English abilities, aptitudes, capabilities) - individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from others, determining the success of an activity or a number of activities, not reducible to knowledge, skills and abilities, but determining the ease and speed of learning new ways and techniques of activity (B. M. Teploe). S. can also be defined as the properties of psychological functional systems that implement individual mental functions that have an individual measure of severity and are manifested in the success and originality of the assimilation and implementation of one or another activity. (V.D.Shadrikov.)
Teplov shared S. and S.'s inclinations - congenital, physiological characteristics of a person, which serve as the basis for S. ... with.
There are 2 variants of C classification: 1) by types of mental functional systems (sensorimotor, perceptual, attentive, mnemonic, imaginative, mental, communicative); 2) by the main types of activity (mathematical, musical, scientific, literary, artistic). In addition, distinguish between general and special S. General S. are characterized, first, by the fact that in the case of normal development, most people of this age category have them; secondly, by the fact that they are "involved" in a wide range of activities. These include general intelligence, creativity (general ability to be creative) and, less commonly, learnability. Special S. are not widespread, their formation requires special training and often a special talent (see Tests of abilities, Tests of special abilities).
S.'s basic concepts are directly related to the methods of their diagnosis. Factor-analytical concepts of general S. are based on statistical processing of the results of mass testing of students and representatives of various professions. Today, in the overwhelming majority of empirical studies, common Cs are identified, the level of development of which determines the success of a wide range of activities. The theory of the intellectual threshold (Perkins, Theremin) has gained popularity, according to which a certain level of intelligence is required for the successful mastering of each activity; further success in work is conditioned not by intellect, but by other individual psychological characteristics.
The results of psychogenetic studies indicate a high level of heritability of general intelligence and some special S. (in particular, mathematical). Meanwhile, creativity is probably more dependent on the influence of the social microenvironment. There are theories based on the environmental approach to the development of S. (the theory of the "intellectual climate" of the family of O. Zayonts). A high level of development of general or special S. is characterized as general or special giftedness (see. General giftedness).
Longitudinal studies (Californian longitude, etc.) have shown that on the basis of early diagnosis of general mental S. of m. a probabilistic forecast of the success of a person's social and professional career is given. In modern psychology S. a trace can be distinguished. subject areas: 1) psychogenetics C, 2) psychophysiology C, 3) general psychology C, 4) differential psychology C. and psychodiagnostics C., 5) C. and activities, development C, 6) social psychology C, 7) "everyday psychology "S. (" implicit theories ", folk psychology). The study of S. and the development of methods for their diagnosis and development are of great importance for the individualization of education and upbringing of children, vocational guidance and professional selection, forecasting and psychological support for personality development. (V.N.Druzhinin.)
ABILITY
defined as such individual psychological characteristics of the subject, which express his readiness to master certain types of activities and their successful implementation, are a condition for their successful implementation. They mean a high level of integration and generalization of mental processes, properties, relationships, actions and their systems that meet the requirements of the activity. They include both individual knowledge, abilities and skills, and readiness to learn new ways and techniques of activity.
Different criteria are used to classify abilities. So, it is possible to distinguish sensory-motor, perceptual, mnemonic, imaginative, mental and communicative abilities. As another criterion, a certain subject area can act, according to which abilities can be classified as scientific (mathematical, linguistic, humanitarian), creative (musical, literary, artistic) and engineering.
Speaking about individual psychological characteristics, they distinguish abilities that have a psychological nature and individually vary. Emphasizing the connection of abilities with the successful implementation of activities, the range of individually-varied features is limited only to those that provide an effective result of activities. So, the properties of temperament and character do not fall into the number of abilities. And the word readiness once again limits the range of discussed properties, leaving skills, abilities and knowledge outside of it.
Ability is found in the process of mastering an activity in the extent to which an individual, other things being equal, quickly and thoroughly, easily and firmly masters the methods of its organization and implementation. They are closely related to the general orientation of the personality, with the measure of the stability of a person's inclinations for a certain activity. Different abilities may underlie the same achievements in the performance of an activity; at the same time, one ability can be a condition for the success of different types of activity. This provides a broad compensation capability.
One of the important points in the process of teaching and upbringing is the question of periods of sensitive, favorable to the formation of certain abilities (-> age-related sensitivity). It is assumed that the formation of abilities occurs on the basis of inclinations. Qualitative analysis of abilities is aimed at identifying the individual characteristics necessary for the effective performance of a specific type of activity. Quantitative measurements of abilities characterize the measure of their expression. The most common form of assessing the measure of the severity of abilities is tests (-> test of achievement; test of intelligence; test of creativity).
The study of the specific psychological characteristics of various abilities makes it possible to single out:
1) the general qualities of an individual that meet the requirements of not one, but many types of activity (-> intelligence);
2) special qualities that meet the narrower requirements of a given activity (-> special ability).
The level and degree of development of abilities express the concepts of talent and genius.
