Domestic special psychology was formed and is based on the general psychological theory developed by A.N. Leontiev, S.L. Rubinstein, P.Ya. Galperin, A.R. Luria and others. In addition, another, no less important component of its foundation are the concepts of mental development created by L.S. Vygotsky, L.I. Bozhovich, D.B. Elkonin, A.V. Zaporozhets, V.V. Davydov and others.

The main provisions of these theories are fixed in the categorical apparatus and explanatory principles of special psychology.

The categorical apparatus is a system of concepts that reproduce different aspects of the object studied by science. In the categories used by special psychology, two large groups can be distinguished. The first of these are general psychological concepts that reflect the kinship of this discipline with psychological science as a whole. This group includes such concepts as "mental activity", "consciousness", "personality", "motive", "semantic sphere", "image", "meaning", "operation", "interiorization", "speech mediation" and many others.

The second group constitutes a class of special psychological categories or terms from related disciplines. These include: "dysontogenesis", "systemic deviations", "retardation", "compensation", "correction", "rehabilitation", "integration", "asynchrony", "regression", "deprivation", etc.

One of the central concepts in the categorical system of special psychology is the concept of “higher mental functions”, introduced by L.S. Vygotsky. It is the key one insofar as, thanks to its use, it is possible to most fully characterize the various phenomena of disturbed development and their structure. The highest mental functions themselves are the most complex systemic formations, characterized by lifetime formation, mediated structure and an arbitrary method of regulation. Because of this, they have a high degree of plasticity due to the interchangeability of their constituent elements. The goal (task) and the final result remain unchanged. The means of achieving the set goal can be variable. The plasticity of higher mental functions, as one of their properties, underlies compensatory processes, the restoration of impaired or lost functions through internal restructuring.

In addition to its own categorical apparatus, each science must also have a system of explanatory principles, extremely general ideas, the use of which allows one to understand and explain the phenomena under study relatively consistently and consistently. It is these representations that act as a certain coordinate system that helps the researcher to navigate in huge arrays of empirical data, classify and interpret them.

Applied sciences, which include special psychology, as a rule, use a system of explanatory principles created within the framework of fundamental disciplines. Therefore, the principles formulated in general psychology are the same for all branches of psychological science. For the sake of accuracy, it should be noted that the principles are not universal and operate within only one psychological school, within which they were developed. For example, the explanatory criteria of psychoanalysis do not apply to humanistic psychology and vice versa. The postulates, which will be discussed below, are formulated within the framework of the traditions of the Russian psychological school and are based on the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, B.G. Ananyeva, S.L. Rubinstein and others.

The most general principle is reflectivity. Its essence boils down to the fact that all mental phenomena, in all their diversity, represent a special, higher form of reflection of the surrounding world in the form of images, concepts, experiences. The fundamental properties of mental reflection are its subjectivity, activity, selectivity and purposefulness.

The process of development of the psyche is, in its essence, nothing more than the improvement of the ability to reflect. No, even the most gross pathological disturbances of mental activity will not change its reflective essence. We can only talk about a decrease in the degree of adequacy of reflection, the transformation of an adequate reflection into a false one, as, for example, in hallucinations. The psyche always and everywhere remains a subjective reflection of objective reality, or an objectified reflection of subjective reality.

From this point of view, any forms of deviations in mental development represent difficulties in the process of formation of various aspects of the reflective activity of the psyche. These difficulties may relate to the development of figurative reflection, conceptual (verbal-logical), emotional-semantic, etc.

As already mentioned, reflection in this case may suffer from the point of view of completeness, accuracy, depth, but it always remains fundamentally adequate, on the whole true, correct. The rich experimental material obtained in the study of different groups of children with developmental disabilities convincingly proves this position. An example is cases of severe sensory impairments, such as deaf-blindness, in which the cognitive capabilities of the individual are severely reduced. Nevertheless, under certain learning conditions, children with such disabilities are able to acquire knowledge, achieve a high level of intellectual development, successfully adapt socially, and professionally self-determine. This would be impossible in a situation of inadequate reflection. The multidimensionality of the reflective activity of the psyche makes it possible to compensate for the shortcomings of some forms of reflection at the expense of others, more preserved.

The next explanatory principle is principle of determinism. From his standpoint, psychic phenomena are considered as causal, derived from external influence, which is reflected by the psyche. The principle of determinism was formulated most accurately in the dialectical tradition by S.L. Rubinstein: the external cause always acts, being refracted through the internal condition. Depending on these internal conditions, the same external influence can lead to different effects. The category "internal conditions" includes a fairly wide range of phenomena, ranging from age, gender, characteristics of GNI and ending with the current emotional state, education, profession, etc. The simplest understanding of the principle of determinism in special psychology may, at first glance, look very banal - there are no and cannot be unreasonable deviations in development. The cause may or may not be known, but it objectively exists. In fact, the relationship between the cause of a particular deviation and the deviation itself is very complex, ambiguous, indirect, as discussed above. We pointed out the fact that the same pathogenic factor can lead to different forms of deviations, as well as the fact that different causes can lead to the same type of developmental deviation. The nature of the deviation depends not only on the characteristics of the pathogenic factor, its intensity and duration of action, but also on a number of internal conditions, such as age, the strength of the individual's defense mechanisms, and a number of other characteristics. It is through these internal conditions that the external influence of the pathogenic factor is refracted.

Speaking about the principle of determinism, we must not forget that the nature of causality under conditions of deviant development looks much more complicated than in the norm. The fact is that the main disorders, for example, the pathology of vision, hearing, speech, motor sphere, etc., being the causes of the corresponding variants of deviant development, should be attributed by us to the class of so-called negative determinants, that is, the reasons that prevent the normal course of psychogenesis. The leading factor in development in general (both normal and deviant) is, as is known, education. It is precisely this, according to L.S. Vygotsky, should lead the process of development, creating optimal conditions for it. Therefore, this factor belongs to the category of positive determinants. For persons with disabilities, education also acts as the most important way to correct existing violations. Thus, the development of a special child is, figuratively speaking, the point of application of opposing forces, which we have designated as negative (basic violation) and positive (training and correction) determinants. Both of them are refracted through "internal conditions", which we have already spoken about. It is the ratio of the strength of the determinants that determines the huge variety of individual variants within the same type of deviant development. It is these strength proportions that can explain seemingly strange at first glance, but unusually common cases of different rates of development with the same degree of severity of the same primary disorder in two individuals. Differences in such a situation are determined by the nature and timeliness of the corrective assistance provided to the child, which is largely capable of neutralizing or blocking the influence of the pathogenic factor.

It is interesting to note that the strength proportions of the counteraction of the negative and positive determinants indicated by us not only vary from individual to individual, but also have a clearly expressed historical dynamics. As the methods of psychological, medical and pedagogical assistance improve, the nature of this opposition changes significantly, positively influencing the specifics of deviant development. For example, a hundred years ago, the vast majority of deaf-blind children (regardless of the social status of their parents) were considered fundamentally unteachable, and there were no methods of teaching them, and they remained profoundly retarded for the rest of their lives. The creation and improvement of the system of educational and correctional work with such children fundamentally changed the nature of their development.

And finally, it should be pointed out that the phenomena of deviation in development in themselves represent a special class of internal conditions through which external influences are refracted. As a result, both behavioral responses and entire activities can be significantly simplified and combined. At the same time, they may lose a certain degree of psychological transparency, intelligibility from the point of view of an external observer.

Genetic, or principle of development also acts as the most important for psychology in general, and special psychology in particular. Its essence boils down to the position that all mental phenomena must be considered exclusively in a dynamic way, that is, in the process of development and formation. Development is a universal mode of existence of psychic phenomena. According to the figurative expression of one of the psychologists, the desire to consider the psyche outside of development is reminiscent of an attempt to cut water with scissors.

This principle of development not only determines the approach to understanding and studying mental phenomena, but also constitutes the subject of psychology in general. According to S. L. Rubinshtein, mental phenomena are studied by many sciences from different points of view, ranging from philosophy, logic and ending with psychiatry and neurophysiology. From his point of view, psychology should consider the mental, taken in a procedural, dynamic aspect, in terms of the internal mechanisms of its development.

In addition, the genetic principle, setting a certain research perspective, makes it possible to essentially interpret the very phenomenon of development, which is understood as a permanent (permanent) process of quantitative and qualitative changes in structural organization and mental functions. Since the development process unfolds in time, and time is characterized by irreversibility, the irreversibility of this process is recognized accordingly.

For special psychology, the genetic principle is central due to the very subject content of this branch, the study of how the development process proceeds under adverse conditions, which aspects of the emerging psyche can be violated, how compensatory mechanisms develop, etc.

That is why it can be stated without exaggeration that for special psychology the category of development appears to be one of the central ones, because the disturbed development itself is understood as a special way of the genesis of the psyche. Despite the presence of certain specifics, indicated by the concept of " special way”, deviant development is characterized by the same thing that is characteristic of development in general: the permanent formation of quantitative and qualitative neoplasms, irreversibility, etc. We will dwell on the peculiarities of deviant development below. Now it is important to emphasize that such phenomena with a greater or lesser degree of conditionality can be attributed to the field of pathology. But this does not mean the equality of the concepts of "dysontogenesis" and "disease". However, being opposite in essence, the disease and developmental disabilities may be in a causal relationship. As we have already said, the disease and its consequences can act as the causes of developmental deviations.

The use of the genetic principle implies consistency in the interpretation of a number of phenomena of deviant development. Uncritical borrowing by special psychology from child psychopathology of such terms as "developmental regression", "developmental arrest" contradicts the essence of the very concept of "development". As already mentioned, this process is fundamentally irreversible and continuous, already due to the time factor. Therefore, the terms "regression" and "stop" in development are meaningless, because they fix phenomena that are absent in nature in general. Nevertheless, not allowing the possibility of the reverse development of living systems in the field of biology, we easily recognize the existence of such a phenomenon in relation to the psyche as a living self-regulating system. But what then is behind these categories? When one speaks of "stopping" development, one is talking about an extreme slowdown of this process to such an extent that the researcher objectively does not have enough time to wait for the appearance of certain changes that indicate progress. By the way, for a long time it was believed that mental retardation is a very slow development, which at a certain point in life stops altogether. It took many years of research to prove the opposite - its continuity in conditions of mental retardation. As for the phenomenon of "regression", in this case we are dealing with the disintegration, disorganization of one or another function against the background of the loss of its integrity by the psyche. It is well known that decay is not unambiguously negative. This is a qualitatively different process, in contrast to development. By themselves, the phenomena of disintegration are not included in the subject of special psychology, but constitute the content of such sciences as psychopathology and pathopsychology.

