Typological features and the success of the execution of various mental activities in language acquisition

Learning activity produces students not less diverse requirements. It is therefore difficult to expect the uniqueness of link between typological features and these activities. This is confirmed by the research data, the analysis of which should be approached to taking into account the two criteria of the successful learning activities: speed and accuracy of task accomplishment. It can be assumed that the successful accomplishment of the learning tasks on these criteria will be used in different ways to communicate with the typological features of the nervous system properties.

For example, M.R. Shchukin (1963) showed that slow assimilation of information is inherent to individuals with inertness of nervous processes, while learning they often need the instruction to be repeated. However, while losing at speed, the inerts, as shown in several studies, can work more precisely, perform the task more carefully.

According to V.A. Suzdaleva (1975), the speed of associative and cognitive processes is linked with the lability and mobility of the nervous system (it was required to read only those words that make sense, call objects; choose words of opposite meaning, names of young animals). This is also confirmed by S. A. Izyumova (1988), who found that the semantic processing of information is carried out better by people with high lability, weak nervous system and predominance of the second signal system according to I. P. Pavlov. Individuals with a weak nervous system play more meaningful text units and their connections, i.e. more fully delve into the meaning of the text.

According to M. K. Akimova (1975), the "weak" are better at solving logical problems.

However, the opposite typological features provide an advantage in performing a series of mental activities. Imprinting of information occurs efficiently in individuals with a strong nervous system, the inertia of nervous processes and predominance of the first signal system over the second (S. A. Izyumova, 1988). Quickness of solutions non-verbal intellectual tasks is higher in people with a strong nervous system (M. V. Bodunov, 1975). They also have, as shown by A. I. Krupnoye et al. (1975), higher spatial prediction (the ability to anticipate a given location of the points when searching different shapes on paper). Individuals with a strong nervous system during this search made fewer touches and samples spent on the search for triangle.

E. P. Guseva and I. A. Levochkina (1988) found that among the students gifted in mathematics people with a strong nervous system have higher intelligence indicators. The authors explain this by the composure, phlegm, rationality and discretion of these students.

Obviously, students with a weak nervous system, which is often accompanied with high neurotism in hard training conditions (time limits for problem solving, etc.) lose to people with a strong nervous system. For example, M.A. Akimova (1975) found that when time is limited mental tasks are performed better by those with a strong nervous system. According to the A.A. Bolbochanu (1982), children aged 9-10 years with a weak nervous system can hold the attention for a shorter time than children with a strong nervous system (the first could count without distractions, slightly less than half of specified columns, while the latter – more than 70%).

Effect of limiting the run-time control tasks for students with various typological features of nervous system manifestations was studied by V.G. Zakharin (1975).

It was revealed that students with high lability of the nervous system spend less time to perform tasks, but at the same time, the success of achieving these goals were not significantly different from that of students with inactivity of the nervous system, if the time for problem solving is not limited.

In the more early study, where the time for solution was all the same, labile sought more success than the inert ones. The author justly raises the question of the need for creating equal opportunities of knowledge and skills control for students, and this is only possible when the typological characteristics of students are taken into account.

Great influence on the success of training activities can have conditions that arise in students in the classroom. One of them may be the state of monotony, which is a consequence of the monotonous work and associated with the emergence of boredom, the weakening of attention and activity. So, V.I. Rozhdestvenskaya and L.B. Ermolayeva-Tomina note that the general level of success and intellectual touch monotonous activities (counting of the number of letters given in the table of Anfimova) weaks are ahead of those with a strong nervous system (the latter allow more mistakes). However, as shown by V.I.Rozhdestvenskaya and I.A. Levochkina (1972), in the absence of monotony differences between persons with different strength of the nervous system do not appear.

These data are to some extent due to the fact that when solving simple problems people with a weak nervous system have better results than those with a strong nervous system.

The dependence of the success of mental activity on the situation related to the level of neuro-emotional stress of the students is studied by A.V. Kumchenko (1975). It was found that the situations not causing a strong stress, increase productivity of attention in individuals with a weak nervous system, resulting in a typological differences between the success of "strong" and "weak" leveled. At high stress in patients with severe nervous system increases the productivity of attention, while those with a weak nervous system - reduces. Threat situation increases the errors in both, but to a greater extent - in patients with a weak nervous system.

When discovering students' interest in the task, the differences in productivity of attention among people with different strength of the nervous system disappeared.

