The development of sensation in children. The development of sensation in preschool children

Cognitive features

Period late adulthood is often called gerontogenesis, or a period of aging. Most researchers believe that this time in a person's life begins With 60 years. Some authors believe that in women this period begins With 55, and in men With 60 years. People who have reached this age are divided into three subgroups: people old age, old age and centenarians.

However, this age classification of people who have reached the age of late adulthood is not the only one.

Cognitive mental processes- mental processes associated with the perception and processing of information. These include: sensations, perceptions, representations, memory, imagination, thinking, speech.

Gerontogenesis- one of the age periods in a person's life is the aging period, which begins after 60 years.

Age specifics

Main feature this age is the aging process, which is a genetically programmed process accompanied by certain age-related changes in the body.

Development of sensation and perception

The aging process affects and nervous system person. First of all, there is a decrease in its sensitivity, which causes a slowdown in the body's response to external influences and changes in the sensitivity of various sensory organs. Most people in the process of aging suddenly find that it takes them significantly longer than before in order to receive this or that information). From their receptors. (Knower & Plude, 1980

Sensory system- a set of physiological and mental mechanisms that provide sensory information about the surrounding objects and phenomena of reality.

Change in hearing sensitivity

Most often, the results of the aging process are found in a change in a person's auditory sensitivity. The available experimental data indicate that hearing loss is clearly observed in one third of older people, and especially in men (Fozard, 1990). Typically, these hearing losses are mild to moderate and involve a decrease in the person's ability to distinguish between noises of voices or other sounds.

In addition, in the process of aging, a person's auditory sensitivity to high tones deteriorates, which directly affects the perception of individual speech sounds. For example, such as "s", "w", "h" and "f".

Hearing aids are used by older adults in late adulthood to regain their hearing sensitivity, and sometimes they do help them cope with problems. However, most often the desired effect is not achieved, because the device amplifies the sounds of the entire auditory frequency range, which means, along with speech sounds, all noises. This does not help much when you need to parse someone's words in a speech stream.

Some older adults with hearing impairments may appear inattentive or dysfunctional, but in reality they simply cannot understand what is being said. Others, due to their poor hearing, become withdrawn or suspicious.

Visual impairment

People who have reached late adulthood can experience a variety of visual impairments. For example, a decrease in the ability to focus gaze on objects, which is probably due to the loss of elasticity of the lens. In addition, changes in the structure of the lens can lead to its clouding, and then to cataract.

Probably because of the difficulty in focusing, people who have reached late adulthood are often problematic with bright light. Unlike young people, it is difficult for them to perceive sharp contrasts and consider small details. Currently, individual vision problems can be solved by medicine. For example, cataract removal has become a common and widespread operation. However, most of the problems associated with aging are still beyond the control of modern medicine. So, the loss of elasticity of the lens is practically not treated.

Another manifestation of senile changes in older people is a decrease in visual acuity- it becomes difficult for them to distinguish between small details. This can partly be explained by the loss of elasticity of the lens, and partly by the death of the retinal receptors. In most cases, the change in this characteristic of vision is quite successfully compensated with the help of glasses, including bifocal and trifocal glasses.

Another sign of age-related changes in vision is that many older people it is difficult to ignore irrelevant irritants. For example, with age, it becomes more difficult to spot a particular road sign among many others. This problem is compensated by the redundancy of information in the form of characters repeated several times. Standardizing the placement and format of signs also helps older people detect the visual cues they want (Alien et al., 1992).

Memory changes

Memory- the processes of organizing and preserving past experience, making it possible to reuse it in activities or return to the sphere of consciousness.

Sensory (ultra-short-term) memory- a hypothetical memory subsystem that ensures the retention for a very short time (usually less than one second) of the products of sensory processing of information entering the sense organs.

Primary (working) memory- memory that provides the performance of the operational task. Most often this concept is found in foreign literature. In the domestic literature, this type of memory is usually called random access memory.

Secondary (long-term) memory- memory that provides storage and the ability to reproduce information for a long time.

Among all the problems of cognitive decline in the elderly caused by aging, the changes in memory functions have been most thoroughly studied. Moreover, most researchers study not only memory as a whole as a single mental process, but also the varieties of its manifestation.

Thus, foreign researchers who take the positions of the information approach most often talk about sensory, primary, secondary and tertiary memory.

Sensory memory in their opinion, it is a very short-term visual or auditory memory. It is able to hold the incoming sensory information for a short period of time - about 250 milliseconds, before starting to process it. Some authors call this type of memory super short-term memory.

Primary memory characterized by foreign researchers as a repository with a limited amount of information. It contains only that which the person has at the moment “in his thoughts”, for example, the value of the goods that the person is going to buy just seen on the price tag. Therefore it is called working memory. So primary memory probably has the same meaning as RAM in Russian psychology, since it ensures the implementation of a situational task.

It should be noted that in most studies on age-related changes in primary memory, no significant differences were found between the primary memory of young and elderly people. Therefore, it is generally accepted that aging does not affect the functions of primary memory.

Secondary memory is more long-term kind of memory. Compared to sensory and primary memory in secondary memory, as shown by numerous studies, there are obvious age differences. According to studies of the processes of memorization and reproduction, older people often memorize fewer words from

The preservation of the memory functions of the elderly largely depends on the characteristics of the activity they are engaged in.

In this way, older people better remember what is important to them or can be useful in life. This is probably what allows them to keep their skills and abilities in good shape (Lerner, 1990). In addition, older people are usually better at completing tasks if they have received detailed instructions according to the method of organizing the memorized material and had the opportunity to practice (Roop, 1985).

However, age still makes itself felt. So, even after training, people over 70 in the process of various experiments do not always manage to achieve the same results as young people. For example, in a study by Kleigl, Smith, & es. v 1990 , before the control measurement of memory functions, training was carried out for both the elderly and young adults. As a result, training has only widened the gap in outcomes between age samples, because training gives young people more than older people.

Older people are better at remembering what is important to them or may be useful in life.

Tertiary memory- memory for distant events, for example, in older people, it can be memories of the events of childhood or early adolescence.

Mechanical sealing- a type of memorization, which consists in repeated repetition of the material before memorizing it from beginning to end, without using special techniques and algorithms for simplified or accelerated memorization. Logical or verbal-logical memory - memorization and reproduction of thoughts.

