Leontiev and the development of memory m 1931 read. Study of the development of higher forms of memorization using the technique of double stimulation (A.N. Leontiev)
A.N.Leontiev, based on the theory of internalization of higher mental functions, contributed to the study of the development of memory, especially emphasizing the central role of speech: “it is in speech that the connections necessary for indirect memorization are closed and intentions are created.”
The author assumes that the transition from external mediated memorization to internally mediated memorization is closely connected with the transformation of speech from a purely technical function into an internal function. order a strapon
A detailed study of the process of development of higher forms of memorization was carried out by A. N. Leontiev using the technique of double stimulation. Children of all ages and adults were given a list of 15 words and a set of picture cards. The instruction was: “When I say the word, look at the cards, choose and set aside a card that will help you remember the word later.” Of course, the images on the cards were not copies of the words proposed for memorization, but were only potentially related to them. For example, a series could be presented that included the words “day”, “holiday”, “meeting”, and in the set of cards there were drawings of a rooster, a globe and a clock. Adequate work with stimuli-means consisted in establishing a connection between the word - the material for memorization and the depicted suitable object. The efficiency of reproduction of the presented list of words was checked.
In the control series of the experiment, the cards were not given to the subjects. The study involved 1200 subjects.
For clarity of presentation of the discovered pattern, A.N. Leontiev limited himself to three groups:
1) subjects of preschool age;
2) subjects of primary and secondary school age;
3) adult subjects (and students).
If you look closely at the graph (see Appendix 1), you can see that it looks like a parallelogram. Therefore, the principle of memory development was called the “parallelogram of memory development”. Its essence lies in the fact that, starting from preschool age, the rate of development of memorization with the help of external means (in this case, cards) significantly exceeds the rate of direct memorization, i.e. the graph fixing the efficiency of memorization with cards has a steeper shape. On the contrary, starting from school age, the increase in indicators of externally direct memorization proceeds faster than the increase in externally mediated memorization. Let's pay attention to the word "external". The fact of the matter is that for an outside observer, the situation looks as if adults are using cards "worse and worse." But, according to A.N. Leontiev, behind the neglect of cards (external means of memorization) against the background of the ever-increasing efficiency of memorization, there is a hidden process of growing an external tool, turning it into an internal, psychological tool. The “parallelogram” principle is “an expression of the general law that the development of higher sign forms of memory proceeds along the line of transformation of externally mediated memorization into internally mediated memorization. If we now wanted to consider the memory of an adult cultured person, we would have to take it not as nature created it, but as culture created it.
Methods of legal psychology
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Parallelogram of the development of memory according to Leontiev
A.N.Leontiev, based on the theory of internalization of higher mental functions, contributed to the study of the development of memory, especially emphasizing the central role of speech: “it is in speech that the connections necessary for indirect memorization are closed and intentions are created.” The author assumes that the transition that takes place from the external...
* (See: A. N. Leontiev. Problems of the development of the psyche, 3rd ed. M., 1972.)
The transition from primitive, biological forms of memory to its higher, specifically human forms is the result of a long and complex process of cultural and historical development. Man had to master his natural, biological memory, subordinate its activity to the new conditions of his social existence, had to recreate his memory anew, making it human memory. This idea of man's creation of his memory is beautifully reflected in an old Greek tragedy:
Listen to what I have done to mortals: I invented the number for them, And taught them how to combine letters, - I gave them memory, the mother of the muses, - the reason for everything *.
* (Aeschylus. Chained Prometheus.)
What is remarkable in these lines is that the origin of memory is associated in them with the origin of such, undoubtedly, historical methods of behavior as counting and writing; we will indeed see that the memory of modern man is the same product of his cultural and social development as his speech, writing or counting.
We already meet the first steps towards mastering our natural memory among the most primitive peoples. These are the first attempts to secure one's recollection, the resurrection of some trace in one's memory with the help of a special stimulus, which thus functions as a means of remembering. “The first memorization,” says Janet, “is the essence of remembering things with the help of things. A person who wants to make a memory emerge from him takes some object in his hand; so they tie a knot on a scarf or put a small stone in their pocket, a piece of paper or a sheet of wood. This is what we still call souvenirs" * .
* (Janet P. L "evolution de la memoire et de la notion du temps. Paris, 1928, p. 262.)
Precisely the same mechanism is exhibited by those primitive techniques relating to the memorization of some assignment that we encounter among culturally backward tribes. Such, in particular, is the function of the so-called wands, messengers discovered by the Australians...
The great impressing power alone, which is probably also characteristic of these tribes, is, of course, not able to guarantee the emergence of the necessary memory at the very moment when the message is to be transmitted. In order to be resurrected, the traces mechanically retained by memory must, through some common link, enter into a natural connection with the given new situation; this is a common link and cannot be guaranteed when it is not created in advance in the very process of memorization; finally, the impossibility of accidental dropping out of any separate part of the memorized material cannot be guaranteed either. How does the Australian messenger act when he needs to ensure that the right message is reproduced reliably at the right moment? Inflicting notches on his wand, he artificially creates this necessary common link, connecting his present with some future situation; the notches he has made will serve him as that intermediate stimulus that performs the function of a means of recollection, with the help of which he thus masters his memory ...
