific objects and phenomena (concrete conceptual thinking predominates), but gradually younger schoolchildren develop the ability to abstract (get distracted) from the concrete, give generalizations and more or less abstract conclusions (abstract conceptual thinking).

In this development of thought processes, teaching is of great importance; it expands the range of ideas and knowledge of children. New concepts are mastered, they are brought into a system, and inferences, including conditional and hypothetical ones, are used more often.

In the thinking processes of a 6-7 year old child, the focus on solutions predominates. specific tasks related to activities (games, drawing, making various crafts, simple labor processes). Generalization in children of this age more often covers external signs related to the practical use of objects. This is evident from the definitions that the child gives to things. So, he says that “a house is where they live,” “a shovel is for digging,” etc.

At the beginning of education, a child can understand many of the causal relationships of phenomena, but this understanding rarely goes beyond his small personal experience.

Thus, a 3rd grade student correctly explains that a small steel needle sinks in water, but a large log floats, since steel is heavier than wood. But to the question why the steel steamer floats, and the oak ridge sinks in the water, he cannot give the correct answer.

A first-grader, when explaining a phenomenon, can indicate the first reason that comes to mind. So, when asked why steel is considered a metal, a 1st grade student answered: “Because steel rails are made from it.”

The second grader said: “Because steel is heavy and strong, heavier than wood.” There is already an attempt to indicate quality and even compare steel with wood. A 3rd grade student, answering this question, said that steel is strong and malleable, “it can be bent, it does not break like cast iron.”

The mental activity of preschool children is different in that they often acquire knowledge not for the sake of establishing connections and relationships between objects and phenomena, but only out of interest in the objects of the surrounding reality themselves.

With the beginning of systematic schooling, the acquisition of knowledge becomes special kind child's activities. He is faced with a special task - the acquisition of scientific ideas and concepts, the study of the laws of development of nature and society. This contributes to the rapid development of children's thinking.

The thinking processes of younger schoolchildren are usually closely related to actions. For them, immediate impressions still occupy a large place, which can sometimes complicate the necessary abstraction from the concrete in order to understand the abstract. According to the writer V. G. Korolenko, children “live too much on immediate impressions to establish any broad connections between them.” Recalling his childhood, he wrote: “The elders more than once assured me with affectionate disdain that I did not understand anything, and I wondered, what is there to understand? I simply saw everything that the author describes” (“The History of My Contemporary”). The understanding of the causes of phenomena occurring in the surrounding reality is growing every year among younger schoolchildren. If a first-grader cannot explain why a fly walks along the ceiling and does not fall, then a third-grader explains this to me: “Because it is light, and its legs cling tightly to the ceiling.” Younger schoolchildren master a fairly large number of concepts, but they are often not scientific, but everyday ones. When, for example, a 2nd grade student was asked what a fruit is, he answered: “Fruit? They eat him." - “What if it’s inedible? Wolf berries are not eaten. So they are not a fetus? - they asked the child. “Yes, such berries are not fruits,” he answered. “Is carrot root also a fruit? They eat him." The boy found it difficult to answer. The student was unable to indicate the essential, scientific feature of the fruit - the presence of seeds in it.

It is not very easy for younger schoolchildren to understand abstract, abstract concepts. In 1st grade, children often do not understand allegories, the figurative meaning of a word or phrase. Therefore, they do not always correctly understand fables and proverbs. A second-grader, reading Krylov’s fable “The Dragonfly and the Ant,” was outraged by the greed of the ant, who did not want to feed and warm the “poor” dragonfly. Having heard the proverb “They cut down the forest, the chips fly,” the first-grader said: “Why talk about chips? It would be better to talk about boards.” The student spoke about the meaning of the saying “Alone in the field is no warrior”: “Who will he fight with if he is alone?” .

Younger schoolchildren use generic and specific concepts in their speech, although the definition of these terms is not yet familiar to them. Naming the different animals correctly depicted in the pictures, children often cannot bring them under the general concept of one species or another. First-graders were puzzled by the question of what common word could be used to describe birch, grass, flower and algae, and students in grades 2 and 3 said that this word was plants.

Thus, every year children develop the ability to generalize, to identify the essential features of objects and phenomena. Judgments and conclusions among younger schoolchildren are becoming more and more logical. Before school, children can often categorically say something is clearly wrong. In the process of learning, they gradually free themselves from this tendency. In their speech, conditional and conjectural reasoning appears, which is not particularly typical for preschool children.

As they study at school and expand their life experience, children’s concepts also develop and become more correct. Modern scientific progress has a great influence on this.

If in a pre-revolutionary rural school, when asked what shape the Moon has, children aged 8-10 years old answered: “It is like a sickle, and then it will become like a plate,” then their peers, modern rural schoolchildren, said that the Moon, like The earth "has the shape of a sphere." From further conversation it became clear that the guys knew about space exploration, about satellites, about flying to the Moon.

2. Identification of the level of formation of thinking operations in children of primary school age

2.1 Organization and methods of research

The experimental study was carried out on the basis of Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 18 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

For experimental work 15 children of 1st grade were selected, approximately the same level of development, on the recommendation of a psychologist and class teacher. The list of children in the experimental group is presented in Appendix B.

The purpose of the ascertaining stage was to establish the level of formation of thinking operations in children of primary school age.

The main objectives of the experiment were:

1. Select criteria for assessing the level of formation of thinking operations in children of primary school age.

2. Select methods for determining the level of development of thinking operations in children of primary school age.

3. Identify the level of formation of thinking operations.

To achieve the objectives, the following experimental techniques were used:

No. 1. "Classification of objects"

Goal: identifying the ability to generalize and abstract, the ability to group objects based on essential features, the ability to establish logical connections, performance.

Children are presented with a set of cards, each of which depicts one object (see Appendix D). At the same time, they give instructions: “Arrange the cards into groups - what goes with what.”

It is necessary to find out what the child used as the basis for the association, and what word he used to designate this or that group of objects. Then they give the following instructions: “Make sure that there are fewer groups. Tell me, what groups can be united and what can they be called?” It is important to find out what signs the child uses as the basis for a new association (essential, random, external). thinking child school ontogenetic

5 points - the child solved the task assigned to him.

4 points - there are isolated errors that are corrected independently, sometimes with the help of a clarifying question.

3 points - the child experiences difficulties in consolidating groups, in the process of work he needs organizing help.

2 points - the child has difficulty combining objects into groups.

1 point - the child did not cope with the task.

5 - 4 points - high level of development of thinking;

3 points - average level of thinking development;

2 points - below average level of thinking development;

1 point - low level of thinking development.

No. 2 “The Fourth Wheel”

Goal: to assess the level of children’s verbal and logical thinking, the ability to generalize and identify essential features in a subject that are necessary for generalization.

Four words are read to the child, three of which are interconnected in meaning, and one word does not fit the rest. The child is asked to find the “extra” word and explain why it is “extra.”

Book, briefcase, suitcase, wallet;

Stove, kerosene stove, candle, electric stove;

Tram, bus, tractor, trolleybus;

Boat, car, motorcycle, bicycle;

River, bridge, lake, sea;

Butterfly, ruler, pencil, eraser;

Kind, affectionate, cheerful, angry;

Grandfather, teacher, father, mother;

Minute, second, hour, evening;

Vasily, Fedor, Ivanov, Semyon.

Scoring: 1 point is awarded for each correct answer, 0 points for each incorrect answer.

10 - 8 points - high level of development of generalization;

7 - 5 points - average level of development of generalization, cannot always identify the essential features of objects;

4 or less points - the ability to generalize is poorly developed.

