The formation of arbitrary memory occurs on the basis of the mental development of the child. The prerequisites for its occurrence are: successes in the development of arbitrary practical and gaming activity, the formation in children of actions for which it is necessary for arbitrary memorization, orientation to the future and orientation to the past, is characteristic of. Playback. Such actions cause the child to demand adults, for example, to fulfill the order not now, but after a while, to tell about what he saw on a walk; a certain level of speech development (development of the ability to act with imaginary things in speech). Thanks to these prerequisites, the child first learns to memorize or recall on the initiative of adults, then gradually becomes the initiator herself.

. Arbitrary memory is the process of memorizing and reproducing material, which involves conscious goal setting and requires volitional efforts.

It begins to form in middle preschool age. Its early manifestations are observed in the memorization of conditions role-playing game, without which it is impossible for the child to successfully fulfill the role he has taken on. Q. In the game, he remembers much more words than at the request of an adult.

Mastering arbitrary forms of memory includes several stages

1. Allocation of tasks to remember, recall in the absence of the necessary techniques for this in the child's practice. She singles out the task of remembering earlier, because often what is expected of her is precisely the recollection of the self, the reproduction of what she previously perceived or did. The task of remembering arises on the basis of the experience of remembering, the child's realization that, having remembered, she will not be able to reproduce what is being checked from her.

2. The use of memorization and recall techniques as a result of adult prompts. An adult, giving the child an instruction, offers to repeat it, asking about something, directs the child's recollection to apitannyama: "What's next?", "What did he say?" aloud, she proceeds to repeat in a whisper, to herself. Gradually learns to comprehend, to connect the material, to use these connections for the purpose of memorization and memorization.

3. Awareness of the need for special memorization actions, mastering the ability to use auxiliary means in them. The child understands what needs to be remembered, so he uses various techniques in order to achieve this metti.

The memory of 3-4-year-old children goes through three levels of development: 1) the absence of a goal to remember and remember, 2) the presence of a goal due to the lack of formation of methods aimed at its implementation; 3) a combination of the goal of remembering myataty, remembering with the use of methods to achieve this.

Until the end of the preschool period, involuntary memory remains the leading one. Children use arbitrary memorization and reproduction relatively rarely - when appropriate tasks require it or adults require it (Table 42.2).

Involuntary memorization during active mental work on the material in preschool childhood more productive than arbitrary. For example, children who, without the goal of remembering, laid out pictures according to the objects depicted (for the garden, for the kitchen, etc.), memorized them much better than children who looked at the same pictures with the task of remembering. However, involuntary memorization, which is not associated with the performance of active actions of perception and thinking, is shorter than voluntary.

For the development of arbitrary memory in children preschool age necessary: ​​to develop their involuntary memory, which is the basis for the subsequent. Reproduction (it is important that there is something to use, which is mentioned. Uvat) to encourage the child to reproduce first during the execution of practical instructions in the game, and then in educational activities; set a task for children, set them in memorization, rubs their memory in activity; teach various ways memorization, paying particular attention to the development of logical memory.

At preschool age, it is very important to direct the child to arbitrary memorization, to convey to his consciousness the need for it, to teach special memorization techniques.

memory psychological association preschool

Preschool childhood is the age most favorable for the development of memory. As pointed out by L.S. Vygotsky, memory becomes the dominant function and goes a long way in the process of its formation. So, if at an early age the main mental function is perception, then the most important feature of preschool age, from his point of view, is a new system of mental functions, in the center of which becomes memory.

Memory consists in remembering, preserving and reproducing human experience. Memorization, like reproduction, can be involuntary (with no consciously set goal) and arbitrary: it is distinguished by purposefulness and the presence of special methods of memorization and reproduction. Depending on the features of these processes, memory is divided into involuntary and arbitrary. The memory of children is mostly involuntary character. Memorization and recall occur independently of the will of the child, and he most often does not set himself the conscious goal of remembering anything. Objects bright, colorful, new, unusual, attracting the attention of the child, can involuntarily be imprinted in his memory. Involuntarily, what is interesting to the child is remembered, which is repeated many times: the road along which he walked many times in Kindergarten; the structure of flowers and trees, which I repeatedly examined on a walk; the content of the tale, which he listened to carefully at home and in the garden. Events, actions, and images that are interesting to him are easily imprinted, and verbal material is involuntarily remembered if it evokes an emotional response. The child quickly memorizes poems, especially those that are perfect in form: sonority, rhythm and related rhymes are important in them. Fairy tales, stories, dialogues from films are remembered when the child empathizes with their heroes.

During preschool age, the efficiency of involuntary memorization increases, and the more meaningful material the child remembers, the better the memorization. Semantic memory develops along with mechanical memory, therefore it cannot be considered that mechanical memory predominates among preschoolers who repeat someone else's text with great accuracy.

The main conditions for productivity involuntary memorization are the actions performed by the child (including mental ones) with objects or material to be memorized. The quality of involuntary memorization, for example, pictures, depends on what he does with them: when simply looking at pictures, a preschooler remembers much worse than if he groups them according to a certain attribute, that is, compares them with each other, finds common features and on this basis unites them. The speech activity of children is of great importance. The child remembers objects better when he names them.