M.V. Lasko (1975) notes that the typological differences in strength of the nervous system in the manifestation of intellectual functions are manifested mainly in the strong motivation. Then the perceptual (testing attention) and mnemonic (encoding) functions are more pronounced in individuals with a weak nervous system, and structural problems (with Kos’ cubes) are better solved by people with a strong nervous system.

Thus, it becomes obvious that the success of learning activities can be determined by typological features in two ways: through its effect on mental abilities (speaking in them as a deposit) and through the influence on the occurrence of certain mental states with existing methods of teaching, under certain impacts of teachers on students.

M. K. Akimova and V. T. Kozlova (1988) have identified situations in which there are difficulties in students with a weak and inert nervous system (students with a strong and labile nervous system in these situations have an advantage).

This situations are presented in the Illustration - 3.2

It should be noted that the current system of lessons and interviews with students is mainly focused on students with a strong and labile nervous system.

This can be explained on the one hand, an abundance of educational material, so that a teacher is forced all the time "to hurry the syllabus”, and on the other - so that the teacher, by virtue of his professional qualification, becomes like a" strong and "labile " even if he is not in reality. Hence, he may subconsciously be set a high pace of work. Therefore, all school education - is a kind of competition in the run-time of learning activities.

For students with a weak nervous system: 1. long hard work students quickly get tired, start to make mistakes, slowly mastered the material; 2. responsible, requiring mental stress, unassisted, control, or exam work, especially with limited time; 3. situation when a teacher is at a high rate of asking questions, and requires to respond immediately; 4. work in an environment where the teacher asks an unexpected question, and requires an oral answer, for these students written response is more favorable, rather than oral; 5. work after an unsuccessful response, evaluated negatively; 6. work in a situation requiring a diversion (to teacher cues, the question of another student); 7. work in a situation requiring the distribution of attention or switching from one mode of operation to another 8. work in a noisy turbulent environment; 9. work after a sharp remark of a teacher, after a quarrel with a friend, etc.; 10. work at hot-tempered, unrestrained teacher; 11. situation where you want to learn a great lesson in scope and diverse in content material.

For students with inactivity of the nervous system: 1. when the teacher gives the class assignments, diverse in content and methods of solutions;   2. when the teacher gives the material at a high speed and the sequence of questions is not clear, addressed to the class;   3. when time is limited and failure of making it in time is threatening with poor grades;   4. when frequent distraction (on a replica teachers, etc.)is required;   5. when the teacher asks an unexpected question and requires a rapid response;   6. when you need to quickly switch focus from one type of operation to another;   7. When the successful mastering of the material in the early stages of its learning is evaluated;   8. when you want to perform tasks on intelligence at a high pace of work.

Difficult situations

 

 

Illustration 3.2 - difficult situation for students with a weak and inert nervous system

 

Research of typological characteristics and academic achievement should include the presence of three patterns, which are presented in illustration – 3.3

 

 

Illustration 3.3 - Laws typological characteristics and academic achievement

 

There is no unambiguous results in comparison the intelligence with typological manifestations of nervous system features. In the laboratory of B. G. Ananiev there was found a weak link between intelligence (the Wechsler test), and activation: the intellect is higher in people with weak nervous system (B. Oderyshev; I. M. Paley, M. D. Dvoryashina; V. D. Balin, 1971). M. D. Dvoryashina and N. S. Kopeina (1975) also showed that general intelligence is higher in individuals with high lability. At the same time in the laboratory of V. S. Merlin it was either not found significant correlation between the typological features in strength to the level of intellectual development by Wexler, or they were unreliable (L. A. Vyatkina, 1970). However, E. V. Stimmer (1975) notes that among individuals with a weak nervous system, higher verbal intelligence (according to "Dictionary" text) occurred more frequently than in those with a strong nervous system.

In this same laboratory showed no correlation between overall school progress and achievement in literature with the power of the nervous system (A.K. Baimetov, M.S. Zhamkochyan, 1978; L.P. Kalininsky, 1971, A.I. Klimenko, 1967; N. S. Utkina, 1968). V.S. Merlin explains the lack of connection between the properties of the nervous system and academic performance by the fact that students with different typological features adapt to the activity through the formation of action style (this is discussed in Section 10.3).

But it's not just that. The main reason for the lack of the required connection may consist of the negative motivation of students to studying. Let me remind you that according to the M.V. Lasko (1975) typological differences emerge only when there is a strong motivation. V.S. Merlin also stressed that the style of actions in the students is formed only with a positive attitude toward learning. That's a negative attitude towards learning in general or to specific subjects that many students have, as well as non-extreme demands of teaching programs to the capabilities of students, alignment with the worst in the process of mastering the learning material, and sometimes frank stretching of satisfactory marks lead to the fact that progress is not adequate measure of intelligence.