No. 3 “Establishing patterns”

Goal: to identify the maturity of the comparison operation; the ability to find essential features and mentally synthesize them based on the principle of analogy; the ability to establish patterns; learning ability

Table “A” is placed in front of the child, in which two similar tasks are given. Using the example of the task given at the top of the table, instructions are given containing an explanation and demonstration by the experimenter of how to solve the task. Then they offer the task given at the bottom of the table.

Instructions: “What should be the drawing here?”

After this table, table “B” is offered (see Appendix D). Instructions: “Place the pictures on empty cells so that the pictures are not repeated in each row.” The pictures must first be cut out and pasted onto cardboard.

4 points - for each correct answer after the first presentation;

3 points - for a correct solution after one erroneous trial;

2 points - for a solution after 2 trials;

1 point - for solving the problem after assistance was provided.

The success rate (SI) of solving matrix problems can be expressed in relative units:

PU = (X * 100%) / 35

where X is the total score obtained from the results of 1, 2 and 3 attempts.

The total number of points obtained when solving 35 tasks is the main indicator reflecting the level of mental development of the child, which is interpreted by comparison with norms for a given age. In addition, it is advisable to consider the number of points received after incentive assistance.

A formal analysis of the research results using matrices involves only taking into account the score indicator and determining on its basis the level of development of visual-figurative thinking in a child:

110 or more points - high level of thinking;

109 - 89 points - average level of thinking;

88 - 70 points - below average level of thinking;

69 points and below - low level of thinking.

No. 4 Test - questionnaire to determine the level of development of verbal thinking

The method test consists of 15 questions that are given orally to the child. Answers are recorded and scored. A total score is calculated and correlated with normative data (see Appendix E).

Instructions. Listen carefully to the questions that I will read to you and try to answer as best as possible. In your answer, try to highlight the main thing in relation to the question I read.

The test result is the sum of the points (+ and -) achieved on individual questions. Classification of results:

24 or more - high level of thinking;

14 to +23 - average level of thinking;

0 to +13 - below average level of thinking;

0 to - 10 - low level of thinking.

2.2 Analysis of the survey results obtained

The results of the survey using the “Classification of Items” method are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Results of the survey using the “Classification of Items” method

	Child's name	Number of points

In percentage terms, the data of the “Classification of Items” methodology are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Results of the survey using the “Classification of Items” method in percentage terms

The data of the “Classification of Objects” methodology, presented in Tables 1 and 3, show that for children, the most typical level of development of thought processes is 10 people (67%), these children correctly grouped the material presented in verbal form, however, when explaining the reasons for classification, they “slipped” onto secondary, unimportant features. So, for example, the main similarity between a sofa and an armchair is that they “stand on the floor.” A high level of thinking development was detected in only 5 children (33%), these children coped with the verbal version of the task, were able to perform a correct generalization with the identification of essential features, while using adequate generic concepts. The level of “below average” and “low” was not revealed during the experiment using this technique.

The results of the survey using the “Classification of Objects” method are clearly presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Distribution of subjects by level of thinking using the “Classification of Objects” method

The results of the survey using method No. 2 “The fourth odd one” are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Results of the examination using the “Fourth Odd One” method

	Child's name	Number of points

In percentage terms, the data of the “Fourth Odd One” method are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Results of the survey using the “Fourth Odd One” method in percentage terms

According to the “Fourth Odd One” method, according to the data presented in tables 3. and 4. - all children who participated in the experiment completed the task, so 4 children (26%) showed a high level of development of generalization, thereby demonstrating the ability to make a correct generalization, using adequate generic concepts.

However, as in the first method, the majority of children are diagnosed with an average level of development of generalization - 11 children (74%) showed an average level of development of generalization, these children completed the tasks correctly, but at the same time needed means of external discipline of mental activity (leading questions, repetition of the task). These children master the necessary generic concepts, but it is difficult for them to concentrate and keep the task in memory for the required period of time.

No children with a low level of thinking development were identified using this method.

The results of the examination using the “Fourth Odd One” method are clearly presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Distribution of subjects by level of thinking using the “Fourth Odd One” method

The results of the survey using method No. 3 “Establishing patterns” are presented in Table 5.

Table 5. Results of the survey using the “Establishing patterns” method

	Child's name	Number of points
			below the average
			below the average

In percentage terms, the data of the “Establishing Patterns” methodology are presented in Table 6.

Table 6. Results of the survey using the “Establishing patterns” method in percentage terms

The results of examining children using the “Establishing Patterns” method, presented in Tables 5 and 6, show that the children participating in the experiment are most characterized by an average level of thinking development, so 10 children (66%) showed an average level of thinking development.

It was revealed that there were 3 children (20%) with a high level of thinking development and 2 children (14%) with a level below average.

No children with a low level of thinking development were identified.

The results of the survey using the “Establishing patterns” method are clearly presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - Distribution of subjects by level of thinking using the “Establishing patterns” method

The results of the examination using method No. 4 Test - questionnaire to determine the level of development of verbal thinking are presented in Table 7.

Table 7. Results of the examination using the Test - questionnaire to determine the level of development of verbal thinking

	Child's name	Number of points
			below the average
			below the average
			below the average
			below the average
			below the average

In percentage terms, these methods Test - a questionnaire to determine the level of development of verbal thinking, are presented in Table 8.

Table 8. Results of the survey using the Test - questionnaire to determine the level of development of verbal thinking in percentage terms

These methods Test - questionnaire to determine the level of development of verbal thinking, presented in Tables 7 and 8, indicate that for the children participating in the experiment, according to this method, the most characteristic is the average level of development of verbal thinking, so in 10 children (66%) an average level of development of verbal thinking was revealed. Five children (34%) have a high level of “below average” development of verbal thinking. No children with a low level of development of verbal thinking were identified.

The results of the examination using the Test-questionnaire method to determine the level of development of verbal thinking are presented in Figure 4.

Figure 4 - Distribution of subjects by level of thinking according to the Test - questionnaire method to determine the level of development of verbal thinking

Research has shown that the majority of children of senior preschool age who took part in the experiment have an average level of thinking development. The operations of generalization and establishment of patterns are at a lower level in relation to other operations, as evidenced by the presence of a “below average” level in 14% of subjects using the “Establishing patterns” method. In addition, the verbal thinking of children is not well developed, as evidenced by the presence of a “below average” level in 34% of subjects according to the Test Questionnaire method. The results of the experiment indicate the need to conduct classes and activities with children aimed at developing the thinking of children of primary school age.

Without exception, all types of thinking must be developed starting from preschool age. The exercises that are used in this case can be used at primary school age, only in a more complex form.

You can offer a whole range of developmental tasks that are always very well received by children and contribute to the development of thinking in general, including its creative side.

These include: all kinds of puzzles, various types of tasks with matches, with sticks (lay out a figure from a certain number of matches, rearrange one of them in order to get another image; connect several points with one line without lifting your hand, etc.).

Exercises with matches will also help develop spatial thinking. For this purpose, in addition to those listed, you can also use the simplest tasks with paper and scissors, conventionally called “one cut”: each of the drawn geometric shapes can be turned into a square by making only 1 cut with scissors (in a straight line).

Along with this, you can use puzzle games that allow you to comprehensively develop the thinking function by complicating the task conditions.

The development of verbal and logical thinking is of great importance. The ability to think, make inferences without visual support, compare judgments based on certain rules- a necessary condition for successful mastery of educational material.

The main goal of the work on the development of logical abstract thinking is for children to learn to draw conclusions from those judgments that are offered as initial ones, so that they can limit themselves to the content of these judgments without involving other knowledge.