Figurative memory- memory for ideas, pictures of nature and life, as well as sounds, smells, tastes, etc.

Semantic memory- memory for thoughts, including the meaning of the information received.

Consequently, the reserve opportunities for development in older people are significantly less than in young adults, at least with regard to certain skills. Therefore, it is fair to assume that older people have fewer opportunities for improvement (Baltes, 1993).

Tertiary memory is a memory for distant events. The currently available experimental data suggest that this type of memory in older people, most likely, is preserved almost completely. Moreover, a number of studies indicate that older people are better at recalling the details of historical events than younger people. This is especially true for events in which the elderly were directly involved.

According to the results of studies of domestic psychologists observing changes in age-related memory functions, it is known that with age, the elderly begin to deteriorate mechanical sealing, a logical memory persists. Figurative memory weakens more than semantic, but at the same time, memorization is still better preserved when images associated with meaning are memorized than when they do not carry a semantic load. Thus, the basis of memory in old age is a logical connection, and since logical memory is closely related to thinking, it can be assumed that the thinking of older people is highly developed.

Development of thinking

Modern foreign researchers pay a lot of attention to studying the peculiarities of thinking in elderly people. Today, most researchers do not doubt the fact that, despite the superiority of memory, young people lose to the elderly in certain areas of thinking, especially in such an aspect as wisdom. What is wisdom?

Wisdom

Wisdom

Expert knowledge associated with wisdom, according to foreign researchers, can be divided into 5 categories: factual knowledge, procedural knowledge, contextual (related to personal events and historical changes), knowledge of relativity life values and knowledge of the unpredictable volatility of life (see diagram).

Most researchers agree that wisdom is a cognitive property of a person, which is based on crystallized, culturally conditioned intelligence and which, in all likelihood, is associated with the experience and personality of the person.

Several researchers, including Paul B. Baltes and colleagues (Baltes et al., 1993), have devoted a lot of time to studying the problems of wisdom formation in order to understand what constitutes wisdom as a socio-psychological phenomenon. Based on theoretical and experimental studies, it can be assumed that human wisdom has a number of cognitive properties.

Firstly, wisdom is mainly associated with the decision of important and difficult issues, which most often relate to the meaning of life and the state of specific people.

Secondly, the level of knowledge, judgment and advice reflected in wisdom is exceptionally high.

Thirdly, knowledge associated with wisdom is unusually broad, deep and balanced and can be applied in special situations.

Fourth, wisdom combines intelligence and virtue and is used both for personal well-being and for the benefit of humanity.

factual knowledge / procedural knowledge

Factual knowledge

about the practical side of life

Procedural knowledge

practical side of life

Wisdom is an expert system of human knowledge, focused on the practical side of life and allowing to make a balanced judgment and give useful tips on vital issues.

Wisdom- This is a cognitive property of a person, which is based on crystallized, culturally determined intelligence and which, in all likelihood, is associated with the experience and personality of a person.

Fifth, although it is not easy to attain wisdom, most people recognize it without difficulty.

Dementia

Dementia- a whole complex of disorders, including cognitive defects, progressive amnesia and personality changes associated with the onset of old age.

Seniledementia- an organic brain disease that affects the adequacy of a person's thinking.

According to most researchers psychological problems the age of late adulthood, among the reasons for the decrease in the intellectual characteristics of a person, the leading place is taken by dementia- acquired dementia. This term denotes a whole complex of disorders, including cognitive defects, progressive amnesia and personality changes associated with the onset of old age.

First of all, it should be noted that dementia is not inevitable. So, senile dementia attributed to the category of organic brain diseases, affects only 3-4% of people older 65 years old. Unfortunately, as a person ages, the risk of developing this disease increases. For example, research by American scientists suggests that among people of the age from 75 to 84 years, living in nursing homes, approximately 20% suffer from Alzheimer's disease, a form of dementia. After 85 years the incidence of senile dementia among residents of boarding schools and nursing homes reaches 47% (Evans et al., 1989).

People with senile dementia have a limited ability to understand abstractions. They lack imagination. They can repeat the same thing endlessly, think much slower and are not able to pay due attention to what is happening around them. Sometimes they don't remember recent events well. For example, a person with dementia can clearly remember the events of their childhood, but cannot remember what happened an hour ago. Because of these symptoms of mental breakdown, the old person is often unable to take care of himself and cope with basic hygiene procedures.

At the same time, very often the judgment about the presence of "senile dementia" in a person of advanced age is made erroneously. Given the wide variety of indirect causes, it is difficult to make a clear diagnosis.

For example, poor diet or chronic sleep deprivation associated with illness, anxiety, depression, grief or fear can disrupt thought processes not only in older people, but also in younger people. Diseases of the heart or kidneys, which cause changes in the body's normal rhythm, metabolism, etc., can also affect the ability to think clearly. Confusion and drowsiness can be caused by drugs used to treat certain conditions. In each of these cases, with the correct treatment of a somatic illness or an emotional disorder, symptoms resembling the manifestation of senile dementia disappear in a person.

It should also be noted that the above data on the prevalence of dementia among elderly people can hardly be considered as absolutely accurate, since the authors analyzed the prevalence of dementia among people living in nursing homes. And we will not be mistaken if we make the assumption that the very conditions of life in such institutions cause a decrease in the intellectual activity of a person.

Old people living in nursing homes are "excluded" from the public Thus, among the causes of senile dementia, there are a lot of subjective, including psychological. For example, some older people are known to admit that they will lose their memory and will not be able to do what they have previously been able to do. They begin to expect in advance that they will become helpless and dependent on others and partially lose control over their own lives. Old people often imagine that their fate is completely left to chance or is in the hands of others. People who think this way do often lose competence and control over their circumstances. They have less self-esteem, show less stubbornness, and are less likely to try to achieve the results they want.

Alzheimer's disease

In fact, only about 50% of people diagnosed with "senile dementia" suffer Alzheimer's disease- a true disease associated with the destruction of brain cells. Another 30% suffered a series of micro-strokes that damaged the brain tissue.

In Alzheimer's disease, there is a progressive destruction of brain cells, especially cells of the cerebral cortex. There is speculation that Alzheimer's disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the elderly.