Active adaptation to the future is such an indirect act, the structure of which is specific to the higher behavior of man. Listening to the transmitted instruction, the Australian does not directly fulfill his task, does not act in the direct direction dictated by the given stimulating situation, but, as it were, embarks on a "workaround": he creates a preliminary means, an instrument for solving it, just as, instead of in order to apply direct efforts to the weight being shifted, he first breaks out the corresponding lever for this. The difference between the instrument of labor and the means-instrument that primitive man makes for his memory consists only in this, that while the former is always directed towards external nature, with the help of the latter he masters his own behavior...
The role that in the mediated operation of memorization is performed by an artificially organized "stimulus-means" was originally performed by virtue of the natural laws of memory by some random stimulus entering a previously imprinted situation. It was only necessary to exclude the accidental action of such a stimulus by preparing it in advance in order to ensure reproduction and thereby make it arbitrary. Probably, at first such binding stimuli were created in relation to other people; it is clear that in this case the process of reproduction, although it can be considered as objectively mediated, subjectively for the "remembering" remains direct, natural. Only when turned on itself does the auxiliary means of memory impart a new quality to this operation. Thus, the mediation of the act of remembering does not change anything in the biological laws of this function; only the structure of the operation as a whole changes. By organizing an appropriate "stimulus-means" that ensures the reproduction of the impression received, we master our memory, mastering its stimulation, that is, we master it on the basis of subordination to its own natural laws ...
Initially, stimuli, the means by which a person organizes his memorization, are very imperfect. Usually these are the simplest material signs or undifferentiated notches, primitive tags, or even parts of one's own body * . It is clear that such elementary "tools" are often unable to fulfill their purpose. Their further improvement lies in the process of their further differentiation and specialization. The "nodal script" of the Peruvians can serve as an example of such a further improvement of the external mnemonic sign (Fig. 5). The signs of this letter ("kvipu" - knots) bear little resemblance to modern written signs; their main difference lies in the fact that they do not have a once and for all established meaning and therefore require additional verbal comments from the writer ** for their decoding. Thus, these knots are only extremely differentiated conditional auxiliary signs for memory, fundamentally still in no way different from the simplest mnemotechnical signs. At the same time, they are, as it were, the initial stage in the development of writing in the proper sense of the word. Acquiring certain meanings, such very conditionally used signs (knots, drawings, etc.) already form elements of pictographic writing, which later gives way to even more perfect forms of writing.
* (A very curious example of the use of the fingers as a mnemotechnical means we find in Livingston. In one of the African tribes (among the Vakopayks), noble people had a custom, when meeting strangers, to announce to them through their servant about their origin. Since their genealogy was reported in very great detail, the servant, listing the genealogical facts related to his master, fingered his fingers at the same time (Livingstone D. Exploration dans l "interieur dc l" Africa, Australe. Paris, 1859, p. 19).)
** (See: Taylor E. B. Primitive culture. SPb., 1896. The following figure is borrowed from the book: Thurnwald R. Psychologie des primitiven Menschen. Handbuch der vergleichenden Psychology. Minchen, 1922.)
This process of development of simplified mnemotechnical signs into written ones does not pass without a trace for the memory itself, changing the conditions for its functioning; each new stage in the development of these signs presupposes new forms of it. However, the history of the development of memory cannot be understood only as the history of the development of external fixative signs. The difference between our memory and its natural biological forms is not only that we have the opportunity to use a notebook or historical documents; both rather merely substitute for its function: a transcript, photo or cinematography can provide even in an amnesiac a reproduction as sure and accurate as that of an eidetic. There is another, second line of memory development, which unfolds, as it were, in parallel with the first and is in constant interaction with it.
Rice. 5. "Quipu"
Turning to the use of auxiliary means, we thereby change the fundamental structure of our act of remembering; our previously direct, immediate memorization becomes mediated, based on two systems or two series of stimuli: additional “stimulus-means” are added to direct stimuli, which we can call “stimulus-objects” of memory.
We have seen that initially these auxiliary stimuli-means usually take the form of stimuli acting from outside. This is a knot tied, a notch made on a wooden object, etc., finally, it can be some organ of our own body. In the latter case, we already run into a certain difficulty: our means of remembering is a very unspecialized means, it is not manufactured specifically for this purpose, it is constantly present with us, constantly in the sphere of our perception. If, when using a completely differentiated and specialized means, for example, when using written signs, reproduction occurs, as it were, independently of our memory as a purely external operation, then, on the contrary, when using non-specialized signs, memory acts predominantly, although it has completely retained its new structure, specific to mediated memory. Of course, an insufficiently specialized sign may simply not perform its function or perform it poorly, but in the case when it is performed successfully, it is necessary that the insufficiency of the sign be, as it were, compensated by the internal side of the operation ...
Such memorization, based on a system of internal stimuli-means, is a comparatively late stage in the development of memory. In order to be able to make the transition from the use of external stimuli to the use of internal elements of experience, it is necessary that these internal elements themselves be sufficiently formed, dissected, in short, it is necessary that the previous memory material be sufficiently organized. In this process of forming the inner experience of a person, the central role undoubtedly belongs to speech; it is in speech that the connections necessary for mediated memorization are closed and intentions are created. It can be assumed that the very transition that takes place from externally mediated memorization to internally mediated memorization stands in the closest connection with the transformation of speech from a purely external function into an internal function...
So, in the form of memory that arises on the basis of the use of auxiliary stimuli-means that make our reproduction arbitrary, there are already all the signs that distinguish the higher memory of a person from his lower, biological memory.