Involuntary memory, being dominant in preschool age, especially in its early stages, does not lose its significance in all subsequent years, but in childhood it is involuntary memorization that provides the child with a variety of knowledge about objects and phenomena of reality, their properties and connections, about people and their relationships. It enriches emotional sphere, promotes mastery of speech, the formation of behavioral skills.

The main thing that characterizes qualitative changes in the memory of a preschool child is transition from involuntary to arbitrary processes.

First arbitrary memorization begins to take shape in the middle preschool age (between 4 and 5 years), and its earliest manifestations are observed in the context of a role-playing game.

Conscious, purposeful memorization and recall appear only sporadically.

During preschool age, under the guidance of an adult, arbitrary memory improves. In a child, the goal to remember appears before the goal to remember, the development of arbitrary memory begins with the development of arbitrary reproduction, after which arbitrary memorization occurs. This is natural, since in all types of their activities (in playing, designing, drawing, doing assignments), when communicating, the child must rely on the previously learned ways of behavior, methods of action with objects, he must use the knowledge he received earlier.

The need to remember leads the child to highlight the goal of remembering, but it is not enough to set a mnemonic task for him, you need to teach the child how to memorize, that is, teach him how to memorize. From the point of view of methods, arbitrary memorization is divided into mechanical and logical. Mechanical memorization is based on repetition. The child remembers the counting rhyme, the words of the poem, sometimes inaccessible to his understanding, because he repeatedly repeated them himself or heard them. Some psychologists believe that children's memory is mechanical. One of the well-known researchers of this problem, A. A. Smirnov, identifies three groups of facts that are usually cited in favor of the thesis about the mechanical nature of memorization in preschoolers and younger schoolchildren:

1) easy memorization by children of incomprehensible and even meaningless material;

2) the tendency to memorize without delving into the meaning of what is being memorized;

3) the literalness of memorization.

A. A. Smirnov sees the reasons for these features of memorization, firstly, in the fact that such material attracts, surprises children with its unusualness, its sound side, rhythm (counters, for example) and therefore is imprinted in memory; secondly, not every material is accessible to the child, lends itself to comprehension, which means that it causes him to strive for literal memorization. Among the reasons for the predominance of rote memorization in the child's memory is his attitude to this process. For young children, the task of remembering often means reproducing the material in great detail. This gives rise to a desire to copy, in particular, children often correct adults if, for example, dad or mom begins a fairy tale “in their own words”. The speech abilities of the child are also limited.

Mechanical memorization is a special form of memorization, and not just a step in the development of memory.

Formation logical The development of memory in preschoolers involves the development of their mental activity, their ability to analyze, compare objects and phenomena with each other, generalize and classify them.

What are the main ways of logical memorization available to preschool children? An important approach is repetition material. It appears in various forms: repeated perception of objects, their repeated naming, reproducing repetition, carried out after the perception of all material. It is important to distribute repetitions in time. If, for example, 8 repetitions are needed to memorize a poem, then it is most rational to let children repeat it 2-3 times on the 1st day. The next day - 2-3 more times, etc. A variety of repetitions is important for both memorization and retention of material in memory.

At preschool age, memory is included in the process of formation personalities. The third and fourth years of life become the years of the first childhood memories.

Preschool children also have access to such a method of logical memorization as semantic correlation.

Classification is also one of the ways of logical memorization.

At preschool age, the child begins to develop complex types of memory: arbitrary and semantic (logical). However, this happens in the conditions of special training.

The memory of children is characterized by great plasticity, i.e., easy imprintability of acting stimuli.

The problem of memory development in preschool children was of interest to many domestic psychologists. For example, A.A. Smirnov studied the internal nature of the global dependence of the course and development of mental processes in a child on the nature and structure of his activity and the mechanisms of formation of mental reflection in human ontogenesis. P.I. Zinchenko conducted intensive studies of the content and structure various kinds children's activities (play, work, teaching) and their influence on the development of memory. L.S. Vygotsky considered memory as a complex activity of the child, formed under the influence of communication with adults in the process of active mental activity of the child. These ideas were developed in the studies of A.N. Leontiev, A.R. Luria, L.V. Zankov - their work created the necessary psychological foundations for the development of new, more effective methods learning that allows children to acquire such knowledge and master such ways of action that were previously considered inaccessible.

The problem of the meaning and development of various aspects of the memory of children in preschool age is most widely considered in the study by Z.M. Istomina, who established the dependence of memory processes (memorization and reproduction) in preschool age on the activity in which they are carried out, studied age and individual differences memory processes in children of different preschool ages, different levels and stages of development of mnemonic processes in preschoolers were identified, correlations were established between the levels of development of various aspects of memory processes (speed and accuracy of memorization), between different types of memory (voluntary and involuntary), ways of successful formation logical memory in preschool children. In preschool age, the main type of memory is figurative memory. It provides memorization of visual samples, the color of objects, sounds, smells, tastes, faces, etc. It is visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and gustatory. Its development and restructuring are associated with changes taking place in various areas of the child's mental activity, and, above all, in cognitive processes: perception and thinking. During preschool age, as shown by A.A. Lublin, there is a transition:

From single representations obtained in the process of perception of one specific object, to operating with generalized images;

From an “illogical”, emotional, neutral, often vague, vague image, in which there are no main parts, but only random, non-existent details in their incorrect interconnection, to an image that is clearly differentiated, logically meaningful, causing certain attitudes of the child towards it;

From an undivided, fused static image to a dynamic display used by older preschoolers in different types activities;

From operating with separate representations torn apart from each other to reproducing holistic situations, including expressive, dynamic images, i.e. reflecting objects in a variety of connections.