Moreover, an accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease can only be made with autopsies(showdown): in this case histological analysis damaged areas of the brain allows you to detect the presence senile plaques and characteristic changes neurofibrill, which are soldered into thickened bundles and tangles. During a patient's lifetime, a working diagnosis is usually based on progressive memory impairment and disorientation.

Symptoms of the disease

The first symptoms of this disease are usually forgetfulness. In the beginning, a person forgets little things; as the disease progresses, he ceases to remember the places where he has been, the names and everyday affairs; and finally, even the events that have just happened are immediately forgotten. The progressive weakening of memory is accompanied by a loss of habitual skills. It becomes much more difficult to plan and carry out even the simplest daily activities; for example, it's hard to cook your own food if you can't find a refrigerator. At this point, it becomes clear that such a person cannot be left alone, because he can unintentionally harm himself. Finally, complete dementia sets in. The patient is unable to perform the simplest activities, such as dressing or eating. He does not recognize acquaintances, even a loving spouse who has courted him for many years may suddenly seem unfamiliar.

Alzheimer's disease- a dementia-causing disease in which there is a progressive destruction of brain cells, especially cortical cells.

Autopsy- pathoanatomical research method in modern medicine, which consists in opening the body of a deceased person.

Histological analysis- the method of modern medicine, used to study the features of the structure and development of tissues of the human body. Senile plaques - Compaction of blood vessels, causing a deterioration in blood supply, as a result of which the normal functioning of internal organs is disrupted. Neurofibrils - anatomical element of the structure of a nerve fiber.

Microstrokes

Another direct cause of dementia is microstrokes. In this case, the symptoms of dementia do not develop gradually, but suddenly or irregularly. This form of intellectual decline is very often referred to as multi-infarction dementia (MFA). A cerebral infarction is caused by a sharp narrowing, up to (sometimes temporary) obstruction of blood vessels, which interferes with the normal blood supply to a specific part of the brain. The result is necrosis and destruction of brain tissue.

The cause of micro-strokes and the resulting destruction of brain tissue is often atherosclerosis - the accumulation of cholesterol plaques on the inner walls of arteries. People with atherosclerosis, heart disease, hypertension, or diabetes are especially at risk of stroke.

Microstroke- acute disturbance of cerebral blood supply.

Multi-infarction dementia (MFA)- a decrease in the intellectual level, which occurs suddenly, in the form of a series of unexpected symptoms, caused by a stroke or a series of micro-strokes.

Summary

The main feature of this age is the aging process, which is a genetically programmed process accompanied by certain age-related changes, manifested primarily in the gradual weakening of the body's activity.

With aging, most sensory functions in humans, it deteriorates significantly. However, this does not happen for everyone. The nature and degree of weakening of sensory functions can vary greatly, which is primarily associated with individual characteristics and the activities that people are engaged in.

Those intelligent functions people who are highly dependent on the speed of operations, show a decline in late adulthood. In people who have reached this age, the reaction time increases, the processing of perceptual information slows down and the speed of cognitive processes decreases. Such sluggishness can be caused by changes in a person's personality characteristics.

The basis memory in old age there is a logical connection, and since logical memory is most closely connected with thinking, it can be assumed that thinking elderly people are highly developed.

Late adulthood has its own positive sides in relation to the development and transformation of the cognitive sphere. But not all persons who have reached a given age have the same dynamics of the cognitive sphere, in the process of which signs are formed wisdom.

The decline in cognitive activity in people who have reached late adulthood can be due to various reasons, direct or indirect.

Direct causes include: brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and cerebrovascular disease.

Indirect reasons for a decrease in human cognitive abilities are: general deterioration in health, low level of education, lack of motivation for cognitive activity.

Summing up the consideration of the peculiarities of intellectual characteristics in elderly people, it should be noted that the dynamics of the characteristics of the cognitive sphere in persons who have reached this age period depends largely on subjective factors, and primarily on the personality characteristics of a particular person.

Affective sphere

V society, old people are often perceived through the prism of stereotypes. Many consider the prospect of growing old to be so bleak that they prefer not to know anything about it at all. Nowadays, some young people think that old age is a state of semi-existence. Such stereotypes make it difficult to perceive older people differentially, as individuals with real differences between them. All this can lead to social attitudes and actions that discourage older people from taking an active part in collective work and leisure activities (CraigG., 2000).

Summary

The period of late adulthood is characterized by specific changes in the emotional sphere of a person: an uncontrolled increase in affective reactions (strong nervous excitement) with a tendency to causeless sadness, tearfulness. Most older adults tend to be eccentric, less empathetic, more self-absorbed, and less able to cope with difficult situations.

Older men become more passive and allow themselves to exhibit more feminine traits, while older women become more aggressive, practical, and overbearing.

In old age, the weakening of the affective sphere of a person deprives the colorfulness and brightness of new impressions, hence the attachment of older people to the past, the power of memories.

It should be noted that older people experience less anxiety at the thought of death than relatively young people; they think about death often, but with amazing calmness, fearing only that the process of dying will be long and painful.

Motivational sphere

Every person's lifestyle is unique and inimitable. To a large extent, this style is motivated by social motives, the need to find one's place in the life of society. Having passed most of his path, a person with a full measure of responsibility can evaluate his social achievements and successes, feel joy from fulfilled desires of youth or disappointment from unfulfilled hopes, understand what social role he played and continues to play in society.

Life style- a set of characteristics of a person's vital activity, which determine the unity of direction in life.

Motive(from lat. movere - set in motion, push) is a complex psychological formation that encourages conscious actions and deeds and serves as a basis (justification) for them.

Need- the experienced state of internal tension, which arises as a result of the reflection in the consciousness of need (need, desire for something) and stimulates mental activity associated with goal-setting.

Change of motives among pensioners

Usually a person tries to prepare for retirement. Thompson (1977) believes that this process can be conditionally divided into three parts, in each of which certain motives of human behavior are realized.

Dropping speed. This stage is characterized by the desire of a person to free himself from a number of work duties and the desire to narrow the sphere of responsibility in order to avoid a sudden sharp decline in activity upon retirement.

Advanced planning. A person tries to imagine his life in retirement, to outline some plan of those actions or activities that he will be engaged in during this period of time.