Its further development proceeds, as it were, along two separate interrelated lines: along the line of development and improvement of the means of memorization, which remain in the form of stimuli acting from outside, and along the line of the transformation of these means of memorization into internal means. This first line in its final continuation is the line of the development of writing; developing and differentiating, the external mnemonic sign turns into a written sign. At the same time, its function is becoming more specialized and acquiring new specific features; in its fully developed form, a written sign already completely denies that function - memory, with which its birth is associated. This line of development lies outside the scope of our study.
The second line - the line of transition from the use of external means of memorization to the use of internal means - is the line of development, in fact, of higher logical memory. Like the first one, it is directly connected with the general process of the cultural and historical development of mankind...
In accordance with the central idea that underlies our general hypothesis, the methodology of our experiment is also found. Proceeding from the position that the development of higher forms of memory occurs on the basis of the transition from natural memorization to methods of mediated memorization, which consists in the fact that it is carried out with the help of auxiliary - it does not matter, internal or external - stimuli-means, we had to endure in our experiment outward this process, to make it available to our observation. This possibility is given to us by the "functional technique of double stimulation" developed by L. S. Vygotsky and A. R. Luria, which is based on the principle of introducing into the experimental task offered to the subjects, in addition to the main initial stimuli, a second additional series of stimuli (stimulus-means) , which can serve the subjects as the "psychological tool" with which they can solve this problem.
2
Our first main experimental study of memory was carried out on a mass differential material and covered about 1200 subjects in total. With the exception of 222 students with whom experiments were carried out according to the collective method, all the other subjects went through an individual experiment, which consisted of four series, containing rows of 15 words to be memorized (except for the first, which consisted of 10 meaningless syllables). Thus, according to this mass study, we received about 4 thousand greatnesses characterizing the memorization of our subjects, derived from more than 65 thousand data obtained ...
The first orientation study we did on normal and mentally retarded children consisted of only three series of memory words that we presented in an auditory way. In the first series, we read the words at intervals of about three seconds and immediately after that asked the subject to reproduce them. In the second series, the subjects were asked to memorize a collection of 20 pictures (lotto cards) that were placed in front of them on the table at the beginning of the experiment ("to make it easier to remember"). In this tentative study, we, as a rule, did not suggest to the subjects how to use the cards, with the exception of experiments with oligophrenic children of the Medico-Pedagogical Clinic of the NCP.
The picture cards that we used in these experiments were chosen in such a way that their content did not coincide with the content of the words to be memorized.
The third series differed from the second only in the greater difficulty of both the verbal series and the selection of pictures, designed for more complex forms of their connection with the material to be remembered.
The experiments in the second and third series usually proceeded as follows: the child, listening to the words read to him, simultaneously selected from among the cards lying in front of him those of them which, by their content, could remind him of the corresponding words. Then, after the entire series of words had been read, the child reproduced it, looking at the pictures he had previously set aside. At the end of the experiment, the experimenter asked the child why he took this or that card to memorize the given word and how it "helped him remember" this word...
Our initial data clearly showed us that a more or less successful choice of a card for memorizing a word does not yet indicate that the child is capable of using this card instrumentally. The process as a whole goes as if bypassing it, it turns out to be associatively connected with it, but not included in it. When prompted to reproduce words, a child who is not able to mediate his memorization usually either names the words without regard to the picture (looks at the picture, reproduces a word from a given row, but not the one that corresponds to the picture), or simply names the object depicted in the picture. The picture in this case does not help the child, but interferes, interferes precisely because it participates in the process not together with the main stimulus, but along with it ...
Here we come to the second question posed by our preliminary study: what can explain the increase in the coefficients of direct memorization that we note, which initially proceeds very slowly, forming an ever greater divergence from the coefficients of memorization with the help of pictures, and then vigorously approaches to these second coefficients, which also sharply lose their rate of increase...
Already classical studies of empirical psychology, in which subjects were invited to memorize the meaningless material offered to them purely mechanically, noted that some subjects still could not help but turn their memorization into a complex activity characterized by the use of various auxiliary means.
This second type of memory, which is usually designated (Ogden, Ephrussi) as an intellectual or artificial type, the opposite of the first - sensory or mechanical, is, in the absence of special artificial restrictions, in essence the only type of developed human memory. The latest special study, which was undertaken by Foucault in order to study the role of memory aids, showed that all the subjects who went through this study mediated the process of their memorization to one degree or another. In his work, Foucault notes, on the basis of the self-observation testimonies of the subjects, a number of techniques they used to memorize, among which there are sometimes extremely complex and witty constructions. So, regarding the memorization of the words plage, grele, robe, one of the subjects shows: "I thought that the lady was walking on the beach, hail came and ruined her dress" ... In the same way, the memorization of numbers often occurs in a purely intellectual way, for example, with using the mental construction of the corresponding curves, noticing the composition of the number (633, 255, 909, 191, etc.) and numerical relationships (721=7X3=21), finally, by establishing links with certain dates, etc. * .
* (Foucault M. Sur la fixation des images. - "Journal de Psychologie", 1924, No. 6.)
Quite similar to these testimonies we also received, subjecting students who had passed through the usual psychological test of memory to a survey about how they memorized the words offered to them ...