Another factor hampering the elucidation of truth, is the psychological resistance of students to the emerging doctrine in extreme situations (the survey, exams, etc.), as described above. Individuals with a weak nervous system are less resistant to mental stress and therefore may show poorer results in the survey, writing tests, taking exams. On the other hand, they are more disturbing, while the latter feature leads to greater responsibility for it. That's why the weak’s progress may be higher (which is confirmed to some extent by better progress of girls who have higher anxiety than boys). By the way, the disadvantage of the majority of works on communication of progress with typological features is the lack of separate boys 'and girls' analysis of the data.

A number of studies (M.D. Dvoryashina, N.S. Kopeina, 1975; V.G. Zarhin, 1977; S.I. Moldavskaya, 1975), an association of student achievement with the typological features of the properties of the nervous system: better grades, students have school students and students with a high lability of the nervous system. N.E. Malkov (1973) found that in students with poor progress most common is weak nervous system, combined with the narrowness of their focus, with less short-term memory and greater fatigue. Ya. Strelyau (1982) cites the data of the Polish psychologist T. Levovitsky who examined 1500 students and showed that their progress is determined largely by a strong and moving nervous system.

Unfortunately, in many cases, typological characteristics of the nervous system were determined by questionnaires, which, according to some psychologists, can serve as a reliable tool for the diagnosis of flow characteristics of the nervous processes. Therefore, of special interest are the data of those studies in which the typological features of the nervous system are determined by physiological methods (EEG - methods, motive express - methods).

In the laboratory of E.A. Golubeva (1993) it was found that progress on both the humanitarian and the natural cycles is associated with the properties of strength, lability, and activation (accepted for the balance of nervous processes).

The best scores had people with a weak nervous system, a high lability and high activation (predominance of excitation).

According to A.M. Pinchukova (1976), high progress had pupils dominated by the excitation of "internal" balance, and with a predominance of inhibition on this balance.

This can be explained by the fact that the first characteristic is associated with high activity, and the second - with perseverance.

Finally, according to N.A. Kurdyukova (1997), higher average progress was in people with weak nervous system and with a predominance of excitation over the "external" balance.

Thus, according to all data progress has a unique relation with the high lability of the nervous system. The remaining properties didn’t give a clear picture. Obviously, this is not accidental, since too many factors can influence the students receive marks. Even if the typological characteristics and influence on the level of intellectual development, it is hoped the dependence of the performance of it is not necessary. History of education of brilliant people gives enough examples of this. On the other hand, it is in professional teaching found the most stable connections between the success of teaching and typological features of nervous system (V.A. Troshikhin et al, 1978), which may be associated with a positive motivation for obtaining a profession. On a positive learning motivation is related, as shown in the laboratory of V.S. Merlin, the formation of students' style of learning activities.

Significant place in the domestic and foreign psychology is given on studying the cognitive, or gnostic, styles of activity, which began an intensive study by Western psychologists in 1960 (G. Witkin et al [H. Witkin et al., 1974]), and later - domestic (V.A. Kolga, 1976; Sokolova E.T., 1976, etc.).

Cognitive style - this is a relatively stable procedural features of cognitive activity, that characterize the uniqueness of methods of obtaining and processing information, cognitive strategies used by subjects, as well as the means of reproduction of information and control methods. Thus, cognitive styles characterize typical features of intellectual activity. They are understood as a form of intellectual activity of a higher order than the traditionally described features of cognitive processes.

In foreign and domestic literature can be found about a half dozen different cognitive styles, main cognitive styles are presented in Illustration - 3.4

 

Illustration 3.4 - Main cognitive styles of intelligence activity

 

It was found that some subjects to evaluate the vertical rod using visual impressions (focus on the position of the frame), and others - proprioceptive senses (the orientation of the position of body). The tendency to rely on external visual field is called field dependence, and the tendency to control the visual impressions due to proprioception – field independence.

Further investigation showed that the method of spatial orientation associated with the ability to isolate the parts or the shape of a holistic spatial context (complex shapes). Therefore field independence has been regarded as the ability to overcome the apparent field and structure it in him to provide the individual elements. Field dependence means the opposite of the quality of cognitive activity, when all the elements of the visible fields are tightly coupled, and the details - it's hard to be separable from the space background. Hence there and diagnostics field dependence - field independence such test pieces included in various versions. Fast and correct detection of the figure characterizes field independence and slow and erroneous - field dependence.