It is also necessary to touch on the category of “transient regression”, when the period of “reverse” development is replaced by the continuation of the direct one. Most often, such phenomena are described in children in a situation of various diseases or psychotraumatic circumstances. At the same time, it is indicated that the transition to a lower, infantile level of response performs an adaptive, protective function, which, in essence, contradicts the idea of ​​adaptation, which involves mobilization and complication of the structure of activity. It seems to us that behind the phenomenon of transient regression there is a temporary disintegration, a mismatch in the functioning of individual elements of the psyche while maintaining its integrity, which only outwardly resembles decay.

Finishing the characterization of the genetic principle and its significance for special psychology, one more important point should be emphasized. Deviant development is a very complex formation: some aspects of the developing psyche can remain relatively intact, while others show signs of disturbance. In other words, the process of ontogenesis (normal age development) is woven systemogenesis - the process of sequential unfolding in terms of age symptoms of deviation. These symptoms never appear all at once, they have a certain age dynamics. So, for example, congenital or early acquired hearing loss will eventually lead to a lag in speech development, which will inevitably affect the formation of thinking, arbitrary regulation of behavior, and communication skills. A decrease in visual acuity in the first months of life may not manifest itself in any way, but, starting from the fourth, it is found in the features of orienting activity. Further effects of systemogenesis will be associated with a lag in the development of perception, motor sphere, etc.

Thus, the symptoms of deviations should be considered as a dynamic formation - as a natural process in the genetic plan.

The reflective nature of the psyche can be realized by us more deeply with a clear understanding of its functional affiliation. Subjective reflection of objective reality, its very existence is necessary for the regulation of behavior and activity. Another of the most important explanatory principles of psychology is based on this position - the principle of unity of consciousness (psyche) and activity.

In its most general form, this principle boils down to the following: the psyche develops and manifests itself in the process of external material activity of a person, making up its internal plan. In their structure (composition), external and internal (mental) activity are fundamentally similar; internal mental activity grows out of external objective activity. At the same time, diverse mutual transitions are carried out: the objective turns into the mental (internalization) and vice versa (exteriorization). Extremely simplifying the nature of the connection between the psyche and activity, we can say that the more accurately and deeply consciousness reflects the world, the more flexible a person's behavior becomes and the more effective his activity. As well as vice versa: the more actively a person acts, the more accurate the nature of his reflection becomes. The activity approach also assumes that mental reality itself is considered as a special form of activity.

Psychic phenomena, being subjective and ideal, cannot be directly perceived. This means that their study is not direct, but indirect. The object of perception is not the psyche itself, but only its external manifestations, by analyzing which we study the internal processes behind them. True, the complexity and drama of psychological knowledge lies in the fact that the connection between consciousness and activity is not of a direct nature. The same mental phenomenon can have completely different behavioral effects, and the same behavioral act can be caused by completely different internal phenomena.

The same applies to the phenomena of development. If the psyche is not perceived directly, then it is also impossible to directly perceive the process of its development. We can only observe its external manifestations. In essence, the psychologist mentally reconstructs the psychic reality and mechanisms of development, observing the increasingly complex nature of the child's activity and behavior.

Arguing similarly, we have the right to say that deviations in mental development cannot be directly observed either, nor can they be reduced to external manifestations. At the same time, it should be added that the deviations in mental development themselves and their behavioral, activity effects reveal an extremely complex, indirect nature of the relationship with each other. For example, a child has severe difficulties in mastering written language. The fact that certain disruptions in behavior and activity are the result of internal psychological causes is both obvious and banal. The problem lies elsewhere. Various forms of external objective activity are provided by complex, multicomponent internal psychological formations. Each of these components makes its "contribution" to the implementation of a particular type of activity. Therefore, the violation of any of them can lead to violations of the external objective activity as a whole. Simply put, the most diverse and numerous violations of internal psychological mechanisms can stand behind the same observed disorder. Therefore, the characteristics of activity are a criterion for the preservation or “failure” of internal psychological mechanisms only if it is precisely determined which or which internal psychological mechanisms are disturbed by the disorganization of external objective activity. One fact, whether the child coped with the task or not, is not enough. The psychologist must answer the question, for what internal reason do external failures occur in activity. To solve this issue, a diverse variation of the conditions for the course of activity is necessary. Only in this case it is possible to more or less reliably establish the desired connection.

The disclosed explanatory principles in themselves do not provide a ready-made answer to specific psychological problems, they only indicate the direction of its search. They create a certain framework of science that determines the nature of its content, which is fixed in its categorical structure. It should also be borne in mind that we have considered general methodological principles that determine the understanding of mental phenomena in normal and pathological conditions. But any applied discipline, in addition to general postulates, always has more specific ones. In our case, we are talking about specific methodological principles that set the direction for the study of deviations in mental development. Specifically - methodological principles will be discussed in the next section "Methods of Special Psychology".

test questions

1. Give general characteristics the main explanatory (general methodological) principles of psychology and reveal their meaning.

2. What is the originality of the use of general methodological principles in special psychology?

3. What is the role of the main explanatory principles for constructing the theory of special psychology?

Literature

1. Vygotsky L.S. Sobr. op. T. 5. M., 1983.

2. Lebedinsky V.V. Disorders of mental development in childhood. M., 2003.

3. Lubovsky V.Ya. Psychological problems of diagnosing abnormal development of children. M., 1989.

5. Fundamentals of special psychology / Ed. L.V. Kuznetsova. M., 2002.

6. Semago N.Ya., Semago M.M. Guide to psychological diagnostics. M., 2000.

7. Semago N.Ya., Semago M.M. Problem children. M., 2000.

8. Usanova O.N. Special psychology. M., 1990.

neuropsychological studies of the school of A. R. Luria. This principle involves the establishment of a hierarchy in violation of mental development, as well as an analysis of each of the structures of the child's mental activity (motivation, orientation, performance and control over activity).

Violations mental processes can be affected in various structural links and can manifest themselves at various stages of the implementation of mental activity. Therefore, in the psychological study of the child, it is necessary to assess not only which mental processes are disturbed and why, but also which links in the structure of this mental activity turned out to be defective. When conducting such a study, it is important to isolate the defective link in the activity, and in order to better trace what exactly the defects that hinder the performance of a particular task consist of and to identify the causes underlying the difficulties, it is necessary, introducing changes to the tasks, to trace how those conditions , at which the performance of the task is difficult, and those at which the observed defects are compensated. Such a structural-dynamic nature of the study is provided by a neuropsychological approach to the analysis of disorders. Compliance with the principle of the system of structural-dynamic study can ensure the effectiveness of psychological and pedagogical study as a whole.

Fundamentally important in the psychological study of an abnormal child is the question of the criteria for evaluating the results of the study.

The principle put forward in Soviet psychology qualitative analysis survey results.

This principle involves focusing the researcher's attention on the analysis of the process of completing the task and the nature of the child's actions (process decision making, methods of performing the task, types and nature of errors, the child's attitude to his mistakes and comments of the specialist conducting the study).

Qualitative analysis allows us to find out whether this or that defect manifests itself at the elementary level, or whether it is associated with a violation of a higher level of organization of mental activity, and also shows whether this symptom is the primary result of a violation in mental development or a secondary consequence of any primary defect. .

The principle of qualitative analysis is not opposed to quantitative data processing, since quantitative indicators are a prerequisite for qualitative analysis. It should only be noted that quantitative analysis, which is mainly used in testing, reflects a predominantly negative structure of the characteristics of developmental deviations, without revealing the internal structure of the relationship of a defect with a safe development fund, which is not sufficiently informative in terms of predicting psychological and pedagogical correction and which is compensated by a qualitative analysis. . The use of qualitative and quantitative analysis should be understood as components of a psychodiagnostic strategy, in which separately obtained data on the qualitative or quantitative assessment of task performance represent only one type of information, and its value depends on how it is included in the context of data that reflects both sides. the process being studied. Thus, both estimates can successfully complement each other, which will make it possible to use the overall result to solve the problems of research and correction of defects.

Methods for studying abnormal children

A psychologist working with abnormal children and approaching them with a diagnostic task does not know which side of the mental development and mental activity of the abnormal child will become central in the study. First of all, it is necessary

S. N. Shakhovskaya, R. Lalayeva. "Logopathopsychology: textbook"

to orient in the features of the development of the child, highlight the changes in his development and then carefully analyze them. For orientation, the psychologist often has a limited amount of time, especially in the conditions of medical and pedagogical commissions. Of course, the orientation of the psychologist is determined by many factors. Of great importance in this is the study of data obtained by other specialists conducting the examination, however, a direct study of many aspects of the mental development of the child by a psychologist is necessary, and it must be taken into account that if the total time of work with the child by different specialists is exceeded, the study may become impossible due to rather rapid exhaustion. and reduced performance of the child. In this regard, the methods of experimental psychological study of abnormal children must meet the specific tasks they are aimed at, and the content of the study is limited to certain limits.

The methods of studying abnormal children are varied and basically coincide with the methods of studying children with normal development, but they have their own specifics.

1. Examining the child's documentation. The task of studying the documentation is to collect anamnestic data and draw up an idea about the origins of abnormal development. In a comprehensive study of a child, each of the specialists must be able to "read" the documentation of his colleagues and draw from it the information that he needs to draw up a complete picture of the history of the child's development. For the psychological study of the child, such information can be obtained from extracts from the history of the development of the child, which should contain the following conclusions:

– pediatrician about the general condition of the child;

– a psychoneurologist with a substantiated medical diagnosis and a characteristic of mental development;

– an otolaryngologist with a description of the state of the ear, throat, nose and organs involved in the articulation of speech (with data on the perception of spoken and whispered speech by audiogram data);

– an ophthalmologist with a characteristic of the organ of vision and a detailed diagnosis;

- an orthopedic doctor (for children with impaired function of the musculoskeletal system). The materials of such a detailed extract will guide the psychologist and form the outcome.

nye prerequisites for highlighting the direction of the study of mental functions. An important document is the pedagogical characteristics of the child, reflecting

data on the duration of his education and upbringing in school and kindergarten, a detailed analysis of academic performance, behavior, measures taken to improve academic performance (individual assistance, treatment, etc.). These data will be useful in studying the learning ability of abnormal children and predicting the rate of their development. You can also use other documents: the child's personal file, his family history, etc.

The method of studying the documentation guides the specialist conducting the examination in organizing the examination of abnormal children.

