Methods of Psychology Psychology, like every science, uses a whole system of various particular methods, or techniques. The main methods of research in psychology, as in a number of other sciences, are observation and experiment. Each of these common methods scientific

SUBJECT OF PEDAGOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY In modern teaching practice it is no longer possible to competently, effectively and at the level of modern cultural requirements to build their activities without the intensive introduction of scientific psychological knowledge. Pedagogical

THE ORIGIN AND INITIAL DEVELOPMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY The origin of educational psychology dates back to the second half of the 19th century. and is associated with the penetration of genetic ideas into psychological science. Significant contribution to the developing psychological and pedagogical

BIOGENETIC AND SOCIOGENETIC DIRECTIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY The problem of the mental development of children, the sources and patterns of this development is always central to educational psychology. Determining the path depends on its decision

1.2. Methods of psychology The concept of method. The term "method" has at least two meanings.1. Method as a methodology is a system of principles and methods for organizing and constructing theoretical and practical activities, an initial, principled position as an approach to

The Place of the Formative Experiment in the System of Research Methods in Educational Psychology

A method of research is a method of studying an object. Depending on the level of scientific knowledge - theoretical or empirical - methods are defined as theoretical or empirical. In educational psychology, mainly empirical methods are used.

Educational psychology uses all the methods that are in the arsenal of other branches of psychology (human psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, etc.): observation, survey, experiment, etc., but their application is modified taking into account the conditions pedagogical process. For example, observation as a general psychological method in educational psychology required a transformation not only in the goals, the program of observations, but also in the techniques for its implementation.

The specificity of the methods of educational psychology is determined by the fact that psychological research in educational psychology is aimed at:

Search for driving forces and disclosure of patterns of the dynamic process of development and formation of psychological states, processes and properties of a person,

Establishing the dependence of these phenomena on the conditions of communication, activity, training and education of a person.

In addition to general methods in educational psychology, there are also special methods. These include, for example, a psychological and pedagogical experiment and a special psychological and pedagogical testing designed to determine the degree of learning and upbringing of the child.

Analyzing research methods, B.G. Ananiev identifies four groups of them (Fig. 1):

Fig.1.

1) organizational methods (comparative, longitudinal (traces the formation, development of the phenomenon under study over several years), complex);

2) empirical, which includes: a) observational methods (observation and self-observation); b) experimental methods (laboratory, field, natural, formative or, according to BG Ananiev, psychological and pedagogical); c) psychodiagnostic methods (standardized and projective tests, questionnaires, sociometry, interviews and conversation); d) praksimetric methods, according to B.G. Ananiev, techniques for analyzing processes and products of activity (chronometry, cyclography, professographic description, evaluation of work); e) modeling method (mathematical, cybernetic, etc.); f) biographical methods (analysis of facts, dates, events, evidence of a person's life);

3) data processing, which includes methods of quantitative (mathematical and statistical) and qualitative analysis;

4) interpretative methods, including genetic and structural method.

Pedagogical psychology has the main arsenal of such scientific methods as observation, conversation, questioning, experiment, analysis of the products of activity (creativity), testing, sociometry, etc. In the practical activity of each individual teacher, the main ones are observation and conversation, followed by an analysis of the products of the students' educational activities.

Observation- the main, most common in educational psychology (and in pedagogical practice in general) empirical method purposeful systematic study of man. The observed does not know that he is an object of observation, which can be continuous or selective - with fixation, for example, of the entire course of the lesson or the behavior of only one or several students. Based on the observation, it can be given expert review. The results of the observation are recorded in special protocols, where the name of the observed (observed), date, time and purpose are noted. Protocol data are subjected to qualitative and quantitative processing.

Observation must meet a number of requirements: a clearly defined goal and a developed scheme of observations; objectivity of observation, systematic observation, observation of the natural behavior of the child (the child should not know that an adult is watching him, otherwise his behavior will change).

Conversation- widely used in educational psychology empirical method of obtaining information (information) about the student in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions. Conversation - direct communication with the subjects using pre-conceived questions. It involves the establishment of two-way contact, during which the interests of children, their ideas, attitudes, feelings, assessments and positions are revealed. A conversation can be an independent method of studying a person, or it can be auxiliary, for example, preliminary to an experiment, therapy, etc.

Experiment- the central empirical method of scientific research, which has become widespread in educational psychology. It is one of the most reliable methods for obtaining information about the behavior and psychology of the child. The essence of the experiment is that in the process of research, the processes of interest to the researcher are evoked in the child and the conditions necessary and sufficient for the manifestation of these processes are created.

According to the form of conduct, they distinguish laboratory(under special conditions, with equipment, etc.) and natural experiment held in normal conditions education, life, work, but with their special organization, the influence of which is being studied.

Because a natural experiment is carried out in the conditions of the activity familiar to the test subject (in the classroom, in the game), then the teacher can widely use this method in his work. In particular, by changing the forms and methods of teaching, it is possible to identify how they affect the assimilation of the material, the features of its understanding and memorization. Such well-known teachers in our country as V.A. Sukhomlinsky, A.S. Makarenko, Sh.A. Amonashvili, V.F. Shatalov, E.A. Yamburg and others have achieved high results in the education and upbringing of children through experimentation, the creation of innovative platforms in education.

By goals holding allocate ascertaining and forming experiment. The purpose of the ascertaining experiment is to measure the current level of development (for example, the level of development of an abstract logical thinking, the degree of formation of moral ideas). In this case, tests are a kind of ascertaining experiment. The data obtained form the basis of such a form of natural experiment as formative experiment, which aimed at active transformation, development of certain aspects of the psyche.

Its distinctive feature is a purposeful formative impact on a student or teacher in accordance with the research hypothesis. In the course of it, changes in the level of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, in the level of mental and personal development students under targeted teaching and upbringing influence.

For pedagogical psychology, this special version of the natural experiment - formative (teaching) - is very important. In the experiment as a research method, the subject is not aware of its purpose. The experimenter, on the other hand, not only determines the purpose of the study and puts forward a hypothesis, but can also change the conditions and forms of the study. The results of the experiment are strictly and accurately recorded in special protocols, where the name of the subject, the necessary information about him, date, time, and purpose are noted. Experimental data are processed quantitatively (factorial, correlation analysis, etc.), subjected to qualitative interpretation. The experiment can be individual, group, short-term or long-term.

The pedagogical process provides great opportunities for using product analysis- a method of studying a person through the analysis (interpretation) of the products of his activity (drawings, drawings, music, compositions, notebooks, diaries), because in this process the materialization of mental capabilities, both of the student and the teacher, is carried out.

Increasingly widespread in educational psychology is test method.

Test(English test - test, test, check) - a standardized, often time-limited test designed to establish quantitative or qualitative individual psychological differences.

Test classifications:

1) according to the features of the test tasks used for verbal tests and practical tests;

2) according to the forms of the examination procedure - for group and individual tests;

3) by focus - on intelligence tests and personality tests;

4) depending on the presence or absence of time limits - for speed tests and performance tests;

5) tests also differ in design principles, for example, in recent decades computer tests are being actively developed.

The use of testing in educational psychology is a responsible, ethical, highly professional matter that requires special training.

Psychology- the science of the patterns of emergence, development and functioning of the subject's psyche, intersubjective interactions and mental phenomena.

The object of psychology - personality, communication, activities and groups.

The subject of psychology are facts, patterns, mechanisms, aspects of mental phenomena.

Tasks of psychology:

Description and analysis of mental phenomena

Study of the mechanisms of the functioning of the psyche and mental phenomena

Pedagogy is the science of the patterns of education and upbringing of a person with the help of a purposeful and specially organized education system.

