The problem of periodization in the works of L.S. Vygotsky. The concept of “age”, “social situation of development”, “age-related neoplasms”.

What is youth: definition

Adolescence is a stage of human physical maturation as well as personality development that lies between childhood and adulthood. From a psychological point of view, this is a transition from the dependence inherent in a child to the independence and responsibility inherent in mature people. From a physiological point of view, physical and sexual maturation ends at this moment. Also, the achievement of social maturity is characterized by such a concept as “youth” or “youth”. Age limits are determined by the interval from 14 to 18 years, if we are talking about domestic psychology. Foreign experts believe that adolescence begins at the age of 16.

Separation of age periods

It should be noted that the psychological age of a particular child and the calendar age, which is recorded first in the birth certificate and then in the passport, do not always coincide. It should also be noted that any period has its own characteristics of personality development, relationships with others, and mental functions. In addition, the child has some boundaries that may still shift. Thus, some children enter a certain age period earlier, and some later. The boundaries of adolescence associated with puberty are particularly blurred.

Childhood

Childhood includes all primary age periods. This is a huge era, which, in essence, prepares children for the beginning of adult life, for independent work. The peculiarity of the age periods within it is determined by the level of social, economic and cultural development of the society to which the child belongs, where he is raised and educated.

When does childhood end? Traditionally in psychology we are talking about the time from the birth of a person until he reaches the age of seven. But, naturally, modern childhood continues for a child even after he starts going to school. Of course, a junior schoolchild is still a child. By the way, many psychologists define “prolonged childhood” and adolescence separately. Whatever the opinion of psychologists, it is necessary to state the fact that real adulthood awaits a child only at the age of 16–17.

Approaches to the problem of youth

“What is youth?” is one of the oldest questions psychologists have ever asked. Despite the huge amount of theoretical developments and practical research, this problem remains relevant to this day. It can be considered from the point of view of the following approaches:

• Biogenetic theory pays attention to physiological as well as socio-psychological aspects. This refers to the process of maturation of the organism and personality, which occurs in certain stages that are universal. This theory in its own way determines the moment from which people can be classified as “youth”. Age boundaries are the beginning of puberty (12 years) and until full adulthood (25 years), a person is considered young, susceptible to romanticism.
• Sociogenetic theory explains the meaning of youth based on the place a person occupies in the structure of society. There is a close connection between the natural formation of personality and the properties of the environment. At a young age, the formation of worldview, behavioral characteristics, and social circle occurs. At the same time, the age limits are not specified, as they are purely individual.
• The psychogenetic approach pays attention to psychological processes. This direction focuses on emotions that determine behavioral characteristics. At each new stage, the personality acquires new properties that were absent previously. Youth is the fifth stage. It is at this moment that a person realizes his individuality and uniqueness.
• An integrated approach simultaneously takes into account all factors (domestic psychologists are guided by it) when defining the concept of “youth”. Age is measured by the period from the onset of puberty to the final formation of personality.

Periodization

Some historical and currently used systems for periodizing age periods in a person’s life:

Vygotsky's periodization

L. S. Vygotsky represented the process of child development as a transition between age stages at which smooth development occurs, through periods of crises. Periods of stable and crisis development according to Vygotsky[2]:

• neonatal crisis (up to 2 months)
• infancy (up to 1 year)
• crisis 1 year
• early childhood (1-3 years)
• crisis 3 years
• preschool age (3-7 years)
• crisis 7 years
• school age (7-13 years)
• crisis 13 years
• puberty (13-17 years)
• crisis 17 years

Periodization of Elkonin

Main article: Periodization of mental development by D. B. Elkonin

D. B. Elkonin’s periodization, which is an integration of the concepts of L. S. Vygotsky and A. N. Leontiev, identifies the following periods:[3]

• Early childhood Infancy (0-1 year)
• Early age (1-3 years)

Elkonin’s periodization is the most generally accepted in Russian developmental psychology[4][5].

Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development

Main article: Psychosocial development

E. Erikson identifies eight phases in human psychosocial development. Each of these phases, like the phases in psychosexual development according to Freud, has its own tasks and can be resolved favorably or unfavorably for the future development of the individual. Approximate correspondence of these phases to age:[6][7][8]

• Infancy (birth to 1 year)
• Early childhood (1 - 3 years)
• Playing age, preschool (4 - 6-7 years)
• School age (7-8 – 12 years)
• Youth (13 - 19 years old)
• Youth (19-35 years old) - beginning of adulthood, courtship and early years of family life, years before middle age
• Adulthood (35-60 years old) is the period when a person firmly associates himself with a certain occupation, and his children become teenagers
• Old age (from 60 years old) is the period when the main work of life has ended

Classification of the APN USSR (1965)

In 1965, at a symposium of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, the following age periodization was adopted [9]:

• Newborns - from 1 to 10 days
• Infant - from 10 days to 1 year
• Early childhood - from 1 to 2 years
• The first period of childhood - from 3 to 7 years
• The second period of childhood - from 8 to 12 years (male); from 8 to 11 years (women)
• Adolescence - from 13 to 16 years (male); from 12 to 15 years (women)
• Youth age - from 17 to 21 years (male); from 16 to 20 years (women)
• The average age of the first period is from 22 to 35 years (male); from 21 to 35 years old (female)
• second period - from 36 to 60 years (male); from 36 to 55 years (women)

Biological age

Age periodization in medicine is based on age-appropriate anatomical and physiological characteristics of the body. To periodize childhood, the degree of adaptation to environmental conditions, which are associated with the specifics of caring for and raising a child, is taken into account. Conditional periods of biological age[10]:

Age periods in children

• Newborn period (neonatal period) - first 4 weeks
• Breast period: from 4 weeks to 1 year
• Early childhood: 1-3 years
• Preschool age: 3 years - 6-7 years
• Junior school age: 6-7 – 10/12 years
• Adolescence: girls: 10 - 17-18 years
• boys: 12 – 17-18 years

Age periods of an adult

• Youth period of a young man: 17 - 21 years
• girls: 16 – 20 years old

Leading activity

Any period in a person’s life is associated with some kind of activity. What is youth? This is, first of all, a choice of a future life path, in which professional self-determination occupies a special place. Thus, the choice of future occupation becomes the central problem of adolescence.

Taking into account the need to acquire a profession, a young age is accompanied by continuous learning. At the same time, it becomes more in-depth and conscious than at an earlier age. It is characterized by the following features:

• broad and deep perception of educational material aimed at developing future professional knowledge;
• In addition to passive perception of information, the individual resorts to an active and independent search for it.

Principles of periodization

“Stages of the Human Age,” 1st half of the 19th century,
Vygotsky distinguished three groups of periodizations (relative to the periodization of childhood and adolescence): according to external criteria, according to one and several signs of child development.

The first group of periodizations is based on external criteria, without connection with the physical and mental development of a person. For example, from the principle “ontogenesis repeats phylogeny” a periodization was derived that places each stage of life in accordance with the stages of biological evolution and historical development of mankind. Periodization by stages of the education and training system is still preserved, using such concepts as “preschool age”, “junior school age”, etc. Since the structure of education developed taking into account developmental psychology, such periodization is indirectly related to turning points in child development.

The second group of periodizations is based on one internal criterion. The choice of criterion that forms the basis of classification is subjective and occurs for a variety of reasons. Thus, within the framework of psychoanalysis, Freud developed a periodization of the development of childhood sexuality (oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital stages). The basis for P. P. Blonsky’s periodization was such an objective and easy-to-take into account physiological sign as the appearance and change of teeth. In the resulting classification, childhood is divided into three periods: toothless childhood, childhood of milk teeth and childhood of permanent teeth; Adulthood begins with the appearance of wisdom teeth.

The third group of periodizations is based on several significant features of development and can take into account changes in the importance of criteria over time. An example of such periodizations are the systems developed by Vygotsky and Elkonin.

There are many periodizations of age development. The detail of elaboration of periodizations is not the same for different ages; The periodization of childhood and adolescence, as a rule, attracted more attention from psychologists than the periodization of maturity, since development in adulthood does not bring qualitative changes and meaningful periodization of maturity is difficult.

Within the framework of developmental psychology, dogmatic periodizations based on speculative principles were replaced by periodizations based on preliminary studies of child development, including longitudinal (long-term) studies of the same children developed by Arnold Gesell[1].

Social motives of adolescence

Childhood, adolescence, maturity - each of the periods of a person’s life is characterized by certain motives that determine his activities. Young people are full of aspirations and hopes for the future. In this regard, they are guided by the following factors:

• belief in the need for continuous development, which is achieved through continued education;
• professional self-determination caused by the need to prepare for further independent life;
• social motivation caused by the desire to benefit others.