2. The study of the products of the activity of abnormal children. This method is widely used

changes in practice. Analyzing the final result (children's drawings, crafts, academic work: dictations, exercises, problem solving, etc.), you can understand the features of the child's work. Analysis of products of children's creativity and learning activities(notebook) allows you to judge such qualities as, for example, the child’s imagination, the formation of his visual representations, the development of fine motor skills of the hands, the degree of formation of skills in educational activities, etc. The products of the activity of abnormal children very often reflect their attitude to reality, nature , reflects the level of development of mental, sensory and motor skills, and often the attitude towards one's defect.

S. N. Shakhovskaya, R. Lalayeva. "Logopathopsychology: textbook"

Especially great importance has a study school work in the selection of children in auxiliary schools.

In order to correctly assess the achievements of the child, you need to know:

– psychological mechanisms for obtaining a particular result, the conditions in which it is obtained;

– features of the development of this skill in the learning process;

– typical difficulties in mastering school knowledge for different groups of students, including "difficult" and lagging behind;

– methods to discover the true causes of difficulties at each stage of learning.

As a rule, the products of the activity of abnormal children have typical features compared to the norm. Their drawings and crafts are often specific both in terms of execution technique and content, and their educational work is replete with specific errors. Studying these works, it is necessary to highlight the features of creativity, labor and educational activities characteristic of different groups of abnormal children. This will help in further correct diagnosis.

3. observation method. Observation will make it possible to judge the state of certain psycho-

chemical functions in the process of spontaneous activity of the child with minimal intervention from the observer. Observation should ensure the naturalness of the mental manifestations of the child, but at the same time be purposeful. When observing, it is necessary to clearly record its results. The degree of activity of the researcher during observation can be different: from passive without any interference in the child's activities to observation in the process of systematic studies. Scientific observation is distinguished by the fact that the collection of facts is determined by the task of the study and is aimed at revealing the pattern that is being studied by the researcher. The value of different types of observation is not the same: passive observation gives information about the natural behavior of the child, at this time the researcher sees the child as a whole person, can fix the features of his relationship with the children's team and teachers. Some disadvantages of this method limit its scope. These include: the expectant position of the researcher, the lack of the possibility of re-observation, the descriptive form of fixing observations, the need for a long time to obtain reliable information.

Active Surveillance(observation in the process of systematic studies) is widely used in the Soviet and foreign psychology and pedagogy and is one of the modifications of the experimental method, namely, the psychological and pedagogical experiment developed by A.F. Lazursky (1918).

This type of observation in psychological study involves a purposeful study of the child's reactions when performing tasks related to those types of activities that are directly related to the development and learning of the child. This type of observation (experiment) combines the study of the child with his education and upbringing. The results of such observation make it possible to develop a targeted program for teaching the child, to determine the pace of further development, the “zone of proximal development”. The value of this method lies in the fact that the researcher, within a relatively short period of time, can study the features and possibilities of the development of the child, creating special conditions for such a study.

The most important types of observation in the psychological study of the child are observation of the game, behavior, communication and working capacity. Observation of the play of anomalous children as a method of study can be used for various purposes. Availability game material creates a relaxed atmosphere, helps

S. N. Shakhovskaya, R. Lalayeva. "Logopathopsychology: textbook"

establish contact with the child, include him in activities of interest to him, analyze the possibilities of understanding speech. Starting the survey with observation of the child's play, you can, by positioning him towards yourself and the situation, gradually and imperceptibly move on to experimental tasks. Thus, the application of the method of observing the child's play prepares the possibility of using the method of experiment.

4. Method of conversation. A conversation is a method of collecting facts about mental phenomena in the process of personal communication according to a specially designed program. When studying abnormal children, the conversation method is used in 2 directions: a conversation with parents (teachers, educators) in order to collect anamnestic data and a conversation with a child in order to establish contact with him and draw up a general idea of ​​​​his development. The conversation method is used to determine the orientation of the child in the surrounding space and time (the range of ideas, the possibility of generalizations), the characteristics and motives of the child's behavior, attitudes towards family and school, the causes of difficulties in learning, inclinations, interests, attitudes towards one's defect, i.e. conversation gives some idea of ​​the level cognitive activity and personality traits. The content of the conversation varies depending on the complaints of the parents and the child, the age of the child and his individual features. When studying the features of the mental development of abnormal children, the method of conversation is most often used as an initial stage for the initial acquaintance, or as one of the auxiliary methods in studying the characteristics of the development of the personality of an abnormal child. Establishing contact with the child depends on the ability to properly build a conversation, which prepares the examination with the help of special tasks.

The program of a conversation with an abnormal child should be built taking into account the peculiarities of receiving and processing information by abnormal children, as well as taking into account possible manifestations of speech negativism, which is often found in children with severe speech pathology. The conversation should be of an informal confidential nature, contributing to the emergence of an emotionally positive contact between the psychologist and the child. This is important because many abnormal children have negative experiences with adults. The use of observation and conversation methods prepares the possibility of using the experimental method.

5. Experiment method. The experimental method involves the collection of facts in specially simulated conditions that ensure the active manifestation of the phenomena under study. It can be used to study various activities of children, identify the features of their personality development and learning opportunities.

Modeling consists in the fact that the experimenter organizes the performance of the studied actions in somewhat artificial conditions that are unusual for the child.

The common point in all experiments is that the child is asked to perform a task according to a specific instruction, which is a model of ordinary intellectual or some other activity.

The experiments that are carried out with anomalous children have their own specifics. First of all, it consists in the fact that the content of the tasks should be accessible and interesting to the child. In addition, the presentation of the model itself must go in a special way. In most cases, the job is offered in game form; This applies to children of both preschool and school age. When working with school-age children, the presentation of experimental material in the form of a learning task is used, but in such cases, the motivation for the task can be changed. For example, if it is necessary to study the features of the mediation of visual images, the “pictogram” task is offered with the motivation to test memory using drawings, etc.

Thus, the simulated mental act or process must be translated in the experiment into a differently motivated, simple, accessible comprehension of the anomalous

The history of the creation of the theoretical foundations of special psychology and its methodology is closely connected with the name of the outstanding Russian psychologist Ya. S. Vygotsky. 20th century on the basis of his theory of the development of higher mental functions.

The methodological foundations of special psychology, as well as of all general psychology, are based on the methodological principles of dialectical materialism. The most important for understanding abnormal development are three principles: the principle of determinism, the principle of development, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity.

• 1. The principle of determinism is when real natural and mental processes are deterministic, that is, they arise, develop and are destroyed naturally, as a result of the action of certain reasons. Determinism is a fundamental principle of materialism. Determinism is a methodological principle according to which, from the fact that everything in the world is interconnected and conditioned by a cause, it follows the possibility of knowing and predicting events that have both a uniquely defined and a probabilistic nature. It also means that all psychological phenomena are understood as phenomena caused by objective reality and are a reflection of objective reality. All mental phenomena are considered as caused by the activity of the brain. This principle presupposes, in the study of mental phenomena, the obligatory establishment of the causes that caused these phenomena.
• 2. The principle of development. This principle is expressed in the fact that all mental phenomena are considered as constantly developing quantitatively and qualitatively. A correct assessment of the child's mental state is possible when studying the dynamics of his development. Considering the zone of proximal development.
• 3. The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity means a two-way connection between consciousness and activity. On the one hand, human consciousness, his psyche are formed in activity, on the other hand, activity is a reflection of the level of human consciousness. Only in activity it is possible to establish the features of mental properties, states, processes. This principle requires the defectologist to study the mental development of an abnormal child in the process of various activities. Only in this case it is possible to form new mental processes, to carry out the correction of disturbed functions in activity. General:
• 1. Purposefulness.
• 2. Humanistic basis.
• 3. Integrity and consistency.
• 4. Respect + reasonable demands.
• 5. Reliance on the positive.
• 7. Consciousness and activity of the individual.

Specific:

• 1 Unity of prevention, correction and development.
• 2. Unity of diagnostics and correction.
• 3. Accounting for individual and age characteristics.
• 4. Activity.
• 5. A comprehensive approach to the use of methods and techniques.
• 6. Integration of the efforts of the immediate environment.

Special psychology accumulates theoretical methods of practical work necessary for the development of other areas of psychology. The study of the mental characteristics of different categories of children with gross developmental anomalies contributes to understanding the patterns of mental ontogenesis in the norm. Helping to overcome the difficult problems of teaching and educating children with gross developmental anomalies, special psychology has accumulated means of resolving the difficulties of teaching children who do not have such pronounced disorders.

The methods of scientific research in special pedagogy are - observation, experiment, conversation, questioning, testing, methods of studying psychological and pedagogical documentation, products of the child's activity and projective methods are also used. For special pedagogy, the classification of correction methods developed by Yu.K. Babansky. He distinguishes three groups of methods.

Group I - methods of organization and implementation of educational and cognitive activities. This group of methods includes:

• * verbal, visual and practical (transmission and perception of educational information - a source of knowledge);
• * inductive and deductive (intellectual activity);
• * reproductive and problem-search (development of thinking);
• * independent work students under the guidance of a teacher.

Group II - methods of stimulation and control.

Group III - methods of control and self-control.

Of interest is the classification of teaching methods proposed by V.A. Onischuk. The author took the activities of the teacher and students as the basis for the classification. They have the following teaching methods:

• * communicative;
• * informative;
• * transformative;
• * systematizing;
• * control. Features of the use of visual, verbal, practical methods with problem children.

According to the method of information transfer, three groups of methods are distinguished.

1. Visual Methods which include observation and demonstration.

Observation - can be short-term or long-term, permanent or episodic.

Exist visual aids for demo:

• - means of objective visualization (real objects or their copies);
• - figurative visual aids (illustrations, slides, films);
• - conditionally symbolic means (formulas, symbols, diagrams).

When using them, one should remember such features of children as a slow pace of perception, a narrowing of the volume of perception, a violation of the accuracy of perception. Illustrations should be large, accessible, and realistic.

In corrective work with problem children, the principle of providing a polysensory basis for learning is applied, that is, learning is based on all the senses.

• 2. Verbal methods:
  • - a story is a teacher's monologue containing educational information;
  • - Conversation is a dialogue between a teacher and a student;
  • - an explanation is a comment in which the hidden from direct perception essential signs, connections, relationships.

The story should be concise, clear, the presentation of the material requires emotionality and expressiveness. In a conversation, it is important to clearly formulate questions, they should be clear to the child.

Children with developmental disabilities experience difficulties in the perception and processing of verbal information, most of them suffer from speech development, therefore verbal methods should be combined with the use of visual and practical.

• 3. Practical methods:
  • - exercises (oral and written);
  • - productive activity;
  • - Experimental activities.
  • - elements of programmed learning.