The object of pedagogy - education as a special activity to introduce a person to life in society.

Subject of Pedagogy- a system of relations arising in educational activities.

Tasks of pedagogy:

identification and study of patterns in the areas of education and training, management of educational and educational systems

forecasting further development educational systems

study of the essence, structure and functions of the pedagogical process

development of effective forms of organization of the pedagogical process and methods for its implementation

development of methods of self-education and self-education

Functions pedagogy: scientific-theoretical, constructive-technical (normative, regulatory).

Scientific and theoretical the function is realized in the description and diagnostics of the pedagogical process, forecasting effective models of this process.

Structural and technical the function is realized through the development of methodological materials, their introduction into practice and adjustment of the process of education and upbringing.

1. Principles and stages of scientific research in psychology and pedagogy

Psychology and pedagogy are guided by the following general scientific principles: 1) consistency; 2) determinism; 3) historicism; 4) unity of consciousness and activity; 5) individuality; 6) development.

The principle of consistency. The key category of this principle is the category of “systems”.

System – it is an integral structure that functions in terms of achieving some goal and has systemic qualities determined by interaction with other, external systems and not reducible to the properties of individual elements of this system.

The essential properties of such a reality as a system are:

integrity,

inclusion in metasystems (i.e., in systems of a higher order),

interaction of elements,

presence of system properties.

Both mental phenomena and objects of pedagogy (personality, group, communication, etc.) are complex, multi-level and dynamic systems, which in different social and subject contexts reveal different systemic qualities.

Principle of determinism is that any mental, pedagogical phenomenon is determined, i.e. has a reason. There is nothing random. And the task of the researcher or practitioner is to find the cause.

The principle of historicism is that any phenomenon must be considered in a historical context. Namely, in the context of his individual history of development, functioning, and in the broad context of the historical conditions of existence.

The principle of unity of consciousness and activity.

This principle means that consciousness arises, develops and manifests itself in the process of activity and communication.

The principle of individuality. According to the principle of individuality, in any mental phenomenon, both the general and the individual should be distinguished. In particular, the teacher must see individual characteristics in each student and, at the same time, be able to attribute him to a certain type of personality.

Development principle mental phenomena (as well as pedagogical objects, situations). As Rubinstein wrote, “The regularities of all phenomena, including mental ones, are known only in their development, in the process of their movement and change, emergence and death.”

Research stages:

formulation of the problem;

formulation of research hypotheses;

choice of research methods and techniques;

pilot (trial) study;

main study;

mathematical processing of the obtained empirical data;

analysis and interpretation of the received information;

implementation of research results into practice.

Basic methods of educational psychology. Formative experiment as one of the main methods of psychological and pedagogical research In educational psychology, all the methods that are in general age and many other branches of psychology are used: observation, oral and written survey, method of analyzing activity products, content analysis, experiment, etc. Changes made to these methods when they are used in educational psychology, they concern the possibility of evaluation with their help ...

If this work does not suit you, there is a list of similar works at the bottom of the page. You can also use the search button

TOPIC 2. METHODS OF PEDAGOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY

In educational psychology, all the methods that are in general, age and many other branches of psychology are used: observation, oral and written survey, method of analyzing activity products, content analysis, experiment etc., but only here they are applied taking into account the age of children and those psychological and pedagogical problems in the context of which there is a need to address them(see fig. 1) . The changes introduced into these methods, when they are used in educational psychology, relate to the possibility of assessing with their help the current level of upbringing and learning of the child or those changes that occur in his psyche and behavior under the influence of training and education. To determine the specific application general scientific methods research in educational psychology, it is necessary to consider some features of the relationship of methodology, methods and techniques of psychological and pedagogical research, as well as the levels of methodological knowledge. ( http://www.pirao.ru/ ; see the website of the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education).

2.1. The relationship of methodology, methods and methods of psychological and pedagogical research. Levels of methodological knowledge

2.1.1. The relationship of methodology, methods and techniques of psychological and pedagogical research

Each science, including educational psychology, in order to develop productively, must rely on certain starting points that give correct ideas about the phenomena it studies. These provisions are methodology and theory .
The activity of people in any of its forms (scientific, practical, etc.) is determined by a number of factors. Its final result depends not only on who acts (subject) or what it is aimed at (object), but also on how this process is carried out, what methods, techniques, means are used in this case. This is the problem with the method.
The history and current state of knowledge and practice convincingly show that not everyone method , not any system principles and other means of activity provide a successful solution of theoretical and practical problems. Not only the result of the study, but also the path leading to it must be true (see Fig. 2).

Methodology - a system of principles and methods of organization, construction of theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system.
The concept of "methodology" has two main meanings: a)a system of certain methods and techniques used in a particular field of activity(in science, politics, art, etc.); b)doctrine of this system, general theory method, theory in action.

• Methodology:
  • teaches how a scientist or practitioner should act in order to get a true result;
  • explores the internal mechanisms, logic of movement and organization of knowledge;
  • reveals the laws of functioning and change of knowledge;
  • studies the explanatory schemes of science, etc.

In turn, theory - this is a set of views, judgments, conclusions, which are the result of knowledge and understanding of the studied phenomena and processes of objective reality.
This or that scientific approach and methodological principles are realized in specific research methods. In general terms, method (from the Greek methodos - the path of research, theory, teaching) - "a way to achieve a goal, solve a specific problem; a set of techniques or operations for practical and theoretical development (cognition) of reality" (Big encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998, p. 724; annotation).
The main function of the method is the internal organization and regulation of the process of cognition and practical transformation of an object. Therefore, the method (in one form or another) is reduced to a set of certain rules, techniques, methods, norms of cognition and action. It is a system of prescriptions, principles, requirements that should guide in solving a specific problem, achieving a certain result in a particular area of ​​activity. It disciplines the search for truth, allows (if it is correct) to save time and effort, to move towards the goal in the shortest way. The true method serves as a kind of compass, according to which the subject of knowledge and action paves its way, allows you to avoid mistakes.
In turn, the methods of pedagogical psychology are specified in research methods. Methodology meets specific goals and tasks psychological and pedagogical research, contains a description of the object and procedures of study, methods of fixing and processing the data obtained. Based on a particular method, many methods can be created. For example, the experimental method in educational psychology is embodied in methods for studying the intellect, will, personality of the student, and other aspects of mental reality.
Example. Consider the "triangle" of the relationship of methodology, methods and techniques of psychological and pedagogical research on the example domestic psychology and humanistic psychology.
During the Soviet period of developmentnational pedagogical psychology, as well as psychology in general, was due to the prevalence of the dialectical-materialistic approach to understanding the essence of the phenomena of reality.

• Its gist was:
  • in the idea of ​​the primacy of matter and the secondary nature of consciousness;
  • idea of ​​the driving forces of the development of the surrounding reality and the psyche;
  • understanding the unity of external, material activity and internal, mental;
  • awareness of the social conditionality of the development of the human psyche.

Consequently, one of the most important research methods in the field of psychology, in particular educational psychology, was the method of experiment. This method checks hypotheses causal, i.e. causal nature. At that time, such a type of experiment as a formative experiment gained particular popularity. Therefore, various programs have been actively developedformative experiment, correctional and developmental training programs, etc. ( see Cross. 2.1).
basis humanistic psychology(K. Rogers, A. Maslow etc.) ishumanitarian paradigm. This paradigm in science involves the knowledge of nature, society, man himself from an anthropological, humanistic position; it introduces a "human dimension" into all spheres of public life. It is characterized by the use of general principles in the interpretation of individual, social or historical events. But at the same time, a single case is not considered as a special case of a general pattern, but is taken in its own value and autonomy. For humanitarian knowledge, it is important to comprehend individual facts as such. Therefore, one of the main ways of knowing a person and his "second nature" is understanding. Understanding - this is not only knowledge, but also complicity, empathy, sympathy for another. Therefore, among the main methods of cognition, the methods practical psychology (psychological consultation, psychotherapy, psychotraining, transactional analysis, etc.). (http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1995/952/952019.htm; see the article by Vorobieva V.N. "Humanitarian psychology: subject and tasks").