The role of memory in the development of a child cannot be overestimated. With its help, he acquires knowledge about the world around him and about himself, masters the norms of behavior, acquires various skills and abilities. And he does it mostly involuntarily.

Verbal - logical memory is memory for individual words, concepts, thoughts.

Operational memory is important in the implementation of any more or less complex actions, when you need to keep in mind some intermediate results (for example, in arithmetic calculations, when reading, cheating).

One of the earliest manifestations of memory is recognition. The baby recognizes his mother, then other close people, smiles at them. However, at first, motor impressions play a greater role than auditory or visual ones. Motor memory is the main one on which all skills are formed: walking, grasping objects with hands, and then running, jumping. The child learns to wash, fasten buttons, lace up shoes. In subsequent ages, the work of motor memory becomes more complex. How younger child, the more directly his feelings come forward, first of all, pleasure and displeasure from what he saw, did, received. It is on these feelings that the whole system of pedagogical influence is built. The memory for feelings with the development of the child becomes somewhat different, since both the feelings themselves and the reasons that cause them are different in a preschooler and a teenager.

The memory of a preschooler is especially rich images individual specific items. In these images, essential, common features characteristic of a whole group of objects are merged, as well as insignificant features, private details that a child noticed in a separate house, in an individual animal, etc. Sometimes some insignificant feature characteristic of heterogeneous phenomena, seems to him common, then the child interprets the phenomena themselves as equivalent, equivalent. Hence the "childish lie" characteristic of this age. For children's memory, a completely opposite property is also characteristic - this exceptional photography. Children can easily memorize a poem or a fairy tale. At preschool age, other features of memory begin to form.

During the first year of life, all genetic types of memory are formed - emotional, motor, figurative, verbal. Emotional memory is, according to some sources, already in the fetus. In an infant, this type of memory is the main one in the first weeks of life, it helps him navigate reality, fixing his attention and directing his senses to the most important ones. emotionally objects.

There is one fact that is called the fact of amnesia - infancy and early childhood are forgotten by everyone.

Coherent memories from the era of early childhood are usually not preserved in consciousness, memory is so peculiarly organized and it participates so little in all the activities of consciousness. Memory comes to the fore in subsequent ages.

The child's memory early childhood manifests itself always in active perception-recognition.

Although memorization at this age is mostly involuntary, but already at the age of 5-6 years, voluntary memory begins to form. Along with the predominance of visual-figurative memory during the preschool period, verbal-logical memory arises and develops, and when remembering, more significant features of objects begin to stand out.

It is believed that the 5th year of life is, on average, the beginning of a period of more or less satisfactory memorization, since it is from this year that childhood impressions are quite systematized and remain for life. Early childhood memories tend to be fragmentary, scattered, and few in number.

By the age of 6, an important neoplasm appears in the child's psyche - a gradual transition from involuntary, direct to voluntary and indirect memorization and recall. At the same time, in the corresponding processes, special perceptual actions stand out and begin to develop relatively independently, mediating mnemonic processes aimed at better remembering, more fully and accurately reproducing the material retained in memory.

By the end of preschool age, the process of arbitrary memorization can be considered formed. Its internal psychological sign is the child's desire to discover and use logical connections in the material for memorization. During child development a new functional system is emerging, which is characterized primarily by the fact that memory and attention become the center of consciousness, which, when forming special actions, acquire an arbitrary and deliberate character. During the preschool age, due to the complication of the activities of children and their movement in general mental development, attention becomes of great importance in the development cognitive activity.

Arbitrary Memory Formation

At the age of four to five, arbitrary forms of perception and memorization begin to take shape. It is in the game, according to Leontiev A.N. the most favorable conditions are created for the formation and mastery of arbitrary memorization and reproduction. Then memorization becomes a condition for the successful fulfillment of the role taken by the child.

For example, the number of words memorized by a child acting as a customer in order to buy certain items in a store is always higher than the words that a child tries to memorize at the direct request of an adult.

Before a child masters arbitrary forms of memory, several stages pass. To begin with, the child sees only one task in front of him - to remember / recall, but he does not have the necessary techniques for this. The task of "remembering" appears earlier, this is due to the situations that the child often encounters, when he is expected to remember exactly what he perceived before. A little later, the task of “remembering” arises, it is based on the experience of remembering - the child begins to realize that if he does not make an effort to remember, he will not be able to reproduce what is necessary.

Usually a child does not invent memorization and recall techniques - they are prompted by adults, for example, by giving instructions and offering to repeat them right there, or by asking leading questions “What happened next? What did you eat for breakfast today?" The child gradually learns to repeat, connect, comprehend the material in order to memorize it, and as a result, he realizes the need for special actions for memorization and learns to use auxiliary means for this purpose.

The rise of arbitrary memory

Significant improvement in the child's memory Nemov R.S., p. 332 goes to preschool. Memory begins to develop in several directions at once. Speaking specifically, the first thing that happens is the process of arbitrary memorization, the second - the preschooler's memory turns from direct to indirect, and the third - the means and techniques are actively developing, with the help of which the child learns to memorize and recall.