Discipline "FOUNDATIONS OF SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGY"

Lecture 5

Principles and methods of special psychology

Questions:

1. Philosophical and general psychological principles used by special psychology.
2. Specific principles of special psychology.
3. The concept of scientific method. Methods of special psychology.

Philosophical and general psychological principles used by special psychology: the principle of reflectivity, the principle of determinism, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity, the genetic principle. The concept of systemogenesis. Specific principles of special psychology: the principle of complexity, the principle of systemic structural-dynamic study, the principle of qualitative analysis, the comparative principle, the principle of early diagnostic study, the principle of identifying and taking into account the potential of the child, the principle of unity of diagnostic and corrective care for children with OPFR.

The concept of the scientific method. Information collection methods. conversation method. Observation as a method in special psychology, its originality in the process of studying persons with OPFR. Features of self-observation. Types and forms of experimental techniques used in special psychology. Features of using the experimental method. Standardized psychodiagnostic procedures and their use. The method of questionnaires and surveys. Method of analysis of products of activity. Anamnestic method in the process of studying various forms of impaired development.

1. Philosophical and general psychological principles used by special psychology: the principle of reflectivity, the principle of determinism, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity, the genetic principle. The concept of system genesis.

In addition to the actual categorical apparatus, each science hasa system of explanatory principles, extremely general ideas, the use of which allows a relatively consistent and consistent understanding and explanation of the phenomena under study.These representations act as a certain coordinate system that helps to navigate in empirical data, classify and understand them. Applied sciences use a system of principles created within the framework of fundamental disciplines. Therefore, the principles formulated in general psychology are the same for all branches of psychological science. But, the principles operate only within one psychological school, they are not universal. For example, the explanatory principles of psychoanalysis do not apply to humanistic psychology and vice versa. We will speak within the framework of the domestic psychological school.

• The most general principle isreflectivity.Its essence boils down to the fact that all mental phenomena, in all their diversity, represent a special, higher form of reflection of the surrounding world in the form of images, concepts, experiences. The fundamental properties of mental reflection are its subjectivity, activity, selectivity and purposefulness. No, even the most gross pathological disturbances of mental activity will not change its reflective essence. We can only talk about a decrease in the degree of adequacy of reflection, the transformation of an adequate reflection into a false one, as, for example, in hallucinations.

Reflection may suffer from the point of view of completeness, accuracy, depth, but it always remains fundamentally adequate, on the whole, true, correct. The rich experimental material obtained in the study of different groups of children with developmental disabilities convincingly proves this position. An example is cases of severe sensory disturbances, such as deaf-blindness, in which the cognitive abilities of the individual are severely reduced. However, under certain learning conditions, children with such disabilities are able to acquire knowledge, reaching a high intellectual development. This would be impossible under conditions of inadequate reflection. The multidimensionality of the reflective activity of the psyche makes it possible to compensate for the shortcomings of some forms of reflection at the expense of others, more preserved.

• The next explanatory principle isprinciple of determinism.From his standpoint, psychic phenomena are considered as causal, derived from external influence, which is reflected by the psyche. S. L. Rubinshtein formulated it most accurately: an external cause always acts, refracting through an internal condition. The simplest understanding of the principle of determinism in special psychology is that there are no and cannot be unreasonable deviations in development. The reason may be known, may not be known, but it exists. At the same time, the same pathogenic factor can lead to various forms of deviations, as well as the fact that different causes can lead to the same type of deviation in development. For persons with handicapped training also acts as the most important way to correct existing violations. Thus, the development of a special child is a point of application of opposing forces, designated as negative (basic violation) and positive (training and correction) determinants. Both of them are refracted through "internal conditions". It is these force proportions that can explain the seemingly strange cases of different rates of development with the same degree of severity of the same primary disorder in two children. Differences in such a situation are determined by the nature and timeliness of the corrective assistance provided to the child, which is largely capable of neutralizing or blocking the influence of pathogenic factors. Recently, the number of children with congenital neuropsychiatric diseases has increased. So, according to neonatologists, out of 10 infants, only 2 children have indicators corresponding to normal physiological and mental development. In such a situation, early assistance to families raising a child with developmental disabilities or a developmental risk becomes relevant. As a result of correction at an early age, up to 30% of children reach the norm by 6 months, and 90% have a persistent positive effect. This leads to a reduction in the proportion of children who school age will need special assistance, reduces the degree of social insufficiency of children with disabilities.
• Genetic, or principle of development. Its essence boils down to the proposition that all mental phenomena must be considered exclusively on a dynamic plane, i.e. in the process of development and formation. According to the figurative expression of one of the psychologists, the desire to consider the psyche outside of development is reminiscent of an attempt to cut water with scissors. Despite the presence of certain specifics, designated by the concept of "special way", deviant development is characterized by the same thing that is characteristic of development in general: the permanent formation of quantitative and qualitative neoplasms, irreversibility, etc.

The use of the genetic principle implies consistency in the interpretation of a number of phenomena of deviant development. Uncritical borrowing by special psychology from child psychopathology of such terms as "developmental regression", "developmental arrest" contradicts the essence of the very concept of "development". As already mentioned, this process is fundamentally irreversible and continuous, already due to the time factor. Therefore, the terms "regression" and "stop" in development are meaningless, because they fix phenomena that are absent in nature in general. Nevertheless, not allowing the possibility of the reverse development of living systems in the field of biology, we easily recognize the existence of such a phenomenon in relation to the psyche as a living self-regulating system. But what then is behind these categories? When one speaks of "stopping" development, one is talking about an extreme slowdown of this process to such an extent that the researcher objectively does not have enough time to wait for the appearance of certain changes that indicate progress. By the way, for a long time it was believed that mental retardation is a very slow development, which at a certain point in life stops altogether. It took many years of research to prove the opposite - its continuity in conditions of mental retardation. As for the phenomenon of "regression", in this case we are dealing with the disintegration, disorganization of one or another function against the background of the loss of its integrity by the psyche. and pathopsychology.

Speaking about the genetic principle, it is necessary to consider the concept systemogenesis - the process of successive unfolding in terms of age of symptoms of deviation. These symptoms never appear all at once, they have a certain age dynamics. So, for example, congenital or early acquired hearing loss will eventually lead to a lag in speech development, which will inevitably affect the formation of thinking, arbitrary regulation of behavior, and communication skills. A decrease in visual acuity in the first months of life may not manifest itself in any way, but, starting from the fourth, it is found in the features of orienting activity. Further effects of systemogenesis will be associated with a lag in the development of perception, motor sphere, etc.

In this way, symptoms of deviations should be considered as a dynamic formation - as a natural process in the genetic plan.

• Subjective reflection of objective reality, its very existence is necessary for the regulation of behavior and activity. Another of the most important explanatory principles of psychology is based on this position -the principle of unity of consciousness (psyche) and activity.

In its most general form, this principle boils down to the following: the psyche develops and manifests itself in the process of external material activity of a person, making up its internal plan. Extremely simplifying the nature of the relationship between the psyche and activity, we can say that the more accurately and deeply the consciousness reflects the world around, the more flexible a person's behavior becomes and the more effective his activity. As well as vice versa: the more actively a person acts, the more accurate the nature of his reflection becomes. The activity approach also assumes that mental reality itself is considered as a special form of activity.

These principles create a certain framework of science that determines the nature of its content, which is fixed in its categorical structure. It should also be borne in mind that we have considered general methodological principles that determine the understanding of mental phenomena in normal and pathological conditions. But any applied discipline, in addition to general postulates, always has more specific ones. In our case, we are talking about specific methodological principles that set the direction for the study of deviations in mental development.

1. Specific principles of special psychology: the principle of complexity, the principle of systemic structural-dynamic study, the principle of qualitative analysis, the comparative principle, the principle of early diagnostic study, the principle of identifying and taking into account the potential of the child, the principle of unity of diagnostic and corrective care for children with OPFR.

Briefly summing up all that has been said, let us turn to the basic principles of the psychological examination of children with various forms of developmental disabilities.The most common of these iscomparative principle,the meaning of which is obvious: empirical data obtained in an experiment or observation are evaluated as scientifically valid only if they are compared with similar factual material reproduced on a comparable sample of normally developing children. This condition is necessary, but not sufficient. The comparative principle also implies a comparison of data obtained on a specific group of children with similar results of studies conducted on children with a different form of impairment.

For all its formal simplicity, the technical implementation of this principle can be associated with methodological difficulties. It is possible to correlate the results obtained in a comparative study only if the research procedure used in working with different groups of children is identical. Otherwise, such a comparison is incorrect. It can be very difficult to achieve this kind of methodological identity, because the same specific methodology, suitable for working with one group of children, may be completely invalid in relation to another. The introduction of modifications casts doubt on the very possibility of comparing the results.

Another principle is dynamic represents a logical continuation of the comparative. Adequate information about the nature of a particular deviation can be obtained as a result of multiple time slices. The nature of the deviation, its originality and quality are reproducible only in dynamics.

The principle of integrated approach is as follows: in the psychological examination of children with disabilities, especially when interpreting the results, the psychologist must take into account clinical data (neurological and somatic status, the state of vision, hearing, speech, motor sphere, the possibility of a hereditary nature of disorders, etc.). This, in turn, places high demands on his clinical erudition, which allows him to consider his own factual material not in isolation, but in a clinical context. Psychological data are also supplemented by the use of so-called paraclinical techniques, which have been increasingly used in the field of special psychology in recent years. We are talking about psychophysiological: electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, positive emission tomography of the brain, oculography, electromyography, etc.

The principle of a holistic, systematic study“It involves, first of all, the detection of not just individual manifestations of mental development disorders, but the connections between them, determining their causes, establishing a hierarchy of detected shortcomings or deviations in mental development ...” (Lubovsky V. I. Psychological problems of diagnosing abnormal development of children. M., 1985, p. 51). System analysis in the process of psychological and pedagogical diagnostics involves the establishment of relationships between individual disorders, their hierarchy. It is very important that not only the phenomena negative character, but also preserved functions and positive sides individuals who will form the basis of corrective measures.

The implementation of this principle is possible only with a qualitative analysis of the obtained empirical facts.Focus on qualitative analysisrepresents another principle of studying children with developmental disabilities, but it does not deny the possibility of using quantitative comparisons with the involvement of various statistical processing procedures - correlation, factor, cluster, analysis of variance, etc.

The need for early diagnostic study allowsidentify and prevent the appearance of secondary layers of a social nature on the primary violation and timely include the child in remedial education.

Unity of diagnostic and corrective care for children with developmental disorders.The tasks of correctional and pedagogical work can be solved only on the basis of diagnostics, determining the forecasts of mental development and assessing the potential of the child.