2.1.2. Levels of methodological knowledge

• In modern methodology and logic of science ( Asmolov A.G., 1996, abstract) stands out next general scheme methodology levels:
  • level of philosophical methodology;
  • level of methodology of general scientific principles of research;
  • the level of specific scientific methodology;
  • level of research methods and techniques(see fig. 3) .

(http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1999/991/991003.htm- see the article by Asmolov A.G. "XXI century: psychology in the age of psychology (dedicated to the memory of my teacher A.N. Leontiev (1903-1979)).

Methodology philosophicalThis is the basis on which the research activity is based.Major philosophical doctrines act as the methodological basis of specific scientific areas. It does not exist as a system of rigid norms or indications of the need for vague techniques, but only offers basic guidelines. To the same level methodology includes consideration of the general forms of scientific thinking.
Toward a general scientific methodologyinclude attempts to develop universal principles, means and forms of scientific knowledge, correlated, at least potentially, not with any particular science, but applicable to a wide range of sciences.However, this level of methodology still remains, in contrast to philosophical methodology, within the framework of proper scientific knowledge, without expanding to the general worldview level.
These include, for example, the concepts of systemic scientific analysis, the structural-level approach, cybernetic principles descriptions of complex systems, etc. At this level, general Problems construction of scientific research, ways of carrying out theoretical and empirical activities, in particular - common problems building an experiment, observations and modeling (http://www.vygotsky.edu.ru/html/da.php; see International Department of Cultural and Historical Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education).
Specific scientific methodologydevelops the same problems as general scientific methodology, but within the framework of specific sciences, based on the characteristics of the object of science, in relation to how theories and empirical activities.
This is carried out within the framework of knowledge systems created by scientific schools, which differ from each other in their explanatory principles and methods of research and development. practical work (http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1999/993/993018.htm; see article Lazarev V.S. Problems of understanding mental development in the cultural-historical theory of activity).
At the level of specific research methods and techniquesthe development of specific methods of psychological and pedagogical research in relation to the solution of cognitive problems of a certain type is carried out.At this level, problems validity and methodology developed diagnostic methods research (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/l-diag.html; see the laboratory for the diagnosis and correction of mental development of the PI RAO).

2.2. Classification of methods of psychological and pedagogical research

One of the most recognized and well-known classifications of methods of psychological and pedagogical research is the classification proposed by B.G. Ananiev ( Ananiev B.G., 2001; annotation) (see Fig. 4) . ( http://www.yspu.yar.ru:8101/vestnik/pedagoka_i_psichologiy/4_2/; see article Mazilov V.A. "B.G. Ananiev and modern psychology (On the 90th anniversary of the birth of B.G. Ananiev)").

• He divided all methods into four groups:
  • organizational;
  • empirical;
  • according to the method of data processing;
  • interpretive.

1. TO organizational methods the scientist said:
   • comparative method as a comparison of different groups by age, activity, etc.;
   • longitudinal - as multiple examinations of the same persons over a long period of time;
   • complex - as a study of one object by representatives of different sciences.

1. To empirical:
   • observational methods (observation and self-observation);
   • experiment (laboratory, field, natural, etc.);
   • psychodiagnostic method;
   • analysis of processes and products of activity (praxiometric methods);
   • modeling;
   • biographical method.
2. By way of data processing
   • methods of mathematical and statistical data analysis and
   • qualitative description methods (Sidorenko E.V., 2000; annotation).
3. to interpretive
   • genetic (phylo- and ontogenetic) method;
   • structural method (classification, typology, etc.).

Ananiev described in detail each of the methods, but with all the thoroughness of his argumentation, as he notes V.N. Druzhinin in his book" experimental psychology" (Druzhinin V.N., 1997; annotation), there are many unsolved problems: why did modeling turn out to be an empirical method? How are practical methods different from field experiment and instrumental observation? Why is the group of interpretative methods separated from organizational ones?

• It is advisable, by analogy with other sciences, to distinguish three classes of methods in educational psychology:
  1. empirical , in which externally real interaction of the subject and object of research is carried out.
  2. Theoretical when the subject interacts with the mental model of the object (more precisely, the subject of study).
  3. Interpretation-descriptive, in which the subject "externally" interacts with the sign-symbolic representation of the object (graphs, tables, diagrams).

The result of the applicationempirical methodsare data fixing the state of the object by instrument readings; reflecting the results of activities, etc.
The result of the application of theoretical methods is represented by knowledge about the subject in the form of natural language, sign-symbolic or spatial-schematic.

• Among the main theoretical methods of psychological and pedagogical research, V.V. Druzhinin pointed out:
  • deductive (axiomatic and hypothetical-deductive), otherwise - the ascent from the general to the particular, from the abstract to the concrete. The result is theory, law, etc.;
  • inductive - generalization of facts, ascent from the particular to the general. The result is an inductive hypothesis, regularity, classification, systematization;
  • modeling - concretization of the method of analogies, "transduction", inference from the particular to the particular, when a simpler and / or more accessible object is taken as an analogue of a more complex object. The result is a model of an object, process, state.

Finally, interpretative-descriptive methods- this is the "meeting place" of the results of applying theoretical and experimental methods and the place of their interaction. The data of an empirical study, on the one hand, are subjected to primary processing and presentation in accordance with the requirements for the results of the organizing theory, model, inductive hypotheses; on the other hand, there is an interpretation of these data in terms of competing concepts for the correspondence of hypotheses to the results.
The product of interpretation is fact, empirical dependence, and ultimately justification or refutation. hypotheses.

2.3. Basic Methods of Educational Psychology

Observation - the main, most common in educational psychology (and in pedagogical practice in general) empirical method of studying a person. Under observation is understood as a purposeful, organized and in a certain way fixed perception of the object under study. The results of fixing the observation data are called the description of the object's behavior.
Observation can be carried out directly or using technical means and methods of data recording (photo, audio and video equipment, observation cards, etc.). However, with the help of observation, one can detect only phenomena that occur in ordinary, "normal" conditions, and in order to know the essential properties of an object, it is necessary to create special conditions that are different from "normal".

• The main features of the observation method are(see animation) :
  • direct connection between the observer and the observed object;
  • partiality (emotional coloring) of observation;
  • complexity (sometimes - impossibility) of repeated observation.