In order to improve mental operations, logical tasks are considered:

The ability to draw a conclusion from two judgments that indicate the relationship between the first and second objects, the second and the third, using the transitivity property of some relations;

Improving the ability to compare numbers, expressions, word problems, deeply understanding the meaning of the comparison operation, work continues to develop the ability to make generalizations, etc. For this purpose the following tasks are offered:

1. Finding the missing figure.

2. Establishing a pattern and continuing a series consisting of geometric shapes.

3. Completing tasks for classifying objects, numbers, expressions.

You can also introduce non-standard tasks that require increased attention to the analysis of conditions and the construction of a chain of interconnected logical reasoning.

In the area of ​​developing imaginative thinking, the teacher’s efforts should be focused on developing in children the ability to create various images in their heads, i.e. visualize.

The above data show that it is precisely at primary school age that it is necessary to carry out targeted work to teach children the basic techniques of mental activity. Tasks and exercises to find patterns, logical problems, and puzzles will provide invaluable assistance in the development of logical thinking. In Appendix G, a number of tasks are proposed that can be used by the teacher in conducting developmental classes with primary schoolchildren.

Conclusion

The issue of thinking formation needs to be given attention from early childhood. The features of the development of thinking in children of primary school age have been studied by many psychologists and teachers: S. L. Rubinstein, L. S. Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, A. N. Leontiev, D. B. Elkonin and others. They believed that a child’s thinking represents a qualitatively new stage in the development of cognition, which is characterized by a transition from the perception of external signs of an object, phenomena, to the reflection of internal, significant connections and interrelations between them.

Deep and comprehensive knowledge of reality is possible only with the participation of thinking, which is the highest cognitive process aimed at revealing the general and essential properties, characteristics of objects and phenomena and the natural connections between them. Thinking is the result of human development, the development of his mental activity.

At first, the reflection of reality in all the diversity of connections and relationships of phenomena and objects, carried out by the child’s thinking, is very imperfect. A child’s thinking arises at the moment when he first begins to establish the simplest connections between objects and phenomena of the surrounding world and act correctly.

At the early stages of development, the child accumulates sensory experience and learns to solve a number of specific, visual problems in a practical way. By mastering speech, he acquires the ability to formulate a problem, ask questions, build evidence, reason and draw conclusions. The child masters concepts and a number of mental actions. The teacher should use these opportunities in the future, teaching children from the first day of their work at school various operations and forms of verbal thinking.

With the beginning of systematic schooling, the student’s awareness of his mental actions, under the influence of learning, and the formation of the ability to justify his actions and decisions become of great importance. Conscious mental actions determine the activity, independence and mobility of the child’s thinking and, ultimately, the successful development of thinking.

The characteristics of schoolchildren’s mental activity develop gradually and find their most vivid expression only towards the end of school. Therefore, it is very important to begin the development of all thinking processes in a timely manner in order to prevent inhibition of the intellectual development of each student. And for this it is necessary to develop a rationally correct training program that will take into account all the physiological and psychological characteristics of a person. Currently, scientists and psychologists around the world are working on this.

In psychological and pedagogical science, diagnostics have been developed that make it possible to identify the level of formation of thinking operations. In this work, the methods of R. S. Nemov and L. F. Tikhomirova were adapted. Diagnostic techniques were carried out individually with each child in specially created conditions. This made it possible to obtain a fairly objective assessment of the development of thinking operations in children at the ascertaining stage of experimental work.

As part of the study of the characteristics of the development of various forms of thinking in primary schoolchildren, an analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature was carried out, and issues of the development of forms of thinking were considered. As part of the diagnostics, methods for diagnosing thinking in relation to primary school age were selected, an analysis of the results was carried out, and based on the results of the study, recommendations were developed for the development of thinking in children of primary school age.

Bibliography

1. Abramova, G. S. Developmental psychology: a textbook for university students / G. S. Abramova. - M.: Business book, 2007.

2. Akimova, M.K. Theoretical approaches to the diagnosis of thinking / M.K. Akimova, V.T. Kozlova, N.A. Ferens // Questions of psychology. - 2009. - No. 1.

3. Boryakova, N.Yu. Workshop on the development of mental activity in primary schoolchildren / N.Yu. Boryakova, A.V. Soboleva, V.V. Tkachev. - M.: Norma, 2006.

4. Bolotina, L.R. Development of student thinking / L.R. Swamp // Primary School - 2009. - №11.

5. Wenger, A.V. Psychological examination of junior schoolchildren / A.V. Venger. - M.: Education, 2002.

6. Wenger, A. L. Psychological examination of junior schoolchildren / A. V. Wenger, G. A. Tsukerman. - M.: Vlados-Press, 2007.

7. Wenger, A.L. Perception and learning / A.V. Wenger. - M.: Norma, 2006.

8. Vygotsky, L.S. Thinking and speech / L.S. Vygotsky. - M.: Education, 2002.

9. Vygotsky, L.S. Selected psychological studies / L.S. Vygotsky. - M.: Norma, 2006.

10. Gamezo, M.V. Atlas of Psychology / M.V. Gamezo, I.A. Domashenko. - M.: Education, 2008.

11. Zabramnaya, S. D. From diagnosis to development / S. D. Zabramnaya - M.: New School, 2008.

12. Zaporozhets, A.V. Selected psychological works / A. V. Zaporozhets. - M.: Pedagogy, 2006.

13. Zak, A.Z. Entertaining tasks for the development of thinking / A.Z. Zach // Elementary school. 2005. - No. 5.

14. Zak, A.Z. Development of mental abilities of junior schoolchildren / A.Z. Zach. - M.: Vlados, 2009.

15. Martsinkovskaya, G. D. Diagnosis of mental development of children / G. D. Martsinkovskaya. - M.: 2004.

16. Mukhina, V. S. Developmental psychology: phenomenology of development, childhood, adolescence / V. S. Mukhina. - M.: “Academy”, 2008.

17. Nemov, R. S. Psychology / R. S. Nemov. - M.: Vlados, 2002.

18. Rubinstein, S.L. About thinking and ways of its research / S. L. Rubinstein. - M.: Phoenix, 1998.

19. Rubinstein, S. L. Fundamentals of general psychology / S. L. Rubinstein. - M.: Prospekt, 1996.

20. Rubinstein, S.L. Problems of general psychology / S. L. Rubinstein. - M.: Prospekt, 1993.

21. Tikhomirova, L.F. Exercises for every day: Logic for younger schoolchildren: A popular guide for parents and teachers / L.F. Tikhomirov. - Yaroslavl: Development Academy, 2008.

22. Friedman, L.M. Tasks for the development of thinking / L.M. Friedman. - M.: Education, 2008.

23. Habib, R.A. Organization of educational and cognitive activities of students / R.A. Khabib. - M.: Pedagogy, 2009.

24. Shardakov, V.S. Schoolchildren’s thinking / V.S. Shardakov. - M.: Education, 2006.

25. Shchukina, G.I. Problems of formation of cognitive processes in students / G.I. Shchukin. - M.: Psychology, 2008.

26. Elkonin, D.B. Psychology of teaching junior schoolchildren / D.B. Elkonin. - M.: Psychology, 2007.

27. Elkonin, D.B. Selected psychological works / ed. V.V. Davydova, V.P. Zinchenko. M.: Dashkov i K, 2007.

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Compiled by educational psychologist Finashin S.A.

Introduction

Learning that is beneficial should be difficult, but feasible. This truth is as undeniable as two and two are four. Centuries passed, pedagogical theories changed, but this idea was not subjected to the slightest doubt. However, this fair truth conceals one unresolved issue: how to bring it to life? How to make learning feasible for your child? What determines the difficulty of a student’s academic work?