When determining the structure of abilities as personality traits, it is always necessary to take into account genetic mechanisms and especially those properties of nervous processes, which directly affect the dynamics of the development of mental processes and their properties. But it should be borne in mind that abilities do not act in isolation from the development of all other systems that make up the personality as components.
In the structure of abilities, the creative attitude of the individual to the activity being performed, the psychological readiness to study and work, the awareness of their abilities, the criticality and independence of their assessment are very important.
The psychological capabilities that distinguish a particular person from others are based on individual characteristics: constitutional characteristics, neurodynamic properties of the brain, features of the asymmetry of the interhemispheric brain of the brain, etc. It is this originality of individual characteristics that acts as natural inclinations, but does not yet determine the development of abilities as individual psychological capabilities ... The success of an activity depends on the interaction of three components: knowledge, skills and motivation. But knowledge and skills can be acquired by hard work in the absence of abilities in this area, therefore they cannot yet be called abilities. The essence of abilities is the quality of mental processes that underlie the mastery of knowledge and skills.
The structure of a specific ability is made up of a set of mental qualities necessary for the successful implementation of the corresponding activity. Personality as a bearer of certain qualities has the potential for the development of abilities. These potencies turn into real abilities when, under the influence of the requirements of the activity, they begin to form an interacting system of qualities, thanks to which the success of the activity is achieved. Abilities are very dynamic, mobile; the interaction of different mental qualities when performing various types of activity can reveal and form new - for a given personality - abilities.
The abilities of different people for the same activity may have a different structure due to the individual originality of mental qualities and their combinations.
Often a person is forced to engage in some kind of activity, not having the ability for it. At the same time, he will consciously or unconsciously compensate for the lack of abilities, relying on the strengths of his personality. Compensation can be realized through acquired knowledge and skills, or through the formation of a typical style of activity, or through another, more developed ability.
How indicators of ability can be considered:
1) the pace of progress in mastering the activity;
2) the breadth of the transfer of emerging mental qualities;
3) the ratio of neuropsychic costs and the final result of the activity.
Ability
Qualities or skills that enable a person to engage in a particular activity. For example, we may have athletic, intellectual, mathematical abilities, and so on.
Capabilities
Specificity. They include both individual knowledge, abilities and skills, and readiness to learn new ways and techniques of activity. Different criteria are used to classify abilities. So, sensorimotor, perceptual, mnemonic, imaginative, thinking, communicative abilities can be distinguished.
As another criterion, one or another subject area can act, according to which abilities can be qualified as scientific (mathematical, linguistic, humanitarian); creative (musical, literary, artistic); engineering.
ABILITY
Qualities, opportunity, skill, experience, skill, talent, etc., that allow you to perform certain actions at a given time. The bottom line is that a person must complete the task now, no further exercises are needed. Thus, a distinction is made between ability and fitness. Ability is the readiness of an individual to perform an action; suitability - the existing potential for performing any activity or the ability to achieve a certain level of development of the ability. An example of aptitude tests are intelligence tests.
Capabilities
the property of the psychological functional system to ensure the achievement of the goals of the activity. The main criteria of abilities that distinguish them from other psychological formations are the success of the activity, the speed and ease of mastering it. Among the general abilities are intelligence, learning, creativity.
CAPABILITIES
individual psychological characteristics that determine the success of the performance of an activity or a number of activities, which are not limited to knowledge and skills and determine the speed and ease of their acquisition.
CAPABILITIES
1. The mental properties of an individual that regulate his behavior and serve as a condition for his life. Potentially S. is represented by the organization of morphological structures, adapted for the performance of some l. activities. The most common human S. is sensitivity. 2. Under S. in a special sense is understood a complex of mental properties of a person, making him fit for a certain historically developed type of professional activity. The formation of social science presupposes the assimilation by the individual of the methods of activity developed by mankind in the process of socio-historical development. That is, a person's S. is determined not only by the activity of his brain, inheriting anatomical and physiological characteristics of the individual, inclinations, abilities, skills, but, above all, by the degree of historical development achieved by mankind. For conflictology, S. are important not so much in themselves, as in their compliance with the level of personality claims and the adequacy of their representation in the self-concept of a person. A person's behavior is directly influenced by S. to understand the interests of the opponent, often the hidden essence of the conflict, its delayed negative consequences, to sacrifice something for the sake of another person or the interests of the case, etc.