There are several types of observations(see fig. 6) .
Depending on the position of the observer, open and hidden observation. The first means that the subjects know the fact of their scientific control, and the researcher's activity is perceived visually. Covert observation implies the fact of covert tracking of the actions of the subject. The difference between the first and the second lies in the comparison of data on the course of psychological and pedagogical processes and the behavior of participants in educational interaction in conditions of a sense of supervision and freedom from prying eyes.
Separate further, continuous and selective observation. The first covers processes in a holistic way: from their beginning to end, to completion. The second is a dotted, selective fixation of certain phenomena and processes under study. For example, when studying the labor intensity of teacher and student work in a lesson, the entire learning cycle is observed from its start at the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson. And when studying neurogenic situations in the teacher-student relationship, the researcher, as it were, waits, watching these events from the side, in order to then describe in detail the causes of their occurrence, the behavior of both conflicting parties, i.e. teacher and student.
The result of a study that uses the method of observation largely depends on the researcher himself, on his "culture of observation". It is necessary to take into account the specific requirements for the procedure for obtaining and interpreting information in the observation. Among them, the following stand out:
1. Only external facts that have speech and motor manifestations are available for observation. You can observe not intellect, but how a person solves problems; not sociability, but the nature of interaction with other people, etc.
2. It is necessary that the observed phenomenon, behavior be determined operationally, in terms of real behavior, i.e. characteristics recorded should be as descriptive as possible and as less explanatory as possible.
3. The most important moments of behavior (critical cases) should be highlighted for observation.
4. The observer must be able to record the behavior of the person being assessed for a long period of time, in many roles and critical situations.
5. The reliability of observation increases in case of coincidence of the testimony of several observers.
6. The role relationship between the observer and the observed must be eliminated. For example, student behavior will be different in the presence of parents, teacher, and peers. Therefore, external assessments given to the same person on the same set of qualities by people occupying different positions in relation to him may turn out to be different.
7. Assessments in observation should not be subject to subjective influences (likes and dislikes, transferring attitudes from parents to students, from student performance to his behavior, etc.).
Conversation - widespread in educational psychologyempirical methodobtaining information (information) about the student in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions. This is a method of studying student behavior specific to educational psychology.A dialogue between two people in which one person reveals psychological features another is called conversation method . Psychologists various schools and directions widely use it in their research. Enough to name Piaget and representatives of his school, humanistic psychologists, founders and followers of "depth" psychology, etc.
IN conversations , dialogues, discussions, the attitudes of students, teachers, their feelings and intentions, assessments and positions are revealed. Researchers of all times in conversations received such information that it is impossible to obtain by any other means.
Psychological and pedagogical conversation as a research method is distinguished by the researcher's purposeful attempts to penetrate into inner world subjects educational process to identify the causes of certain actions. Information about the moral, ideological, political and other views of the subjects, their attitude to the problems of interest to the researcher is also obtained through conversations. But conversations are a very complicated and not always reliable method. Therefore, it is used most often as an additional one - to obtain the necessary clarifications and clarifications about what was not clear enough when observing or using other methods.

• To improve reliability the results of the conversation and the removal of the inevitable shade of subjectivity, special measures should be used. These include:
  • the presence of a clear, well-thought-out, taking into account the characteristics of the student's personality and a steadily implemented conversation plan;
  • discussion of issues of interest to the researcher in various perspectives and relationships school life;
  • variation of questions, posing them in a form convenient for the interlocutor;
  • ability to use the situation, resourcefulness in questions and answers.

The conversation is included as an additional method in the structure of the psychological and pedagogical experiment at the first stage, when the researcher collects primary information about the student, teacher, gives them instructions, motivates, etc., and last step- in the form of a post-experimental interview.
Interview called a targeted survey. An interview is defined as a "pseudo-conversation": the interviewer must always remember that he is a researcher, not lose sight of the plan and lead the conversation in the direction he needs.
Questionnaire - an empirical socio-psychological method of obtaining information based on answers to specially prepared questions that meet the main task of the study, which make up the questionnaire. Questioning is a method of mass collection of material using specially designed questionnaires, called questionnaires. Questioning is based on the assumption that the person frankly answers the questions asked of him. However, as recent studies of the effectiveness of this method show, these expectations are justified by about half. This circumstance sharply narrows the range of application of the survey and undermines confidence in the objectivity of the results (Yadov V.A., 1995; annotation).
Questioning attracted teachers and psychologists with the possibility of quick mass surveys of students, teachers, parents, the cheapness of the methodology and the possibility of automated processing of the collected material.

• Now in psychological and pedagogical research, various types of questionnaires are widely used:
  • open, requiring independent construction of the answer;
  • closed, in which students have to choose one of the ready-made answers;
  • nominal, requiring the names of the subject;
  • anonymous, do without it, etc.
• When compiling the questionnaire, take into account:
  • the content of the questions;
  • the form of questions - open or closed;
  • wording of questions (clarity, no prompting of answers, etc.);
  • number and order of questions. In psychological and pedagogical practice, the number of questions usually corresponds to no more than 30-40 minutes of work using the questionnaire method; The order of questions is most often determined by the method of random numbers.

Questioning can be oral, written, individual, group, but in any case must meet two requirements - representativeness and homogeneity of the sample. The survey material is subjected to quantitative and qualitative processing.
Test method.In connection with the specifics of the subject of educational psychology, some of the methods mentioned above are used in it to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent. However, the method of testing is becoming more widespread in educational psychology.
Test (eng. test - test, test, verification) - in psychology -a time-fixed test designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences(Burlachuk, 2000, p. 325). The test is the main instrument of psychodiagnostic examination, with the help of which a psychological diagnosis is carried out.

• Testing differs from other methods of examination:
  • accuracy;
  • simplicity;
  • availability;
  • possibility of automation.

(http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1998/985/985126.htm; see article Borisova E.M. "Fundamentals of psychodiagnostics").

Testing is far from new, but not sufficiently used in educational psychology research method (Burlachuk, 2000, p. 325; annotation). Back in the 80s and 90s. 19th century researchers began to study the individual differences of people. This led to the emergence of the so-called test experiment - research using tests ( A. Dalton, A. Cattell and etc.). Application tests served as an impetus for the developmentpsychometric method, the foundations of which were laid by B. Henri and A. Binet. Measuring school success, intellectual development, the degree of formation of many other qualities with the help of tests has become an integral part of a wide educational practice. Psychology, having provided pedagogy with a tool for analysis, was closely connected with it (it is sometimes impossible to separate pedagogical testing from psychological testing) (http://psychology.net.ru/articles/d20020106230736.html; cm. psychological tests).
If we talk about purely pedagogical aspects of testing, we point out, first of all, the use of performance tests. Skill tests are widely used, such as reading, writing, simple arithmetic operations, as well as various tests for diagnosing the level of learning - identifying the degree of assimilation of knowledge, skills in all academic subjects.
Usually, testing as a method of psychological and pedagogical research merges with practical testing of current performance, identifying the level of learning, quality control of assimilation educational material.
The most complete and systematized description of tests is presented in the work A. Anastasi "Psychological testing". Analyzing testing in education, the scientist notes that this process uses all types of existing tests, however, among all types of standardized tests, achievement tests numerically outnumber all others. They were created to measure the objectivity of programs and learning processes. Usually they "give the final assessment of achievements individual upon completion of training, in them the main interest is focused on what the individual can do by now" (Anastasi A., 1982. S. 36-37). (http://www.psy.msu.ru/about/lab/ht.html; see the Center for Psychological and Career Guidance Testing "Humanitarian Technologies" of Moscow State University).

• A.K. Erofeev, analyzing the basic requirements for testing, identifies the following main groups of knowledge that a testologist should have:
  • basic principles of normative-oriented testing;
  • types of tests and their scope;
  • the basics of psychometrics (i.e., in what units are psychological qualities measured in the system);
  • test quality criteria (methods for determining the validity and reliability of the test);
  • ethical standards psychological testing(Erofeev A.K., 1987) .