The tendency for the coefficients of series of different degrees of difficulty to converge at the lowest and highest levels of development of memorization techniques also completely coincides with the tendency for the indicators to converge that we observe in our experiments. It becomes completely understandable from the point of view of the concept of the development of memorization that we have expressed: with the largely mechanical method of memorization that we encounter in subjects with low overall coefficients, the difference in the content of the material being remembered is fundamentally as indifferent to them as the content of the reproduced is indifferent to the eidetic. them images. We are speaking in principle indifferently, for we can hardly speak here of a purely "mechanical" method of remembering; to be more precise, it would be necessary to say somewhat differently: it does not matter insofar as the memorization of a given subject is mechanical. If in this case memorization cannot equally be mediated, it does not matter if meaningful or meaningless material is imprinted or imprinted with or without pictures, in subjects with highly developed memorization, on the contrary, it turns out to be mediated under any conditions: with the help of cards or with the help of internal means while retaining meaningless words, figures or words of the native language, i.e., we, naturally, should also expect equalization of indicators in them ...
3
The methodology of our mass research was somewhat different from the methodology of the first tentative experiments. The forms of this study contained a series of words, the number of which was brought up to 15; in addition, we introduced into them one more (first) series, consisting of 10 meaningless syllables.
The experiment itself proceeded in the same way as in the first study, with the difference, however, that in the instructions for the third (and fourth) series, the method of using cards was always indicated ("When I say the word, look at the cards, choose and set aside such a card which will help you remember the word")... After choosing the last picture, the experimenter took the cards he had set aside from the subject, placed them, if their order was violated, in their original sequence and presented them one by one to the subject, inviting him to name the appropriate each card has a word...
To obtain our "age profile" we examined preschool children, school-age children and adults in an individual experiment.
The total results obtained for all four series of experiments are given in Table. 2, where are presented in arithmetic means (M), in medians (M e) * and in modes (M o) values characterizing the memorization of different groups of our subjects; the reduced values of the average errors (m) are calculated by the formula
* (To calculate the medians, we used the usual formula: Med=r+b-a/2m.)
Similarly, in this table we also present the relative coefficients for increasing the efficiency of memorization upon the transition to the use of cards as the second stimuli-signs.
We calculated these coefficients by the formula
Where R 2 is the number of retained words in the second series, and R 3 is the number of retained words in the third series.
Even the most superficial analysis of the changes in the indicators given in this table depending on the age and the group of subjects with complete clarity reveals the main trend in the development of memorization, which we pointed out above. Considering the results of the second and third series of experiments (the number of words memorized without the help of pictures and with the help of pictures), we state that the ratio in which these quantities are among themselves is not constant, it changes in a certain pattern, as shown by the given in the table, the relative increase coefficients and, as is especially clearly seen in Fig. 6, which shows graphically the change in the absolute values of these TWO series. In preschool children of younger age, the third series is characterized by the value (a), which is only relatively slightly higher than the corresponding value of the second series; however, along with the further rather rapid development of memorization based on external signs, memorization without the help of cards develops more slowly and the difference in their indices increases quite vigorously (b, c). Starting from this group (c) (children 7-12 years old, students of grades I-II), the indicators of both series, on the contrary, begin to approach each other and the difference between them is more and more smoothed out (d, e, f). This can be seen even more clearly if we somewhat simplify our drawing and restrict it to only three total groups: a group of preschool-age subjects, a school-age group, and a group of adults (Fig. 7).
The general pattern that emerges here could be formulated as follows: starting from preschool age, the rate of development of memorization with the help of external means significantly exceeds the rate of development of memorization without the help of cards; on the contrary, starting from the first school age, the increase in indicators of outwardly direct memorization proceeds faster than a further increase in indirect memorization. Thus, in their conditional graphic representation, both of these lines of development are two curves that converge in the lower and upper limits and form a figure that, in its shape, approaches the figure of a not quite regular parallelogram with two cut off corners. However, this is only the form of the location of the specific values of our measurements, a form that depends on a certain contingent of subjects and on the content of the material we offered for memorization ...
The very graphic form of expressing this relationship can be more or less flexible, but the pattern underlying it remains unchanged: it reveals itself in the same way in our preliminary experiments, and in the present study, and in the study of the memory of adults belonging to different cultural levels presented below. , and in a study of the development of mediated attention in children, and, finally, in a long-term study of the development of memorization in individual subjects ...
Without touching at all on the data of the first series of our experiments with meaningless syllables and summarizing only the presented data on the development of the memorization of meaningful words, we arrive at the following proposition arising from the analysis of the corresponding quantities.
At the earliest stages of the development of memorization (children of early preschool age), the introduction into the experiment of the second series of stimuli-signs, which are capable of turning this operation into a mediated, significative one, entering into an operation as a "memory means", almost does not increase its effectiveness; the operation of memorization still remains direct, natural. At the next stage in the development of memorization (children of primary school age), which is characterized by a preliminary extremely energetic increase in the indicators of externally mediated memorization, the introduction of a second series of stimulus-means is, on the contrary, a decisive circumstance for the effectiveness of the operation; This is the moment of greatest discrepancy. At the same time, from this very moment, the rate of their increase in both main series changes dramatically: the increase in the indicators of externally mediated memorization occurs more slowly and, as it were, continues the rate of development of memorization without the help of external means-signs, while the faster development of memorization, based on external auxiliary stimuli, passes to memorization externally direct, which at the next higher stage of development again leads to the convergence of the coefficients. Thus, the general dynamics of these two lines of development can be most simply expressed in the graphical form of a parallelogram, one pair of opposite corners of which is formed by the convergence of indicators in their upper and lower limits, and the other two corners, connected by a shorter diagonal, correspond to the moment of their greatest divergence. In the future, we will briefly designate this regularity in the development of memorization by the conditional term "parallelogram of development."