Notes

1. A normative approach to the study of child development. Archived copy from December 26, 2012 on the Wayback Machine
2. I.Yu.
   Makhova. 3.5. Domestic theories of periodization of mental development // Developmental psychology: theoretical foundations: textbook. allowance. - Khabarovsk: DVGUPS, 2006.
3. L. F. Obukhova.
   Chapter VI. L.S. Vygotsky and his school. 2. Further steps along the path opened by L. S. Vygotsky // Child psychology. Theories, facts, problems. - M.: Trivola, 1995.
4. THEM.
   Makarova. 5.2. The concept of age. Psychological age and periodization of mental development // Psychology: lecture notes.
5. The problem of age periodization in the works of D. B. Elkonin
6. Psychology of early adolescence Archived copy of August 4, 2011 on the Wayback Machine. I. S. Kon
7. Elkind D.
   Erik Erikson and the eight stages of human life (preface) //
   Erik G. Erikson
   Childhood and Society. - 1996. - P. 6-22.
8. Periodization of mental development - article from the dictionary “Developmental Psychology” Under. ed. A. L. Venger
9. Krylov A.A.
   Chapter 15. Age periods of human development // Psychology.
10. Age // Small medical encyclopedia. — M.: Medical encyclopedia. 1991–96

Main problems

A mass of life-changing problems characterizes such a period as adolescence. The years of a young person’s life consist of many key issues, the main ones of which are the following:

• preliminary choice of a future profession, which consists of life position, abilities and priority area of ​​knowledge;
• commitment to values ​​that determine social consciousness, as well as interpersonal relationships;
• growth of social activity, which consists not in banal interest, but in the desire to take direct part in events;
• formation of a worldview on fundamental issues;
• expansion of the sphere of interests, as well as life demands, which leads to the need for more material resources;
• social orientation of the individual, which implies the search for one’s place in society;
• searching for an answer to the question about the meaning of life and the purpose of man in it.

Formation of a young man's personality

At a certain moment, a young man takes the path of developing self-awareness, which is inextricably linked with the formation of the so-called “I”. It occurs in the following areas:

• the formation of a different attitude to the emotional sphere (feelings become not just a reaction to external events, but personal characteristics);
• awareness of the irreversible passage of time (this fact makes the young man think more seriously about his future and drawing up an individual life plan);
• the formation of a holistic idea not only of one’s body and internal structure, but also of moral, volitional and intellectual qualities.

Middle age and the crisis of this period

Middle age is also a very relative age. It is impossible to accurately determine its boundaries, but they are usually set between 30 and 45 years. During this period, high performance is observed. By gaining life experience, a person becomes a good family man and specialist. For the first time, he seriously thinks about what will remain after his death. Towards the end of this stage of a person's life, a midlife crisis occurs. The reason for this is that he is at the top, and understands that he should look for other strategies to achieve previous goals or reconsider old aspirations. During this crisis, existential problems become actualized (isolation, death, loss of meaning), and specific problems appear (maladaptation, social loneliness, complete change of values).

Interpersonal relationships

During adolescence, a young person begins to reconsider relationships with others, in particular with peers. So, they are divided into two categories - friends and comrades. The first are the closest ones, those who have earned loyalty and respect. With all other peers, young people build friendly relationships that imply polite treatment, mutual respect and mutual assistance.

Communication tactics and building relationships with peers are built largely based on future well-being (both psychological and physical). The most interesting and “useful” people remain in your social circle. The rest find themselves in a kind of emotional isolation. Nevertheless, often youthful friendship is idealized and illusory.

Also, a young age is characterized by the emergence of such a deep feeling as love. This is connected not only with the completion of puberty, but also with the desire to have a close person with whom you can share problems and joyful events. A beloved person is a kind of ideal, both in terms of personal and external qualities.

2.1. Biogenetic and sociogenetic concepts

Proponents of the biogenetic concept of development believe that the basic mental properties of a person are inherent in human nature itself (biological origin), which determines his destiny in life. They consider intelligence, immoral personality traits, etc. to be genetically programmed.

The first step towards the emergence of biogenetic concepts was Charles Darwin's theory that development - genesis - obeys a certain law. Subsequently, any major psychological concept has always been associated with the search for the laws of child development.