All of the above means that the use of testing in educational psychology requires special training, highly qualified and responsibility.
Experiment - one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, who systematically manipulates one or more variables (factors) and registration of concomitant changes in the behavior of the studied object(see fig. 7) .
A well-designed experiment allows you to check hypotheses in causal causal relationships, not limited to stating a connection ( correlations ) between variables. There are traditional and factorial plans for the experiment (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/g-fak.html; see group of research of factors of formation of individuality of PI RAO).
At traditional planningonly one changesindependent variable, with factorial - some. The advantage of the latter is the possibility of assessing the interaction of factors - changes in the nature of the influence of one of the variables depending on the value of the other. For statistical processing of the results of the experiment, in this case,analysis of variance(R. Fisher). If the area under study is relatively unknown and there is no system of hypotheses, then one speaks of a pilot experiment, the results of which can help clarify the direction of further analysis. When there are two competing hypotheses and the experiment allows you to choose one of them, we speak of a decisive experiment. The control experiment is carried out in order to check any dependencies. The application of the experiment, however, encounters fundamental limitations associated with the impossibility in some cases to carry out an arbitrary change in variables. So, in differential psychology and personality psychology, empirical dependencies for the most part have the status of correlations (i.e., probabilistic and statistical dependencies) and, as a rule, do not always allow drawing conclusions about causal relationships. One of the difficulties in applying the experiment in psychology is that the researcher often finds himself involved in the situation of communication with the person being examined (subject) and can involuntarily influence his behavior (Fig. 8). Formative or educational experiments form a special category of methods of psychological research and influence. They allow you to directionally form the features of such mental processes like perception, attention, memory, thinking.

Experiment procedure consists in the directed creation or selection of such conditions that provide a reliable selection of the studied factor, and in the registration of changes associated with its impact.
Most often, in psychological and pedagogical experiments, they deal with 2 groups: the experimental group, which includes the studied factor, and the control group, in which it is absent.
The experimenter, at his own discretion, can modify the conditions of the experiment and observe the consequences of such a change. This, in particular, makes it possible to find the most rational methods in educational work with students. For example, by changing the conditions for memorizing a particular educational material, it is possible to establish under what conditions memorization will be the fastest, strongest and most accurate. By conducting research under the same conditions with different subjects, the experimenter can establish the age and individual characteristics of the course of mental processes in each of them.

• Psychological and pedagogical experiments differ:
  • according to the form of conduct;
  • the number of variables;
  • goals;
  • the nature of the organization of the study.

According to the form of conducting, there are two main types of experiment - laboratory and natural.
Laboratory experimentis carried out in specially organized artificial, conditions designed to ensure the purity of the results. To do this, side effects of all simultaneously occurring processes are eliminated. A laboratory experiment makes it possible, with the help of recording instruments, to accurately measure the time of the course of mental processes, for example, the speed of a person's reaction, the speed of the formation of educational and labor skills. It is used in cases where it is necessary to obtain accurate and reliable indicators under strictly defined conditions. More limited uselaboratory experimentin the study of manifestations of personality, character.On the one hand, the object of study here is complex and multifaceted, on the other hand, the well-known artificiality of the laboratory situation presents great difficulties. Investigating the manifestations of a personality in artificially created special conditions, in a private, limited situation, we do not always have reason to conclude that similar manifestations will be characteristic of the same personality in natural life circumstances. The artificiality of the experimental environment is a significant drawback of this method. It can lead to a violation of the natural course of the processes under study. For example, when memorizing important and interesting educational material, under natural conditions the student achieves different results than when he is asked to memorize experimental material under unusual conditions that is not directly of interest to the child. Therefore, the laboratory experiment must be carefully organized and, if possible, combined with other, more naturalmethods. The data of the laboratory experiment are mainly of theoretical value; conclusions drawn on their basis can be extended to real life practice with known limitations (Milgram St., 2000; annotation).
natural experiment. These shortcomings of the laboratory experiment are eliminated to some extent by organizing a natural experiment. This method was first proposed in 1910. A.F. Lazursky at the 1st All-Russian Congress on Experimental Pedagogy. A natural experiment is carried out under normal conditions within the framework of the activities familiar to the subjects, for example, training sessions or games. Often the situation created by the experimenter may remain outside the consciousness of the subjects; in this case, a positive factor for the study is the complete naturalness of their behavior. In other cases (for example, when teaching methods, school equipment, daily routine, etc.) are changed, the experimental situation is created openly, in such a way that the subjects themselves become participants in its creation. Such a study requires particularly careful planning and preparation. It makes sense to use it when the data needs to be obtained in an extremely short time and without interfering with the main activities of the subjects. Significant drawbacknatural experiment- the inevitable presence of uncontrolled interference, i.e. factors whose influence has not been established and cannot be quantified.
A.F. himself azure expressed the essence of a natural experiment as follows: “In the natural-experimental study of personality, we do not use artificial methods, we do not perform experiments in artificial laboratory conditions, we do not isolate the child from the usual environment of his life, but we experiment with the natural forms of the external environment. We study personality by life itself and therefore, all the influences of both the personality on the environment and the environment on the personality become available for examination. Here the experiment enters into life. We are not investigating individual mental processes, as is usually done (for example, memory is studied by memorizing meaningless syllables, attention - by crossing out signs on tables), but we study both mental functions and the personality as a whole. At the same time, we use not artificial material, but school subjects "(Lazursky A.F., 1997; annotation).
By the number of variables studieddistinguish between one-dimensional and multidimensional experiments.
One Dimensional Experimentinvolves the selection of one dependent and one independent variable in the study. It is most often implemented inlaboratory experiment.
Multivariate experiment. The natural experiment affirms the idea of ​​studying phenomena not in isolation, but in their interconnection and interdependence. Therefore, a multidimensional experiment is most often implemented here. It requires the simultaneous measurement of many accompanying features, the independence of which is not known in advance. Analysis of the links between the set of studied features, revealing the structure of these links, its dynamics under the influence of training and education is the main goal of a multidimensional experiment.
results pilot study often represent an unrevealed pattern, a stable dependence, but a series of more or less fully recorded empirical facts. Such, for example, are the descriptions of children's play activity obtained as a result of the experiment, experimental data on the influence on any activity of such a factor as the presence of other people and the associated motive for competition. These data, often of a descriptive nature, do not yet reveal the psychological mechanism of the phenomena and represent only more definite material, narrowing the further scope of the search. Therefore, the results of an experiment in pedagogy and psychology should often be considered as intermediate material and the initial basis for further research. research work (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/l-teor-exp.html; see Laboratory of Theoretical and Experimental Problems of Developmental Psychology, PI RAO).

2.4. Formative experiment as one of the main methods of psychological and pedagogical research

2.4.1. The essence of the formative experiment

Formative experiment- a method used in developmental and educational psychology for tracking changes in the child's psyche in the process of the researcher's active influence on the subject.
The formative experiment is widely used in domestic psychology when studying specific ways of shaping a child's personality, providing a combination of psychological research with pedagogical search and designing the most effective forms of the educational process ( see Cross. 2.2 ) ( http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/l-ps-not.html; see the laboratory of the psychological foundations of new educational technologies).

• Synonyms for formative experiment:
  • transformative,
  • creative,
  • educating,
  • educational,
  • method of active formation of the psyche.

Distinguish according to purpose stating and shaping experiments.
Target ascertaining experiment- measurement of the current level of development (for example, the level of development abstract thinking, moral and volitional qualities of a person, etc.). Thus, the primary material for the organization is obtained.formative experiment.
Formative (transformative, educational) experiment sets as its goal not a simple statement of the level of formation of a particular activity, the development of certain aspects of the psyche, but their active formation or upbringing. In this case, a special experimental situation is created, which allows not only to identify the conditions necessary for organizing the required behavior, but also to experimentally carry out the purposeful development of new types of activity, complex mental functions and to reveal their structure more deeply. The basis of the formative experiment is the experimental genetic method for studying mental development(see fig. 9) .
The theoretical basis of the formative experiment is the concept of the leading role of training and education in mental development.