Ability
1. natural giftedness. It is assumed that giftedness cannot be acquired even through skillful teaching. In testing, giftedness is considered to be the JQ indicator, which is constant, that is, in regular and over many years testing, it exceeds 120%; 2. the ability to do something (as opposed to readiness, which represents potential, the ability to do it); 3. in cognitive science - the amount of information that a given system can process;
Capabilities
Abilities are individual psychological characteristics of a personality that ensure success in activity, in communication and ease of mastering them. Abilities cannot be reduced to the knowledge, abilities and skills that a person has, but abilities ensure their rapid acquisition, fixation and effective practical application. Abilities can be classified into: 1. natural (or natural) abilities, basically biologically determined, associated with innate inclinations, formed on their basis, in the presence of elementary life experience through learning mechanisms such as conditioned reflex connections); 2. specific human abilities that have a socio-historical origin and ensure life and development in a social environment. Specific human abilities, in turn, are subdivided into: a. general, which determine the success of a person in a variety of activities and communication (mental abilities, developed memory and speech, accuracy and subtlety of hand movements, etc.), and special, which determine the success of a person in certain types of activity and communication, where special kind of inclinations and their development (mathematical, technical, literary and linguistic, artistic and creative, sports, etc.); b. theoretical, which determine a person's inclination to abstract logical thinking, and practical, which underlie the inclination to concrete practical actions. The combination of these abilities is characteristic only of versatile gifted people; c. educational, which affect the success of pedagogical influence, the assimilation of knowledge, skills, skills by a person, the formation of personality traits, and creative, associated with success in creating works of material and spiritual culture, new ideas, discoveries, inventions. The highest degree of creative manifestations of a personality is called genius, and the highest degree of a personality's abilities in a certain activity (communication) is called talent; d. the ability to communicate, interact with people and subject-activity abilities associated with the interaction of people with nature, technology, sign information, artistic images, etc. A person capable of many and different types of activity and communication has a general endowment, i.e. the unity of common abilities that determine the range of his intellectual capabilities, the level and originality of activity and communication. The inclinations are some genetically determined (inborn) anatomical and physiological features of the nervous system, which constitute the individual natural basis (prerequisite) for the formation and development of abilities. Individual (individual psychological) differences are the characteristics of mental phenomena (processes, states and properties) that distinguish people from each other. Individual differences, the natural prerequisite of which are the characteristics of the nervous system, the brain, are created and developed in the course of life, in activity and communication, under the influence of education and training, in the process of human interaction with the outside world in the broadest sense of the word. Individual differences are the subject of the study of differential psychology. Abilities are not static, but dynamic formations, their formation and development occurs in the process of a certain way of organized activity and communication. The development of abilities occurs in stages. An important point in the development of abilities in children is complexity - the simultaneous improvement of several mutually complementary abilities. The following levels of abilities are distinguished: reproductive, which provides a high ability to assimilate ready-made knowledge, master the established patterns of activity and communication, and creative, which ensures the creation of a new, original one. But it should be borne in mind that the reproductive level includes elements of the creative, and vice versa.
These individual psychological characteristics are called personality abilities, and only such abilities are distinguished that, firstly, are of a psychological nature, Secondly, individually vary... All people are capable of walking upright and mastering speech, however, they do not belong to their own abilities: the first - because of non-psychological, the second - because of community.
Capabilities- these are individual psychological characteristics related to the success of performing any activity, not reducible to the knowledge, skills and abilities of the individual, but explaining the speed and ease of their acquisition.
However, the development of the ability must have some kind of "beginning", a starting point. Makings- this is a natural prerequisite for ability, anatomical and physiological features that underlie the development of abilities. There are no abilities, both outside of activity and outside the inclinations. Incentives are innate and static, in contrast to dynamic abilities. The deposit itself is not defined, it is not directed towards anything, it has many meanings. He receives his certainty only by being included in the structure of activity, in dynamics of ability.
Perhaps, from some kind of natural inclinations, a person will develop, for example, mathematical abilities, and perhaps others. The problem is that, contrary to common and simplified everyday ideas, there is no unambiguous and clear localization of higher mental functions in the human brain. Different psychological abilities can develop from the same physiological “material”. This is definitely the focus of the personality and the effectiveness of the activity.
A person has many different abilities: elementary and complex, general and special, theoretical and practical, communicative and subject-activity.
Human abilities not only jointly determine the success of activities and communication, but also interact with each other, exerting a certain influence on each other. Depending on the presence and degree of development of individual abilities, they acquire a specific character.
Ability and activity
In psychology, there are two main approaches to understanding abilities, their origin and place in the system of activity, psyche and personality.
Activity approach
The first approach can be roughly called activity, and behind it are the works of many domestic researchers, starting with BM Teplov. The second approach is no less developed, combined with the first, but is referred to as knowledge. Ability problems were also studied by A.R. Luria (1902-1977), P.K. Anokhin (1898-1974), V.D. Nebylitsin (1930-1972), and others.
Let's start from the position of B.M. Teplov, whose work on the psychology of musical abilities, carried out in the 1940s, has not lost its scientific significance even today.