On the one hand, the difficulty depends on the characteristics of the educational material, on the other hand, on the capabilities of the student himself, on individual and age characteristics his memory, attention, thinking and, of course, from the skill of the teacher. This manual will talk about some of the features of a schoolchild’s thinking, those that, in the context of school education, can act as negative forces that inhibit learning and mental development, those features due to which children “can’t,” “don’t understand,” “ can't handle it." Moreover, the patterns of thinking that we will consider are inherent not only to children, but also to adults: adults too, (and often) “can’t,” “don’t understand,” and “can’t cope.”

The better we know and take into account these patterns, both those that can be good allies of the teacher (but sometimes remain unused), and those that have an inhibitory effect on educational work, the more successful we will be in helping children free themselves from everything that fetters them mental work, the more effectively we will promote the intellectual development of children.

What feature of thinking is the most important? If we try to answer this question briefly, then this is the ability to identify a few, the most common properties of objects and phenomena, the strongest and most stable connections between them. With the development of these skills, the development of conceptual thinking begins in the child. As the child develops, conceptual thinking begins to include more complex intellectual operations. It is important to note that conceptual thinking does not appear by itself as the child grows up. It must be purposefully developed through school education. If the efforts of teachers are not enough, then parents need to get involved.

In the following sections we will talk in more detail about how the lack of conceptual thinking and its individual components affects a student’s academic performance and how to develop this thinking.

Conceptual thinking and knowledge acquisition

The specificity of a schoolchild's thinking is that the child has insufficiently developed abilities for certain forms of thinking. The ability of a child’s mind to perceive everything concretely, literally, the inability to rise above a situation and understand its general, abstract or figurative meaning is one of the main difficulties of children’s thinking, clearly manifested in the study of such abstract school disciplines as mathematics or grammar.

If thinking in concepts is not sufficiently developed, then the child experiences difficulties in abstracting, generalizing, highlighting the essential and discarding the unimportant. Moreover, these difficulties manifest themselves at all stages of learning and in various subjects! Here are the observations of psychologists:

A preschool child finds it difficult to identify a figure in a drawing if this figure is masked by lines crossing it or has common boundaries with other figures. Among younger schoolchildren there are many who find it difficult to operate with abstract numbers: they need to imagine concrete objects.

It is difficult for fifth-graders to show a river basin on a map if the tributaries of this river are interspersed with rivers from another basin. Sixth graders find it difficult to identify a triangle in a drawing depicting a house. They are not aware of the angles formed by the gable roof and the cross beam as the angles of a triangle, because they cannot distract themselves from the details of the design.

There are many sixth-graders who find it difficult to distract themselves from specific numbers when moving on to algebraic letter expressions.

The inability to highlight the main, essential is another consequence of insufficiently developed conceptual thinking. Helplessness in identifying the main thing leads to the inability to divide the educational text into semantic parts, separate the essence from the details, and briefly retell it.

The inability to distinguish between the general and the particular, the main and the secondary, often leads to erroneous conclusions due to the fact that children judge objects on the basis of secondary, insignificant features. Let's give some typical examples.

Primary school students, after introducing the topic “Subject,” named the subject in the sentence “The children came running to the hut.” the word “ran”, believing that the subject is the word that comes first in the sentence (this is how the sentences were constructed in their first exercises).

Fifth grade students considered only a small hill to be a watershed (the diagram in the geography textbook depicted the watershed as a small hill) and therefore did not consider the Main Caucasus Range to be a watershed.

Sixth graders counted right triangle only one with a right angle located at the bottom, at the base of the triangle (such a drawing was given in the textbook), but they did not consider a triangle with a right angle at the top to be rectangular.

Isolating the essential is one side of the abstraction process (positive). Distraction from the unimportant is another side of it. Try asking your familiar schoolchildren an old joke problem: “A pound of flour costs twenty kopecks. How much do two five-kopeck buns cost?” Watch how they solve it: whether they divide, multiply, or do something else, most will start with the cost of a pound of flour (superfluous information). The ability to discard unnecessary things is one of the most difficult operations for a student.

Let's give a few examples.

One of the most serious “areas” of manifestation of this difficulty is grammatical rules with exceptions. When it is difficult for children to isolate something and consider it separately from the general rule, they either remember only the rule, forgetting the exceptions, or they remember only the exceptions, without relating them to the rule at all.

For example, the rule that not with verbs is written separately, with the exception of verbs that are not used without, some children remember only half: they write all verbs separately with not.

The opposite phenomenon also occurs: knowing three words by heart - “glass, tin, wood” - some schoolchildren do not remember the content of the rule at all.

Characteristic Most of the essays of high school students are the inability to discard those aspects of the literary material that do not correspond to the given topic. Young authors, as a rule, strive to spill onto the pages of notebooks not only and not even so much what the topic requires of them, but everything they know about this author or about this work in general. Even adults often do not know how to give up unnecessary things. The inability to discard the unimportant, the secondary, appears especially clearly in our everyday, everyday, everyday conversations. Therefore, if we do not want schoolchildren to write essays that are “irrelevant”, and our interlocutors to bring us to the state to which the television Mrs. Monika once brought the professor, we must persistently teach children not only to highlight the main thing, but also to abandon the unnecessary or insignificant. These are some of the negative manifestations of deficiencies in the development of conceptual thinking in a student’s educational activities.

To avoid the difficulties described above in middle and high school, it is necessary to begin the formation of conceptual thinking already in preschool childhood. For example, at the age of 5 - 7 years, a child is already able to master at an elementary level such techniques of conceptual thinking as comparison, generalization, classification, systematization and semantic correlation. Let's look at these techniques in more detail.

Method of comparison

How to teach a child to compare? Comparison is a technique aimed at establishing signs of similarity and difference between objects and phenomena. By the age of 5-6 years, a child usually already knows how to compare different objects with each other, but does this, as a rule, on the basis of only a few characteristics (for example, color, shape, size and some others). In addition, as mentioned above, the selection of these features is often random and is not based on a comprehensive analysis of the object. While learning the technique of comparison (tasks 1, 2, 3), the child must master the following skills:

1. Identify the characteristics (properties) of an object based on comparing it with another object. Children under 6 years old usually identify only 2 - 3 properties in an object, while there are an infinite number of them. In order for a child to be able to see this many properties, he must learn to analyze an object from different sides, compare this object with another object with different properties. By selecting objects for comparison in advance, you can gradually teach the child to see in them properties that were previously hidden from him. At the same time, to master this skill well means to learn not only to identify the properties of an object, but also to name them.

2. Determine the common and distinctive features (properties) of the objects being compared. When a child learns to identify properties by comparing one object with another, he should begin to develop the ability to determine the common and distinctive features of objects. First of all, you need to teach the ability to conduct a comparative analysis of the selected properties and find their differences. Then you should move on to general properties. In this case, it is first important to teach the child to see common properties in two objects, and then in several.

3. Distinguish between essential and non-essential features (properties) of an object, when essential properties are given or easily found.

After the child learns to identify common and distinctive properties in objects, you can take the next step: teach him to distinguish essential, important properties from unimportant, secondary ones.