2.4.2. Experiential learning as a kind of formative experiment

• Experiential Learning- one of the modern methods of studying psychological and didactic problems. There are two types of experiential learning:
  • individual teaching experiment, already firmly established in science;
  • collective experimental training, which began to be widely used in psychology and pedagogy only in the 60s. 20th century

An individual experiment allows not only to ascertain the already established features of mental processes in a person, but also purposefully form them, reaching certain level and quality. Thanks to this, it is possible to experimentally study the genesis of perception, attention, memory, thinking and other mental processes through the educational process. The theory of mental abilities as in vivo developing functional systems of the brain ( A.N. Leontiev ), the theory of gradual formation of mental actions ( P.Ya. Galperin ) and a number of other theories created in domestic psychology were based on data obtained mainly with the help of teaching experiments.
Collective experiential learning is carried out on the scale of whole groups kindergarten, school classes, student groups etc. The organization of such research is primarily related to the needs of pedagogy and psychology in in-depth study the influence of training on the mental development of a person, in particular in the study of age-related developmental opportunities for the development of the human psyche under different conditions of his activity (studies by L.V. Zankov, G.S. Kostyuk, A.A. Lyublinskaya, B.I. Khachapuridze, D.B. Elkonina and others). Previously, these problems were developed on the basis of mass material in relation to the system of conditions that spontaneously develop and dominate in given specific historical circumstances. The information obtained in this way about the peculiarities of a person's mental development was often absolutized, and the sources of the development of this process were sometimes seen only in the more or less constant psychological nature of the individual himself. Main task experimental learning consists in a significant change and variation in the content and forms of a person’s educational activity in order to determine the impact of these changes on the pace and characteristics of mental (in particular, mental) development, on the pace and characteristics of the formation of his perception, attention, memory, thinking, will, etc. .P. Thanks to this, it is possible to investigate the internal links that exist between learning and development, to describe the different types of these links, and also to find the conditions of educational activity that are most conducive to mental development at a particular age. In the process of experimental teaching, it is possible to form, for example, such a level of a child's intellectual activity that cannot be observed in him under the usual system of teaching.
Conducting experimental training in teams (groups, classes or their complexes) ensures the regularity, systematicity and continuity of the necessary training influences, and also provides a variety of mass material for further statistical processing. Experiential learning proper must satisfy certain specific requirements arising from the need to respect the basic vital interests of the subjects. These studies should not harm the spiritual and moral health of the people participating in them. In experimental groups, classes and schools, the most favorable conditions for learning activities are created and maintained.

• The experiential learning methodology has the following main features:
  • its content and methods are carefully planned in advance;
  • details of the process and learning outcomes are recorded in detail and in a timely manner;
  • with the help of special systems of tasks, both the level of assimilation of educational material and the level of mental development of the subjects at different stages of experimental training are regularly determined;
  • these data are compared with those obtained during the survey of control groups and classes (engaged in conditions that are accepted as normal).

In combination with individual learning experiment, collective experiential learning is increasingly used in psychology and didactics as a special method for studying the complex processes of human mental development.

• Advantages of the formative experiment:
  • orientation to the development of the student in the educational process;
  • theoretical validity of the experimental model of the organization of this process;
  • the duration of the study, which guarantees the validity and reliability of the data obtained, etc.

• Among the main results of the application of the formative experiment in educational psychology are the following:

The patterns of development of cognitive abilities in preschoolers were established (studies by P.Ya. Galperin, L.F. Obukhova, G.I. Minska, N.N. Poddyakov, L.A. Venger, A.V. Zaporozhets, etc.) (http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1995/951/951053.htm- see article Pavlenko V.N. "Cultural-historical development of mental processes and the theory of the gradual formation of mental actions").

The features and conditions of the transition from the preschool period to school education have been established (research by E.E. Shuleshko and others).

The possibility and expediency of forming junior schoolchildren the foundations of scientific and theoretical thinking and the determining value in this content and teaching methods (research by V.V. Davydov, D.B. Elkonin, etc.)(Davydov V.V., 1996; abstract) and etc. ( http://www.edu-all.ru/VC_Scripts/selInfo.asp?Ident=2176&Type=2; see the website of School No. 91 in Moscow (Experimental School-Gymnasium of the Russian Academy of Education).

Summary

• In educational psychology, all the methods that are in general, age and many other branches of psychology are used: observation, oral and written survey, method of analyzing activity products, content analysis, experiment, etc., but only here they are used taking into account the age of children. and those psychological and pedagogical problems in the context of which there is a need to address them.
• Methodology - a system of principles and methods of organization, construction of theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system. The concept of "methodology" has two main meanings: a) a system of certain methods and techniques used in a particular field of activity (science, politics, art, etc.); b) the doctrine of this system, the general theory of method, theory in action.
  • In general scientific terms, the method (from the Greek methodos - the path of research, theory, teaching) - "a way to achieve a goal, solve a specific problem; a set of techniques or operations for the practical and theoretical development (cognition) of reality" (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary ..., 1998, p. 724).
  • The methodology meets the specific goals and objectives of psychological and pedagogical research, contains a description of the object and procedures of study, ways of fixing and processing the data obtained. Based on a particular method, many methods can be created.
  • In modern methodology and the logic of science, the following general scheme of the levels of methodology stands out: the level of philosophical methodology; level of methodology of general scientific principles of research; the level of specific scientific methodology; the level of research methods and techniques.
• One of the most recognized and well-known classifications of methods of psychological and pedagogical research is the classification proposed by B.G. Ananiev. He divided all methods into four groups: organizational; empirical; according to the method of data processing; interpretive.
  • Observation is the main, most common in educational psychology (and in pedagogical practice in general) empirical method of studying a person. Observation is understood as a purposeful, organized and in a certain way fixed perception of the object under study. The results of fixing the observation data are called the description of the object's behavior.
  • A conversation is an empirical method of obtaining information (information) about a student in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions, which is widespread in educational psychology. This is a method of studying student behavior specific to educational psychology. A dialogue between two people, during which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other, is called the method of conversation.
  • Test (English test - test, test, check) - in psychology - "a test fixed in time, designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences" (Burlachuk L.F., 2000. P. 325). The test is the main instrument of psychodiagnostic examination, with the help of which a psychological diagnosis is carried out.
• Experiment is one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, who systematically manipulates one or more variables (factors) and registers concomitant changes in the behavior of the object under study.
  • A formative experiment is a method used in developmental and educational psychology to track changes in the child's psyche in the process of the researcher's active influence on the subject. Synonyms for a formative experiment: transformative; creative; educator; teaching; method of active formation of the psyche.
  • Experimental learning is one of the modern methods for studying psychological and didactic problems. There are two types of experimental learning: individual learning experiment, which is already firmly established in science; collective experimental training, which began to be widely used in psychology and pedagogy only in the 60s. 20th century

Glossary of terms

1. Questionnaire
2. Conversation
3. Validity
4. Hypothesis
5. natural experiment
6. Task
7. Induction
8. Interview
9. Causal hypothesis
10. Correlation
11. Laboratory experiment
12. Method
13. Methodology
14. Methodology
15. Observation
16. Reliability
17. Independent variable
18. Variable
19. Principle
20. Problem
21. Test
22. Formative experiment
23. Experiment
    

Questions for self-examination

1. What is the essence of the methodological foundations of psychological research and their implementation in educational psychology?
2. What is the relationship between methodology, methods and methods of research in educational psychology?
3. Name the main stages of psychological and pedagogical research.
4. Give a classification of methods of psychological and pedagogical research on various grounds.
5. Describe the main special methods of educational psychology.
6. What are the features of the application of the method of observation in psychological and pedagogical research?
7. Highlight the advantages and disadvantages of using the conversation method in psychological and pedagogical research.
8. What is the specificity of using the method of studying "products of activity" in educational psychology?
9. Give general characteristics method of experiment and formulate the basic requirements for its application in educational psychology.
10. Name the main types of experiment in educational psychology and give their comparative characteristics.
11. What is the essence of the formative experiment in educational psychology?
    