Istomina Z.M., exploring the development of memory, used the following hypothesis - in the younger and middle preschool age, memorization and reproduction are not independent processes, but only part of a particular activity, i.e. involuntary. Preschool senior age is the time of transition from involuntary memory to the initial stages of voluntary memorization and recall. At the same time, there is a differentiation of a special kind of actions with the aim of remembering, recalling, which are put before the children. In the presence of appropriate motives, the child actively identifies and realizes mnemonic goals.

Research by Istomina Z.M. was aimed at solving the following tasks:

Identification of the conditions under which children single out the goal of remembering or recalling;

The study of early, primary forms of arbitrary memory.

The experiment was carried out in a laboratory with two groups of children. In the first group, a series of words were read to the children, offering them to memorize in order to later call them to the leader of the experiment. In the second group, the same number of words was proposed to be memorized during the game, which creates a motive for the preschooler to memorize and recall.

The result of the study showed that in the process of transition from the younger preschool age to the older one, the possibilities of memory change significantly. Namely, the end of preschool age coincides with the release of memory into a special, independently controlled mental function of the child, which he can control to some extent.

At 3-4 years old, memorization and reproduction of any material is part of other activities and is performed by preschoolers, as a rule, involuntarily. The older preschool age is characterized by a transition to involuntary memory due to the fact that the child is increasingly given special mnemonic tasks, the more there are, the faster the transition occurs.

At the same time, among other types of actions, mnemonic actions that are performed in the process of a particular activity are distinguished into a special group. Mnemic actions are processes aimed at memorizing, preserving and reproducing information.

In play, mnemonic actions arise and are isolated especially easily and quickly, and this applies to all age groups of preschoolers, starting from 3-4 year old children. Until the middle preschool age in children, due to the peculiarities of their psychology and insufficient readiness for serious purposeful activity, in particular educational, the productivity of memorization in the game is noticeably higher, Nemov R.S., Kn. 2, p. 333 than in other activities.

In order for the child's arbitrary memory to fully develop, it is necessary to catch and use the preschooler's desire to remember something in a timely manner. Conscious intention for memorization clearly appears in children 5-6 years old, the child can intentionally repeat the material that he would like to remember. Repetitions should be encouraged, as they play a very important role in the development of memory.

As a result of mastering this chapter, the student should:

know

• the main types of memory that develop in preschool age;
• features of the development of elements of arbitrary memory as the ability to regulate;
• formation of prerequisites for the transformation of the memorization process into a special mental activity;

be able to

Take into account the predominance of the involuntary memory of a preschooler when selecting didactic material for developmental and preventive classes in preschool institutions;

own

techniques that activate the process of memorization and development of logical memory in preschoolers.

The genesis of the memory process from birth to the end of preschool childhood is smooth transition from one type of memory to another, filling it with content and involvement in activities that are significant for the child (Fig. 15.1).

Rice. 15.1.

As D. B. Elkonin notes, at the initial stages mental development memory is one of the moments of direct sensation and perception and has not yet been separated from them. But already at an early age, adults set special tasks for the child that require recalling impressions. They ask the child for the name individual items, the names of adults and children, are asked to remember who the child had, where and with whom he walked and played. Memory processes here are included both in the child's communication with adults and in the process of mastering linguistic means.

In the second and third years of life, the child remembers and repeats words, phrases and poems, the meaning of which for him cannot yet be understood. During this period, memorization and reproduction are not yet independent processes, but are only ways of mastering the language. The repetition of incomprehensible words and phrases is a kind of activity for the child with the sound composition of words. The subject of consciousness during such reproduction is not the meanings of words, but their sound composition and rhythmic structure. Rhyme and rhythm serve as an objective basis on which the child memorizes. early age various words and phrases, nursery rhymes and poems.

At preschool age, the main type of memory is figurative memory. Its development and restructuring are associated with changes taking place in various areas of the child's mental life. The improvement of analytic-synthetic activity entails the transformation of representation.

A figurative impression is a memory for sensually perceived information: auditory, visual and other stimuli.

During preschool age, the content of motor memory changes significantly. Movements become complex, include several components. The verbal-logical memory of a preschooler develops intensively in the process of active mastering of speech while listening and playing literary works, storytelling, in communication with adults and peers.

The preschool period is characterized by the dominance of direct, involuntary memory. The preschooler retains the dependence of memorizing material on its features such as emotional attractiveness, brightness, sonority, discontinuity of action, movement, contrast, etc.

Involuntary memory is a type of memory that does not require volitional efforts and a conscious mnemonic goal (memorization goal) when memorizing.

Memorization was understood as an accidental imprinting of objects, which, according to M. Shallow, were within the limits of attention when it was directed to some other objects. This understanding determined the methodological principle of most studies, which consisted in isolating certain objects as much as possible from the activities of the subjects, leaving these objects only in the field of perception, i.e. only as background stimuli.

As noted by the well-known Russian psychologist P. I. Zinchenko, the main form of involuntary memorization is the product of purposeful activity. Other forms of this type of memorization are the results of other forms of the subject's activity.

The main achievement of preschool age is arbitrary memory. It begins to develop between 4-5 years and manifests itself in situations where the child independently sets a goal to remember or recall something.

Arbitrary memory- a type of memory that implies the presence of a consciously set mnemonic goal and is accompanied by volitional efforts to achieve it.