Emphasizing the connection of abilities with successful performance, one should limit the range of individually-varying characteristics only to those that provide an effective result of the activity. Able people from incapable people are distinguished by a faster development of activity, the achievement of greater efficiency in it. Although externally, abilities are manifested in activity: in the skills, abilities and knowledge of the individual, but at the same time, abilities and activities are not identical to each other. So, a person can be well technically prepared and educated, but little capable of any activity. For example, on the exam at the Academy of Arts, V.I. The inspector of the Academy, having looked at the drawings presented by him, said: "For such drawings, you should even be forbidden to walk past the Academy." The mistake of the teachers of the Academy was that in the exam they did not assess the ability at all, but only the presence of certain skills and abilities of drawing. Subsequently, Surikov denied this mistake in deed, having mastered the necessary skills and abilities within 3 months, as a result of which the same teachers considered him worthy of being enrolled in the Academy this time. Thus, we can say that abilities are manifested not in the knowledge, skills and abilities themselves, but in the dynamics of their acquisition, in how quickly and easily a person masters a specific activity. The quality of the performance of the activity, its success and level of achievement, and also how this activity is performed, depends on the ability.
As noted by A. V. Petrovsky, in relation to the skills, abilities and knowledge of a person, abilities act as a certain possibility. Here you can draw an analogy with a grain thrown into the ground, the transformation of which into an ear is possible only under many conditions favorable to its development. Abilities are just the possibility of a certain development knowledge, skills and abilities and whether it becomes reality depends on various conditions. So, for example, the mathematical abilities revealed in a child are in no way a guarantee that the child will become a great mathematician. Without appropriate conditions (special education, creatively working teachers, family opportunities, etc.), abilities will stall and never develop. It is not known how many geniuses were never recognized by society. The story of the life of Albert Einstein, who was a very ordinary student in high school, can be revealing.
However, knowledge, skills and abilities remain external to the abilities only as long as they are not mastered. Finding themselves in activity as a person assimilates it, abilities develop further, forming their structure and originality in activity. A person's mathematical abilities will not be revealed in any way if he has never studied mathematics: they can only be established in the process of assimilating numbers, rules for dealing with them, solving problems, etc. There are, for example, phenomenal calculators - persons who perform complex calculations in their minds with extreme speed, while possessing very average mathematical abilities.
Knowledge approach
Let us turn to the second psychological approach, to understanding the connections between ability and activity. Its main difference from the previous concept lies in the actual equating of abilities to the present level of knowledge, skills and abilities. This position was adhered to by the Soviet psychologist V.A.Krutetsky (1917-1989). The knowledge approach focuses, as it were, on the operational aspect of abilities, while the activity approach emphasizes the dynamic aspect. But after all, the speed and ease of development of abilities is provided only by appropriate operations and knowledge. Since formation does not start from scratch, it is not predetermined by innate inclinations. The corresponding knowledge, skills and abilities of the individual are in fact inseparable from the understanding, functioning and development of abilities. Therefore, numerous works of the "knowledge" approach, devoted to mathematical, mental, pedagogical abilities, as a rule, are widely known and promising.
Hierarchy of abilities
Abilities exist and develop or perish in exactly the same way as psychologically “initial” needs, motives of activity. The personality has its own dynamic hierarchy of abilities. In this structure, special personal formations are distinguished, called giftedness.
Giftedness- a qualitatively unique, personal combination of abilities.
According to the position of B. M. Teplov, giftedness, like ability, is not innate, but exists in development. It is very important that this concept, first of all quality... In this regard, the author decisively contrasted his interpretation of giftedness with the concept of “intelligence quotient” widespread in Western psychology as a universal quantitative measure of giftedness.
Any giftedness is complex, i.e. includes some general and special points. Under common endowments refers to the development of relatively broad and universally involved psychological components, such as memory and intelligence. However, ability and giftedness can exist only in relation to a certain specific activity. Therefore, general giftedness should be attributed to a certain universal activity. Such is the entire human psyche, or life itself.
Special giftedness has a narrower conceptual content, since it refers to some special, i.e. relatively specific, activity. But such a gradation of activity is conditional. Thus, the structure of artistic activity includes perception, drawing, composition, imagination, and much more, which requires the corresponding development of special abilities. Therefore, general and special abilities really exist in personal, activity unity.
A high degree of giftedness is called talent, when describing the qualities of which many expressive epithets are used. These are, for example, outstanding excellence, value, passion, high efficiency, originality and diversity. BM Teplov wrote that talent as such is versatile. According to the laws of probability theory, not everyone can be “outstanding”, so in reality there are not many talented people.
Genius- this is qualitatively the highest degree of development and manifestation of giftedness and talent.
Genius is characterized by uniqueness, the highest creativity, the discovery of something previously unknown to humanity. Genius is unique, not like other people, and sometimes so much that it seems incomprehensible, even superfluous. It is extremely difficult to unequivocally determine or recognize someone as a genius. That is why there are many more “unrecognized geniuses” than they really are. However, geniuses have always been, are and will manifest themselves, since they are necessary for society. Geniuses are as diverse as the abilities, gifts, circumstances, activities that form them. That's why they are geniuses.