Life in anticipation of retirement. People are overwhelmed by the worries of completing work and obtaining retirement. They practically already live with those goals and

Every retired person experiences this event differently.

Social status- the role and position of a person in society.

Social interest - a purposeful search for various types of activities that give a person a sense of usefulness and involvement with life in society.

Sense-forming motive- the central life motive, reflecting what a person lives for. needs that will motivate them to take action during the remainder of their lives.

Some people perceive their retirement as a signal of the end of their usefulness, an irretrievable loss of the main meaning-making motive all life. Therefore, they try their best to stay at their workplace longer and work as long as they have enough strength. For such people, work is a striving for certain goals: from the usual maintenance of material well-being to preserving and increasing career achievements, as well as the possibility of long-term planning, which largely determines their desires and needs.

Lack of work leads a person to the realization of the weakening of his role in society, and sometimes to a feeling of uselessness and uselessness. In other words, the transition to the life of a pensioner serves as a signal for him “loss of power, helplessness and autonomy” (Craig G., 2000). In this case, the person focuses his efforts on maintaining social interest, expressed in a purposeful search for those activities that give him a sense of his usefulness and involvement with the life of society. This is participation in public actions and organizations, conducting public work and, of course, ordinary work activities.

According to opinion polls, the overwhelming majority of people approaching retirement age prefer to continue working at least part-time.

Old age

After 70 years most older people face illness and loss. The death of loved ones among friends and relatives narrows the circle of communication, and diseases limit the possibilities of spatial movement for many. A person travels less and less (visits friends and relatives), does not participate in formal organizations, and does not care about his social role.

The main and main come to the fore. need - maintaining physical health at an acceptable level. It is very important that at this age this need does not remain the only one and the person continues to maintain an interest in life, a system of values ​​and attitudes, live by solving real pressing issues, and not by memories.

As shown by American psychologists, in 70-80-year-old people the desire to participate in public life, there is a concentration of interests on your the inner world... At the same time, interest in collecting, music, painting, that is, in what is called hobby, does not diminish.

In addition, people of the same age are characterized by a stable cognitive interest: they are ready and eager to continue learning, assimilating new knowledge, expanding their horizons.

The fact that until recently psychologists considered the main motive of their activity is also important in characterizing the motivational sphere of the elderly. the motive of "avoidance of failure", which ultimately led to passivity, apathy and unwillingness to participate in changing the existing situation.

However, recent studies have shown that in 70-80-year-old people with higher education Achievement motive expressed in the same way as in 20-year-old students. Differences are manifested in the orientation of motivation: the young are more focused on the external side of the activity, and the elderly - on the meaningful (Ilyin E. P., 2000).

For people of this age, a stable cognitive interest is characteristic.

They continue to take part in situations in which they can show their abilities and skills. They try to bear personal responsibility for the task entrusted, set realistic goals for themselves, adequately correlating their desires and capabilities. Seek to get feedback on how well they have acted in responding to that particular feedback. They continue to make plans for the future.

Planning ahead is a special factor that matters in terms of opposition personality involution. It allows a person to set new goals and encourages them to fulfill them. The more varied these goals, reflecting the breadth of interests of the elderly person, the more diverse and productive his life is, the more the person's desire to live further remains.

The range of goals that older people set depends on their area of ​​interest and, therefore, can be the widest - for example, from the usual desire to wait for the appearance of great-grandchildren to the need to complete the creative work begun.

Creativity in general occupies a special place in the life of older people. Motivation for creative activity allows you to maintain high performance until a ripe old age. I. V. Pavlov created "Twenty Years of Experience" v 73 of the year, and "Lectures on the work of the cerebral hemispheres" - v 77 years. L. N. Tolstoy wrote the novel "Resurrection" v 71 year, and "Hadji Murad" - v 76 years. Michelangelo, Claude Monet, O. Renoir, Voltaire, B. Shaw, V. Goethe and many others were distinguished by high motivation for creative activity, which allowed them to continue to realize their potential in later years (Golovey L.A., 1996).

After 70 years among outstanding figures in science and art, one or another form is rarely found senile dementia, dementia. The desire to create is one of the leading factors in psychological and biological longevity.

Avoiding Failure Motive- the desire to avoid breakdown, failure, censure or punishment in a particular type of activity.

Achievement motive- persistently manifested human need to achieve success in different types activities.

Personality involution- “reverse” personality development associated with simplification, collapse or loss of basic socially significant personal characteristics. Dementia (acquired dementia) - irreversible disorganization of the personality, both intellectually and emotionally. It is often associated with old age and can be caused by many reasons - direct or indirect.

The motivational system that continues to develop dynamically is one of the foundations of the full functioning of the individual in old age. Old age begins when a person begins to live with his memories, that is, not the present or the future, but the past.

Late Old Age

Somehow I thought about how to make my memory work better and not have to turn to specialists to remember the most important points in life.

And I realized that it is necessary to use all the channels of perception - sight, hearing, smell, taste, sensations, feelings - then the events will leave a vivid mark in the memory.

Moreover, such memories are treasures for the soul.

The perception of events with all senses allows you to live life fully, and it is they who turn the simple moments of life into jewels.

In this article I want to suggest ways to how to develop 5 senses, improve the perception of information and saturate life with new emotions.

I propose to start every day under the motto: I discover this wonderful world around!

It is necessary to include attention and conduct a little research.

Developing the 5 Senses: 5 Simple and Effective Exercises

1. Development of visual perception: delight the eyes

Remember the expression "the eye rejoices"? This is what they usually say when it is pleasant to look at something.

It is important to delight yourself and expand your visual perception. These may not be new things, but when you start to consciously pay attention to things - their volume, color, texture, unusualness and uniqueness - this triggers a reaction in the brain

"Aha, how many different things I see" - "to see is wonderful!"

Ask yourself: what pleases my eyes? What is pleasant for me to look at?

It can also be a beautiful sunset when the sun glows crimson.

And how the river flows, bypassing the rapids.

And the movement of the ears of wheat in the field.

In addition, to develop visual perception, notice the details of the surrounding world:

• what is the name of the seller in the store,
• how many columns near the building you pass to work,
• what pattern the tiles are laid out in the store.

The question is: how to return the joy and spring of life?

Let's think, if the center of sensory perception is our heart, then the antennas that saturate it are our fingers, skin, ears, eyes, nose, tongue.