The hypothesis, which, from our point of view, is the only explanation for the stated dynamics of memorization indicators, has already been expressed by us above in the most general terms. The facts underlying it are, on the one hand, the predominant development of the ability to memorize meaningful material, on the other hand, a huge difference in the results of the so-called mechanical and logical memorization, which, according to the materials of the authors who have studied this issue, is expressed by the ratio 1:25 or 1:22 , - are sufficient evidence that the memory of modern man is not at all an expression of an elementary, purely biological property, but is an extremely complex product of a long process of cultural and historical development. This development, which we have already spoken about and to which we will return repeatedly, proceeds along the line of mastering the acts of one's own behavior, which thereby turns from natural behavior into complex significative behavior, i.e., into behavior based on a system of conditioned stimuli. -signs. Before becoming internal, these stimuli-signs appear in the form of stimuli acting from without. Only as a result of a peculiar process of their "growing" do they turn into internal signs, and thus a higher, "logical" memory grows out of the originally direct memorization.
In preschoolers, under the conditions of our experiments, the process of memorization remains natural, direct; they are not able to adequately use the external series of stimuli that we offer them in the form of our picture cards; the less, of course, it is possible for them to use as a means of remembering the internal elements of their experience. Only older subjects gradually master the appropriate method of behavior, and memorizing them with the help of external signs, as we see, significantly increases its effectiveness. At the same time, the effectiveness of their memorization also increases somewhat without external support, which also turns out to be capable to a certain extent of turning into indirect memorization. However, it develops especially intensively after the child has completely mastered the operation of remembering with the help of external signs; in order to become internal, the sign must first be external.
If in preschool children memorization in both main series of our experiments remains equally direct, then at the opposite pole - in our students under test - it is also the same, but equally mediated, with the only difference that one of the series of words is retained by them with the help of external signs, and the other - with the help of internal signs. By tracing the transition between these two extreme points in experiments, we sort of stratify the process with the help of our methodology and get the opportunity to reveal the mechanism of this transition. The principle of the parallelogram of development is nothing but an expression of the general law that the development of higher human forms of memory proceeds through the development of memorization with the help of external stimuli-signs. This transformation of external signs into internal signs, or, as we say, their "rotation", is for us so far only a hypothesis.
We have seen that the psychological development of a person proceeds under the influence of an environment unknown to the animal world - the social environment. That is why it consists not only* in the deployment of ready-made biologically inherited methods of behavior, but
is the process of acquiring new and higher forms of behavior - specifically human forms. The emergence of these higher forms of behavior is determined by the fact that the social environment, acting as an object of adaptation, at the same time creates the conditions and means for this adaptation. Therein lies its deep originality. Under the influence of the social environment, development, formerly biological, turns into predominantly historical, cultural development; thus, the regularities established by our research are the regularities not of biological, but of historical development.
Interacting with the surrounding social environment, a person restructures his behavior; mastering the behavior of other people with the help of special stimuli, he acquires the ability to master his own behavior; thus, formerly interpsychological processes are transformed into intrapsychological processes. This relationship, which appears with particular force in the development of speech, is equally true for other psychological functions. This is precisely the path of development of higher forms of memorization; we have seen that the memory of modern man is by no means an elementary, purely biological property, but is an extremely complex product of a long historical development. This development, proceeding along the line of mastering the acts of one's own memory from outside, is primarily due to the possibility of individual psychological operations acquiring the structure of interpsychological operations. At the same time, the external form of intermediate stimulus-means, which constitutes a necessary condition for their participation in these interpsychological operations, is already losing its significance in intrapsychological operations. Thus, as a result of a peculiar process of their “growing in”, previously external stimuli-means turn out to be able to turn into internal means, the presence of which constitutes a specific feature of the so-called logical memory.
The principle of the "parallelogram" of the development of memorization put forward by us is nothing but an expression of the general law that the development of higher significative forms of memory proceeds along the line of transformation of externally mediated memorization into internally mediated memorization. This process of "growing" which we have traced experimentally can by no means be understood as a simple replacement of an external stimulus by its engram, and it is connected with profound changes in the entire system of higher human behavior. Briefly, we could describe this process of development as the process of socialization of human behavior. For the role of the social environment is not limited here only to the fact that it acts as a central factor in development; man's memory, like all his higher behavior, remains connected with it in its very functioning.
A.N.Leontiev successfully adapted and implemented the methodology for the study of memory, developed by the tandem of the scientist and psychologist Luria and Vygotsky. The meaning of the technique lies in the mediation of emerging images for better memorization of the information received.
This technique is effectively used both to identify the features of memory and to identify the characteristics of the construction of a number of associative images that allow you to identify a specific type of thinking.
Indirect memorization is the process of correlation of associative images with the subject of memorization. The science of psychology owes the optimization of such a technique and its introduction to the masses to Leontiev, who carried out a large-scale work on the description and study of processes in the psyche.
Description of the technique
The technique consists in the study of the memory process using special cards, which depict various drawings. Lay out cards in the amount of thirty pieces in a chaotic manner - these images will help the subject memorize words by creating images, i.e. fantasies, with regards to those words that are described in the picture. Then, the leader of the experiment names the words that are presented in the mediated memorization technique.
Those words that are named during the test differ from what is shown in the pictures, so a direct logical chain of associations cannot arise. The only possible option is a logical relationship. At the same time, the personal qualities of the subjects are not decisive. The result of the test directly depends on the way of thinking of the subject.