Bibliography

1. Ananiev B.G. Man as an object of knowledge. SPb., 2001.
2. Anastasi A. Psychological testing. M., 1982. Books 1, 2.
3. Asmolov A.G. Cultural-historical psychology and construction of worlds. M.; Voronezh, 1996.
4. Bodalev A.A., Stolin V.V. General psychodiagnostics. SPb., 2000.
5. Big encyclopedic dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 1998.
6. Burlachuk L.F., Morozov S.M. Dictionary-reference book on psychodiagnostics. SPb., 2000.
7. Druzhinin V.N. Experimental psychology. SPb., 1997.
8. Erofeev A.K. Computers in psychodiagnostics in higher education. M., 1987.
9. Zimnyaya I.A. Educational psychology: Proc. allowance. Rostov n/a, 1997.
10. Kornilova T.V. Experimental psychology: theory and methods. M., 2002.
11. Lazursky A.F. Selected works on psychology. M., 1997.
12. Lomov B.F. Methodological and theoretical problems psychology. M., 1999.
13. Milgram S. An experiment in social psychology. SPb., 2000.
14. Workshop on developmental and educational psychology: Proc. allowance for students ped. in-tov / Ed. A.I. Shcherbakov. M., 1987.
15. Workshop on Pedagogy and Psychology high school/ Ed. A.K. Erofeev. M., 1991.
16. Sidorenko E.V. Methods of mathematical processing in psychology. SPb., 2000.
17. Slobodchikov V.I., Isaev E.I. Fundamentals of psychological anthropology. Human psychology: Introduction to the psychology of subjectivity: Proc. allowance for universities. M., 1995.
18. Solso R., Johnson H., Beale K. Experimental Psychology: A Practical Course. SPb., 2001.
19. Shevandrin N.I. Psychodiagnostics, correction and personality development. M., 1998.
20. Yadov V.A. Sociological research: methodology, program, methods. Samara, 1995.
21. Yaroshevsky M.G. History of psychology. M., 1985.
    

Topics of term papers and essays

1. The relationship of methodology, methods and techniques of psychological and pedagogical research.
2. Features of the application of general scientific methods in psychological and pedagogical research.
3. Comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
4. Formative experiment as one of the main methods of educational psychology.
5. Application of the method of conversation in the study of the personality of the student.
6. The problem of the validity of psychological and pedagogical research.
7. Factors violating the internal and external validity of psychological and pedagogical research.
8. Features of the application of the method of analysis of "products of activity" in educational psychology.
9. The main stages of psychological and pedagogical research.
10. Multifactorial multilevel experimental psychological and pedagogical research.
    

Internet resources (links)

1. Website of the Center for Psychological and Career Guidance Testing "Humanitarian Technologies"

The study of age and individual features child is carried out by various methods and techniques.

Under research methods, or private methodological techniques, one should understand various concretizations of the basic methodological principles: systematic observation, conversations, experiments, questioning, testing, etc.

Depending on what specific goal the researcher sets for himself, he can make some changes to the research method. In this case, the term is used methods(concretization of the method in the methodology).

The study of the development of the child's psyche is carried out either in the form of a "longitudinal study" or in the form of "transverse sections". With a "longitudinal study" the development of individual mental processes or the formation of a child's personality is studied over a significant period of time (sometimes over a number of years). In a study carried out by means of "cross-sections", the same mental process is studied in groups of children who are at different age stages of their development or who live and are brought up in different conditions. In addition, this form of study is used when the researcher seeks to learn about the mental characteristics of a given moment in the formation of the psyche.

Currently, there is no generally accepted and strict classification of the methods of educational psychology. Depending on the nature of the tasks (describe, measure, explain and form the studied mental process, phenomenon or psychological mechanism research methods can be divided into four groups: not experimental(clinical), diagnostic, experimental And for peace methods).

1. Non-experimental methods: observation, questioning, conversation, study of products of activity, monographic and twin methods.

A feature of non-experimental methods is the simple cheating studied phenomena, which does not allow the researcher to penetrate the phenomenon under study, does not reveal the patterns of its change and development, does not explain it.

We will focus on the description of two methods that are not included in general psychology textbooks.

a) The monographic method or clinical study is used, as a rule, for a deep, thorough and long-term study of the age and individual characteristics of individual subjects. This method allows you to record different forms of behavior, activities and relationships of the subject with others in all major areas of life. The study of specific cases can reveal the general patterns of the structure and development of certain mental formations.

This research method is to some extent a synthetic method, because along with observation, conversation, experimental and other methods can be used.

b) A special way of obtaining psychological and pedagogical data is the "twin method". The essence of the method is a comparison of the mental development of one-ovular (monozygous) twins brought up in the same or different living conditions. The purpose of this method is to elucidate the influence of the environmental factor and educational influences on the formation of the child's personality, assuming that they have by nature the same heredity, one gene equipment.

2. Diagnostic methods - these are various tests that allow the researcher to give quantitative characteristic the phenomenon under study and make a qualitative analysis. For example, to identify different levels of development of psychological properties and characteristics of the subjects.

Test - (from the English "test" - test, test) - a standardized task, the result of which allows measure psychological characteristics of the subject.

The use of tests and the interpretation of their results depend on the theoretical orientation of the researcher. Thus, in foreign psychological research, tests are understood as a means of identifying and measuring congenital intellectual and other characterological features of the subjects, on the basis of which far-reaching conclusions and forecasts are made about the child's capabilities, about the prospects for his further development.

In domestic psychology, tests are considered as a means of determining present level of development personality. “Diagnostic methods,” points out Ya.A. Wenger, are methods that allow, with the help of relatively short tests, to determine the comparative level of mental development, i.e. its correspondence to a certain average level established for children of a given age group, or deviations from this average level in one direction or another ”(. P. 67). Thus, the results of any tests reveal the actual (what the child has achieved to date) and comparative levels of the child's mental development, due to the influence of many factors that cannot be identified and studied in test tests. That is why the test results cannot be a sufficient basis for any pedagogical measures. They should serve as a basis for further comprehensive study of the individual characteristics of the child, the conditions of his life in the family and children's institutions. Only on this basis can ways and means of influencing the child be determined.

The use of diagnostic methods requires the researcher to have special psychological preparation, possession of methods of scientific analysis of the data obtained.

The correct application of these methods allows us to solve many important and urgent problems of pedagogy and psychology quite accurately, in a relatively short period of time: determining the effectiveness of various curricula, determining the influence of social, psychological and other conditions on the mental and moral development of children, determining the degree of readiness of children for school, professional suitability, etc.

3. Experimental methods. The above methods are just describe and measure, giving the researcher the opportunity to penetrate the phenomenon under study, but they do not reveal and do not explain the patterns of its change and development. The task of explaining the studied mental phenomena is called upon to solve experimental methods.

The peculiarity of experimental methods consists, firstly, in the creation of special conditions of activity that clearly reveal the mental phenomenon under study, and secondly, in changing these conditions in the course of the study.

In educational psychology, there are three types experimental method: natural, modeling and laboratory experiments.