Consistent implementation of the above principles, combined with a clearly defined task (goal) of the study, as well as a correctly formulated hypothesis, allows us to hope for the collection of adequate empirical results.

Conducting an experiment, obtaining empirical data in quantitative and qualitative form, their further statistical processing - all these are only preliminary stages.the main phase of any scientific research is the analysis of the extracted material.Its main content boils down to answering the question of what the information obtained says about one or another side of the psychological reality under study. The analytical direction is set by a clearly defined problem, that is, the main question of the study and the presence of a hypothesis (or hypotheses) of assumptions, the correctness or fallacy of which is tested in this research work.

1. The concept of the scientific method. Methods of special psychology: Methods of collecting information. conversation method. Observation as a method in special psychology, its originality in the process of studying persons with OPFR. Features of self-observation. Types and forms of experimental techniques used in special psychology. Features of using the experimental method. Standardized psychodiagnostic procedures and their use. The method of questionnaires and surveys. Method of analysis of products of activity. Anamnestic method in the process of studying various forms of impaired development.

The scientific method is a historically established way of obtaining reliable facts, which, according to the figurative expression of IP Pavlov, are "the air of any science." The history of scientific knowledge has developed many methods, each of which has its own resolution capabilities, advantages and disadvantages, in comparison with other methods. In this sense, it is absurd to talk about good and bad methods, as, indeed, about the search for one universal tool, it can only be effective if it is mastered perfectly. The use of the method, among other things, implies the ability to give an account of where and when it should be applied, how reliable data can be obtained with its help.

Psychology in its practice usestwo groups of methods - general scientific and strictly psychological.The former are used by most of the sciences, both natural and humanitarian - experiment, observation, conversation, analysis of the products of activity, questioning, self-observation, etc.

Special psychology uses general psychological methods, but their application has its own specifics, which have been studied quite widely (E.Z. Bezrukova, N.V. Belomestnova, N.L. Belopolskaya, I.M. Bgazhnokova, A.D. Vinogradova, S. D. Zabramnaya, I. A. Korobeinikov, I. Yu. Levchenko, V. I. Lubovsky, L. Pozhar, S. Ya. Rubinstein, N. Ya. Semago, M. M. Semago, V. M. Sorokin E. Heisserman, I.A. Shapoval and others). More I.M. Bgazhnokova divided the study methods into main (observation, experiment) andauxiliary(conversation, test, questionnaire, analysis of activity products). Auxiliary methods are used to refine the data obtained during the study using the main methods.

The choice of method is determined by the objectives of the study. In the process of studying a child with developmental disorders, a specialist should set himself the following tasks: to establish the features of mental development; determine the structure of a mental defect; identify the positive aspects of the psyche; outline the optimal conditions for correctional education and training; determine the optimal educational route for the child.

With the help of basic research methods, one can obtain psychological facts, quantitative and qualitative data on the mental development of the child.

observation. In special psychology, it is of particular importance, since it is not always possible to carry out psychological experiment due to the severity and severity of violations in the development of the subject; in addition, the focus on a qualitative analysis of experimental data necessarily implies their supplementation with observational data.

The requirements for monitoring are:

1. As exhaustive and accurate as possible, descriptions of the child's behavior in a wide variety of situations should be given.

2. It is necessary to avoid subjective interpretations and assessments. At the same time, we pay special attention to the so-called defect-centrism - a complex installation phenomenon, leading to a mixture of age and individual characteristics of the child's actions with clinical symptoms.

Psychological mechanisms defect-centrism consists in apperception (the dependence of perception on life, in this case, professional experience) and anticipation (the ability to foresee the development of events or phenomena in some form). Since, as a rule, a specialist knows in advance about the developmental features of the child he is going to study, he can begin to explain all the originality of his behavior by the presence of a defect. Thus, not only the conclusions about the state of the subject are distorted, but also the process of observation itself.

3. The exact description of the fact, and not its interpretation, must be recorded in the minutes, because the latter may be controversial. The reliability of judgments about the internal states of the observed individual requires repeated andimpartial registrationhis behavioral actsnot their interpretation.. The very process of interpretation is a complex intellectual act of analysis and synthesis of a large amount of factual material - the results of objective observation.

4. When describing, one should use words and terms that have the same meaning and exactly correspond to the observed phenomenon.

5. When making generalizations and conclusions from observations, all observational data should be taken into account.

When carrying out the process of observation, it is necessary to remember that children with visual impairments show a certain restraint, distrust, poor facial expressions, emphasized discipline; their facial expressions and pantomime often inadequately reflect their state of mind.

Deaf and hard of hearing exaggerated facial expressions and gestures are observed, but their mechanically learned, emotionally inexpressive speech does not provide reliable information about their feelings and experiences.

The closedness, clumsiness of movements of children with disorders of the musculoskeletal system, their characteristic overestimation or underestimation of their own personality often hide their real self.

Children with speech impediments react very sensitively to observation, and their speech impediments tend to be exacerbated.

The most objective in comparison with other categories is the observation of children with intellectual disabilities. Even if they try to show themselves as different from reality, this can be easily seen, as they openly reveal their feelings and shortcomings. However, difficulties in interpreting the observed behavior may arise due to the poverty of speech, amimicity, and primitive gestures.

It must be taken into account that introspection in children with developmental disabilities is even less objective than in healthy children. For example, children and adolescents who were born blind and who lost their sight early do not have adequate knowledge about the visual signs of objects and phenomena of the surrounding world; for those who are deaf, the statements reflect the shortcomings of speech and the originality of thinking; children with intellectual disabilities are incapable of accurate observations and reasoning; children and adolescents with disorders of the musculoskeletal system do not have adequate orientation in space; in severe speech disorders in the process of speaking about the results of self-observation, speech deficiencies can be significantly increased.

The possibilities of using the data of self-observation in special psychology are also limited by the fact that self-consciousness appears rather late in ontogeny. Any form of dysontogenesis to some extent changes the content and temporal parameters of the formation of self-consciousness. Therefore, in these cases, according to introspection data, we can only judge the presence of self-consciousness and its individual qualitative characteristics, but we cannot qualify them as objective and reliable. The exception is cases of mature age in combination with complete intellectual safety.

Observation during psychological examination (experiment)is possible only when using a special, pre-prepared map-scheme using certain symbols. This allows, without attracting the attention of the child, to note the presence and intensity of the observed characteristics. I.A. Shapoval proposes the following scheme of the observation protocol.

Evaluation of the appearance of the child:body features, cleanliness of clothes, skin, complexion, special signs. This information is important for the subsequent analysis of the correspondence of age to physical development; analysis of the degree of attention of parents to the child, socio-cultural stereotypes of the family as a whole; about emotional state child at the time of examination, etc.

Next comes general mood backgroundthe child before the start of the experiment and in the process of performing tasks, which is assessed by many indicators: posture, degree of mobility, facial expressions and gestures, mood background and its changes depending on the success of the experimental tasks and the course of the conversation, signs of neurotic manifestations. Each of the indicators is important, none of them should be omitted in the protocol, since in itself it provides a lot of additional information. In particular, such an indicator as “signs of neurotic manifestations” - trembling in the hands, twitching of the shoulders, stereotypical grimacing, biting lips or nails, sniffing, constantly shifting objects, fidgeting in a chair, rocking, etc. - allows you to identify the increase in tension and anxiety when the child finds it difficult to complete the proposed tasks or he has questions affecting the affectogenic zones.

Then fixedgeneral and mental activity, which is revealed by observing the following signs: energy and expediency of movements, facial expressions, gestures or their randomness and convulsiveness, lethargy and fussiness.

Observation of verbal manifestationsthe child includes an assessment of the intensity of the voice, its expressiveness or monotony, features of timbre coloration, the rate of speech and its changes in the course of performing tasks, the degree of speech activity (from talkativeness to monosyllabic statements). There are also shortcomings in pronunciation, the presence of infantile words and phrases, slang expressions. The presence in speech of agrammatisms, echolalia, slippage.

The protocol reflects how the subject builds hisrelationship with a specialistduring the examination,responds to failure, to a hint, remark or praise.

A special section of the protocol of observations isinformation about emotional and volitional manifestationsthe child during the performance of experimental tasks: the pace of work and its changes throughout the survey; the degree of perseverance in completing tasks; concentration or distractibility; how soon signs of fatigue appear; whether the child is trying to analyze the task before him, to understand the goal, whether he tries different solutions, or looks helpless and confused.

Experiment. Determining the level of current development in ascertaining experiment allows you to reliably assess the degree of a child’s lagging behind the normative characteristics of a given age, determine which aspects of his psyche and behavior are more disturbed and which remain more intact, in other words, put diagnosis , then organize adequate and targeted corrective assistance.

Formative (training) experimentis an integral part of differential diagnosis. Pre-planned, dosed assistance allows you to see and accurately measure the progress of the child in solving the problem, depending on the volume and form of assistance. In addition to the diagnosis allows you to see forecast .

Requirements for the experiment:

1. Starting the experiment, it is necessary to simulate the normal mental activity of the child.

2. It is necessary to develop a detailed plan for the implementation, taking into account the compliance of the task with the possibilities of implementing it by the child. You need to make sure that the subject understood the essence of the proposed task. For various reasons (sensory, speech, intellectual, emotional disorders), the instruction available to a normal child turns out to be incomprehensible to the child, so the task is performed incorrectly. In this case, the negative result does not reflect the capabilities of the child with developmental disorders, but the degree of accuracy in understanding the proposed task, which may be the cause of a diagnostic error.

3. The experimental procedure should be adequate to the capabilities of the child in terms of the nature of the stimulus material and the sequence of its presentation. In case of serious speech disorders, tasks that do not require a speech report should be used. The instruction can be given in the form of a demonstration of a sample of actions that the subject must repeat.

4. Children with OPFR are characterized by a lack of interest, a decrease in the level of general performance, rapidly developing fatigue and a feeling of emotional discomfort associated with it. That is why the experiment is dosed, partial.

5. Arbitrary unfounded interpretations should be guarded against. Therefore, when making any conclusion in conclusion, it is necessary to write down the facts (words or actions of the child) from which this conclusion follows. It is also useful to check this conclusion with other methods in a re-examination. Single, non-repeating experimental facts are very rarely significant.

6. The organization of the experimental procedure requires taking into account the state of the child's motivational sphere: its instability, low level cognitive interests may be the true reason for the extreme scatter of the obtained indicators in the same subject. During the experiment, it is necessary to create a favorable emotional environment in order to eliminate feelings of shyness, awkwardness, and other side factors.