The appearance of purposeful processes of memorization and recall within various activities of a preschooler is the beginning of a new stage in the development of memory - already as a controlled and voluntary process. Deliberate memorization and recall, born within other types of activity (games, instructions from adults), as an independent action during preschool age, manifests itself only sporadically. Only towards the end of preschool age does involuntary reproduction begin to turn into deliberate recall; following this, memorization is also distinguished into a special action mediated by the word with its own methods. However, the main development of voluntary memory occurs at the next age stage - at school age.

According to Zinchenko, the quality of involuntary memorization of objects, pictures, words depends on how actively the child acts in relation to them, to what extent their detailed perception, reflection, grouping occurs in the process of action.

So, when simply looking at pictures, a child remembers them much worse than when he is offered to put the pictures in their places, for example, put aside separately things that are suitable for the garden, kitchen, children's room, yard. Involuntary memorization is an indirect, additional result of the actions of perception and thinking performed by the child. With the advent of arbitrariness, at the age of four, a child begins to accept instructions from an adult to remember or recall, use the simplest methods and means of memorization, take an interest in the correctness of reproduction and control its progress. The emergence of arbitrary memory is associated with the appearance of arbitrary behavioral mechanisms in a preschooler and an increase in the regulatory role of speech.

A. R. Luria studied the features of arbitrary memorization of preschoolers using techniques "10 words"(see Workshop). The use of this technique provides additional information about the child's ability to relatively purposeful activity, not supported by any visual material or game situation that is significant for him.

Alexander Romanovich Luria(1902-1977) - doctor of pedagogical and medical sciences, professor, follower of L. S. Vygotsky. Founder of neuropsychology. Professional interests of the scientist: the basics of neuropsychology, speech development, the role of heredity and the environment (upbringing) in mental development.

11 most famous works: Speech and Intelligence in Child Development (1927), Fundamentals of Neuropsychology (1973), Language and Consciousness (1979).

In the study by Z. M. Istomina, children aged 3-7 were given the task of memorizing and recalling a series of words, first in a situation of laboratory experiments, then in a situation of a game, when the child, playing the role of a “buyer”, had to fulfill an order and buy in "Store" items named by the experimenter (Table 15.1).

Table 15.1

The average number of words memorized in the conditions of the laboratory task and in the conditions of the game

Istomina identified three mnemonic levels of memory development in children. The first level is characterized by the absence of a goal to remember or recall; for the second - the presence of this goal, but without the use of any methods aimed at its implementation; for the third - the presence of a goal to remember or recall and the use of mnemonic methods to achieve this.

Memorization must be motivated by something, and the mnemonic activity itself must lead to the achievement of a result that is significant for the child. Experimentally, the dependence of the isolation of a mnemonic goal on the nature of the activity performed by the child was revealed. It turned out that the most favorable conditions for the creation of a mnemonic goal and the formation of memorization and recall arise in such life circumstances in which the child must fulfill the instructions of an adult in play activity. An important indicator of the development of voluntary memory of a six-year-old child is not only his ability to accept or independently set a mnemonic task, but also to control its implementation, i.e. exercise self-control.

In the course of the work of L. M. Zhitnikova, Z. M. Istomina, A. N. Belous, devoted to the study of how the methods of logical memorization are formed in children of preschool age in the conditions of special education, it was found that already at senior preschool age children can master in the process of specially organized learning by such methods of logical memorization as semantic correlation and mental grouping, and use them for mnemonic purposes.

Teaching these techniques requires a complex research strategy and is divided into two stages: 1) the formation of semantic correlation and semantic grouping as mental actions; 2) the formation of the ability to apply these actions to solve mnemonic problems. The formation of mental action is carried out in three stages: 1) practical action, when children learn to arrange pictures into groups; 2) a speech action, when, after a preliminary acquaintance with the pictures, the child must tell which pictures can be attributed to one or another group; 3) mental action - the distribution of pictures into groups in the mind, then naming the groups 1 .

Thanks to the means and techniques of memorization, the memory of a preschooler becomes mediated.

Indirect memorization - memorization using an intermediate, or mediating, link to improve playback.

AT domestic psychology a detailed study of the emergence and development of forms of mediated memorization was first carried out by A. N. Leontiev. Giving children words to remember, he suggested that they use pictures as an aid. Of these, the children had to select those that would help them in the future to remember right word. Leontiev found that younger preschoolers give extremely low retention rates and cannot use pictures to improve this process. And in children of older preschool age, the introduction of pictures doubles the efficiency of memorization. This indicates shifts in the development of memory that occur by the older preschool age (Table 15.2) 2 .

Table 15.2

Efficiency of direct and indirect voluntary memorization

• 1 See: Ermolaeva M.V. Fundamentals of developmental psychology and acmeology: textbook, manual. Moscow: Os-89, 2011.
• 2 Quoted from: Abramova G.S. Developmental psychology: textbook, manual. M. : Academy, 2010.

Memory, more and more united with speech and thinking, acquires an intellectual character. Studying the process of formation of memory and thinking, II. II. Blonsky discovered the stages of their genesis, showed their relationship, influence on each other, and also analyzed the emergence and development of inner speech and its connection with thinking and imitation. He wrote that at preschool age, memory affects thinking and determines its course, therefore, for a preschooler, thinking and remembering are similar processes. Verbal-semantic memory provides indirect cognition, which significantly expands the horizons of cognitive activity of a preschooler.

