Basic methodological principles of special psychology. Methodological foundations of psychological research and their implementation in special psychology To reveal the methodological basis of special psychology

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 a child, it is necessary to assess not only which mental processes are disturbed and why, but also which links in the structure of a given 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 are that hinder the performance of a particular task and to identify the causes underlying the difficulties, it is necessary, by 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 (the decision-making process, methods of completing the task, the types and nature of errors, the child's attitude to his mistakes and the comments of the specialist conducting the study).

Qualitative analysis allows you to find out whether a particular defect manifests itself at an elementary level, or whether it is associated with a violation of more high level 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 some 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, used mainly in testing, reflects a predominantly negative structure of the characteristics of developmental deviations, without revealing the internal structure of the relationship between a defect and 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 research mental functions. An important document is the pedagogical characteristics of the child, reflecting

data on the duration of his education and upbringing at school and kindergarten, detailed analysis academic performance, behavior, activities carried out 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. Product analysis 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 of 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 systematized classes) is widely used in 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. The presence of 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 observing the child's play, you can, by placing him to 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 general idea about its 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. the conversation gives some idea of the level of 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 characteristics. When studying the characteristics of the mental development of abnormal children, the conversation method 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, to 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 task is offered in a playful way; This applies to both preschool and school age. When working with school-age children, experimental material is presented in the form learning task, but in such cases, the motivation for the assignment may 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 with the help of 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

1) PERSONAL APPROACH PRINCIPLE to a child with developmental problems. In the process psychological help a child with psychophysical disorders does not take into account any separate function or isolated mental phenomenon, but considers the personality as a whole with all its individual characteristics

2) CAUSAL PRINCIPLE. Psychological care for children with developmental disabilities should be more focused on external manifestations deviations in development, 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.

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).

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).

Besides, 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.

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

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.

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.

Methods special psychology.

1) An individual and group laboratory-psychological experiment is an active intervention of a researcher in the activity of the subject in order to create conditions that reveal any psychological fact

2) Observation - purposeful perception of the object of study, which consists in fixing the manifestation of behavior and obtaining judgments about subjective mental phenomena.

3) The study of the products of activity (analysis of the written work of children, the study of drawings, objects produced by them in the process of labor training)

4) Questioning - a group of psychodiagnostic methods, the years of the assignment are presented in the form of questions and statements and are intended to obtain data from the words of the subject.

5) Projective methods - designed to diagnose a person, allow you to assess the level of intellectual development, characterological features and current emotional states.

There are: methods of structuring, that is, the formation of incentives, giving them some meaning; design techniques are the creation of a meaningful whole from the details; interpretation techniques - this is the interpretation of any events, situations; completion techniques - for example, unfinished sentences; expression techniques - for example, drawing; methods of catharsis - game activity in specially organized conditions; impression techniques - preference for some stimuli over others.

6) Teaching experiment - a form of natural experiments, which is characterized by the fact that the study of certain mental processes occurs with purposeful formation. At the same time, with the help of this method, not only the current state of knowledge, skills and abilities is revealed, but how many features of the formation.

7) Conditionally reflex

8) Analysis of functional relationships - the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables is studied.

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1. Subject, history of occurrence, main directions of special psychology

In recent decades, the percentage of children with disabilities in physical and mental development has been increasing. According to WHO, only 25% of children are born and grow up physically and mentally healthy. There was an urgent need for knowledge regarding anomalous children. For a long time, defectology was engaged in the study of abnormal children. In recent decades, a new branch of knowledge has emerged - special psychology. On the present stage already special psychology begins to significantly influence the development of defectology.

Special psychology arose and developed as a border area of knowledge, closely related to general psychology, medicine, pedagogy and focused on theoretical and practical defectology.

Special psychology is an independent branch of human knowledge and has its own special subject. The subject of special psychology is the patterns of development and manifestations of the psyche of various groups of abnormal children.

The object of study of special psychology are children with congenital or acquired disorders of mental and physical development - abnormal children.