This means that the more we delight ourselves, allow us to see and hear the beautiful, discover the whole spectrum of tastes and smells - the more we feel this world, we feel happy.

Why pay attention to your feelings?

Feelings are what constitutes the experience of the soul and the richness of our life.

Feelings are directly related to memory. Feelings are the instrument of the soul. That which remains with us from life to life.

They influence us so much that it is sometimes difficult to remember childhood for those who have a lot of pain and anxiety, the memory blocks such memories, works as a fuse.

The good news: the sensory perception of life can be restored.

Remember what you loved to do as a child, and what brought a lot of joy, fun and enthusiasm?

Immerse yourself in childhood memories and look at the world in a new way with the childlike spontaneity and excitement of an explorer.

I would like to finally quote one thinker:

He who can fill every moment with deep content will endlessly prolong his life.

P.S. I am sure you will find practical use this information.

I would be grateful if you could share this article with your friends.

Write what feeling you will develop today.

The senses of children to the beginning preschool age in their structure and some features of functioning, they are similar to the sense organs of adults. At the same time, it is in preschool age that children's sensations and perceptions develop, and the most important qualities of their sensing are formed. The development of certain types of sensations (including visual acuity) is determined by the fact that they are included in the solution of more and more new problems, for which a more subtle distinction between individual signs and properties of objects is required. In this regard, the motives and conditions for exercising acquire a decisive importance for the effectiveness of various sensations. different types activities.

Preschool age (from 3 to 7 years) is a direct continuation of early age in terms of general sensitivity, carried out by the irrepressibility of the ontogenetic potential for development. This is the period of mastering the social space of human relations through communication with close adults, as well as through play and real relationships with peers.

Preschool age brings the child new fundamental achievements. In preschool age, a child, mastering the world of permanent things, mastering the use of an increasing number of objects according to their functional purpose and experiencing a value attitude towards the surrounding objective world, with amazement discovers a certain relativity of the constancy of things. At the same time, he understands for himself the dual nature of the man-made world created by human culture: the constancy of the functional purpose of a thing and the relativity of this constancy. In the ups and downs of relationships with adults and with peers, the child gradually learns subtle reflection on another person. During this period, through a relationship with an adult, the ability to identify with people, as well as with fairy-tale and imaginary characters, with natural sites, toys, pictures, etc.

At the same time, the child discovers for himself the positive and negative forces of isolation, which he will have to master at a later age. Feeling the need for love and approval, realizing this need and dependence on it, the child learns the accepted positive forms of communication that are appropriate in relationships with people around him. He advances in the development of verbal communication and communication through expressive movements, actions reflecting emotional disposition and a willingness to build positive relationships.

In preschool age, active mastery of one's own body continues (coordination of movements and actions, the formation of an image of the body and value attitudes towards it). During this period, the child begins to acquire an interest in the human body structure, including sex differences, which contributes to the development of sexual identification.

Physical activity, coordination of movements and actions, in addition to general physical activity, is devoted to the child and the development of specific movements and actions related to gender. During this period, speech continues to develop rapidly, the ability to substitute, to symbolic actions and the use of signs, visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking, imagination and memory. The emerging irrepressible, natural for this period of ontogenesis, the desire to master the body, mental functions and social ways of interacting with other people brings the child a feeling of overflow and joy of life. At the same time, the child feels the need to retain the mastered actions through their tireless reproduction. During these periods, the child categorically refuses to appropriate new things (listen to new fairy tales, master new methods of action, etc.), he enthusiastically reproduces the known. The entire period of childhood from three to seven years, this tendency of early human ontogenesis is observed: the irrepressible, rapid development of mental properties, interrupted by pronounced stops - periods of stereotypical reproduction of what has been achieved. At the age of three to seven years, the child's self-awareness develops so much that it gives rise to talk about the child's personality. [5, p. 200].

Sensory education is based on knowledge of the general course of development of sensations in preschool age and on knowledge of the conditions on which this development depends. How is the development of sensations in preschool children going?

Development of visual sensations. The main changes in the visual sensations of preschool children occur in the development of visual acuity (that is, the ability to distinguish between small or distant objects) and in the development of dullness in distinguishing shades of color.

Often they think that what less child, the better, the sharper his eyesight. In fact, this is not entirely true. The study of visual acuity in children 4-7 years old shows that visual acuity in younger preschoolers is lower than that of older preschoolers. So, when measuring the greatest distance from which children of different ages are able to distinguish figures shown to them of the same size, it turned out that for children 4-5 years old this distance is equal (in average figures) 2 m 10 cm, for children 5-6 years 2 m 70 cm, and for children 6 - 7 years old 3 m.

On the other hand, according to the research data, visual acuity in children can sharply increase under the influence of the correct organization of exercises in distinguishing distant objects. So, in younger preschool children, it rises rapidly, on average by 15 - 20%, and in older preschool age - by 30%.

What is the main condition for the successful education of visual acuity? This condition consists in the fact that the child is given such an understandable and interesting task for him, which requires him to distinguish one from another objects that are distant from him.

Similar tasks can be given in the form of a game, which, for example, requires the child to show in which of several identical boxes on the shelf a picture or toy is hidden (this box is marked with a figurine icon slightly different from those pasted on other boxes, which is known to the player in advance). At first, children only vaguely “guess” it among others, and after several repetitions of the game, they already clearly, consciously distinguish the icon depicted on it.

Thus, the active development of the ability to distinguish between distant objects should take place in the process of one or another specific and meaningful activity for the child, and by no means through formal "training". Formal "training" of visual acuity not only does not improve it, but in some cases can even bring direct harm - if at the same time overextend the child's vision or allow him to examine an object in conditions of very weak, too strong or uneven, flickering lighting. In particular, you should avoid allowing children to look at very small objects that have to be held close to their eyes.

In preschool children, visual impairments sometimes go unnoticed. Therefore, the child's behavior, which is explained by the fact that he sees poorly, can be interpreted incorrectly and suggest incorrect pedagogical conclusions. For example, instead of putting a nearsighted toddler closer to the picture book in question, the teacher, not knowing about his myopia, tries in vain to draw his attention to the details of the picture that he does not see. That is why it is always useful for the educator to be interested in medical data on the state of vision of children, as well as to check their visual acuity himself.