Diagnostic ability problems
The problems of diagnosing abilities have never lost their relevance. They are especially acute in today's Russia in the conditions of modernization of education. Let's designate only some controversial, unresolved issues, for example, the problem of creating elite schools and other educational institutions for gifted children. The giftedness of young generations is a guarantee of a decent future for any country. But the main question is whether there are reliable objective criteria for giftedness in science. It should be said that there are no such valid criteria in modern scientific psychology for large-scale measurements. But then they will be replaced by semi-professional, status, financial and other criteria of children's giftedness. Perhaps it would be more expedient and humane to invest the appropriate efforts and resources in working with “ordinary” children?
Abilities and inclinations stand out as one of the parameters of the integral mental appearance of the individual. They give a psychological description of a person from some specific side, which is vital. The words "capable" or "incapable" are widely used in everyday life, especially in teaching practice. The concept of ability is debatable, it contains complex human, psychological, including ethical, moral issues. This concept intersects with many other psychological categories and phenomena. Consider the actual psychological interpretation of abilities, which often differs from their everyday understanding.
In modern Russian schools, the trend is increasingly spreading and imposing the earlier diagnosis of "special" abilities and inclinations of students. Almost from the first year of study, it is determined what the student is capable of: to the humanities or natural sciences. Not only is there no proper scientific consistency behind such a diagnosis, it is simply not ethical and directly harms all education, all mental and personal development of the child.
However, one of the pressing problems of the ongoing modernization of education in Russia is the profiling of school education. Someone has allegedly already proved that the sooner a student chooses an education profile, the better for him and for society. Someone thinks that a teenager is already capable of making an unmistakable choice of a future profession, and as if in most cases he does it.
Any person does not have a more direct and reliable path to the development of their abilities and personality as a whole than public, competently organized, but not facilitated and simplified, but optimally intense, developing and creative training.
The concept of ability is used in everyday life to explain cases when different people in the same conditions achieve different successes (especially if these successes vary greatly among themselves). In this regard, one can immediately point out the phenomenon that people, in fact, very often tend to pass off their "I do not want" for "I can not." Under this "I do not want" can hide lack of will, laziness, low motivation and other personal characteristics. And behind this "I can not" (low abilities), in many cases, there is a psychological defense. The vagueness of everyday understanding of the phenomenon of abilities had an impact on theoretical psychology.The word "ability" has very wide applications in a wide variety of areas of practice. Usually, abilities are closely tied to one or another type of activity performed: high abilities - high-quality and effective activity, low abilities - low-quality and ineffective activity.
The phenomenon of ability is usually explained on the basis of one of three ideas:
1) abilities are reduced to all kinds of mental processes and states, follow from their characteristic features in a given person,
2) abilities are reduced to a high level of development of general and special knowledge, skills and abilities (ZUNs), ensuring the successful implementation of various types of activities by a person,
3) abilities are not ZUNs, but what ensures their quick acquisition, consolidation and effective use in practice.
On the last point, a little explanation needs to be made. Indeed, one can often observe how two specialists with the same level of training, other things being equal (similar) circumstances, achieve different success. Of course, chance is of great importance in life. However, in order to implement their ZUNs in practice, there are also conditions: a person must have an active life position, be strong-willed, purposeful, rational, etc.
B. M. Teplov identified three main features of the concept of "ability":
Individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from another (if some quality is not unique, like everyone else, this is not an ability),
Individual psychological characteristics that are related to the success of the performance of any activity or a number of activities,
Abilities can exist without ZUNs.
A classic example: the famous artist V.I.Surikov was unable to enter the Academy of Arts. Although Surikov's outstanding abilities appeared early, the necessary skills in drawing were not yet formed. Academic teachers refused to admit Surikov to the academy. The inspector of the academy, having looked at the drawings presented by Surikov, said: "For such drawings, you should even be forbidden to walk past the academy!"
Teachers are often mistaken and cannot distinguish between lack of ZUN and lack of ability. The opposite mistake is no less common: developed ZUNs are perceived as developed abilities (although a young person can simply be "trained" by his parents and previous teachers).
Nevertheless, in modern psychology and pedagogy, the idea has developed that ZUNs and abilities are closely related. Namely: in mastering ZUN, abilities are not only revealed, but also developed.
As BM Teplov believed, abilities can exist only in a constant process of development. Abilities that do not develop are lost over time. Examples of areas of human activity in which abilities are developed:
Technical creativity,
Artistic creativity,
Literature,
Maths,
Thesis on the need to develop abilities maybe have a biological connotation. Studies show that genes in humans and animals can be in an activated or inactivated state. Habitat conditions, lifestyle influences whether genes will be activated or not. This is another adaptation mechanism invented by nature for living beings.
The success of an activity usually depends not on any one, but on a combination of different abilities. Tellingly, different combinations of abilities can give a similar result. In the absence of the necessary inclinations, their deficit can be replenished due to the higher development of other inclinations and abilities.BM Teplov argued that “One of the most important features of the human psyche is the possibility of an extremely wide compensation of some properties by others, as a result of which the relative weakness of any one ability does not at all exclude the possibility of successfully performing even such an activity that is most closely related to this ability. The lack of ability can be compensated within a very wide range by others, highly developed in a given person. "
The proximity of abilities to each other, the ability to interchange them, allows you to classify abilities. However, the heterogeneity of the problem of ability has led to the fact that the classifications differ significantly from each other.