7. The course of the experiment is reflected in the protocol, which indicates brief information about the subject, the time of the experiment, a detailed test of everything that happens. For example, mentally retarded children not only violate the order of work provided for by the instructions, but sometimes act outside the context of the situation - they play with aids, hide them in their pockets, perform actions that are opposite to those they are asked to perform. Such actions should not be considered as a failure of the experiment, this is a very valuable and important material, provided that it is carefully recorded.

8. When processing received data, in addition to methods mathematical statistics it is necessary to use high-quality data processing. It is not so important whether the task is solved or not, what is the percentage of tasks completed and not completed, the main ones are qualitative indicators that provide information about the method of performing tasks, the type and nature of errors, about the child's attitude to his mistakes and critical remarks of the experimenter.

The leading in special psychology is undoubtedly the formative (teaching) experiment, it allows you to see what types of assistance are available to the child, to make a qualitative analysis of the experimental material. For example,technique "Cutting picture".

Target: learning the ability to create a whole from parts; assessment of the formation of mental operations of analysis and synthesis.

Assistance types:

Incentive Aid- encouragement, praise (try to do it, you will succeed) or (that's right, well done, you try, let's go on). It is necessary if the child is not confident in himself, needs approval.

Organizing help- organization of attention at some point in the task (take your time, look carefully). It is necessary when the child's attention is not stable or he is quickly distracted.

Clarifying help- clarification of the order of actions when completing the task (look carefully at the details of the picture again, remember what you have to collect, connect these details so that you get a whole object).

Introduction of visibility- when folding a picture from 3-5 parts, the specialist takes two suitable parts, connects them together, without explaining the algorithm for performing the action, then invites the child to continue to assemble on their own.

The second option for visual-effective help is to show a picture with a whole image of an object.

Specific learning help- the psychologist shows the child the most characteristic details of the object being collected, specifies in which part of the image they are located (above, below, in front). Then he outlines a plan for assembling the image (for vertical images - from bottom to top, for horizontal images - from left to right). Together with the child collects a picture. After learning, the child is asked to complete the task on their own.

Thus, during the experimental procedure, the child can and should be assisted. Among forms of assistance S.Ya. Rubinshtein, and after her I.A. Shapoval allocate:

A simple questioning, a request to repeat a particular word (drawing the subject's attention to what was said or done);

Approval and stimulation of further actions, for example, “good”, “next”;

Questions about why the subject did this or that action (help in clarifying his own thoughts);

Leading questions or critical objections of the experimenter;

Hint, advice to act in one way or another;

Demonstration of the action and a request to repeat it yourself;

Step by step training to complete the task.

Assistance has general rules : first check whether more minor types of assistance will be sufficient, and only then resort to demonstration and training; the specialist should not be verbose or overly active; his intervention in the work of the subject should be deliberate, stingy, rare; every act of interference, i.e. help, should be recorded in the protocol, as well as the response and statements of the subject.

No less productive in comparison with other methods are the methods of conversation, the collection of psychological anamnesis.

Conversation. The child's departure from the topic of conversation, attempts to talk about something else, sudden isolation, formal monosyllabic answers - all these are highly diagnostic signs.

Interview requirements:

1. The topics of conversation with the child depend on the specific objectives of the survey, they should cover the main areas of his life: family, Kindergarten, interests, communication, the child's opinion about himself, his capabilities and abilities. Topics important for achieving the goal of the study are considered in more detail, for example, the range of ideas about the environment, the stock of information, the features of orientation in space, time, in natural phenomena and social life, awareness in certain areas.

2. It must be taken into account that the child may get tired and lose interest in the content of the conversation, therefore, it should not be excessively long.

3. Conversation as a method can be used with children who have a sufficient level of development of oral speech. The conversation method is used in children under four years of age and with a low level of speech development limited, since their verbal responses are still convoluted.

4. In special psychology, it is necessary to have certain skills to conduct a conversation with certain groups of children with dysontogenesis (sign language, alternative communication).

5. It is necessary to accurately determine the purpose, the main content of the conversation, the nature and sequence of the proposed questions, which are formulated in the preparation process. The conversation is prepared in advance, the children are asked questions in the same sequence. It is conducted by a trained specialist who enters the answers of the children into the protocol verbatim, fixes the emotional reactions, intonations of the subject. When processing the received material, children's statements are comprehended and correlated with other data.

6. At the beginning of acquaintance with a child, it is convenient to start a conversation with simple business questions (“What is your name? How old are you? Who are you friends with?”). This approach usually calms the child. As a result, he quickly comes into contact with the experimenter.

7. The final stage of the conversation is carried out after the pilot study. The specialist finds out which tasks the child liked and which did not; what was difficult and what was easy; How does the child evaluate their progress? Based on the answers, ideas about the child's personality characteristics (self-esteem, level of claims, criticality, etc.), his emotional and volitional manifestations are clarified.

The questions that make up the conversation are the following:

1. Asking questions should be clear.

2. When formulating a question, words with a double meaning should be avoided.

3. Questions should not be too long.

4. Double questions should be avoided.

5. The question should be formulated in such a way as to avoid a template answer.

6. The question should not suggest a definite answer to the child.

Most often in the form of a conversationcollection of psychological history- the history of the mental development of the child. Talking to parents, caregivers, and other adults who know the child can provide valuable information. The difficulty lies in the fact that this data is not structured. It is often difficult for parents to single out the main thing, many confuse the medical history with the history of the mental development of their child. That is why it is necessary to accurately direct the story, asking specific questions about the stages and aspects of development. Anamnestic information can be significantly replenished if the history of the child's development is reproduced by different people (father and mother, one of the parents and the caregiver, etc.). When taking a psychological history in the course of a conversation with parents, one must remember that the topic of the specificity of their child can be painful. Therefore, the formulation of questions should be extremely delicate.

Taking anamnesis in the process of working with teachers is always more productive due to their professional training, but they tend to consider development in the context of the learning process, which makes the anamnesis somewhat one-sided.

A few words about other auxiliary methods and the possibilities of their use in special psychology.

Questionnaires (questionnaires)most often used in work with parents and teachers. A clear definition of the components of behavior, emotional reactions and states, characteristics of activity allows parents (teachers) to analyze in sufficient detail and in detail the everyday, typical manifestations of the mental life of the child. Self-questioning of children with developmental disabilities is possible only from adolescence and has its own specifics, expressed in the technical side of the process. For example, a questionnaire survey of the blind can only be carried out if the text is translated into a special writing system (L. Braille); the lack of outside help for children with intellectual disabilities does not always guarantee the correct understanding of the questions in the questionnaire (therefore, there are special requirements for the wording of questions), etc. Filling out the questionnaire by a psychologist violates confidentiality, reduces the level of reliability of the material received.

Standardized methods (tests)can be used with certain restrictions, as an auxiliary tool with a leading role experimental approach and qualitative analysis of the obtained material.

Firstly, the parameters of the test standards themselves (form, speed of giving instructions, etc.) are always correlated with the capabilities of a person who is standard in terms of psychophysiological characteristics. Consequently, a child with developmental disorders finds himself in a situation that does not correspond to his abilities, and the assessment of his results does not reflect the level of diagnosed ability, but the inadequacy of the diagnostic conditions to the characteristics of the subject.

V.I. Lubovsky emphasizes that the tests are not suitable for identifying the specifics of a lag in mental development associated with the originality of a defect. For example, they cannot detect differences between the psychological characteristics of a child with mental retardation and those with impaired speech development with preserved intellectual development opportunities.

Secondly, most of the standardized methods capture the final result of the activity and reflect only the current level of development of the subject. For the practice of special psychology, information is also needed on the zone of its proximal development. As Sorokin V.M. rightly notes, not only the effectiveness of differential diagnosis depends on this, but also the direction of correctional work, the assessment of its productivity. The solution of these problems is possible only through an experimental strategy and, above all, a formative experiment.

Test Requirements:

1. Testing of children with developmental disabilities should in principle be carried out only individually, and exceptional attention should be paid to trial tasks in order to fully ensure that the instructions are understood correctly.

2. When testing subjects, it is necessary to provide appropriate motivation, since low results are often caused by a lack of interest or low motivation - the child's disinterest in completing the task.

3. High results should be considered valid (reliable), while low ones should be treated more skeptically - they can be caused by difficulties in completing the task due to a defect, insufficient understanding of the task, weak motivation of the subject, and finally, the inexperience of the psychologist.

4. Psychodiagnostic testing should be used as an auxiliary method, always only supplementing other methods - long-term observation, conversation, experiment.

Study of products of activitychild in combination with the psychological and pedagogical characteristics of the child, indicators of his progress allows the teacher to establish the nature and causes of learning difficulties, outline measures to improve academic performance, rely on the positive qualities of the child's personality and activities in further corrective work.

It is rather problematic to use projective methods due to their low differential diagnostic resolution, which, of course, does not close the way for their use as an auxiliary methodological tool in educational institutions. Main theoretical problems the use of these techniques in special psychology are the problems of the originality of deviations at the level of the unconscious, how and in what way the projection process changes with different forms of dysontogenesis; what aspects of psychic reality are reproduced in the process of projection under conditions of disturbed development - ordinary hidden experiences or dysontogenetic symptoms, etc.

In foreign psychodiagnostics, isolated attempts have been made to create special projective techniques for children with disabilities. For the blind, a three-dimensional apperceptive test (a haptic analogue of the Rorschach test), an auditory apperceptive test (an auditory version of the TAT) was designed, but they did not receive distribution.

When examining children with developmental disabilities, the interpretation of their drawings must be treated very carefully. So, children with impaired manipulative functions, visual perception, with spatial disorders often draw deformed figures, “lose” small details; the depiction of facial details is often disproportionate. With pronounced violations of the body scheme (for example, with cerebral palsy), the details of the figure can be scattered throughout the sheet, and if the orientation in the plane of the sheet is disturbed, the image can be placed in one of the corners, more often in the lower right. These features of the picture are associated with a violation of higher mental functions due to organic damage to the brain or analyzers, and not with personality traits, that is, there is no projective significance of such a picture.

The drawings of children with intellectual disabilities are specific. They find it difficult to choose a topic, resort to the image of familiar objects of the same type, without creating a plot. In their drawings on free theme no idea, no fantasy. Even when given the task of what to draw, they do not always follow the instructions. The poverty and fuzziness of ideas are manifested in the non-observance of the forms and proportions of the parts of the subject, in the limited and not always correct use of color. Children find it difficult to explain the picture. Depending on the degree of intellectual decline, these shortcomings are less or more pronounced.