In preschool age, children significantly develop accuracy in distinguishing shades of color. Although by the beginning of preschool age, most children can accurately distinguish the main colors of the spectrum, the distinction between similar shades in preschoolers is still not perfect enough. Experiments that require a child to choose the same shade for the displayed shade show that the number of mistakes that children at the age of 4-7 make during this process is rapidly decreasing: if for four-year-olds the number of mistakes is still very high and reaches 70%, then for children 5-6 years of age, errors are usually no more than 50%, and by 7 years - less than 10%.

If a child constantly encounters colored materials in his activity and he has to accurately distinguish shades, select them, make up colors, etc., then, as a rule, his color discriminative sensitivity reaches a high level of development. An important role in this is played by the performance of such works by children as laying out colored patterns, appliqué works from natural colored materials, painting with paints, etc.

It should be borne in mind that in some, albeit quite rare, cases, children have color vision disorders. The child does not see shades of red or shades Green colour and mixes them together. In other, even rarer cases, some shades of yellow and blue are poorly distinguished. Finally, there are also cases of complete “color blindness”, when only differences in lightness are felt, but the colors themselves are not felt at all. The study of color vision requires the use of special tables and must be carried out by specialists.

Development of auditory sensations. Auditory sensations, like visual sensations, have a mental development the child is especially important. Hearing is essential for the development of speech. If the child's hearing sensitivity is impaired or severely reduced, then speech cannot develop normally. Auditory sensitivity, formed in early childhood, continues to develop in preschool children.

Distinguishing the sounds of speech is improved in the process of verbal communication. Differentiation of musical sounds improves with music lessons. Thus, the development of hearing is highly dependent on education.

The peculiarity of the auditory sensitivity in children is that it is characterized by large individual differences. Some preschoolers have a very high auditory sensitivity, while others, on the contrary, have a sharply reduced hearing.

The presence of large individual fluctuations in the sensitivity to distinguishing the frequency of sounds sometimes leads to an incorrect assumption that the auditory sensitivity supposedly depends only on innate inclinations and does not change significantly during the development of the child. In fact, hearing improves with age. Hearing sensitivity increases in children aged 6 to 8, on average, almost twofold.

It was found that the sensitivity to distinguishing the pitch of sounds develops especially rapidly during systematic music lessons.

The sensitivity to distinguishing the pitch of sounds can be sharply increased also by means of special exercises. As for the development of all other sensations, these exercises, however, should not consist of a simple "training", but must be carried out in such a way that the child actively solves the problem - to notice the difference in the pitch of the sounds being compared - and so that he always knows, whether he gave the correct answer. This kind of exercise can be done with preschool children in the form didactic game, organized according to the type of famous games "with correct guessing".

In pedagogical work with preschool children, special attention should be paid to whether the child hears well. This is necessary because in children, a decrease in auditory sensitivity is not always noticed by others due to the fact that the child, poorly, not clearly and not fully hearing the speech addressed to him, but often guesses correctly about what was said by the expression of the speaker's face, by the movement of the lips and, finally , according to the prevailing situation in which they refer to him. With such a "half hearing", the mental development of the child, especially his speech development may be delayed. Phenomena such as slurred speech, seeming absent-mindedness and incomprehensibility are often explained by the child's lowered hearing. The state of hearing of children should be especially carefully monitored, since its deficiencies are observed more often than the deficiencies of other sensations.

Knowing that the child's hearing is not sufficiently developed, the educator must take care, first, to provide him with the most favorable conditions for hearing perception, that is, to make sure that the child sits closer to the speaker or reader; speaking with him, you need to pronounce the words more clearly, and when it is necessary, calmly repeat what was said again. Secondly, one should educate his hearing, make him practice listening. To do this, it is useful to introduce such meaningful activities and games that require the child to listen carefully to quiet sounds and which do not allow replacing hearing with vision or guesswork.

In addition to music lessons and games, as we have already said, the organization of the correct "auditory regime" in the group plays an important role in the culture of hearing. It is necessary that in the group of children studying or playing there is no constant noise and screaming, which not only tire children very much, but are extremely unfavorable for the education of their hearing. In an overly noisy group, the child does not listen to others, hears himself poorly, gets used to responding only to very loud sounds, he starts talking too loudly. Sometimes the teacher is to blame for this, who learns the manner of speaking with children in a loud voice, and when it becomes too noisy in the group, he tries to “shout down” the children.

Of course, it is ridiculous to demand from preschoolers that they always behave quietly: - a child is characterized by violent expressions of his delight and noisy games. But children can be taught to observe silence, speak in an undertone, listen attentively to the faint sounds surrounding them. This essential condition education of a culture of hearing in children.

Development of motor (joint-muscle) and skin sensations. As already mentioned, the sensations arising from the action of muscle stimuli on the motor analyzer not only play a decisive role in the performance of movements, but also participate, along with skin sensations, in various processes of reflection of the external world, in the formation of correct ideas about its properties. Therefore, nurturing these sensations is also important.

Observations on children's assessments of the weight of the compared weights (which capsule is heavier?), Which depend on the accuracy of the joint-muscle and partly skin sensations, showed that in preschool age (4-6 years) they decrease by more than two times (on average from 1/15 to 1/35 of the compared weight), i.e., that the discriminative sensitivity at this age increases sharply.

During these years, children also experienced a great qualitative shift in the development of joint-muscular sensations. So, if children about 4 years old are given for comparison two boxes, equal in weight, but different in size, and asked which one is heavier, then in most cases the kids evaluate them as equally heavy. At the age of 5-6 years, the assessment of the weight of such boxes changes dramatically: now children, as a rule, confidently point to a smaller box as a heavier one (although the boxes are objectively equal in weight). Children have already begun to consider the relative weight of an object, as adults usually do.

As a result of practical actions with various objects in a child, temporary connections are established between the visual and motor analyzers, between visual stimuli, signaling the size of the object, and articular-muscular, signaling its weight.

The preschool years are a period when a child's senses continue to develop rapidly. The degree of development at this age of certain sensations is directly dependent on the child's activity, in the process of which they are improved, therefore, is determined by upbringing.

At the same time, the high development of sensations is necessary condition for full mental development. Therefore, the education of sensations in children (the so-called "sensory education"), properly delivered in preschool age, is of paramount importance, and proper attention should be paid to this aspect of educational work.