First classification basis
One of the foundations of the classification is the degree of naturalness of abilities:Natural (natural) abilities (that is, biologically determined),
Specific human abilities (having a socio-historical origin.
Natural elemental abilities are:
Perception,
Basics of communication.
The inclinations of a man and the inclinations of an animal are not the same thing. A person's abilities are formed on the basis of inclinations. The formation of the ability occurs in the presence of elementary life experience, through the mechanisms of learning, etc.
Specifically Human Abilities:
Special abilities,
Higher intellectual abilities.
General abilities are inherent in most people and determine a person's success in various activities:
Thinking ability,
The subtlety and precision of hand movements,
Speech, etc.
Special abilities determine the success of a person in specific activities, for the implementation of which a special kind of inclinations and their development are required:
Musical ability,
Math ability,
Linguistic ability,
Technical ability,
Literary ability,
Artistic and creative abilities,
Athletic ability, etc.
Intellectual abilities can be classified into:
Theoretical ability,
Practical ability,
Academic ability,
Creative skills,
Subject abilities,
Interpersonal abilities.
These types of abilities are closely related to each other, intertwined. The presence of, say, general abilities in a person does not exclude the development of special abilities, as well as vice versa. General, special and higher intellectual abilities do not conflict, but coexist, complement and enrich each other. In some cases, a high level of development of general abilities can act as special abilities in relation to certain types of activity.
Practical orientation
Another basis for the classification of abilities is the degree of their practical orientation:Theoretical ability,
Practical ability.
Theoretical abilities ensure the quality and effectiveness of abstract theoretical reflections, practical - concrete objective actions. The development of one or another type of ability here is closely related to the inclinations of a person: what he likes, theorize or act. Therefore, it can often be observed that some people have well-developed only theoretical abilities (different), while others have only practical ones.
Capabilities- these are the properties, or qualities, of a person that make him fit for the successful performance of a certain activity.
The concept of "ability" includes three main features:
At first, by abilities they mean individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from another. These are the features of sensations and perception, memory, thinking, imagination, emotions and will, relationships and motor reactions, etc.
Secondly, abilities are not generally individual characteristics, but only those that are related to the success of an activity or many activities.
Thirdly, by abilities they mean such individual characteristics that are not limited to the available skills, abilities or knowledge of a person, but which can explain the ease and speed of acquiring these knowledge and skills.
Capabilities are such individual psychological characteristics of a person that meet the requirements of this activity and are a condition for its successful implementation.
A person is not born with the ability for this or that activity. Congenital can only be makings, constituting the natural basis for the development of abilities.
Makings- these are features of the structure of the brain and nervous system, sense organs and movements, functional characteristics of the body, given to everyone from birth.
The inclinations include some innate features of the visual and auditory analyzers, the typological properties of the nervous system, on which the speed of formation of temporary neural connections, their strength, the strength of concentrated attention, the endurance of the nervous system, and mental performance depend. The level of development and the ratio of the first and second signaling systems should also be considered as inclinations. I.P. Pavlov distinguished three specially human types of higher nervous activity: art type c the relative predominance of the first signaling system, thinking type c the relative predominance of the second signaling system, third type - with relative balance of signaling systems. People of the artistic type are characterized by the brightness of immediate impressions, imagery of perception and memory, richness and vividness of imagination, emotionality. People of the thinking type are prone to analysis and systematization, to generalized, abstract thinking.
Individual features of the structure of individual sections of the cerebral cortex may also be inclinations. But the inclinations are only prerequisites for the development of abilities, they are one, albeit very important, of the conditions for the development and formation of abilities. If a person, even with the best inclinations, does not engage in appropriate activities, his abilities will not develop.
The inclinations are multivalued and can be realized in various types of abilities, on their basis, different abilities can be developed depending on how a person's life will go, what he learns, what he is inclined to. The inclinations can, to a greater or lesser extent, determine the originality of a person's development, the style of his intellectual or other activity.
It is impossible to indicate in advance the exact boundaries in the development of certain abilities, to determine the "ceiling", the limit of their development. This is due to the fact that any activity requires for its implementation not one, but several abilities, and they can compensate to a certain extent, replace each other.
There are two levels of development of abilities: reproductive and creative. A person who is at the first level of development of abilities reveals a high ability to master a skill, assimilate knowledge, master an activity and carry it out according to the proposed model, in accordance with the proposed idea. At the second level of development of abilities, a person creates a new, original.
In the process of mastering knowledge and skills, in the process of activity, a person “moves” from one level to another. The structure of his abilities changes accordingly.
Scientists have found that it is not individual abilities as such that directly determine the possibility of successfully performing any activity, but only that peculiar combination of these abilities that characterizes a given personality.
A kind of combination of abilities that provides a person with the opportunity to successfully perform any activity is called giftedness.