It is still quite difficult for preschoolers to independently find the essential features of an object, so first the emphasis in teaching should be on demonstrating the difference between an essential feature and an unimportant one. To do this, it is better to use tasks with visual material, in which the essential feature is predetermined or is located, as it were, on the “surface” so that it is easy to detect. For example, two different flowers can be similar to each other or differ in many properties: color, shape, size, number of petals. But all flowers have one property that remains unchanged: to bear fruit, which allows us to call them flowers. If you take another part of the plant that does not have this property (leaves, twigs), then it can no longer be called a flower. Thus, if you change “non-essential” properties, the object will still refer to the same concept, but if you change the “essential” property, the object will become different. Then you can try to show with simple examples how the concepts of a “general” feature and an “essential” feature are related to each other. It is important to draw the child’s attention to the fact that a “general” feature is not always “essential,” but “essential” is always “general.” For example, show your child two objects where their “common” but “insignificant” feature is color, and their “common” and “essential” feature is shape. The ability to find essential features of objects is one of the important prerequisites for mastering the technique of generalization.

Techniques of generalization and classification

A preschooler is not yet able to fully master the techniques of generalization and classification (tasks 4 - 9). At this age it is difficult for him to master the necessary elements of formal logic. However, some of the skills necessary to master these techniques can be taught. For example, he can develop the following skills:

“To attribute a specific object to a class given by an adult and, conversely, to concretize a general concept given by an adult through singular ones (the action of attribution).”

Note: In order to be able to attribute a specific object to a class given by adults (for example, a plate - to the class “dishes”) or to specify a general concept given by adults through singular ones (for example, “toys” is a pyramid, a car, a doll), children must know generalizing words , only under this condition is it possible to carry out generalization and subsequent classification. They usually become familiar with such words in the process of communicating with adults - in conversations, while reading children's literature, while carrying out various assignments, as well as directly in play activities. At the same time, specially organized classes in which children are given generalized names that correspond to their level of knowledge and life ideas are more effective. Please note that the following generalization words are the most difficult for preschoolers:

insects

tools

transport

Since the child's passive vocabulary is wider than his active vocabulary, the child may understand these words, but not use them in his speech.

“Group objects based on independently found common features and designate the formed group with a word (these are actions of generalization and meaning).”

The development of this skill usually goes through several stages.

Stage 1. First, the child combines objects into one group, but

cannot name the educated group, because is not well aware of the general characteristics of these objects.

Stage 2. Then the child makes attempts to designate grouped objects, but instead of a generic word he uses the name of one of the objects in the group (cherry, cherry, strawberry - “cherries”) or indicates an action that can be performed by the object or can be performed with the object (bed, chair, armchair - sit).

The main problem of this stage is the inability to identify common features and designate them with a general word.

Stage 3. Now the child already uses a generalized name to designate the group as a whole. However, as at the previous stage, naming the group with a generalizing word follows only after the grouping of objects has actually been completed.

Stage 4. This stage is the final and most important. At this stage, the child, even before grouping objects,

can designate them with a generic concept. Mastering advanced verbal generalization contributes to the development of the ability to group in the mind.

Technique "Meaning correlation"

When a child learns to compare and correlate objects by their external characteristics, for example, by shape, color, size, one can move on to learning and more complex intellectual action of correlating objects by meaning.

To correlate objects by meaning means to find some connections between them. It is better if these connections are based on essential features, properties of objects and phenomena. However, it is important to be able to rely on secondary, less significant

properties and signs. To find these connections, you need to compare objects with each other, paying attention to their functions, purpose, and other internal properties or characteristics.

The objects being compared may have connections based on different types of relationships. For example, these can be connections based on relationships of the “part - whole” type: wheel - car, house - roof

1. on the similarity or opposition of the functions of objects:

pen - pencil, pencil - eraser.

2. to belong to the same genus or species:

spoon - fork, apple - pear.

Other types of relationships are possible.

Training in “semantic correlation” is training in the ability to quickly grasp(find) such relationships.

The sequence of training at this stage should be as follows:

1. Semantic correlation of two visually presented objects

("picture - picture"). First, the baby must learn to correlate the meaning of objects that he directly perceives. This way it will be easier for him to analyze their features, determine their purpose and functions. To do this, the child is offered either the objects themselves or their images in pictures.

2. Correlating a visually presented object with an object designated by a word (picture - word).

Please note that matching the object shown in the picture with the object presented in the form of a word is a more difficult task for the baby. After all, here, in order to cope with the task, the child must clearly imagine the object that is given in verbal form. This stage of learning is, as it were, transitional to the development of the ability to find semantic connections between objects and phenomena presented verbally.

3. Semantic correlation of objects and phenomena presented in the form of words (word - word).

A word can denote an object, its individual property, a natural phenomenon, and much more. First, you should offer tasks in which the child, using two given words, needs to find a semantic connection between specific objects. Then, more and more abstract concepts can be proposed for comparison, denoting the properties of objects, natural phenomena, etc. It is important that these concepts are familiar to the child.

These are some theoretical ideas about the development of conceptual thinking. The proposed manual contains exercises for the development of the conceptual apparatus of preschoolers and first grade students. Each exercise is performed in parts, as mastered.

Games and exercises for developing conceptual thinking

Exercise 1.

"ASSOCIATIONS" (connections)

In this exercise, the child must name all the words familiar to him that are associated with the given concepts.

(Parents, if possible, should try to visit all the named places with their children. This exercise is a kind of action program.)

HOUSE

KINDERGARTEN

HOSPITAL

LIBRARY

DINING ROOM

SALON

DRY CLEANING

LAUNDRY

MILL

TELEGRAPH

FIRE DEPARTMENT

AIRPORT

PRINTING HOUSE

CEMETERY

CINEMA

EXHIBITION

PHILHARMONY

WORKSHOP

HOTEL

ELEVATOR

TECHNICAL COLLEGE

INSTITUTE

PHOTO

Exercise 2.

"RESEARCHER"

This is one of the easiest games to compare. You and your child are “researchers.” Choose a subject and start studying it. Everyone must take turns highlighting some property, sign, feature in it in comparison with other objects. For a sample, you can use the following scheme for examining an object:

1.Name the subject.

2. Describe its features: shape,

what does it feel like,

what does it taste like,

what is it made of,

look like",

differs "from" (some other

items)

3.Why do we need this item?

4.What happens if you drop it to the floor from a height of 1 meter?

Throw him into the fire?

Throw him into the water?

Hit it with a hammer?

Leave it outside unattended?

Douse with water?

Put it in a dark place?

Leave it to bask in the sun?

5.Add other questions as you wish.

Exercise 3.

"COMPARISONS"

This game is aimed at developing the ability to identify signs of similarity and difference in compared objects.

I Find the similarities

1.What is the color of a cucumber;

dandelion?

2.What is shaped like a circle;

rectangle;

triangle?

3.What is the size of a pencil;

4.What material are the notebooks like?

flower pot,

II.Find differences (you must indicate as many features as possible or

properties of difference).

1.What is the difference between carrots and cucumbers?

2.What is the difference between a bee and an elephant?

3.What is the difference between a book and a notebook?

4.What is the difference between water and milk?

5.What is the difference? an old man from a young man?

III.Answer the questions.

1.Which is more like a duck: a goose or a pig? Why?

2.Who does sprat look more like: a pike or a sparrow? Why?

3.Which is more like a cat: a dog or a duck? Why?

4.What does a notebook look more like: a book or a pencil case? Why?

5.What does a pen look more like: a pencil or a satchel? Why?

IV.Find commonalities (you must indicate as many signs or properties of similarity as possible).

1.Apple and pear.

2.Crow and sparrow.

3.Sofa and armchair.

4.Kefir and cottage cheese.

5.Jacket and coat.

6.Birch and maple.

7.Chamomile and bell.

8.Girl and boy.

9. Accordion and button accordion.

10.Dragonfly and butterfly.