Sensation is the most simple, ancient mental function, which is an external manifestation of subjectivity, objectively found in behavior and accessible to scientific analysis [Leontiev AN, 1983]. Stimuli (stimuli) emanating from the external and internal environment are received and processed by analyzers. The analyzers consist of the following three parts.

1. Receptors - the peripheral department that receives signals.
2. Pathways through which the excitement arising on the receptor is transmitted to the overlying centers of the nervous system.
3. Projection zones of the cerebral cortex.

Violation of any part of the analyzer leads to the impossibility of receiving sensations or to its disorders. There are various classifications, but the most common division of sensations according to sensory modalities: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, etc. At the same time, it must be remembered that there are intermodal sensations, the so-called synesthesia (Greek synaesthesia: "syn" - meaning simultaneity of action; "aisthesis" - sensation).

According to the location of receptors outside or inside the human body, the Nobel laureate Ch. S. Sherrington proposed in 1932 to distinguish exteroreceptors and shiporeceptors. Exteroreceptors are also divided into contact ones, which register a stimulus upon direct contact with an object, and remote ones, which perceive stimuli at a distance.

Receptor specialization allows the first stage in the analysis of sensory influences.

First of all, tactile sensations appear - from 8 weeks of intrauterine life. From 6 weeks of intrauterine life, movements of the eyeballs appear, but the reaction to light appears only from 24-26 weeks. In a seven-month-old fetus, evoked potentials are already recorded in response to sound stimulation. At the same time, differentiate taste sensations... It is believed that the olfactory analyzer is formed only at the time of birth. Stimulation from the analyzers is transmitted to neurons in the corresponding parts of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, which contributes to their development. Thus, the child is born with well-formed sensory abilities, which continue to differentiate and develop throughout later life.

Depending on the sensations, the newborn develops rudimentary mental reactions: motor restlessness, screaming, crying. The child turns away from a bright light source, shudders at a sharp sound, turns his head towards the speaker, turns away from an unpleasant odor (the work of remote exteroreceptors), reacts to cold, touch (work of contact exteroreceptors), reacts to changes in body position (the work of proprioceptors), screams when hungry or having a headache, abdominal pain (work of interoreceptors). From about six months, these reactions become more differentiated and acquire a sensorimotor character.

Perception, as already noted, is a complex mental process that is not reduced to the sum of sensations, but includes the correlation of the perceived object with a subjective image reproduced on the basis of past impressions. Such images are called representations. Elementary representations and connections between them (associations) are formed very early. Even a newborn already has them. He reacts in a special way to the music that he constantly heard in the prenatal state. He can smell his mother’s milk from another woman’s milk. This means that the newborn recognizes sounds, smell, that is, he has elementary ideas about them.

The selection from the mass of surrounding objects corresponding to the representation and its identification requires certain efforts. Partly in connection with this, it is in childhood that a phenomenon is more often observed in which an irritant, acting on a certain receptor, causes not only a sensation specific to a given sensory organ, but at the same time additional sensations characteristic of other sensory organs, as well as representations. For example, auditory sensations are accompanied by visual sensations. Such a phenomenon is called synesthesia (Greek synaisthesia: "syn" - a prefix meaning synergy, simultaneity of action; "aisthesis" - feeling). On the basis of synesthesia, children often develop the ability to eidetism (Greek "eidos" - image). In this case, a bright, sensual image of an object can persist for some time after the termination of its influence on the senses. A child inclined to eideticism may confuse real images with eidetic ones.

Every day, the stock of ideas grows rapidly, especially in the first year of life. On their basis, concepts are formed, the process of perception is becoming more complex and differentiated. How older child, the better he copes with the task of isolating an object from the conditions in which he is, identifies the object in different situations.

Having been born, the child finds himself in a completely different environment. The closed, cramped intrauterine space is replaced by another, huge, filled with a mass of new stimuli, incomprehensible, and therefore dangerous. The first 1-1.5 months represent a transition period from a primary, well-protected ecological niche (mother's womb) to a new changeable environment with a huge number of new stimuli for it. In this new space, you need to navigate and you need to adapt to it. All this gives a powerful stimulus to the development of the function of perception. Constant hard work of analyzers is a prerequisite for the normal development of a child.

Observing the newborn, you may find that he turns his head and looks towards the sound and lighting. By this, he discovers the ability to establish sound-visual-motor connections. Low rhythmic sounds, reminiscent of breathing, heartbeat, blood flow through the abdominal aorta, soothe babies. It is interesting that, when addressing a newborn, adults involuntarily change the timbre of their voices to a higher one. Children can recognize their mother by smell, prefer her milk to any other. With an unpleasant odor, the newborn always turns away from the stimulus. This is explained by the fact that the sequence of irritation of the receptors of the mucous membrane of the right and left nostrils corresponds to the location of the source of the odor. Thus, the infant's ability to perceive the location of the odor source in space is evident. Most of the time, the newborn is in a supine or prone position. At the same time, the space that he can survey is very limited, which prevents the flow of information from the outside. A newborn's gaze is sliding, visual concentration is possible only for a few seconds.

To expand the view, you have to learn to raise your head and hold it. In a successfully developing child, this ability is noted around the second month of life. At the same time, he is able to hold a small object in his hand for a short time and bring it to his eyes or to his mouth. This indicates the progress of hand-eye coordination. With visual perception, a two-month-old child prefers oval-shaped objects with contrasting colors, sharp outlines on a light background. Such an object, for example, is a person's face. At a distance of 20-25 centimeters, the child is able, although not for long, to focus his gaze on the face and perceive changes in his facial expressions. He can even imitate them (opens his mouth, sticks out his tongue, etc.). Imperfect focusing leads to the fact that babies do not look simultaneously with two eyes, visual images from different eyes do not match on the retina, the image is low-contrast, and the vision is monocular as a result. With monocular vision, the perception of the depth of space is indistinct.

By the end of the third month, lying on his stomach, the baby can lift the breast from the crib. Hearing is becoming more and more differentiated. The child is already beginning to recognize by the voice not only of his parents, but also of other people with whom he often communicates. The ability to simulate high and low sounds appears. The child reaches for objects in the field of view, hits them.