In the future the ability to successfully allocate a separate part of the complex image was associated with a number of intelligent, and above all - non-verbal, ability. On this basis it was concluded on the existence of a more general features of cognitive style, dubbed "the ability to overcome organized context. Depending on the severity of it, have been providing analytical, proactive, approach to the field and a global, passive, approach. In the first case in humans manifests the desire to reorganize the field, divide it into separate elements.

Thus, the cognitive styles of field dependence - field independence reflect the features of the solution of perceptual tasks. Field dependence is characterized by the fact that people focused on external sources of information and therefore to a greater extent is influenced by the context in solving perceptual tasks (e.g., isolating figures from the background) that it creates great difficulties. Field independence associated with the orientation of a person on internal sources of information, so it is less influenced by the context, to more easily solve the perceptual problem.

Reflexivity - impulsivity. These styles were identified N. Kogan (N. Kogan, 1976) in the study of intellectual activity in a situation of decision making under uncertainty, when you need to make the right choice from a set of alternatives. Impulsive people tend to react quickly to a problem situation, with the hypothesis put forward and accept without careful thinking through. For reflective people, by contrast, is characterized by slow response to this situation, the decision is made based on carefully weighing all the pros and cons. They collect more information about the stimulus before responding, use more productive ways to solve problems more effectively use the acquired learning strategies of the new conditions.

According to some reports (S. Messer), speed of response does not depend on the level of intelligence, as opposed to the number of erroneous decisions.

Rigidity - flexibility of cognitive control. This style is associated with the ease or difficulty of changing fashion business or switching from one alphabet to another information. The difficulty of changing or switching leads to a narrowness and rigidity of cognitive control.

The term "rigidity" was coined by R. Cattell (1935) to describe the phenomena perseveration (from Lat. Perseveratio - persistence), i.e., the obsessive repetition of the same thoughts, images, movements, when switching from one activity to another. They revealed significant individual differences in the manifestation of this phenomenon. Diagnosed these styles by using word-color test, J. Stroop. Conflict situation created by the interference of the situation when a process is suppressed by others. The subject should call the color in which the written words for colors, the color of writing the words and the color denoted by the word, do not match.

Narrow - Wide range of equivalence. These cognitive styles show individual differences in scale, which is used by humans for assessing similarities and differences between objects. Some of the subjects under free classification of objects shared by objects into many groups with small volume (narrow range of equivalence), while others form little groups, but with a large number of objects (a wide range of equivalence). The basis for these differences lies not so much the ability to see differences in how the degree of "sensitivity" to the identified differences and focus on fixing the differences of various types. So, for a narrow range of equivalence is characterized by reliance on the explicit physical characteristics of objects, and for a wide range - their hidden extra features. A number of foreign authors first style is called "analytical" and the second - "synthetic" (V.A. Kolga, 1976).

The relationship between these cognitive styles with personality characteristics. "Analyticity" is accompanied by increased anxiety, it is positively correlated with the factor of self-control by R. Kettle, and negatively with the factor of self-sufficiency. "Analysts" are trying to perform well in social demands and focus on social approval. According to Paley, AI (1982), the "analysts" is dominated by emotions of fear, and the "synthetics" - the emotions of anger.

Tolerance of unrealistic experience. Tolerance (from Lat. Tolerantia - patience) means tolerance, indulgence to something. As a stylistic feature, it suggests the possibility of making impressions, inappropriate or even opposing views available to the person (for example, with fast moving pictures with the horse a feeling of motion). Intolerant people resist apparently, since it is contrary to their knowledge that the pictures depicted a fixed horse (MA Cold, 1998). The main indicator of tolerance is the duration of the period in which the subject sees a moving horse. In fact, we are talking about the ability to receive inappropriate facilities available information and take external action for what it really is.

Cognitive Simplicity - cognitive complexity. The theoretical basis of the data of cognitive styles is the theory of Personal Constructs J. Kelly. The severity of a style determined by the measure of simplicity or complexity of a system of personal constructs in interpreting, forecasting and assessing the validity on the basis of certain well-organized subjective experience. Construct - a bipolar subjective measurement scale, which serves as a generalization (to establish the similarities) and contrast (the establishment of differences).

For the diagnosis of these styles using the method developed by J. Kelly repertory grid. Cognitive complexity of some data related to anxiety, dogmatism and rigidity, lower levels of social adaptability.

Provision is also verbally - logical, i.e., the abstract, the style of information processing due to the leading role of the left hemisphere, and figuratively - an effective, i.e., a particular style of information processing, which is due to the predominance (leading role), the right hemisphere.