Presentation: "Effective methods and techniques of memorization"
The specifics of the application of the Leontief test
The technique has found wide application in clinical psychology. This technique is used in the study of memory, they reveal the safety of the thought process, as well as logic in the construction of an associative series. Many diseases with a mental diagnosis lead to a violation of these processes. For example, Korsakoff's syndrome, in which patients perform optimally on image matching tests, but at the end of the study, it is difficult to remember at least one word.
With schizophrenia, the patient is unable to cope with the task of the study already at the first level of tasks.
This contingent does not have access to the logical alignment and relationship between the picture and the words. Such tasks put the patient in a stupor. After all, the images are selected in a chaotic manner.
Also, with other mental disorders, during the test, damage to the processes will be visible, which are expressed in the distortion of associations or relationships between the visual image and the remembered one.
Technique of use
The first task of the method is to select any card associated with the called word.
The logging procedure must be followed. In a special form, you need to write down all the information received: associative images, logical chains. And also record the test result.
The calculation of the totals is carried out as a distribution of points:
- 4 - high level (In the presence of 11 correctly indicated words);
- 3 - middle stage (from 7 to 10 correctly named options);
- 2 - low level (from 6 to 3 exact words);
- 1 - low level (less than 2 words).
Testing for children
If a child passes the test as a test subject, you will need two pictures that show 9 objects that are familiar to the baby and 5 words (detailed information is provided in the methodology). Pictures must be cut along the lines.
The purpose of the experiment is to identify the level of accuracy in the reproduction of those words that will be offered to the child, as well as the peculiarity of the individual's thinking.
How the technique is performed
Lay out 9 pictures in front of the child and inform that the words that he needs to remember will now be named. To make the task easier, choose more correct words for each image. For example, the word "time" is associated with the picture "clock". If the child confirms the understanding of the "game", then the test can be continued.
Important: the child must explain each connection.
Upon completion of the study, the pictures are removed and the child is given a different task that will distract his attention. After half an hour, you should show the baby those pictures that were selected. It is also necessary that the child try to remember the words that were called.
Test results
Mental development is normal, if the child shows interest in the unusual, understands the meaning of these instructions. When a connection is established between a picture and a word, mental activity is manifested. If a child has difficulty remembering certain words, this does not mean that he is inadequate.
Abnormal mental development, i.e. his lag is manifested in the fact that the child is only interested in pictures and does not show interest in the task itself, because do not understand its meaning. Even with help, the child is unable to understand the task. The difficulty lies in the fact that pictures interfere with the memorization of words. And when showing selected images, the child calls what he sees, and not the word that was called earlier.
An attempt to build psychology as a positive science and a significant spread of the ideas of behaviorism, and on the other hand, the requirement to return psychology to concreteness ( Politzer ) - these are the forms that these trends take in the latest world psychology. An international literary association that emerged last year. Revue de Psychology Concrete ”, in which prominent representatives of modern psychology take part - Politzer (Paris ), Giese (Stuttgardt ), Kantor (USA ) Adler (Wien ), Myers (London ), Prinzhorn (Frankfurt a . M .) and others, defines his attitude to classical psychology as follows: Amid the regrets and hesitations of most psychologists, the new psychology resolutely takes as its starting point the latest psychological attempts to break with the main influence of that psychology that has been the subject of official teaching for so long. editorial. . Rev. dePsych. Concr." 1929, No. 1, p.We find an even more decisive statement in No. 2 of the said journal, in which the editors formulate their principled position as the position of dialectical materialism in the sense of Marx and Engels.
See for example Bekhterev, General foundations of human reflexology» XXX ; Watson, Psychology, Russian. translation ed. prof. Protopopov, p. 286
See for example. Materials for the experimental study of the procession of memory", vol. I “Rows of meaningless syllables”, compiled by V.M. Instance, ed. Psychological institute.
Quoted from the book Schoeneberger, Psychologie und Padagoglk des Gedachtnisses, Leipzig 1911.
A.N. Leontiev, Memory in children with insufficient and painfully altered intelligence. Problems of Defectology”, No. 4, p. 21, 1928.
“With them (the processes of memorization - L.A.), - writes E. Meiman, imposing the studies of Goldstein and Ranshburg, - together they prevail: 1) concentration of attention; it is in all probability the general condition upon which both the success of imprinting and the formation of associations depend, but most of all the imprinting itself; 2) the process of imprinting; 3) formation of auxiliary associations; it mainly contributes to the perception of the content of perceptions in the circle of our ideas, it makes it possible to connect relationships; 4) the desire for observation in imprinting (moreover, the desire for observation must be distinguished from the desire for imprinting as a special direction of the will) ”(E. Meiman, Economy ■ Memory Technique, p. 78, Russian ed.).
A. Bain, Les sens et intelligence, 3 edition, Paris 1895, pp. 257 and 547. I. Sechenov also takes a similar point of view: “So,” this author writes, I repeat once again: between the actual impression with its consequences and the recollection of this impression and from the side of the process, in essence, there is not the slightest differences (Psychological studies, St. Petersburg, 1873, p. 72) (underlined by the author). Regarding this idea of the psychological identity of memories and real perceptions, A. Bergson makes an absolutely correct remark: “If,” he says, “memory is nothing but a weakened perception, then, conversely, perception should be something like a more intense memories. But the whole of English idealism is already here in embryo (Matter and Memory, p. 238).