A high level of development of abilities is called talent.
Genius- this is the highest degree of manifestation of a person's creative powers. This is the creation of qualitatively new creations that open a new era in the development of culture, science and practice. So, A.S. Pushkin created works, with the appearance of which a new era begins in the development of Russian literature and the Russian literary language.
General and special abilities. Distinguish abilities general, which manifest themselves everywhere or in many fields of knowledge and activity, and special, which manifest themselves in one area.
Sufficiently high level of development common abilities - the characteristics of thinking, attention, memory, perception, speech, mental activity, curiosity, creative imagination, etc. - allows you to achieve significant results in various areas of human activity with intense, motivated work.
Special abilities are the abilities for certain activities that help a person to achieve high results in it. General and special abilities are inextricably linked with each other. Special abilities are classified according to different areas of human activity: literary ability, mathematical, constructive-technical, musical, artistic, linguistic, scenic, pedagogical, sports, theoretical and practical ability, spiritual ability, etc.
The development of the special abilities of each person is an expression of the individual path of his development.
Different special abilities have different timing of their detection. Earlier than others, talents are manifested in the field of arts, and above all in music. It was found that at the age of up to 5 years, the development of musical abilities occurs most favorably, since it is at this time that the child's ear for music and musical memory are formed.
Technical ability is usually revealed later than the ability in the arts. This is due to the fact that technical activity, technical invention requires a very high development of higher mental functions, primarily thinking, which is formed at a later age - adolescence.
In the field of scientific creativity, abilities are revealed much later than in other fields of activity, usually after 20 years. At the same time, mathematical abilities are revealed earlier than others.
15. Socio-psychological characteristics of a small group
G.M. Andreeva defines a small group as a small group, whose members are united by common activities and are in direct personal contact, which is the basis for the emergence of group norms, processes and interpersonal relations.
A.I. Dontsov, developing this definition, highlights 8 signs characterizing small group interaction:
1. Regularly and continuously contact face to face, without intermediaries;
2. Have a common goal, the implementation of which allows them to satisfy their significant needs and interests;
3. Participate in the general system of distribution of functions and roles in intragroup interaction;
4. Share common norms and rules of interaction within the group and intergroup situations;
5. Are satisfied with the group membership and therefore feel a sense of solidarity and gratitude to the group;
6. Have a clear and differentiated understanding of each other;
7. Are connected by stable emotional relationships;
8. Present themselves as members of the same group and are similarly perceived from the outside
The following types of small groups are distinguished:
b) by the nature of the structure:
¾ formal(official) - these are groups in which all the positions of the members of the group are clearly, officially set; they are created on the basis of a charter, an order; business relations prevail in the group; a manager is officially appointed to organize the activities,
¾ informal(informal) - the group arises spontaneously on the basis of a single orientation of psychological motivation (interests, needs, inclinations), sympathies; personal relationships prevail; the structure develops spontaneously; the activity is organized by a person with certain qualities - a leader.
In an official group, there can also be informal groupings and, as a rule, there is a leader in addition to the leader.
v) by the nature of the personality's attitude to the norms and values of the group:
¾ membership groups(a person really enters into it),
¾ reference groups(a group, the norms and values of which coincide with the norms and values of the individual, a person may not really belong to it, but seeks to get into it; the reference group for each individual is determined using referentometry);
G) by the degree of closeness of relations between members of the group:
¾ primary(family, close friends),
¾ secondary(educational, industrial contacts);
e) depending on the rights that are granted to the participants by the group:
¾ parity(all members of the group have equal rights),
¾ non-parity(there is a certain hierarchy of rights and obligations);
e) by the nature of the objectives of joint activities:
¾ diffuse(conglomerate) - a random gathering of people (on the street, excursion),
¾ cooperation- a group united by a common goal of joint activity that does not go beyond the framework of this group, which does not coincide with the goals of society, i.e. working for herself (for example, private enterprises),
¾ corporation- characterized by the presence of strict discipline, a clear organization, a single common goal that does not coincide with the goals of society and conflicts with the criminal code,
¾ collective- a group with socially significant goals, where interpersonal interactions are mediated by socially valuable and personally significant content; this is the highest stage in the development of an organized community of people.
A.V. Petrovsky identified three criteria for evaluating a group as a collective:
1. Performance by the collective of the main social function (successful participation in the social division of labor).
2. Compliance of the group with social norms.
3. The ability of the group to provide each of its members with opportunities for full harmonious development.
Topic 21
CAPABILITIES
Ability classification
Ability structure
Development of abilities
General characteristics of human abilities
The problem of ability in psychology is the least developed area of knowledge. In modern psychological science, there are various approaches to the definition of this concept (Table 1).