The German naturalist E. Haeckel (1834–1919) and the German physiologist I. Müller (1801–1958) formulated a biogenetic law, according to which animals and humans during intrauterine development briefly repeat the stages that a given species goes through in phylogenesis. This process was transferred to the process of ontogenetic development of the child. American psychologist S. Hall (1846–1924) believed that a child’s development briefly repeats the development of the human race. The basis for the emergence of this law was observations of children, as a result of which the following stages of development were identified: cave, when the child digs in the sand, the stage of hunting, exchange, etc. Hall also assumed that the development of children's drawing reflects the stages that fine art went through in the history of mankind.

Theories of mental development associated with the idea of ​​repetition in this development of human history are called theories of recapitulation.

Outstanding Russian physiologist I.P. Pavlov (1849–1936) proved that there are acquired forms of behavior that are based on conditioned reflexes. This gave rise to the point of view that human development comes down to the manifestation of instinct and training. The German psychologist W. Köhler (1887–1967), conducting experiments on anthropoid apes, discovered the presence of intelligence in them. This fact formed the basis of the theory according to which the psyche in its development goes through three stages: 1) instinct; 2) training; 3) intelligence.

The Austrian psychologist K. Bühler (1879–1963), relying on the theory of W. Köhler and under the influence of the works of the founder of psychoanalysis, the Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist Z. Freud (1856–1939), put forward the principle of pleasure as the main principle of the development of all living things. He connected the stages of instinct, training and intelligence not only with the maturation of the brain and the complication of relationships with the environment, but also with the development of affective states - the experience of pleasure and associated action. Bühler argued that at the first stage of development - the stage of instinct - thanks to the satisfaction of an instinctive need, the so-called “functional pleasure” occurs, which is a consequence of performing an action. And at the stage of intellectual problem solving, a state arises that anticipates pleasure.

V. Köhler, studying the development of a child using a zoopsychological experiment, noticed similarities in the primitive use of tools in humans and monkeys.

A diametrically opposite approach to the development of a child’s psyche is adhered to by supporters of the sociogenetic (sociologization) concept. They believe that there is nothing innate in human behavior and every action is only a product of external influence. Therefore, by manipulating external influences, you can achieve any results.

Back in the 17th century. English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) believed that a child is born with a pure soul, like a white sheet of paper on which you can write anything you want, and the child will grow up the way his parents and loved ones want him to be. According to this point of view, heredity does not play any role in the development of the child’s psyche and behavior.

American psychologist J.B. Watson (1878–1958) put forward the slogan: “Stop studying what a person thinks, let's study what a person does!” He believed that there is nothing innate in human behavior and that every action is a product of external stimulation. Consequently, by manipulating external stimuli, you can “create” a person of any type. In learning studies that took into account the experimental results obtained by I.P. Pavlov, the idea of ​​combining stimulus and response, conditioned and unconditional stimuli came to the fore, and the time parameter of this connection was highlighted. This formed the basis of the associationist concept of learning by J. Watson and E. Ghazri, which became the first program of behaviorism. Behaviorism is a trend in American psychology of the 20th century that denies consciousness as a subject of scientific research and reduces the psyche to various forms of behavior, understood as a set of reactions of the body to environmental stimuli. According to J. Watson, "all such terms as consciousness, sensation, perception, imagination or will can be excluded in the description of human activity." He identified human behavior with animal behavior. Man, according to Watson, is a biological being that can be studied like any other animal. Thus, classical behaviorism emphasizes the process of learning based on the presence or absence of environmental reinforcement.

Representatives of neobehaviorism, American psychologists E. Thorndike (1874–1949) and B. Skinner (1904–1990) created the concept of learning, which was called “operant conditioning.” This type of learning is characterized by the fact that in the establishment of a new associative stimulus-reactive connection, the functions of the unconditional stimulus play an important role, that is, the main emphasis is on the value of reinforcement.

N. Miller and American psychologist K.L. Hull (1884–1952) - the authors of the theory in which the answer was given to the question: does learning, that is, the establishment of a connection between a stimulus and a response, depend on such states of the subject as hunger, thirst, pain.

Based on existing theories, we can conclude that in sociogenetic theories, the environment is considered as the main factor in the development of the psyche, and the child’s activity is not taken into account.

Youth in the modern world

What is youth? This is a dynamic category that is not permanent. Over time, with the development of society, it changes significantly. Thus, due to rapidly growing acceleration, adolescence begins much earlier. But social maturity comes a little later. This is partly due to the fact that modern parents care for their children much longer.

As at any other time, young people strive to work in order to independently provide themselves with money. However, the current trend is that young men do not want to do “dirty work”, which brings little income and determines low social status. There is a tendency to want to get everything at once.