Maiman. Economics and technology of memory, p. 35. See. Also Dug as La mdmoire et l "oubli. Paris 1929.
Cm . For example , F.L. Wells, Mental test in clinical practice, New Work, World Book, et al., 1927.
1 T. Ribot, Memory in its normal and diseased state, 1900, p. 51. (It is underlined everywhere by us. - A.L.)
J. Watson, Psychology as a Science of Behavior, SMI, 1926, p. 286. Cf.. so did Iohn in . Watson, Behawiorism, New York 1925, p.p. 170–180.
The elephant, - says M. Guyot, - rushes at the man who hit him a few years ago. Does it follow that the elephant has a clear idea of duration and a memory organized like ours? No, there is a mechanical association of images available at the moment. The image of this person is joined by the still alive and real, and not the past image of the blows received, and both images move like two wheels of one gear clutch; we can say that the animal imagines that a man is striking him now: from this his anger only increases ”(Guyo, The Origin of the Idea of Time, p. 22).
A.L. Luria, Die Methode der abbildenden Motorik bei Kommunikation der Systeme, "Psychol. Forsch., 1929; M.S.Lebedinsky and A.R. Luria Die Methode der abbildenden Motorik in der Untersuchung der Nervenl Kranken^ Archiv "psychiatric", B. 87, H. Z , 1929. M . S. Lebedinsky, Development of reactive processes in childhood, Guise 1931.
A description of the methodology can be found in his article “Cyclographic Methods for Studying Time, Intensity and Forms of Reactions”, journal, Psychology, Vol. 1st 1929
For a detailed bibliography on Korsakov's psychosis, see V.A. Gilyarovsky, - Development of the doctrine of Korsakov's psychosis, ed. Scientific thought.
We used the guidelines set forth in the book by A. Ivanov-Smolensky, Methods for the study of conditioned reflexes in humans, L 1928.
A whole series of extremely interesting observations on the memory of the culturally unique peoples of the most remote outskirts of the Union, reported at a meeting of the ethnopsychological seminary of the psychological laboratory of the academy, in general terms, undoubtedly confirms all observations known in the literature, similar to those given by us. These materials, which are still being collected, will be published in a special work.
A very curious example of the use of the fingers as a mnemotechnical means we find in Livingston. In one of the African tribes (among the Vakopayks), noble people had a custom, when meeting strangers, to announce to them through their servant about their origin. Since their genealogy was reported in very great detail, the servant, listing the genealogical facts related to his master, fingered his fingers at the same time ( Dr. D. Livingstone, I ". xploration das l" int e ri e ur de l "A friqu e, Australe, traduct. fr ., Paris 1859, p 19).
Taylor, Primitive Culture. The figure shown is taken from the book. R. Thurnwald d , Psychologiedes primiitiven Menschcn .
Flurnoy, Les phenomenes de synopsie, Paris 1893.A detailed abstract of this work in Russian literature can be found in the book by G.N. Chelpanov on memory and mnemonics, 2nd ed., St. Petersburg 1903.
A.N. Leontiev, Mediated memorization in children with insufficient and painfully altered intellect, the journal "Issues of Defectology", No. 4, 1928
We did not give the corresponding absolute values approaching 10.0, since most of the subjects in this group memorized all 10 words, and thus we had no reason to judge the actual number of words that they could retain with the help of pictures and which obviously exceeded the number of words in the series.
Diana Fischler et Ida Ullert, Contribution a l "dtude des tests - memolre immediate Archive de Psych, t XXI, Geneve, 1929, p. 302.
The numbers after the words, enclosed in brackets, show the number of the word in the order of its presentation, which we restored by comparison with the list of suggested words given in the same work (p. 294).
Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to compare the corresponding values for all groups of our subjects; the reduced value is calculated on the basis of 222 cases using the coordination formula
We borrow these data from the work of N.G. Menchinekoy, Mediated memorization and giftedness.
L.P. Nechaev, Modern experimental psychology in its relation to the issues of school education. Ed. 3rd P., 1917, p. 160.
E. Meiman also expresses an opinion close to this: “Immediate memorization,” says this author, “is the result of imprinting, while long-term memorization is the result of the formation of associations.” (Cit. Op. p. 77).
The third much more detailed study, which we can point out in connection with this problem, was carried out by A.I. Mines will soon be published in the Proceedings of the Psychological Laboratory of the Academy.
N. M as o . La valeur de l "activite de l" esprit dans la fixation des idde. Arch. d. Psych., t. XXI, 1929.
This issue is the subject of a number of follow-up studies carried out by graduate students of the Institute of Scientific Pedagogy 2 of Moscow State University - Olshansky Menchinskaya et al., which will be published in the proceedings of this institute.
In total, we managed to obtain 202 characteristics, of which 26 for the “0” group (11 for the highest, 13 for the average, and 2 for the lowest), I group - 27 (8, 13 and 6), II group - 29 (10.13, and 6), III group - 25 (2, 14, and 9), IV group - 48 (6, 30 and 12), V group - 28 (0.16 and 12) and VI group - 19 (4, 11 and 4).
As control data for this table, the comparative values of the effectiveness of remembering students and workers, given above in table 8 (p. 99), can serve.
See for example study G about ldst e in "a. quoted by Meiman ("Economics and Memory Technique", p. 78, Russian edition).
G. Stetson, who studied the memory of Negro children, stated its superiority over the memory of American white children by 18%; however, their high scores on memory did not match the place they occupied in school success (Chamberlain, Child, vol. II, p. 193).