Exercise 4

"THE FOURTH ONE"

Four words are given. Three of them are somewhat similar, they have something in common, they can be called in one word, and the fourth is different from them; it is superfluous.

Guess

what word is missing? Why?

Wardrobe, chair, pan, bedside table.

Wolf, bear, cow, squirrel.

Horse, hare, cat, dog.

Butterfly, dragonfly, fly. sparrow.

Maple, oak, chamomile, birch.

Orange, tangerine, cabbage, pear.

Morning, summer, winter, autumn.

January, Wednesday, March, June.

Tuesday, winter, Wednesday, Friday.

Red, pinky, green, blue.

Petrov, Gena, Smirnov, Belov.

Doll, ball, top, checkers.

Rectangle, ruler, square, oval.

A, B, one, C.

Plane, balalaika, guitar, accordion.

Russia, Japan, Moscow, Italy.

Earth, Mars, St. Petersburg, Venus.

Volga, Don, Neva, Volgograd.

Rain, wind, snow, hail.

Gold, silver, iron, brick.

Sausage, cottage cheese, cheese, milk.

Loaf, bun, bagel, cake.

Pepper, cloves, cinnamon, banana.

Refrigerator, gun, vacuum cleaner, meat grinder.

Jumping, running, swimming, knitting.

Halva, bun, stone, apple.

Exercise 5

"CONTINUE!" (View - view)

Red, ... (yellow, green).

Boots, ... (slippers, boots).

Sofa, ... Plate, ...

Cap, ... Volga, ...

Moscow, .. . Cat, ...

Rook, ... Tulip, ...

Winter, ... Tuesday, ...

"Kolobok", ... Pistol, ...

Football, ... Littlefinger, ...

Tiger, ... Birch, ...

Raspberry, ... Pencil case, ...

January, ... Bus, ...

"Zhiguli", ... Square, ...

Exercise 6.

"DID YOU KNOW?" (Genus - species)

The exercise develops the ability to concretize concepts. Below are generic concepts. The child needs to name as many specific concepts as possible (for children five years old - 3, for children six to seven years old - at least 5). If a child finds it difficult, he needs help to master an unknown concept. He will understand better and will remember the word if he sees an object, touches it, smells it, hears its sound (of course, if this is possible).

There is a version of this game that makes it possible to develop not only the ability to concretize concepts, but also coordination of movements. The presenter gives the child (if the lesson is held in a group of children, then each child in turn) a general name, a concept for which it is necessary to name more specific words related to it. For example, ask your child to name 5 names of plants.

While pronouncing each name, he must hit the ball on the ground with one hand: “I know five names of plants: chamomile - one, dandelion - two, rose - three, carnation - four, tulip - five.” The number of such words may not be limited; then the child should name as many of them as possible.

The tasks are completed gradually; this is a program of working with the child for a long time. domestic animals (goat, cow, cat...).

wild animals,

insects,

bushes,

Times of Day,

hats,

decorations,

fingers (name all),

Seasons,

days of the week,

tools

musical instruments,

transport,

states,

kinds of sports,

school supplies,

geometric figures,

medicines.

Food,

dairy products,

meat products,

bakery products,

confectionery,

spices,

Construction Materials,

Appliances,

Agreecultural machines. Agreecultural equipment,

dog breeds,

military equipment,

car brands

Exercise 7.

"CALL IT IN ONE WORD" (species-genus)

You name three words belonging to one group, and the child must name them with one generalizing concept (the correct answer is indicated in parentheses). It is not at all necessary that only one word be generalizing. Very often, generalizing concepts consist of two words, and the more accurately the child selects the generalizing concept, the better. This game can also be played in a group of children. To do this, it is enough to introduce only one rule: the generalizing word must be named as quickly as possible; The one who does it first wins.

Name it in one word (in some cases it is necessary to use two words).

Wolf, hare, fox……………… (wild animals).

Cow, sheep, dog...

Sparrow, crow, tit...

Fly, butterfly, beetle...

Oak, birch, pine...

Chamomile, bell, aster...

Tomato, cucumber, carrot...

Apple, pear, orange...

Strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries...

Hazel, lilac, currant...

Honey mushrooms, chanterelles, boletus...

Summer, winter, autumn...

January February March...

Monday Tuesday Wednesday...

Morning day Evening...

Spoon, plate, frying pan...

Dress, trousers, jacket...

Beads, earrings, brooch...

Bus, trolleybus, plane...

Circle, square, triangle...

Cap, hat, hat...

Rain, hail, dew...

Notebook, ruler, backpack...

Iron, copper, silver...

Millet, rice, buckwheat...

Sour cream, cottage cheese, kefir...

Meat grinder, vacuum cleaner, coffee grinder...

Piano, button accordion, guitar...

Automatic, rifle, pistol...

Russia. China, Germany...

Waffles, cookies, candies...

Parsley, pepper, bay leaf...

Silk. chintz, wool...

Checkers, chess, dominoes...

Sand, cement, crushed stone...

Iodine, aspirin, mustard plaster...

Bulldog, poodle, lapdog...

Tank, armored personnel carrier, military aircraft...

Combine, tractor, mower...

Exercise 8.

"SUBSEQUENCE"

1.Name in order:

a) numbers from 1 to 10 (20);

b) letters of the alphabet:

c) seasons;

d) parts of the day;

e) days of the week;

f) names of months;

g) ordinal numbers (first,...);

h) cases;

i) colors of the rainbow.

2.What's missing?

b) a, b, d, d, f;

c) summer, autumn, spring;

d) day, night, morning;

e) January, February, April;

f) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday;

g) first, second, third, fifth;

h) nominative, dative, accusative, instrumental,

prepositional;

i) red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violet.

3.What is between:

b) “d” and “e”;

c) summer and winter;

d) in the evening and in the morning;

e) October and December;

f) Saturday and Monday;

g) fifth and seventh;

h) dative and instrumental?

4.What is (should):

before the number "5", after the number "5";

before the letter "g", after the letter "g";

before spring, after spring;

before May, after May;

before Thursday, after Thursday;

before morning, after morning;

in the rainbow before green, after green?

Exercise 9

"CONTINUE!" (Part - whole)

Window, roof, wall, door - these are parts of the house.

Paws, whiskers,...

Feathers, beak, ... Gills, fin, ...

Trunk, root, ... Sleeves, pockets, ...

Head, hands, ... Wings, cockpit, ...

Pedals, steering wheel, ... Motor, wheels, ...

Exercise 10.

(part-whole)

It is necessary to name the parts that make up the whole.

For example: A chair consists of a back, seat, legs.

Boot...

TV...

Human...

Exercise 11.

It is necessary to name the whole of which they are a part...

For example: a page is part of a book.

page -...?

the hat is part of...?

nose is part of...?

the heart is a part of...?

the wheel is part of...?

the sleeve is part of...?

the button is part of...?

the door is part of...?

the cover is part of...?

the leg is part of...?

paw is part of...?

the mustache is part of...?

horns are part of...?

the handle is part of...?

the wing is part of...?

the feather is part of...?

the tail is part of...?

scales are part of...?

the petal is part of...?

branch is part of...?

the rod is part of...?

the heel is part of...?

the belt is part of...?

the sole is part of...?

the railing is part of...?

the lace is part of...?

the back is part of...?

Exercise 12.

OPPOSITES

1.During the day - light, at night -...

Sugar is sweet, salt is...

Pepper - bitter, candy - ...

It's cold in winter, cold in summer...

The house is big, the hut is...

The bear is strong, the hare is...

A feather is light, a stone is...

A child is short, an adult is...