At four months, the child is able to roll over from belly to back, and at five - and from back to belly. These motor capabilities expand the scope of sensory cognition of both one's own dimensions and the surrounding space. Hand-eye coordination improves. By this age, binocular vision is already formed so well that it provides a greater depth of perception, and the child can retain in his memory the idea of ​​\ u200b \ u200bthe size of a certain object. When a child observes an object, his head and eyes move in sync. The child always tries to reach with his hands some object (a suspended toy, nose, hair, parents' clothes). The eyes follow the hands reaching for the toy and provide a precise grip.

From 6-6.5 months, the child increasingly begins to take objects not with two, but with one hand, and he grabs them quickly, accurately and holds them well. He begins to sit down, make a "bridge", lifting his stomach off the floor, and then crawl. He is actively exploring the space, the possibilities of his view are expanding. The ability to move independently allows you to better orient yourself in the room, in the arrangement of furniture, objects. At this time, the child already perceives depth well. Studies have shown that most children of this age crawl on the glass at the call of their mother only until a checkered oilcloth is visible below. As soon as emptiness begins under the glass, which creates a visual illusion of the edge, children refuse to cross the border, some begin to cry. This ability prevents children from falling from a height.

By the age of 7-8 months, a normally developing child, by manipulating objects, already perceives their quality as constancy of form. The details of the form are perceived, but mastering their interconnections requires a higher level of development of ideas and concepts.

At 8-9 months, the child understands individual words. He begins to walk, but with support, which he needs not so much for support as to maintain balance. The upright position, increasing the view, further increases the ability to visual perception and contributes to its development.

By the age of one year, the child's movements become more refined, the body becomes more obedient. Children begin to walk on their own. Most of them can walk at least 15 meters on their own at 15 months. Hands engaged in crawling are released. This opens up a new source of stimuli for tactile receptors. Children can only recognize an object with the help of tactile sensations. They have well-formed certain taste preferences. By the age of one year, the child intelligently pronounces more than 10 words, knows and understands much more. In the future, the vocabulary grows rapidly, and this is another powerful incentive for the development of all forms of perception.

At 2 years old, when manipulating objects, they can well distinguish their shape (triangle, circle). It is difficult to use only a visual analyzer to determine the shape of an object, without turning on the tactile one. The perception of combined, complex forms is still impossible.

By the age of three, the child is fluent in speech. The widespread use of verbal concepts stimulates the processes of sensations and perception: the child can express them in words, give himself an account of the impressions received. But even at this age, the processes of perception remain involuntary. Children do not know how to independently analyze the perceived, perception is reduced to recognizing an object and naming it.

Elements of voluntary perception appear in younger preschoolers. The quality of perception is mainly determined by the properties of the object (brightness, shape, smell, etc.).

Older preschoolers are actively improving the technique of perception: they can already examine an object with their eyes, without resorting to the help of a tactile analyzer, they can determine the location of themselves, any object in space in words.

In younger schoolchildren, perception is still poorly differentiated. Having recognized an object and named it, they stop analyzing it. With difficulty, they distinguish the details of the subject, highlight the main thing. Objects that the child considers significant for himself, in which he shows interest, are perceived better.

How older child, the more subtle and complex its perception becomes, more and more often it becomes arbitrary. With age, the orientation in environment, reactions become more differentiated.

Perceptual processes in adolescents proceed almost like in adults, retaining only some of the features of children's perception.
G.E.Sukhareva (1955) noted the following main distinctive features children's perception:
- the predominance of figurative sensory perception over abstract, that is, the first signal system over the second;
- high - excitability of cortical centers due to the peculiarities of cerebral metabolism, blood circulation, leading to an increase in the intensity and lability of metabolism;
- interweaving of real and fantastic images;
- insufficient report of the perceived;
- increased suggestibility and autosuggestion, a tendency to fantasize, ease of illusion;
- fantastic processing of the information received in accordance with their desires and fears.

Sensations begin to develop immediately after the baby is born. However, there are differences in the degree of maturity of individual feelings and in the stages of their development. Immediately after birth, the child has more developed cutaneous sensitivity. He reacts to temperature differences immediately after birth, to touch, and his lips and the entire mouth area are most sensitive. In addition, the newborn can also feel pain. Already by the time of birth, the child has a rather highly developed gustatory and olfactory sensitivity. However, olfactory sensations not associated with nutrition develop for a long time. They are poorly developed in most children, even at the age of four or five.

Vision and hearing go through a more complex path of development, which is explained by the complexity of the structure and organization of the functioning of these sense organs and their lower maturity by the time of birth. In the first days after birth, the child does not respond to sounds, even very loud ones. This is due to the fact that the ear canal of the newborn is filled with amniotic fluid, which dissolves only after a few days. Usually, the child begins to respond to sounds within the first week, sometimes this period is delayed up to two to three weeks.

The child's first reactions to sound have the character of general motor excitation. Sound sensitivity is initially low, but increases in the first weeks of life. After two to three months, the child begins to perceive the direction of the sound, turns his head towards the source of the sound. In the third to fourth months, some babies begin to respond to singing and music.

The development of speech hearing consists in the fact that the child first of all begins to respond to the intonation of speech. This is observed in the second month of life, when an affectionate tone has a calming effect on the child. Then the child begins to perceive the rhythmic side of speech and the general sound pattern of words. However, the distinction between the sounds of speech begins by the end of the first year of life. From this moment, the development of the actual speech hearing begins. First, the child develops the ability to distinguish vowels, and at a later stage he begins to distinguish consonants.

Vision develops most slowly in a child. The absolute sensitivity to light in newborns is low, but increases markedly in the first days of life. From the moment the visual sensations appear, the child reacts to light with various motor reactions. Color discrimination grows slowly. It has been established that the child begins to distinguish color in the fifth month, after which he begins to show interest in bright objects.

However, sensing the light, the child at first cannot “see” objects. This is because the child's eye movements are not coordinated. A child can control eye movement only by the end of the second month of life. From this moment, a long-term development of the perception of space, the shape of an object, its size and distance begins.

Questions for self-control:

Define the concept of sensation. What is the physiological basis of sensations?

List the main classifications of sensations.

Expand the properties of sensations.

Describe the phenomena of sensations.

How do sensations develop during ontogenesis?