In the broad sense of the word, children who have more or less pronounced impairments in their physical or mental development can be considered abnormal. However, in practice, the term "abnormal children" is used to designate the category of children who, due to a serious mental or physical defect, must be brought up and trained in special educational institutions.

Depending on the factors that influenced the specifics of the development of an abnormal child, the main modality of the disorder is determined.

Depending on what suffers primarily - hearing, vision, motor skills, speech or intelligence, the following groups of children are distinguished: children with disabilities

hearing (deaf, hard of hearing, late deaf);

vision (blind, visually impaired);

intelligence (mentally retarded);

speech (logopaths);

musculoskeletal system;

with mental retardation;

with combined defects.

Special psychology solves four groups of problems.

1. General scientific theoretical tasks:

Identification of patterns of development of the psyche for normal and abnormal children;

identification of general patterns of development inherent in all abnormal children;

identification of specific patterns of development of the psyche of different groups of abnormal children;

identification and establishment of the dependence of the development of the psyche on the nature and severity of the anomaly.

2. Study of patterns of formation anomaly:

personality;

mental activity;

speech, perception, memory.

3. Identification of ways to compensate for a defect in the development of the psyche in general and different types mental processes.

Development of scientific foundations for methods and means of teaching different groups of abnormal children

The main problems of special psychology include the following:

What is the dependence of individual mental processes (perception, memory, thinking) on the functional state of the analyzer systems (visual, auditory, tactile)?

How do various anomalies of mental development affect the formation of the personality of an abnormal child?

How does the narrowing of the sensory sphere and movement disorders affect the potential of abnormal children?

The psychology of abnormal children in Russia initially developed as a branch general psychology. It began to develop actively from the end of the twenties of the twentieth century. The formation of special psychology is associated with the name of L.S. Vygotsky. He singled out 2 systems of defects - primary and secondary, developed a hierarchy of defects, systems approach to study an abnormal child, the influence of individual changes and disorders of mental development on the structure of development as a whole. L.S. Vygotsky proved that a primary defect causes numerous and complex secondary changes in the psyche of an abnormal child and in the development of his personality. For example, in a child with hearing loss, mental activity decreases, such personal qualities as anxiety, aggressiveness, and low self-esteem are formed.

Research L.S. Vygotsky laid the foundation for the development of a theoretical substantiation of ways to compensate for impaired mental functions in abnormal children. He experimentally proved that the earlier the correction of the mental development of abnormal children begins, the higher the chance of compensating for the defect of the child and revealing his potential. Based on the research conducted by L.S. Vygotsky developed the ways and principles of teaching abnormal children, developed the idea of social compensation for a defect.

The scientist believed that the main task of a special school is "setting to the norm", introducing children to active participation in life, developing their cooperation with normally developing children. In special psychology, the teachings of L.S. Vygotsky on the relationship between learning and development and the concept of "zone of proximal development". According to L.S. Vygotsky, in the process of teaching abnormal children, one must rely not only on the level of their actual development, but also on the zone of proximal development; it is also applicable to abnormal children. The contribution to the development of domestic special psychology was made by such scientists as M.I. Zemtsova, R.M. Boschis, L.I. Solntseva, I.M. Soloviev, T.V. Rozanova, A.G. Litvak, Zh.I. Shif, I.A. Sokolyansky, A.I. Meshcheryakov, L.V. Zankov, V.G. Petrov. S.Ya. Rubinstein and others.

2. Sections of special psychology

Special psychology is an independent branch psychological science. Depending on the primary defect, the following sections of special psychology are distinguished:

1. Surdopsychology - the study of the psychology of deaf children. This section has a rich history. R.M. Boschis, 1963; Zh.I. Shif, 1968; THEM. Solovyov, 1966; T.V. Rozanova, 1978. They studied the features of the development of speech, thinking, memory, psychology of deaf children, the mutual development of speech and other mental processes, the problems of social adaptation of deaf children. The studies carried out by scientists contributed to the search for reserves of mental development of deaf children and their rational use in education.