The drawings of children with mental illness are peculiar. They are characterized by illogicality, absurdity of the image; inadequate, indiscriminate use of color, inappropriate proportions, sexual expression. Patients with schizophrenia are characterized by incompleteness, lack of main parts, geometrization, pretentiousness, heaps and layers, inconsistency in the design of the drawing with the size of the sheet, fear of drawing far from the edge, flattening of the drawing. In epileptic dementia, excessive thoroughness, excessive scrupulousness, pronounced slowness, and switching difficulties are characteristic. Children spend a lot of time drawing, getting stuck on drawing out individual insignificant details. It is difficult for them to highlight the main thing, the drawings are stereotyped.

Literature

1. C Orokin, V.M. Special psychology: Textbook / under scientific. ed. L.M. Shipitsyna / V.M. Sorokin. - St. Petersburg: "Speech". 2003. - 216 p.
2. Sorokin, V.M. Workshop on Special Psychology: Teaching aid./ Under scientific ed. L.M. Shipitsina / V.M. Sorokin, V.L. Kokorenko. - St. Petersburg: "Rech", 2003. - 122 p.
3. Shapoval, I.A. Special psychology: Tutorial/ I.A.Shapoval. - M.: TC Sphere, 2005. – 224 p. - (Tutorial).
4. Fire, L. Psychology of abnormal children and adolescents - pathopsychology / L. Fire. - Publishing house "Institute practical psychology", Voronezh: NPO "Modek", 1996. - 128 p.

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2) CAUSAL PRINCIPLE.

3) COMPLEXITY PRINCIPLE. Psychological assistance can be considered only in the complex of clinical, psychological and pedagogical influences. Its effectiveness largely depends on the consideration of clinical and pedagogical factors in the development of the child. (For example, a psychologist must have complete information about the causes and specifics of a child’s illness, the upcoming treatment tactics, the duration of hospitalization, and the prospects for medical rehabilitation).

This principle also implies the constant interaction of the psychologist with the medical and teaching staff.

4) PRINCIPLE OF ACTIVITY APPROACH. Psychological assistance should be carried out taking into account the leading type of activity of the child. (For example, if this is a preschooler, then in the context of play activities, if a schoolchild, then in the educational one).

5) PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT. The category of development, which is central in domestic and foreign psychological science, acts as an important methodological principle of psychology. The process of development in psychology is seen as a complex cumulative process. Each subsequent stage of mental development includes the previous one, being transformed at the same time. The quantitative accumulation of changes prepares qualitative changes in mental development.

The principle of development should be the basis of any kind of activity in working with children with developmental problems, from diagnostics to psycho-developing and corrective measures.

The methodology of special psychology is based on the principles of dialectical materialism. They form the philosophical basis for ideas about the cultural and historical conditioning of the human psyche, the formation of mental processes under the influence of social factors, the mediated nature of these processes, and the leading role of speech in their organization.

1. THE PRINCIPLE OF DETERMINISM very important for understanding developmental disorders. The core of determinism is the proposition about the existence of causality, i.e. such a connection of phenomena in which one phenomenon (cause) under quite definite conditions necessarily gives rise to another phenomenon (consequence). In psychology, determination is understood as a natural and necessary dependence of the characteristics of mental development on the factors that give rise to them.

According to the principle of determinism, each developmental atypia is due to a specific correlation of biological and social factors and is unique in terms of the mechanisms of its occurrence.

In the general psychological sense, the principle of determinism expresses the idea that mental reflection, its highest level (consciousness) are determined by the way of life and change depending on external conditions.

The principle of determinism says:

Psychic phenomena are conditioned by objective reality and reflect this reality;

Mental phenomena are due to the activity of the brain;

The study of mental phenomena involves the establishment of the causes that caused this phenomenon.

Determinism in its philosophical understanding means that an external cause does not directly determine the reaction of a person, but acts through internal conditions (Rubinshtein S.L.). Depending on the internal conditions, the same external influence can lead to different consequences. The relationship between the cause (biological or social; adverse factors of a hereditary, congenital or acquired nature) and the effect (type of developmental deviations) is of a complex indirect nature. As a result, the cause of this or that phenomenon may be events or factors that do not immediately cause consequences, but their accumulation leads to a certain shift. This is the so-called cumulative causal relationship. It is by such mechanisms that most of the deviations of mental development in children occur.

Mental development is characterized by heterochrony. Therefore, the same factors affect different “components” of development differently. The same environmental influences can lead to different consequences on different stages ontogeny. In any case, the reaction to the impact of the environment at a particular point in time is determined not only by the current state, but also depends on what environmental impacts were previously. Each new environmental influence "lay down" on the result of previous influences.

It follows that when studying the development of the psyche in case of its violation, it is necessary to take into account:

Different types of determinants;

Their consistency and mutability in the process of development, since the relationship between different types determinants in the process of child development are not constant and especially change during critical and sensitive periods of development.

Deviations in the mental development of children from the standpoint of determinism look like a process caused by a system of multilevel determinants. These determinants are the interrelationship of biological, social and psychological factors that have complex macro- and micro-influences. Each type of deviant development has a specific system of determination.

Any mental development is characterized by a change in determinants, the formation of new mental qualities and the transformation of former qualities.

In the doctrine of developmental disorders, it is shown that they are determined by pathological factors. The identification of these factors is one of the tasks of diagnostics. All studies show that mental developmental disorders in children have a multifactorial origin.

2) PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT. It is a position according to which the psyche can be correctly understood only if it is considered in continuous development. All mental phenomena are constantly changing and developing in quantitative and qualitative terms. L.S. attached great importance to the principle of development. Vygotsky. True, he spoke of the historical principle, but he explained that historical study meant the application of the category of development to the study of phenomena. To study something historically means to study in motion, in development. It is believed that L.S. Vygotsky was the first to introduce the historical principle into the field of child psychology.

The correct characterization of any mental phenomenon is possible only if its characteristic features at the moment and the prospects for subsequent changes are simultaneously clarified. Thus, the principle of development focuses on a dynamic approach to the description of developmental disorders (as opposed to a statistical approach).

The category of development, which is central in domestic and foreign psychological science, acts as an important methodological principle of psychology. The process of development in psychology is seen as a complex cumulative process. Each subsequent stage of mental development includes the previous one, being transformed at the same time. The quantitative accumulation of changes prepares qualitative changes in mental development.

The principle of development involves the analysis of developmental disorders, taking into account age stage, on which this violation arose, and the previous deviations on which it was layered. Describing the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the disorder, it is important to take into account its dynamics: a tendency to progress or stabilize.

The principle of development should be the basis of any kind of activity in working with children with developmental problems, from diagnostics to psycho-developing and corrective measures. With the correct psychological examination of children with developmental disabilities, it is possible to predict the effectiveness of correctional and developmental education and the likelihood of spontaneous normalization.

PRINCIPLE OF THE ACTIVITY APPROACH. This principle is associated with the notion that the psyche is formed in activity. This principle in a broad philosophical sense means the recognition of activity as the essence of human being. In activity, the conditions for the existence of individuals and society as a whole are created and changed. In the process of activity, a person satisfies his needs and interests, cognizes the world around him. Thus, activity appears as a process that determines the formation of a human personality.

In special psychology, the principle of activity is given great importance, activity is understood as a TRANSFORMING ACTIVITY generated by needs, during which the process of communication arises and cognition is carried out. Therefore, the content of the principle of activity is disclosed in 2 BASIC PROVISIONS:

1. activity - the interaction of subjects that generates the process of communication;

2. . activity - the interaction of the subject and the object, providing the process of cognition.

In this regard, it is important to specify the activity approach to the analysis of mental development disorders. It is based on the idea that each mental function, developing in the process of activity, acquires a complex structure consisting of a number of links. Violation of the same function proceeds in different ways: its nature depends on which link is defective. Then the central task of the psychological study of developmental disorders is to identify its specificity. Here the principle of activity merges with the principle UNITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND ACTIVITY, which is a statement that their unity is inseparable and that consciousness forms the inner plan of human activity. S.L. Rubinstein interprets this principle as the manifestation and formation of consciousness in activity.

The principle of the unity of consciousness and activity implies that consciousness is the regulator of human behavior. However, the main thing, according to A.N. Leontiev, does not at all consist in pointing out the active, controlling role of consciousness. "The main problem is to understand consciousness as a subjective product, as a transformed form of manifestation of those relations that are social in nature and which are carried out by human activity in the objective world."

Research by A.N. Leontiev and his school showed that the unity of the psyche and external activity lies in the fact that mental processes are also activity.

Following Vygotsky L.S. and Leontiev A.N. P.Ya. Galperin experimentally proved that new types of mental activity are initially assimilated in an external, material form, and then transformed into an internal, mental form. In the course of this process, external objects of activity are replaced by their mental counterparts (representations, concepts), and practical operations are transformed into mental, theoretical operations.

When studying children with disabilities and developmental disabilities, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity is realized in the fact that the child's activity is considered as an important criterion for the level of his development. In addition, the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity is implemented in the methodology of psycho-correctional classes, which are based on the subject-practical actions of the child.

Psychological assistance should be carried out taking into account the leading type of activity of the child. (For example, if this is a preschooler, then in the context of play activities, if a schoolchild, then in the educational one).

In addition, in corrective work, it is necessary to focus on the type of activity that is personally significant for the child and adolescent. This is especially important when working with children with severe emotional disorders.

Efficiency psychological help depends to a certain extent on the use of the child's productive activities (drawing, construction, etc.).

The stated principles serve as the basis of theoretical ideas and methodology of special psychology, an objective approach to the study of developmental disorders of the psyche and the rationale for correctional and developmental education.

Along with philosophical and general psychological principles, special psychology is based on A SERIES OF PRINCIPLES OF MORE SPECIFIC SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE:

1) PERSONAL APPROACH PRINCIPLE to a child with developmental problems. In the process of psychological assistance to a child with psychophysical disorders, no separate function or isolated mental phenomenon is taken into account, but the personality as a whole is considered with all its individual characteristics.

The founder of client-centered therapy, Rogers, identified

3 MAIN DIRECTIONS OF THIS PRINCIPLE:

A) each person has an unconditional value and deserves respect as such;

B) each person is able to be responsible for himself;

C) each person has the right to choose values ​​and goals, to make independent decisions.

The psychologist must accept any child and his parents as unique, autonomous individuals, who are recognized and respected for the right of free choice, self-determination, the right to live their own lives.

2) CAUSAL PRINCIPLE. Psychological assistance to children with developmental disabilities should be more focused not on the external manifestations of developmental disabilities, but on the real sources that give rise to these deviations. The implementation of this principle helps to eliminate the causes and sources of deviations in the mental development of a sick child.