Thus, by the end of preschool age, involuntary memorization remains more productive than voluntary, and by the age of 6-7, the child has a special type of visual memory - eidetic memory, which in its brightness approaches perception images.

Eidetic numbness - built mainly on visual impressions, it allows you to retain and reproduce an extremely vivid image of a previously perceived object or phenomenon.

Techniques for optimizing the memory process in a preschool child: - reading and retelling fairy tales, poems;

The study of new objects in order to memorize the elements and reproduce the story about these objects;

inclusion of the child in didactic games that encourage him to be attentive and remember as much as possible.

A. N. Leontiev noted that didactic games belong to the “frontier games”, representing a transitional form to the non-game activity that they prepare. These games contribute to the development of cognitive activity, intellectual operations, which are the basis of learning. Any didactic game is characterized by the presence of an educational task - learning task. Adults are guided by it, creating this or that didactic game and dressing it in an entertaining form for children. Here are examples of learning tasks: to teach children to distinguish and correctly name colors (“Salute”), to develop attention and memory (“What has changed”, paired pictures), to form the ability to compare objects by external signs (“Catch a fish”), etc.

The learning task is embodied by the creators of the game in the appropriate content, is realized with the help of game actions that children perform. At the same time, the child is attracted in the game by the opportunity to be active, perform game actions, achieve results, win. However, if the participant in the game does not master the mental operations that are determined by the learning task, he will not be able to achieve a good result. For example, in didactic game"Find the item" the child will not be able to find the picture if he did not remember the items named by the leader. Or in the didactic game "Find your place" for a child, in order not to leave the game, to remain a winner, you need to remember your place.

The development of arbitrary, mediated memory in a child plays an important role in the formation of the prerequisites for educational activity and is an indicator of the intellectual maturity of the future student.

Workshop

Method "10 words" A. R. Luria

The use of this technique in working with children provides additional information about the child's ability to relatively purposeful activity, not supported by any visual material or game situation that is significant for him.

To carry out this task, you will need a set of monosyllabic words that are not related in meaning (for example, forest, bread, window, chair, water, brother, horse, mushroom, needle, honey). Before the first reproduction of these words, the child was given the instruction: “I will tell you the words, and you listen to them carefully and try to remember. When I finish speaking, you will repeat as many words as you can remember, in any order." Instructions for the second reading of the words: “Now I will repeat the same words again. You will repeat them again after me, and you will say both the words that you already mentioned the last time, and the new ones that you remember. At the third and fourth repetition, it is enough to say: "Listen again and repeat what you remember." Instructions for the fifth reproduction of words: “Now I will read the words in last time, and you will repeat more. On average, the experiment took 7-8 minutes. The experiment was carried out individually with each child from the group. Normally, a good result for a preschooler at the first presentation is the reproduction of 5-6 words, at the fifth - 8-10 words.

Questions and tasks for self-examination

• 1. Describe the main types of memory of a preschooler.
• 2. Name the specifics of involuntary and voluntary memorization in preschool children.
• 3. Reveal the essence of mnemonic ways of remembering in preschoolers.

Test tasks

• 1. Emotional memory in a child is manifested:
  • a) in 1 month;
  • b) at 2 months;
  • c) at 3 months;
  • d) at 4 months;
  • e) at 6 months.
• 2. When does a child master the initial forms of managing his memory?
• a) in infancy;
• b) at an early age;
• c) at 4 years old;
• d) at the age of 5;
• e) by the end of the preschool period.
• 3. The first attempts at special memorization techniques are noted at the age of:
  • a) 3-4 years;
  • b) 5-6 years;
  • c) 7 years old.
• 4. Arbitrary forms of memory in preschool age - ego:
  • a) remembrance
  • b) memorization;
  See: Ibid.
• See: Psychology of development: a textbook for universities / ed. T. D. Martsinkovskaya. 3rd ed., revised. and additional M.: Academy, 2014.
• See: Developmental psychology: textbook, manual / ed. T. D. Martsinkovskaya. M. : Academy, 2014.
• Ermolaeva M. V. Fundamentals of developmental psychology and acmeology: textbook, manual.
• Learning 10 words (A. R. Luria) // Almanac psychological tests. M., 1995.

Transition from involuntary to arbitrary memory

Memory Development at preschool age, it is characterized by a gradual transition from involuntary and direct to voluntary and mediated memorization and recall. By the end of preschool age, the dominant type of memory remains involuntary memory. The quality of involuntary memorization of objects, pictures, words depends on how actively the child acts in relation to them, to what extent their detailed perception, reflection, grouping take place in the process of action. Yes, at simple memorization the child remembers pictures much worse than when he is offered to put these pictures in their places, for example, put separately images for the garden, kitchen, children's room, yard. In older preschool age, there is a gradual transition from involuntary to voluntary memorization and reproduction of material. At the same time, in the corresponding processes, special perceptual actions stand out and begin to develop relatively independently, mediating mnemonic processes and aimed at better remembering, more fully and accurately reproducing the material retained in memory. 17

Despite significant achievements in the mastery of voluntary memorization, children turn to voluntary memorization and reproduction in comparatively rare cases when appropriate tasks arise in their activity or when adults require it.