Psychologists have found that special education for deaf children with preschool age ensures the mental development of the child is closer to normal. Scientists have also found that the teaching of oral speech for deaf children should be carried out on the basis of subject-practical activities, and the sooner the better. Psychologists separately studied the psyche and psychology of hearing-impaired children. They found that in hearing-impaired children, the patterns of mental development are different compared to deaf children, and for the mental development of a hearing-impaired child, the time of onset of hearing loss, the degree of its preservation and the level of speech development are important.

2. Tiflopsychology - the study of the psychology of the blind. The psychology of blind children was studied by M.I. Zemtsova, Yu.G. Kulagin, N.S. Kostyuchek, A.G. Litvak, L.I. Solntseva. Scientists have studied the psychology of sensory cognition of blind children, the issues of cognitive activity of this category of children, the principles of teaching blind children. Significant progress has been made in the study of the psychology of deaf-blind-mute children (I.A. Sokolyansky, A.I. Meshcheryakov, A.V. Yarmolenko).

Scientists have scientifically proved and practically confirmed the possibility of a sufficiently high level of mental development of the deaf-blind, described cases of mastering their speech, a high level of intellectual development.

3. Oligofrenopsychology - the psychology of mentally retarded children. Oligophrenopsychology arose as a comparative psychology of normal and abnormal children. This branch covers a wide range of issues related to the study of the mechanisms and structure of a defect in mentally retarded children, with the dynamics of spontaneous and abnormal development of mentally retarded children, with the identification of patterns of mental development common to normal and abnormal children. L.V. Zankov, Zh.I. Shif, V.G. Petrova, N.T. Morozova, S.Ya. Rubinstein and others.

4. Psychology of children with speech disorders. This section is formed on the basis of speech therapy. This is a relatively young section. In this section of special psychology, problems of lagging behind, delays in the development of speech, causes of underdevelopment of speech, features of the mental development of non-speaking children, structures and mechanisms of speech disorders are studied.

Recently, there has been a need to develop another section of special psychology - logopsychology.

3. Methodological positions and principles of special psychology

psychology abnormal organic defect

The following principles are important for understanding abnormal development:

Principle of determinism:

a) all mental processes are due to the activity of the brain;

b) it is necessary to establish the causes that caused this or that mental phenomenon;

c) an external cause does not directly determine the reaction of a person, but acts through internal conditions.

The principle of development - involves the analysis of the process of the occurrence of a defect, the identification of the product of what change in the previous development is this defect.

The principle of unity of consciousness and activity. Consciousness is the regulator of human behavior and actions. When studying abnormal children, the implementation of the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity is that the activity of an abnormal child is one of important parameters assessment of the level of its development.

Methods of special psychology

Special psychology uses everything psychological methods, although their application must take into account the specific type and degree of defect.

Psychodiagnostic methods are most widely used in special psychology. These include observation, interview, conversation, questioning, experiment, tests.

The use of these methods in special psychology has its own specifics.

observation.

When using this method, the following requirements must be taken into account:

regularity;

systematic;

purposefulness;

accuracy.

Observation should not only fully describe the phenomenon under study, but also explain it.

Observation Difficulties

They are due to the characteristics of the defects of anomalous faces. So for children with visual impairments, a certain restraint, distrust, poor facial expressions, and emphasized discipline are characteristic. These characteristics cause certain difficulties when observing the blind. Their speech, facial expressions and pantomime can lead to an erroneous explanation of their feelings, excitement, as these manifestations do not adequately reflect their state of mind.

Children with hearing impairments, on the contrary, have rich and open, exaggerated facial expressions and gestures that do not give the observer any information about their feelings and experiences. This is due to the fact that the speech of the deaf is emotionally inexpressive, but simply memorized mechanically.

For children with disorders of the musculoskeletal system, isolation, shyness, aggressiveness, and clumsiness of movements are characteristic. All this serves them for external protection and prevents the observer from understanding their inner world, personal qualities, etc.

When observing children with speech defects, their speech defects usually increase, which interferes with objective external control.

Observation of mentally retarded children is the most objective of the category of abnormal persons. They openly expose both their feelings and the defects of mental activity for observation, and if they try to show themselves to others, this is easy to see.