You can read about laboratory and natural experiment in any textbook "General Psychology".

characteristic feature modeling experiment is that the behavior of the subject in the experimental situation reproduces actions or activities typical of life situations: memorizing various information, choosing and setting goals, performing various intellectual and practical actions.

The use of this type of experiment in studying the emotional sphere of children turned out to be especially productive. By creating special situations, the researcher can trace, firstly, the subjects' difficulties and the corresponding emotional and affective experiences; secondly, behind the conflicts between the various impulses and feelings of the individual; thirdly, the nature of the child's emotional relationship to people, to activities and other manifestations of life; fourthly, for mimic, pantomimic expressions of emotional experiences and feelings.

A modeling experiment is often used in the study of the motivational-need sphere of a personality. The German psychologist K. Levin and his students carried out a wide variety of experiments simulating the need states of a person. In domestic psychology, research into the motivation of children was carried out under the guidance of L.I. Bozovic.

The advantage of a modeling experiment can be considered the proximity of the studied mental phenomena to life situations, although the subjects, acting according to the instructions, know that they are participating in the experiment as subjects.

When studying the children's team, the relationship between members of the team, the degree of satisfaction of the individual with his position in the team, etc. used the sociometric research methodology, which was first proposed by the American psychologist J. Moreno. The methodology is based on various forms selection of the members of the group. For example: "Name three classmates with whom you would like to sit at the same desk, prepare for exams, whom you would like to congratulate on the upcoming holiday, etc." These questions are called criteria choice. This technique can be used both in a group experiment and in an individual one. It has a number of advantages: you can not ask questions aimed directly at clarifying the characteristics of relationships with classmates, but offer to practically choose a partner for joint activities from among classmates.

Depending on the nature of the question, the content of the direct actions of the subjects, the following indicators of the child's position in the system of personal relationships can be identified in the analysis of the material: the number of elections received (popularity or unpopularity in the group); reciprocity of the choices made and received; subjective assessment of one's position in the team or the number of expected choices.

Quantitative analysis of the obtained data makes it possible to determine the student's position in the system of personal relationships, i.e. sociometric status(number of elections received); index group cohesion team, i.e. reciprocity factor(the ratio of the total number of mutual choices to the total number of choices), the coefficient of satisfaction in communication (the ratio of the number of mutual choices of an individual child to total number elections), the coefficient of awareness of one's position in the team (the ratio of the number of correctly guessed selections to the total number of named comrades).

It must be emphasized that one should not be limited only to quantitative analysis, but Special attention it is necessary to pay attention to the qualitative interpretation of the obtained data. Also, one should not forget that this is not a universal technique, but a technique aimed at solving particular issues.

4. Formative methods.

The main and main feature of formative methods, according to the definition of V.V. Davydov, is not a simple statement of the features of certain empirical forms of the psyche, but their active modeling, reproduction in special conditions, which makes it possible to reveal their essence. Through these methods, the researcher can discover the mechanisms of mental development of the child's personality through the active formation of certain aspects and qualities. For example, by organizing experimental learning, one can follow the course of the formation of logical thinking, etc.

Formative methods include: transformative experiment, psychological and pedagogical experiment, experimental genetic method, method of step-by-step formation of mental actions, etc.

Using these methods, it is possible to achieve a restructuring of certain aspects of the educational process and see the impact of this restructuring on the age, intellectual and other characteristics of students, as well as to identify internal patterns in the formation of certain mental processes and properties in a child.

Phased or systematic, according to P.Ya. Galperin, the formation of mental actions and concepts acts as a method of the formation of new mental processes and phenomena that is developed and open for observation. The systematic formation of mental actions and concepts as a method of psychological research has developed recently and is associated with the names of Soviet psychologists P.Ya. Galperin and N.F. Talyzina. They experimentally established the main stages through which the formation of any new mental action must pass: the stage of preliminary orientation in the task, the stage of formation of the action on material objects or their material substitute models; the stage of the formation of the same action in terms of extended speech, but to oneself; the stage of formation of the actual mental action.

The method of formative experiment in educational activities is used in the form of designing and redesigning experimental school programs and many years of teaching entire classes to these programs. At the same time, experimental learning is built not as an adaptation to the existing, already established level of development of children, but as an active formation of new levels of abilities that are necessary for the full assimilation of complicated programs, i.e. acts as a method of experimental, developing training.

Thus, studying the process of transition to new forms of mental phenomena, the formative methods are most consistent with the object of study of educational psychology - the developing psyche of the child.

The application of the methods of studying children described above should be comprehensive, which will allow the obtained data to be compared, corrected, supplemented with other materials and which will ensure not only a deep and comprehensive study of students, but will also help to find, ultimately, effective ways of teaching and educating them.

In contrast to the usual empirical descriptions of psychological phenomena and facts Scientific research must be different:

1. Evidence of the relevance of the research problem. The unity of theory and research problems. The unity of the problem and its development, which in practice should be the reason for the start of experimental work.

2. The focus of the study on the disclosure of significant relationships and patterns of psychological phenomena or facts of the problem.

3. A scientific hypothesis put forward in advance - a hypothetical answer to the question posed - the problem.

4. Consistency and objectivity in the collection of facts, easy verifiability of their practice.

5. Clear evidence of what is new to penetrate deep into the essence of phenomena or facts, to move from superficial knowledge to a deeper analysis of reality.

Psychological phenomena and facts are certain forms of manifestation of the psyche (mental, cognitive processes, acts of behavior, bodily reactions, etc.). Under what conditions, for what purpose and what tasks they are exposed to and scientific analysis - this is already the object and subject of study.

In the process of work, a hypothesis is formed, which must be specific and correlate with the development of the facts of the subject of research. The main requirement for a hypothesis is its testability on experimental material. Confirmation of the hypothesis means the achievement of the goal of the study.

Any psychological and pedagogical research consists of four main stages:

1. Preparatory, or stage of ascertaining experiment. The collected preliminary information about the psychological and pedagogical facts of the educational process makes it possible to put forward a hypothesis - an assumption about any patterns of the subject of study, which are checked at the next stage.

2. The study itself, or the stage of a formative experiment. On this stage specific methods and techniques for studying the patterns of teaching and upbringing are determined, special conditions (situations) are created for active tracking (monitoring) of changes in the assimilation of new knowledge or in the development and formation of a personality. The results of the formative (training) experiment are recognized to provide access to the study and design of the most effective forms of the educational process.

3. Analysis of the obtained experimental data. At this stage, the quantitative and qualitative processing of the material is carried out, first, the analysis of each separately recorded fact and the establishment of links and interactions between them are carried out, then by comparative analysis those facts that are consistently repeated are singled out, they are combined with a hypothesis and essential regularities are found.

4. Interpretation (interpretation) of the data obtained on the basis of the experiment. Identification of the correctness or fallacy of the research hypothesis.

Questions and tasks:

1. How to explain the separation of educational psychology into a special branch of psychology?

2. What are the tasks of developmental and educational psychology?

3. What are the tasks of educational psychology and pedagogy?

4. What is the principle of the activity approach to the problems of pedagogical psychology?

5. What groups of methods are called research?

6. What methods are the main and which are auxiliary methods of educational psychology?

7. What is different scientific experiment from empirical descriptions of research materials?

8. Compare the method of natural experiment and observation, their application in pedagogical practice.

9. Come up with questionnaire questions to identify extracurricular interests of students.

Themes for independent work:

1. Compile a conceptual and terminological dictionary to define the subject and methods of educational psychology.

2. Describe the main stages of the formative experiment.

3. Substantiate the program of experimental work of the school from the point of view of the psychology of learning.