Memory productivity children in the game is much higher than outside it. However, in the smallest, three-year-old children, memorization productivity is relatively low even in play. The first special perceptual actions aimed at consciously remembering or recalling something are clearly distinguished in the activity of a child of 5-6 years old, and simple repetition is most often used. The transition from involuntary to arbitrary memory involves two stages. At the first stage, the necessary motivation is formed, i.e. the desire to remember or remember something. At the second stage, the mnemonic actions and operations necessary for this arise and are improved. By the end of preschool age, the process of arbitrary memorization can be considered formed. Its internal, psychological sign is the child's desire to discover and use logical connections in the material for memorization.

It is believed that with age, the rate at which information is extracted from long-term memory and translated into operational, as well as the amount and duration of RAM. It has been established that a three-year-old child can operate with only one unit of information located in this moment time in RAM, and a fifteen-year-old - seven such units.

In one experiment, children between the ages of 3 and 8 were shown 10 different pieces of wood laid out in a single row lengthwise and asked to simply look at the row. A week, and then a month later, they were asked to lay out this row from memory.

The first interesting result of the experiment was that after a week, younger preschoolers could not remember the sequence of bars, but nevertheless restore it by choosing one of the following row arrangement options: a) choosing several equal bars; b) the choice of long and short bars; c) making groups of short, medium and long bars; d) reproduction of a logically correct, but too short sequence; e) compiling a complete initial ordered series. The next result was that after six months without any new presentation of memorized material, the memory of children spontaneously improved in 75% of cases. Those of the children who were at level (a) moved on to building a series according to type (b). Many have moved from level (b) to (c) or even (d). From level (c), children moved on to the next, and so on.(based on materials Nemov refers to Istomina???)

With the help of mechanical repetitions of information, children at an older preschool age can memorize it. They have the first signs of semantic memorization. With active mental work, children remember the material better than without such work.

Memory retains representations that are interpreted in psychology as generalized memory. The transition to thinking from a visually perceived situation to general ideas is the first separation of the child from purely visual thinking. 18 The memory of a preschooler, despite its apparent external imperfection, actually becomes the leading function, taking a central place.

Chapter 4

Improving memory in childhood

Development of arbitrary memory in childhood

Improving voluntary memory in preschoolers is closely related to setting them special mnemonic tasks for memorizing, preserving and reproducing material. Many of these tasks naturally arise in play activities, so a variety of children's games provide the child with rich opportunities for the development of his memory. Arbitrarily memorize, remember and recall material in games can already be children of 3-4 years of age.

Arbitrary forms of memorization and perception begin to take shape at the age of four to five years. The most favorable conditions for mastering voluntary memorization by reproduction are created in play, when memorization is a condition for the child's successful fulfillment of the role he has assumed. The number of words that a child memorizes, acting, for example, in the role of a buyer, executing an order to buy certain items in a store, turns out to be higher than words memorized at the direct request of an adult.

In the process of collective play, the child, playing the role of a messenger, had to transmit messages to the headquarters, consisting of the same initial phrase and several appropriately selected names of individual objects (each time, of course, different ones).

The smallest children, playing the role of a messenger, did not accept its inner content. Therefore, quite often they ran away to carry out the assignment, without even listening to it to the end.

Other children accepted the content of the role. They were preoccupied with conveying the message, but they had no desire to remember its content. So they listened to the message but made no effort to remember it. While passing on the assignment, they did not make any attempts to actively recall what they had forgotten. When asked what else needed to be conveyed, they usually simply answered: "Nothing, everything."

Elder children behave differently. They not only listened to the instruction, but also tried to remember it. Sometimes this was expressed in the fact that they moved their lips and repeated the message to themselves on the way to the headquarters. In response to attempts to speak to them at that moment, the child shook his head negatively and hurriedly continued on his way. When passing on an instruction, these children did not just blurt it out, but tried to remember what they had forgotten: “Now I’ll tell you again, now...” It is obvious that at the same time they somehow strained internally, somehow tried to find what they needed in their memory. Their internal activity was aimed at a specific goal: to remember the content of the message. 19 (Based on the materials of Leontiev A.N.)

Development of mediated and voluntary memorization

In preschool childhood, there is a process memory improvement child. If for perception the possibilities of development at this age are limited, then for memory they are much wider. Its improvement in preschool children can go in several directions at once. The first is giving the processes of memorization an arbitrary character, the second is the transformation of the child's memory from direct to indirect, the third is the development of means and techniques, both memorization and recall. Let's consider each of these directions separately.

From the younger preschool age to the older one, there are noticeable changes in memory. First of all, by the end of preschool childhood, memory becomes a special, independently controlled mental function of the child, which he can control to one degree or another. At the younger and middle preschool age (3-4 years), the memorization and reproduction of material is still part of various types of activity, and is carried out mainly involuntarily. In older preschool age, thanks to the setting of special mnemonic tasks for children, a transition is made to involuntary memory. The more such tasks a preschooler faces in play, communication and work, the faster his memory turns from involuntary to arbitrary. Wherein mnemonic actions are allocated in a special group among other types of actions performed in connection with the implementation of a particular activity. Mnemic - these are actions aimed at memorizing, preserving and reproducing information.

Especially quickly and easily mnemonic actions arise and separate themselves in the game, and in all age groups preschoolers from 3 to 4 years of age. In children of primary and middle preschool age, due to the peculiarities of their psychology and insufficient readiness for serious purposeful activities, in particular educational, memory productivitymuch higher in the game., 20 than in other activities.