Self-observation for anomalous children is ineffective, it is even less objective in some anomalous children than in healthy ones, due to the nature of their defect. For example, anomalous children and adolescents who lost their sight at an early age cannot be assumed to have adequate knowledge of the visual characteristics of objects and phenomena of the world around them; deaf people in their statements during self-observation show speech deficiencies; the mentally retarded are incapable of accurate observation and reasoning by self-observation. In children with severe speech disorders, in the process of speaking about the results of self-observation, their deficiency may significantly worsen, which also complicates self-observation.

An interview (conversation) requires the specialist to be able to establish a trusting relationship, taking into account the defect of the child. This is especially true for children with speech, visual and hearing impairments. Thus, it is very difficult for an inexperienced person to have a conversation with a blind person. Here it is very easy to admit tactlessness, for example, when describing an object, a psychologist can say: "as you can see ...", etc. Even more difficult is conducting an interview with a deaf or hard of hearing person. Significant experience is also required for a specialist when talking with children with speech disorders.

The survey has its own age dynamics. It is not recommended for use with abnormal children younger than primary school age, and the use of the questionnaire method even at an older age causes problems in reading and writing. For the blind, the questionnaire must be rewritten in Braille. The deaf have problems understanding the content of the questions, which leads to the fact that they are able to answer the questions of the questionnaire only at the highest level of mastering speech, and their answers to the questions of the questionnaire can be directly related to the level of mastery of speech.

Difficulties in writing often occur in children with disorders of the musculoskeletal system. At the same time, this method provides significant advantages when working with children with speech disorders. In case of speech disorders, the questionnaire is more effective when the disorders are related to sound pronunciation (it is easier for such children to write than to say).

When formulating the questions of the questionnaire, it is necessary to strictly observe all the known principles for constructing questionnaires, taking into account the defect of the category of children being examined. You can’t, for example, ask a blind person about visual qualities; deaf people need to be explained everything abstract concepts used in the questionnaire. All this indicates that the psychological practice standardized questionnaires designed for the normal population can only rarely be offered to abnormal individuals without appropriate modification and subsequent explanation.

In any science, experiment is one of the most advanced methods. Its significance for special psychology is exclusively

When organizing an experiment with anomalous children, the following principles should be considered:

The principle of modeling mental activity (for example, the child is asked to do some work and carefully recorded in what way he acted, then it turns out what caused the errors during the task). So, for example, if one of the typical intellectual processes of a student is orientation in the text, its memorization and brief reproduction, then the experiment may consist in the fact that the abnormal child is offered some previously unfamiliar text, allowed to read it, and after a fixed time they ask for this text. reproduce the text briefly;

The principle of a qualitative analysis of the mental activity of children (with a qualitative analysis, it does not matter what the percentage of correctly completed tasks is, but a qualitative analysis of the method of execution, the nature of errors, the child's interest in work, attitude to help is important). When studying abnormal children, one should not over-standardize the conditions of the study and limit the child in time. The condition that the experimenter should not interfere with the work of the child is meaningless. On the contrary, the nature and content of the assistance provided to the child, taking into account his individual characteristics, turns out to be very effective in the research process;

The principle of accurate and objective registration of facts (subjectivity is not allowed). The experiment requires accurate and objective registration of facts. With all the variations and modifications of specific methodological techniques, it is unacceptable to reduce the experiment to a free conversation with the child or to confine oneself to a subjective interpretation of experimental data.

As psychodiagnostic methods in psychology are widely used psychological tests and questionnaires, which have a number of advantages. To date, there are only a small number of tests designed for abnormal children.

When applying tests, the following features should be taken into account:

Difficulty in standardizing tests for abnormal children (the same defect manifests itself differently in abnormal children, the groups of abnormal children are very heterogeneous, the age and time of occurrence of the defect are different);

Taking into account the specifics of each defect (for blind children, tests must be translated into Braille, the reading speed of this font is 3 times lower than usual, simply increasing the time it takes the blind to complete the test does not solve the problem; Braille reading speed is characterized by fairly large individual differences and some it is impossible to deduce the norm here);

The impossibility of using tests designed for the normal population of relatively abnormal children, they must be adapted to work with abnormal children.