The grandson is young, the grandmother is...

The hare is wild, the cat is...

The fox moves quickly, the turtle...

Baba Yaga is ugly, Thumbelina is...

Eating vegetables is healthy, eating snow is....

2.Name words that have opposite meanings (antonyms).

similarity

cowardly

affectionate

speak

get younger

destroy

Exercise 13.

ANALOGIES

The first two words in the task are in a certain connection. Name the fourth word that relates to the third in the same way as the second to the first.

I. 1. Spoon: yes, knife: ... (cut).

2. Saw: sawing, ax: ...

3.Rake: rake, shovel: ...

4. Notebook: write, book: ...

5.Ruler: measure, eraser:...

6. Worm: crawl, fly: ...

7.Needle: sew, scissors:...

8.Song: sing, dance: ...

9.Dog: bark, cat: ...

10. Horse: neigh, cow: ...

11.Wasp: buzz, neck: ...

12.Sparrow: tweet, crow: ...

13.Man: go, car: ...

14.Bed: sleep, chair: ...

1.5.Eye: see, ear: ...

16. Pies: oven, soup: ...

17.Plane: plan, hammer: ...

18. Snake: crawl, bird: ...

19.Face: wash, teeth: ...

20. Vacuum cleaner: clean, iron: ...

21.Color: see, sound: ...

22.Doctor: treat, teacher: ...

24. Air: breathe, water: ...

25. Ballerina: dance, singer: ...

II. 1. Shop: groceries, pharmacy: ...

2. Hospital: doctor, school: ...

3. Refrigerator: metal, book: ...

4. Dress: silk, window:...

5. Nightingale: garden, pike: ...

6. Forest: hunter, river: ...

7. Orange: fruit, cucumber: ...

8. Fish: scales, bird: ...

9. Lilac: bush, birch: ...

10. Man: mouth, bird: ...

11. North: south, morning: ...

12. Cucumber: vegetable garden, apple: ...

13. Table: wood, needle: ...

14. Cat: house, hare: ...

15. Mushrooms: forest, wheat: ...

16. Man: house, bird: ...

17. Glove; hand, shoe: ...

18. Clock: time, thermometer: ...

19. Teacher: student, doctor: ...

20. Floor: carpet, table: ...

21. Horse: foal, dog: ...

22. Cow: calf, sheep: ...

23. Duck: duckling, chicken: ...

24. Fly: web, fish: ...

25. Boy: man, girl: ...

26. football: soccer player, hockey: ...

28. Dishes: pan, furniture: ...

29. House: rooms, hive: ...

30. Bread. baker, house: ...

31.Coat: button, shoe:...

32.Water: thirst, food: ...

33. Steam locomotive: carriages, horse: ...

34.Teatp: spectator, library: ...

35. Cow: milk, chicken: ...

36.Barley: pearl barley, millet: ...

37.Glass: tea, plate: ...

38. Airplane: air, ship: ...

39.Finger: ring, ear: ...

40.Leg: shoes, head: ...

41.Chiffonier: clothes, sideboard: ...

42.Summer: Panama, winter:...

43.Crowd; people, herd: ...

44.Man: leg. cat: ...

45. Dog: bone, cat: ...

46. ​​Bear: honey, hare: ...

47.Goat goat. cat: ...

48.Bread: flour, ice cream: ...

49. Bird: beak, wolf: ...

Exercise 14.

MATCH THE CONCEPT TO THE DEFINITION

1. A large domestic animal that will give us milk.

2. A tree on which plums grow.

3. An institution where medicines are prepared and stored.

4.First month of the year.

5. Second day of the week.

6. The time of year when the berries ripen.

7. The time of day when the sun rises.

8.The planet on which we live.

9.A tool used to unscrew and tighten screws.

10.A tool used to hammer nails.

11. Sleeping accessory that we put under our heads.

12.An electrical device for lighting a room.

13.Device for protection from rain.

14. Instruments for measuring time.

15. Coat made of fur.

16.An old man with a big white beard and a bag of gifts coming to

us for the New Year.

17. A fairy-tale hero, very thin and bony.

18. Dishes for carrying water.

20.A device that people wear on their faces to improve vision.

21.The subject with which we write.

22. A plot of land where vegetables grow.

23.The man who sews boots.

24. A person who cleans pipes.

25. Strong electrical flash during a thunderstorm.

26.Precipitation that falls in winter.

27.Precipitation in the form of frozen peas.

29.Game on a cellular field with 32 pieces.

30. Device for receiving television broadcasts.

Exercise 15.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Defining a concept is complex mental work. And yet, let's try... First, the generic concept is given, and then the specific differences are determined. For example, a doll is a toy (generic concept) similar to a person (species difference).

A bicycle is a type of transport (generic concept), the wheels of which are driven by the feet using pedals (specific difference). A satchel is a student's bag worn on the back. Shorts are short trousers.

I. Cow - ... II. Hero-...III. World- ...

Chicken -... Coward -... Friendship -...

Duck -... Snitch - ... Honesty - ...

Dog -.. . Lazy -... Anger -...

Cat -... Greedy -... Kindness - ...

Apple tree -... Liar -... Tenderness -...

Cherry -... Braggart -... Beauty - ...

Birch -... Whiner -... Love -...

Shovel -... Quiet -...

Saw -... Kopusha -...

Ax -... Onlooker - ...

Winter -... Arrogant - ...

Monday -... Smart girl -...

December -...

Earrings -...

Cap - ...

Slippers - ...

Boots - ...

Wallet - ...

When compiling the teaching aid, literature was used;

1. Anufriev A.F., Kostromina S.N. How to overcome difficulties in teaching children. - M., 1998.

2. Bartashnikova I.A., Bartashnikov A.A. Learn by playing. - Kharkov, 1997.

3. Rotenberg V.S., Bondarenko S.M. Brain. Education. Health. - M., 1989.

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Updated: 03/06/2020 20:41

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thinking mental schoolboy

Primary school age is called the peak of childhood.

In modern periodization of mental development, it covers the period from 6-7 to 9-11 years.

At this age, a change in image and lifestyle occurs: new requirements, a new social role for the student, a fundamentally new type of activity - educational activity. At school, he acquires not only new knowledge and skills, but also a certain social status. The perception of one’s place in the system of relationships changes. The interests, values ​​of the child, and his entire way of life change.

The child finds himself on the border of a new age period.

Social situation at primary school age:

1. Educational activity becomes the leading activity.

2. The transition from visual-figurative to verbal-logical thinking is completed.

3. The social meaning of the teaching is clearly visible (the attitude of young schoolchildren towards grades).

4. Achievement motivation becomes dominant.

5. There is a change in the reference group.

6. There is a change in the daily routine.

7. A new internal position is strengthened.

8. The child’s system of relationships with people around him changes.

Thinking becomes the dominant function at primary school age.

The development of thinking in primary school age plays a special role. With the beginning of schooling, thinking moves to the center of the child’s mental development (L.S. Vygotsky) and becomes decisive in the system of other mental functions, which, under its influence, become intellectualized and acquire a voluntary character.

Previously, it was generally accepted that for children of primary school age, concrete-figurative thinking is the leading one, but now, primarily thanks to the works of D.B. Elkonin, V.V. Davydov and their employees, it has been proven that children of this age have much greater cognitive capabilities, which allows them to develop the foundations of theoretical forms of thinking.

The thinking of a child of primary school age is at a critical stage of development. During this period, a transition occurs from visual-figurative to verbal-logical, conceptual thinking, which gives the child’s mental activity a dual character: concrete thinking, associated with reality and direct observation, is already subject to logical principles, but abstract, formal-logical reasoning for children is still not available.