A complex hierarchy of relationships between symptoms and their causes, the structure of the defect will determine the tasks and goals of psychological assistance.

COMPLEXITY PRINCIPLE. It dictates the need for cooperation of specialists of different profiles in the examination of children with atypical development. Each specialist fixes in the disturbed development of the child and the rationale for helping him those features that relate to the area of ​​his competence. The data are entered into a professional examination scheme and can be summarized in a unifying table, where the results of the examination of the child by other specialists are located. A multidimensional study of a child with atypical development provides the cumulative result that allows you to identify the causes of the pathology, approach the interpretation of its mechanisms and justify assistance.

The indicated provisions are significant not only for diagnosis, but also for providing psychological assistance to children, developing its strategy and tactics at different stages of work with a child, his family or microgroups of children's institutions where he is educated or brought up.

Psychological assistance can be considered only in the complex of clinical, psychological and pedagogical influences. Its effectiveness largely depends on the consideration of clinical and pedagogical factors in the development of the child. (For example, a psychologist must have complete information about the causes and specifics of a child’s illness, the upcoming treatment tactics, the duration of hospitalization, and the prospects for medical rehabilitation).

The implementation of the principle of complexity in practice means that specialists of different profiles should start helping children with developmental atypia together and act in parallel, coordinating solutions to an interrelated range of tasks.

4) PRINCIPLE OF SYSTEMIC STRUCTURAL-DYNAMIC STUDY. The selected principle is based on the ideas of B.G. Ananiev, B.F. Lomova and others about a systematic approach in psychology. Each system presupposes the presence of a system-forming foundation that unites its constituent elements as relatively homogeneous. A necessary feature of the system is a certain relationship between its constituent elements.

Historically, this principle is associated with the consideration of L.S. Vygotsky defects in the hierarchy: the allocation of primary, secondary, tertiary defects. The views of L. S. Vygotsky largely predetermined a systematic approach to the study of an abnormal child, the need to find a connection between different stages of mental development, and the obligation to study the influence of individual disorders on development as a whole. The principle of systemic structural-dynamic study requires to determine the hierarchy in violation of mental development, as well as to analyze each of the components of the child's activity (motivational, orientation, execution and control of the result).

This principle is widely used in Russian neuropsychology by representatives of the school of A.R. Luria. He contributed to the identification of syndromes of HMF impairment in brain lesions and the creation of a theory of HMF localization. Violation of mental processes can be caused by the pathology of various links and structures and manifest itself at various stages of mental activity. Therefore, in the psychological study of a child, it is important to establish not only impairments in activity and mental processes, but also which links in their structure turned out to be defective, and which ones contribute to compensation for the defect.

5) PRINCIPLE OF QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. It involves focusing the researcher's attention on the child's actions in completing the task and his behavior during the examination (how the task is completed and the decision is made, the type of mistakes, the child's attitude to his mistakes and the comments of adults), as opposed to fixing only on the result.

Qualitative analysis allows us to find out with what level of organization of mental activity the defect is associated. Such an analysis makes it possible to determine whether a symptom is a sign of a primary disorder in mental development or a consequence of an already existing defect.

Qualitative analysis does not oppose quantitative analysis, quantitative indicators only refine it.

BASIC PRINCIPLES, APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATION

ACTIVITIES OF A SPECIAL PSYCHOLOGIST:

Recently, many authors have turned their attention not only to the principles of special psychology as a science, but also to the activities of a psychologist in special educational institutions, thereby emphasizing the importance of understanding and studying the technologies of a psychologist.

1) The principle of theoretical and methodological "positioning" of a psychologist.

2) The principle of unity of methodology, diagnostic and corrective

activities.

The principle of structural-dynamic integrity.

The principle of terminological adequacy.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the psychologist through the adaptation of the child in the educational environment.

Priority of educational tasks.

The principle of interdisciplinarity and the coordinating nature of the activity of a psychologist.

Ethical principles and the related principle of professional competence.

Before proceeding to the analysis of each of these provisions, it should be noted that they are all closely related and follow one from the other. It is difficult to separate their content side and subordination.

PRINCIPLE OF THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL

POSITIONING- is determined by the need to determine one's own theoretical position, adherence to any particular theoretical school, scientific concept.

(What theoretical approaches we use, within which theoretical concept our work takes place, on what methodological principles the organization of our activities is built).

This is especially important, since it was at the end of the 20th century that a large number of different methodological approaches and concepts appeared, confirmed by experimental studies, on the basis of which diagnostic and correctional-developing tools are being developed that are widely used in real practice. It is not uncommon for a specialist, declaring his belonging to one theoretical concept, in the real practice of diagnostics and correction to use, without hesitation, completely different conceptual approaches, sometimes fundamentally opposite.

All this makes it necessary to make special demands on the theoretical and methodological position of a psychologist, including a psychologist working in the system of special education.

2) PRINCIPLE OF UNITY OF METHODOLOGY, DIAGNOSTIC AND CORRECTION ACTIVITIES- proceeds from the need for the closest connection between the theoretical positions of the psychologist, the methodology corresponding to them, and specific diagnostic tools built on the basis of the same methodology.

The principle of the trinity of theory, diagnosis and correction gives us the possibility of integrity and integrity in the study of child development, the complexity of psychological assistance. In accordance with this provision, the possibility of using one or another diagnostic procedure, methodology for assessing the features of the formation of the cognitive, regulatory and affective-emotional spheres of the child, i.e. a DIAGNOSTIC, and later also a CORRECTIONAL-DEVELOPING SCENARIO of PSYCHOLOGICAL WORK is being built.

3) THE PRINCIPLE OF STRUCTURAL-DYNAMIC INTEGRITY of studying and working with a child. It is expressed in the idea that the individual aspects of the mental organization (mental functions and processes, separate spheres) are not isolated, but appear holistically, exist in a single structural organization and equally holistically respond to all external influences, transforming them through the child’s own internal activity. to development, to interaction with the surrounding educational environment.

In accordance with this principle, each specific feature of the child's condition should be studied and evaluated both from the point of view of age correlation, and in accordance with a certain sequence of development, interaction and heterochrony (time difference) of the maturation of certain functions that are part of a single "ensemble" of the formation of that or other characteristics of the child's activities.

The application of this principle makes it possible not only to record individual violations or the lack of formation of any sphere, but also to determine the causes and situation of their occurrence, to assess the structure and hierarchy of development problems.

4) THE PRINCIPLE OF TERMINOLOGICAL ADEQUACY.

It is one of the most painful problems of special psychology.

Questions have been repeatedly raised and are being raised: how to more accurately define, designate various categories of children who are in the field of view of special psychology, how to more correctly (accurately and more humanely) define many concepts in the field of diagnostics, when making a psychological diagnosis, organizing correctional and developmental work.

The problem connected with the use of adequate terminology in the real practice of a child psychologist, which can be clearly distinguished from the concepts of related disciplines, is extremely urgent at the present time.

Among specialists working with children with developmental, learning and behavioral problems, today there are significant differences in many concepts and ideas. (For example, what is behind the general concept of "problem child"; how are the boundaries of individual differences within the conditionally age norm indicated; what are the boundaries of deviations from the norm). Many concepts do not meet either modern humanistic principles or the ethics of a specialist.

Terminological confusion extends to the content of the activities of a special psychologist with such different categories of children. The adequacy of the terminology of a special psychologist should be extended to all areas of his activity: diagnostic, correctional and developmental, consultative, etc.

To give clear definitions and designate the content of terms and concepts related to these areas means to reveal the content of the functional of a special psychologist.

This problem should be solved both in terms of the humanization of education, psychological ethics, and as a result of working out psychologically adequate terminology in all aspects of the activity of a special psychologist.

5) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLE

PSYCHOLOGIST THROUGH THE ADAPTATION OF THE CHILD IN EDUCATIONAL

WEDNESDAY.

This principle of organizing the activities of a special psychologist is extremely important in the overall assessment of the quality of the work of a psychologist.

Considering mental health as an integral indicator of well-being in mental development, it is proposed to evaluate it on the basis of such a psychological criterion as the degree of socio-psychological adaptation of the child, which is defined, first of all, as the success of adaptation to the socio-psychological requirements of the environment.

The change in the degree of maladjustment under the influence of the correctional and developmental work of the psychologist and the transition of the child's state from one group of "mental health" to another, less severe in terms of the adaptation parameter, is defined as a criterion for the effectiveness of psychological activity.

6) THE PRINCIPLE OF PRIORITY OF EDUCATIONAL TASKS.

It is determined by the status of a psychologist in an educational institution.

It is far from a secret that the attitude to the psychologist as to the last resort, as to the specialist who “EVERYTHING CAN AND IN CONNECTION WITH THIS SHOULD ...” STILL PREVENTS IN THE MIND OF MANY TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATION. This also permeates the professional self-perception of psychologists.

It is necessary to understand the status of a psychologist as an auxiliary specialist in relation to the teacher - a specialist who solves additional (and not the main) tasks of education.

The most important indicator that should be taken into account by a psychologist in his activities is the assessment of the child's ability to master the appropriate development and training programs and the optimization of the educational impacts associated with this opportunity.

7) THE PRINCIPLE OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH AND THE COORDINATING NATURE OF THE PSYCHOLOGIST'S ACTIVITIES.

This principle determines the need to understand the assessment of the child's condition from the point of view of various areas of psychology. This principle reflects the need to use various approaches and tactics in diagnostic, corrective and consultative and other activities, as well as taking into account the opinions of various specialists.

Obviously, without a multifaceted and multidisciplinary assessment of the child's condition from different professional points of view, it is impossible not only to determine the prognosis of further development, but also to make a nosological (medical) diagnosis, draw up a psychological conclusion, give a pedagogical assessment, and individualize the educational route.

The implementation of this principle in practice further consolidates the leading role of the psychologist as the organizer of the entire process of accompanying a child with developmental problems.

Thus, it is in the functionality of a psychologist that it is necessary to include coordination work to unite all specialists into a single team - a clear and well-functioning support mechanism.

PRINCIPLE OF COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICAL STANDARDS AND PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE.

The ethical principles of a psychologist's activity are especially important in the system of special education of a special psychologist, who in his daily work repeatedly encounters endlessly complex ethical problems (in conversation with parents, specialists, in maintaining confidentiality and non-disclosure of secrets, in a positive announcement of test results, etc. ).

Reflection of one's own professional competence should also be referred to ethical principles. Professional competence as a component of the ethics of any specialist is now of great importance.

It is very important to be able to limit the circle of your competence so as not to exceed your capabilities and, ultimately, not to harm the child.