For the development of a child's arbitrary memory, it is important to catch in time and make the most of his desire to remember something. Activities associated with the conscious intention to remember or recall first appear distinctly in children around the age of five or six. Outwardly, they are expressed, for example, in the deliberate repetition by the child of what he would like to remember. Stimulation of repetition plays an important role in the development of memory, and repetitions should be encouraged in every possible way. Repetitions transfer information from short-term to long-term memory.

Learning to remember in preschool

When teaching memorization, it is necessary to gradually accustom children to move from immediate repetition to delayed repetition, from repetition aloud to repetition to themselves. The transition from external to mental repetition makes memorization more productive. Starting at the age of four, children can be taught to memorize certain things with the help of others, for example, an object or a word with the help of a picture denoting it. at first ready-made funds to remember the child offers an adult. When they learn to memorize and recall objects with the help of the means offered to them, one can proceed to setting before the child an independent choice of means for memorization.

One should keep in mind important point which distinguishes the learning of children from the learning of adults. A child learns material relatively easily only when he has a clearly expressed direct or consumer interest in this material. This remark also applies to memory. Its development in preschool children from involuntary to voluntary and from direct to indirect will take place actively only when the child himself interested in the use of appropriate means of memorization, in the preservation and reproduction of memorized material. A preschooler realizes and highlights mnemonic goals only if he is faced with an interesting task for him, which requires active memorization and recall. This happens when the child participates in the game, and the goal of remembering something acquires for him a real, concrete and relevant meaning that meets the interests of the game.

Six-year-old children, even under normal conditions, can independently form mental logical connections between memorized words. The presence of such connections in the child's memory is evidenced by the nature of his reproduction of the material, in particular the fact that when working from memory, a child of this age can change the order of naming objects, combining them by meaning into semantic groups. An analysis of the techniques that children use to memorize shows that those who solve the problem with the help of aids build their operations differently. For indirect memorization, it is not so much the power of mechanical memory that is required, but the ability to reasonably dispose of the material, to structure it in a certain way, i.e. not only memory, but also developed thinking.

Improving arbitrary memory in children is associated with the use of mental operations of analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, and the establishment of semantic connections in the processes of memorizing and reproducing material. We can say that the improvement of the child's memory occurs simultaneously with the improvement of his mental activity.

Teaching memorization using mnemonic means

The main task of the art of memorization, which is called mnemonics or mnemonics, is to indicate ways to remember in a short time such a large amount of data that without auxiliary techniques it would be very difficult to remember. The course of development and improvement of mnemonic means can be imagined as follows:

The transition from specific mnemonic means (memorizing some objects with the help of others) to abstract ones (memorizing objects with the help of signs, drawings, diagrams, etc.).

The transition from mechanical to logical means of storing and reproducing material.

The transition from external means of memorization to internal.

The transition from the use of ready-made or known means of memorization to new, original, invented by the memorizers themselves.

Following this course of development in improving the means of memorization and reproduction ensures the gradual formation of mediated and voluntary memorization in the child. If you start teaching a child to use mnemonic techniques before he has the first signs of arbitrary memorization in the process of natural memory development, then you can ensure that this type of memorization and reproduction of material will begin to take shape in children not by the age of five or six, but earlier . With properly organized learning, you can achieve a pronounced effect in the development of memory already at a younger preschool age, i.e. one and a half to two years earlier than usual. At the first stage of education, children must learn compare and correlate the studied material with each other, form semantic groupings based on the selection of certain essential features, learn how to perform these operations when solving mnemonic problems. 21

The formation of the ability to classify material must go through three stages: practical, verbal and completely mental. As a result of mastering the techniques of grouping and classification, it is possible to improve the memory of children of primary preschool age. In middle and older preschool childhood, such children quite consciously and successfully use this kind of techniques when memorizing and reproducing material, thereby demonstrating a pronounced ability for voluntary memorization and reproduction of material.

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Internet resources:

"Psychology.ru": http://www.psychology.ru

Official website of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University: http://www.psy.msu.ru

Unofficial website of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University "Flogiston": http://www.flogiston.ru

Electronic library of the Auditorium.ru portal: http://www.auditorium.ru

Subject index

BUT

Amnesia of infancy 7

B

Memorization speed 1

AT

Verbal memory 5

Taste memory 3

G

Ready to play 1

D

Motor memory 3

Memory duration 1

Long-term memory i, 9

Z

Interest of the child 12

Memory involuntary 7

Visual memory 3, 7

To

Specific objective 3

L

Personality properties 1

M

Mnemic actions 11

Mnemonics 13

Thinking child 6

H

Involuntary memory 3

O

Generalization baby 6

Olfactory memory 3

Image memory 3

Learning to memorize 12

Memory capacity 1

RAM i, 9

Tactile Memory 3

P

Perceptual actions 8

Classification techniques 13

Recollection of impressions 7

Memory productivity 9, 11

Arbitrary Memory 3

R

Memory development i, 8

FROM

Verbal-logical memory 3

Auditory Memory 3

Memory loss and recovery scenario 4

T

Memory accuracy 1

At

Memory enhancement 11

F

Formation of semantic groupings 13

18 Vygotsky L.S., p. 126

19 Mukhina V.S., p. 197

20 Nemov R.S., Book. 2, p. 333

21 Nemov R.S., Book. 2, p. 336