A child, especially 7-8 years old, usually thinks in specific categories, relying on the visual properties and qualities of specific objects and phenomena, therefore, at primary school age, visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking continues to develop, which involves the active inclusion of models in teaching various types (subject models, diagrams, tables, graphs, etc.)

Blonsky P.P. writes: “A picture book, a visual aid, a teacher’s joke - everything evokes an immediate reaction in them. Younger schoolchildren are in the grip of a vivid fact; the images that arise from a description during a teacher’s story or reading a book are very vivid.”

Younger schoolchildren tend to understand the literally figurative meaning of words, filling them with specific images. Students solve a particular mental problem more easily if they rely on specific objects, ideas or actions. Taking into account figurative thinking, the teacher uses a large number of visual aids, reveals the content of abstract concepts and the figurative meaning of words in a series of specific examples. And what primary schoolchildren initially remember is not what is most significant from the point of view of educational tasks, but what made the greatest impression on them: what is interesting, emotionally charged, unexpected and new.

Visual-figurative thinking is very clearly manifested when understanding, for example, complex pictures and situations. To understand such situations, orienting activities are required. To understand a complex picture means to understand its inner meaning. Understanding the meaning requires analytical-synthetic work, highlighting details and comparing them with each other. Speech also participates in visual-figurative thinking, which helps to name the sign and compare the signs. Only on the basis of the development of visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking does formal-logical thinking begin to form at this age.

The thinking of children of this age differs significantly from the thinking of preschoolers: so if the thinking of a preschooler is characterized by such quality as involuntariness, low controllability both in setting a mental task and in solving it, they more often and more easily think about what is more interesting to them, what their captivates, then younger schoolchildren, as a result of studying at school, when it is necessary to regularly complete tasks without fail, learn to manage their thinking.

Teachers know that the thinking of children of the same age is quite different; there are children who find it difficult to think practically, operate with images, and reason, and those who find it easy to do all this.

The good development of visual-figurative thinking in a child can be judged by how he solves problems corresponding to this type of thinking.

School education is structured in such a way that verbal and logical thinking receives preferential development. If in the first two years of schooling children work a lot with visual examples, then in the following grades the volume of this type of activity is reduced. Imaginative thinking is becoming less and less necessary in educational activities.

In this regard, the thinking of first-graders is most revealing. It is predominantly concrete, based on visual images and ideas. As a rule, understanding of general provisions is achieved only when they are specified through specific examples. The content of concepts and generalizations is determined mainly by the visually perceived characteristics of objects.

As the student masters educational activities and masters the fundamentals of scientific knowledge, he gradually becomes familiar with the system of scientific concepts, his mental operations become less connected with specific practical activities and visual support. Children master the techniques of mental activity, acquire the ability to act in the mind and analyze the process of their own reasoning. The development of thinking is associated with the emergence of such important new formations as analysis, internal action plan, and reflection.

Primary school age is of great importance for the development of basic mental actions and techniques: comparison, identification of essential and non-essential features, generalization, definition of a concept, derivation of a consequence, etc. The lack of full-fledged mental activity leads to the fact that the knowledge acquired by the child turns out to be fragmentary, and sometimes simply wrong. This seriously complicates the learning process and reduces its effectiveness. So, for example, if they are unable to identify the general and essential, students have problems with generalizing educational material: subsuming a mathematical problem under an already known class, highlighting the root in related words, briefly (highlighting the main) retelling of the text, dividing it into parts, choosing a title for a passage and so on.

It should be noted that in some children the ability to generalize material of different content is equally developed - they generalize any material equally well or equally poorly. Other schoolchildren generalize mathematical material freely and quickly, but experience great difficulties when generalizing non-mathematical material. Conversely, some students easily and freely generalize non-mathematical material, and mathematical material only after many training exercises. Therefore, in order to judge the characteristics of a child’s thinking, it is necessary to analyze his performance (and repeated!) tasks from different areas of knowledge.

The mastery of any academic subject largely depends on how developed the child’s ability to generalize the material is. Can he identify what is common in different things and, on this basis, cognize the main thing hidden behind the variety of external manifestations and insignificant features? Can he identify the essential common properties of objects, that is, those properties without which the object cannot exist as such.

Mastery of basic mental operations is required of students already in the first grade. Therefore, at primary school age, attention should be paid to targeted work on teaching children the basic techniques of mental activity.

At the end of primary school age (and later), individual differences appear: among children, psychologists identify groups of “theorists” or “thinkers” who easily solve learning objectives in verbal terms, “practitioners” who need support for visibility and practical actions, and “artists” with vivid imaginative thinking. Most children have a relative balance between different types thinking.

An important condition for the formation of theoretical thinking is the formation of scientific concepts. Theoretical thinking allows the student to solve problems, focusing not on external, visual signs and connections of objects, but on internal, essential properties and relationships.

In order to form a scientific concept in a primary school student, it is necessary to teach him to take a differentiated approach to the characteristics of objects. It should be shown that there are essential features, without which the object cannot be subsumed under this concept. A concept is generalized knowledge about a whole group of phenomena, objects, qualities, united by the commonality of their essential features. If students in grades 1-2 note the most obvious, external signs that characterize the action of an object (what it does) or its purpose (what it does), then by grade 3, schoolchildren rely more on the knowledge acquired during the learning process and allow them to identify essential features of objects. Thus, the concept of plant includes such different objects as a tall pine tree and a small bell. These different objects are combined into one group because each of them has essential characteristics common to all plants: they are living organisms, they grow, breathe, and reproduce.

By the age of 8-9 years, the child undergoes a transition to the stage of formal operations, which is associated with a certain level of development of the ability to abstract (the ability to highlight the essential features of objects and abstract from the secondary features of objects) and generalization. The criterion for mastering a particular concept is the ability to operate it.

Third-graders should also be able to establish a hierarchy of concepts, isolate broader and narrower concepts, and find connections between generic and specific concepts.

The thinking of a primary school student in its development comes from the ability to analyze connections and relationships between objects and phenomena. By the end of grade 3, students should learn such elements of analysis as identifying relationships between concepts and phenomena: opposition (for example, a coward - a brave man), the presence of functional connections (for example, a river and a fish), part and whole (for example, trees - a forest).

Some difficulties have been noted among younger schoolchildren in mastering such a mental operation as comparison. At first, the child does not even know what it means to compare. To the question: “Is it possible to compare an apple and a ball?” we often hear the answer: “No, you can’t, you can eat the apple, but the ball rolls.” If you ask the question differently, you can get the correct answer. You should first ask the children how objects are similar, and then how they are different. Children need to be led to the correct answer.

Particular difficulties arise for younger schoolchildren when establishing cause-and-effect relationships. It is easier for a younger student to establish a connection from cause to effect than from effect to cause. This can be explained by the fact that when inferring from cause to effect, a direct connection is established. But when making an inference from a fact to the cause that caused it, such a connection is not directly given, since the specified fact can be a consequence of a variety of reasons that need to be specially analyzed. Thus, with the same level of knowledge and development, it is easier for a primary school student to answer the question: “What happens if the plant is not watered?” than to the question: “Why did this tree dry up?”

By the end of the third grade, the student must learn such elements of analysis as identifying the following connections: location, order, opposition, the presence of certain functional relationships, part and whole.

Development of theoretical thinking, i.e. thinking in concepts contributes to the emergence of reflection by the end of primary school age (reflection is the process of self-knowledge of one’s internal acts and states), which, being a new formation of adolescence, transforms cognitive activity and the nature of their relationships to themselves and other people.