Mandatory individual testing (testing of abnormal children must be carried out individually, making sure that the instructions are clear to the child);

The need to get acquainted with the main characteristics of this type of anomaly, with the possibilities and limitations arising from this defect, and, first of all, with the peculiarities of communication of abnormal children and adolescents with this defect;

When testing abnormal, especially mentally retarded, it is necessary to provide appropriate motivation, since weak low results are often caused by a child’s lack of interest, disinterest in performing a test task;

More valid should be considered high results, while low results should be treated with more skepticism, as they may be due to difficulty in completing the task due to a defect, lack of understanding of the task, poor motivation, or inexperience of the psychologist conducting the test.

In the study of abnormal children, testing should be used as an auxiliary method, only supplementing other methods; the main methods in the study of abnormal children are observation, experiment, conversation, and interview.

Basic concepts of the psychology of abnormal children

In special psychology, there are a number of specific concepts that affect psychological characteristics abnormal children. These include:

a mental anomaly is an obvious deviation from what is typical or normal, but does not include a pathological condition;

a mental deficit is a state of an individual, the results of which, in general, or in some aspect, are lower than could reasonably be expected (L. Koshch, 1974). The results of an individual characterized by a mental deficit are significantly lower, as compared. With typical results of other people, and in comparison with indicators of his own behavior in the past or in the present. The basis of a mental deficiency may be structural, physiological, or chemical, and the causes of deficiency may be specific stresses, physical illnesses, or diagnostic conditions such as mental illness, brain damage, mental subnormality, blindness, fatigue, obsessions, aging, drug exposure, heart disorders, tuberculosis, and these conditions can be of varying intensity, be temporary or permanent, and their characteristics may vary from case to case.

A mental deficiency is a relatively stable and irreversible deficiency that manifests itself in the behavior of an individual and represents a deviation from the individual psychological norm. Mental deficiency as such is neither a disease nor a defect (L. Koshch, 1974). This concept denotes the deterioration of both mental functions and their integration and is decisive in relation to such concepts as retardation, deprivation, dementia, deterioration and regression;

retardation (lag) is a slowdown or lag in the physical, mental or personal development. When retardation refers to physical development and to the totality of mental phenomena, to the development of the entire personality of an individual, then it is customary to speak of psychosomatic retardation. If among mental functions lagging behind in the first place cognitive processes, we are talking about mental retardation or retardation. The most common cause of retardation is brain damage;

deprivation - a mental state that occurs as a result of such life situations when the subject is not given the opportunity to satisfy some of his basic (vital) mental needs in sufficient volume and for a relatively long time (I. Langmayer, Z. Mateychek, 1974). Signs of mental deprivation are very diverse, starting with mild capriciousness and loudness, still within the normal mental picture, and ending with gross violations of the development of intellect and character. They may manifest as neurotic, psychopathic or psychotic symptoms, sometimes taking the form of purely somatic disturbances and disorders;

dementia is a violation of normal mental development, a lag in comparison with normal development and the loss of already acquired mental abilities. With dementia, we are talking about an acquired decrease in working capacity, differentiation and structuredness of the intellect, and it is after the second year of life. Dementia can be total;

deterioration is a progressive loss of a function or “organ”, and these are incipient or discrete changes that often go unnoticed during a routine examination (L. Koshch, 1974). Examples of deterioration include a gradual loss of visual acuity, which a person detects only when the loss has already acquired a certain extent;

regression is a return, a turn back in development, a return to an earlier period of development, either as a result of the loss of already developed abilities, or as a result of the actualization of earlier methods and types of reactions, for example, the appearance of childish childish behavior in the elderly. Regressive features can also appear temporarily. Under certain circumstances, higher and more vulnerable functional systems can be disrupted in a person, and then the control of behavior will move to older, more primitive examples (for example, a state of panic in which a person ceases to rationally control his behavior and begins to act on the basis of primitive drives). Regression can last a very short time (for example, in case of intoxication, in a dream, in a hypnotic state), or it can last a month, a year, sometimes until the end of life (as a result of mental illness, old age);