W. James, Psychology. Ed. 8 P, 1922, p. 224 et seq. - Conversations with teachers about psychology P, 1921, p. 77 et seq.
The numbers obtained by Meiman in these experiments are as follows: When memorizing 10 meaningless syllables, the number of repetitions necessary for error-free repetition was: for the first subject at the beginning of the experiments - 28, at the end - 3; for the second subject at the beginning of the experiments - 23 repetitions, at the end - 2; for the third subject at the beginning - 25, at the end - 5 and for the fourth subject at the beginning - 31 repetitions, at the end of the exercise - 3. Similar results were obtained when memorizing rows consisting of 16 syllables.
Perhaps these special stimuli-signs, which have been preserved to this day in some Chinese provinces, have now lost their significance; however, their initial appearance was undoubtedly dictated by practical necessity. Describing the Dojib tribe, Richardson says, among other things, the following: “We have found from experience that, despite the high reward for the exact execution of the order, it is impossible for them (Indians) to be entrusted, for example, with delivering a letter. The slightest embarrassment, the thought of a drink or a delicious roast, or a sudden desire to visit a friend in order to postpone the execution of an assignment for an indefinite time ”(quoted by D. Lubbock Prehistoric Times, p. 454) is enough.
Memory as the highest mental function (L.S. Vygotsky) and its experimental studies (A.N. Leontiev). Memory development.
Response plan
Memory is like a WPF.
Memory development.
Answer:
Memory is like a WPF.
Human memory can be defined as psycho-physiological and cultural processes that perform functions in life: remembering, storing and reproducing information. Memory is the basis of human abilities, is a condition for learning, acquiring knowledge, the formation of skills and abilities. Without memory, the normal functioning of either the individual or society is impossible. Subhuman organisms have only two types of memory: genetic and mechanical.
A person has three types of memory, much more powerful and productive than animals: arbitrary, logical and mediated. The first is associated with a broad volitional control of memorization, the second with the use of logic, the third with the use of various means of memorization, mostly presented in the form of objects of material and spiritual culture.
L.S. Vygotsky believed that, while developing historically, enriching his material and spiritual culture, a person developed more and more perfect means of memorizing and storing information, the most important of which is writing. Thanks to various forms of speech - oral, written, external, internal - a person turned out to be able to subordinate memory to his will, reasonably control the course of memorization, manage the process of storing and reproducing information. Memory in process of development came closer and closer to thinking. The attitude “to think means to remember” with age in a child is replaced by an attitude according to which memorization itself is reduced to thinking: “to remember or remember means to understand, comprehend, think”.
Research by A.N. Leontiev.
A.I.Leontiev conducted special studies of direct and indirect memorization in childhood. On the basis of experiments, he deduced a curve for the development of direct and indirect memorization. This curve, called the "parallelogram of memory development," shows that while in preschool children memorization is mainly direct, in adults it is mainly indirect. Speech plays a significant role in the development of memory, so the process of improving a person’s memory goes hand in hand with the development of his speech.
Memory development.
Memory grows and develops during childhood, peaking at age 25, but then begins to decline slowly. However, memory can easily be improved through exercise and education. This is evidenced by the fact that adults who systematically engage in mental work and, therefore, constantly exercise their mediated memory, if desired and with appropriate mental work, can very easily memorize material, while possessing at the same time a surprisingly weak mechanical memory.
The types of human memory can be classified in two ways:
1. By the time of saving the material:
instant- memory - an image, a complete residual impression;
short-term- from the instant, only that which is realized gets into it;
operational– storage of information for a certain specified period;
long-term- for an unlimited period, reproduction requires thinking and willpower;
genetic- information is stored in the genotype, transmitted and reproduced by inheritance, the only one that cannot be influenced.
2. According to the predominant analyzer in the processes of memorization, preservation and reproduction:
visual- preservation and reproduction of visual images;
auditory- memorization and reproduction of sounds (musical, speech);
motor- memorization with accuracy of complex, diverse movements;
emotional- memory for experiences;
tactile, olfactory, gustatory- Their role is reduced to the satisfaction of biological needs.
According to the nature of the participation of the will in the processes of memorization, memory is divided into involuntary and arbitrary. In the first case, such a memorization that occurs automatically without much effort on the part of a person. In the second case, such a task is necessarily present, and the process itself requires strong-willed efforts.
In everyday life, a person uses two main types of memory: short-term and long-term. Short-term memory plays an important role in human life. Thanks to it, the largest amount of information is processed, unnecessary is immediately eliminated and potentially useful remains. Therefore, there is no information overload of long-term memory with unnecessary information.
From early childhood, the process of developing a child's memory goes in several directions. Firstly, mechanical memory is constantly being supplemented and replaced by logical memory. Secondly, direct memorization eventually turns into indirect, associated with the active and conscious use of various mnemonic techniques and tools for memorization and reproduction. Thirdly, involuntary memorization, which dominates in childhood in an adult, turns into an arbitrary one.
In subhuman organisms, genetic and mechanical. In the chela - arbitrary (associated with a wide volitional control of memorization), logical(using logic) and mediated(using various means of memorization, mostly presented in the form of objects of material and spiritual culture).
logical memory- memory, built on the selection and memorization of the logical-semantic (causal) relationship between the memorized elements.
mechanical memory- memory aimed at memorizing elements that are not associatively or logically related to each other.