Frustration is a state that occurs when an organism or a person encounters an insurmountable obstacle or limitation on its way to satisfying some vital need; it is a disruption of activity that causes a special intense experience or state in a person. Frustration performs a protective function for the body, creating a new motivation aimed at overcoming obstacles to the realization of the original motives;

a defect is a deficiency, violation or damage that has the character of a serious and relatively stable deficiency, loss or absence of any function or organ (L. Koshch, 1974). Defects can be organic and functional. An organic defect is a violation, absence or deficiency of any organ (generalized defect) or part of it (isolated defect).

The most common causes of organic defects include: hereditary or congenital insufficiency, affecting both the organ as a whole and its parts (defects in the limbs, cleft lip, cleft palate); a disease that leads to significant consequences in the activity of certain organs (paralysis of muscle groups, chronic tissue changes, heart disease); trauma - damage to the body, single or chronically recurring with deformation of certain organs.

Injury can be caused by mechanical action (operation), deficiencies of any substances in the body, etc. A functional defect is a malfunction of an organ or a violation common functions of the whole organism without any disturbance of the tissue of the organ or organic system. Functional defects include organ neurosis (cardiac neurosis), psychoneurosis, behavioral disorders, psychopathy, psychosis, etc. Functional neuroses are most often caused by violations of the individual's social ties;

defectiveness is a violation of the integrity of a person, a violation of his ties with society, a violation of ties and relations in the field of upbringing and education, as well as an attitude to work in the field professional activity(M.Sovak, 1972). According to M. Sovak, defectiveness is characterized by five main features:

1. Defectiveness is understood as the corresponding changes in the structure of the personality, the cause of which are violations in the higher nervous activity abnormal individual, reflecting the consequences of organic, functional or social disorders;

2. Defectiveness is a long-term process, therefore, short-term or temporary disruption of ties with society cannot be considered defectiveness;

3. Defectiveness as a violation of social ties acts in the form of a violation of the ties of abnormal individuals in relation to the team normal people, or to other groups of abnormal (in the visually impaired to the blind, etc.);

4. Defectiveness as a violation of connections is distinguished by a dialectical character. Not only the anomalous suffer, but the whole society.

It is by the position that society takes in relation to the anomalous that one can judge the extent of its humanity. There have been three main positions in history:

a) society tries to exclude the anomalous from its circle as a burden, or, under the pretext of charitative care, isolate them, or use them in any way (for example, the physical elimination of the anomalous in ancient Sparta and Nazi Germany). Such a position of society causes in the abnormal reaction of avoidance and avoidance of social contacts, or aggression;

b) society takes a position of exaggerated concern for the abnormal, thus limiting the independence of the individual and developing his undesirable dependence on the help of others, “normal”;

c) currently in developed countries, abnormal children and adults are considered "in need of special care" (Czech Republic) or persons "with special needs" (England, USA). Special care for this category of people is aimed at ensuring that the anomalous can maximize all their abilities and opportunities to achieve the goal of joining the labor process and integrating into society.

5. Defectiveness is not a permanent state. As a breach of ties, it lends itself to change, both for better and for worse;

compensation - compensation, balancing, replacement or restructuring of disturbed or underdeveloped body functions. This is a complex, diverse process of adaptation of the body due to congenital or acquired anomalies. The process of compensation is based on significant possibilities of higher nervous activity. Distinguish between primary and secondary compensation. Compensation relating to a direct violation or defect (primary compensation) proceeds, as a rule, in the form of purposeful activities aimed at a relative decrease in the degree of manifestation of the main defect. With this type of compensation, mainly corrective technical means (glasses, hearing aids, etc.) are used. Compensation in the field of secondary symptoms (in the field of the psychological consequences of a defect) is associated with the development and formation of mental processes and properties, the personality as a whole and the mental regulation of abnormal behavior.

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