Table 1
Approaches to the definition of the concept of "ability"
| author | Definition of abilities |
| S.L. Rubinstein | "A complex synthetic formation, which includes a number of data, without which a person would not be capable of any specific activity, and properties that are developed only in the process of a certain way of organized activity" |
| B.M. Teplov | Identifies three main features of the concept of "ability". At first, abilities are understood as individual psychological characteristics that distinguish one person from another. Secondly, not all individual characteristics are called abilities, but only those that are related to the success of performing any activity. Thirdly, the concept of "ability" is not limited to those knowledge, skills or abilities that have already been developed by one person |
| A.V. Petrovsky | "These are the psychological characteristics of a person on which the success of acquiring knowledge, skills, and abilities depends, but which cannot be reduced to the presence of this knowledge, skills and abilities." |
| Yu.B. Gippenreiter | "... Individual psychological characteristics of a person, which express readiness to master certain types of activities and their successful implementation" |
Ability is a reflection of the complex relationship of historical, social and individual conditions of human development. Abilities are a product of a person's socio-historical practice, the result of the interaction of his biological and mental characteristics. It is through abilities that a person becomes a subject of activity in society; through the development of abilities, a person reaches the top in the professional and personal terms.
Abilities and knowledge, skills, skills are interconnected, but not identical. In relation to knowledge, abilities, skills, mastery, a person's abilities act as an opportunity to acquire and increase them with varying degrees of speed and efficiency. Abilities are found not in knowledge, skills, skills and craftsmanship, but in the dynamics of their acquisition and development, the speed, ease and strength of their acquisition and development, the speed, ease and strength of mastering the skill and building it up. Ability is an opportunity, and this or that level of skill in a particular case is reality.
Ability classification
Capabilities- these are very complex personal formations with properties such as content, level of generalization, creativity, level of development, psychological form. There are a number of classifications of abilities. Let's reproduce the most significant of them (Fig. 1).
Natural (or natural) abilities basically biologically determined by innate inclinations, are formed on their basis in the presence of elementary life experience through the mechanisms of learning.
Specific human abilities have a socio-historical origin and ensure life and development in a social environment (general and special higher intellectual abilities, which are based on the use of speech, logic; theoretical and practical; educational and creative). Specific human abilities, in turn, are subdivided into:
§ on general that determine the success of a person in a wide variety of activities and communication (mental abilities, developed memory and speech, accuracy and subtlety of hand movements, etc.), and special that determine the success of a person in certain types of activity and communication, where a special kind of inclinations and their development are needed (mathematical, technical, artistic and creative, sports abilities, etc.). These abilities, as a rule, can complement and enrich each other, but each of them has its own structure; The success of any specific and specific activity depends not only on special, but also on general abilities. Therefore, in the course of professional training of specialists, one cannot be limited to the formation of only special abilities;
Rice. 1. Classification of abilities
§ theoretical that determine a person's tendency to abstract logical thinking, and practical underlying the propensity for concrete practical action. Unlike general and special abilities, theoretical and practical skills are often not combined with each other. Most people have one or the other type of ability. Together they are extremely rare, mainly among gifted, versatile people;
§ educational that affect the success of pedagogical influence, the assimilation of knowledge, skills, abilities by a person, the formation of personality traits, and creative associated with the success in the creation of objects of material and spiritual culture, the production of new, original ideas, discoveries, inventions, creativity in various areas of human life. They are the ones who ensure social progress. The highest degree of creative manifestations of a personality is called genius, and the highest degree of a personality's abilities in a certain activity (communication) is called talent;
§ abilities manifested in communication, interaction with people. They are socially conditioned, since they are formed in the process of a person's life in society and presuppose mastery of speech as a means of communication, the ability to adapt in a society of people, i.e. correctly perceive and evaluate their actions, interact and establish good relationships in various social situations, etc. and subject-activity abilities, associated with the interaction of people with nature, technology, sign information, artistic images, etc.
Abilities ensure the success of a person's social life and are always included in the structure of various types of activity, determining its content. They seem to be the most important condition for achieving the heights of professional excellence. According to the classification of professions E.A. Klimov, all abilities can be divided into five groups:
1) the abilities required by specialists in the field “Man is a sign system”. This group includes professions related to the creation, study and use of various sign systems (for example, linguistics, mathematical programming languages, methods of graphical presentation of observation results, etc.);
2) the abilities required by specialists in the field "Man is a technique." This includes various types of work activities in which a person deals with technology, its use or design (for example, the profession of an engineer, operator, machinist, etc.);
3) the skills required for specialists in the field " man is nature". This includes professions in which a person deals with various phenomena of inanimate and living nature, for example, biologist, geographer, geologist, chemist and other professions belonging to the category of natural sciences;
4) the skills required for specialists in the field " man is an artistic image". This group of professions represents various types of artistic and creative work (for example, literature, music, theater, visual arts);
5) the skills required for specialists in the field " man - man". This includes all types of professions that involve the interaction of people (politics, religion, pedagogy, psychology, medicine, law).
Ability structure
Abilities are a set of mental qualities that have a complex structure. In the structure of the ability to perform a certain activity, one can distinguish qualities that occupy a leading position, and those that are auxiliary. These components form a unity that ensures the success of the activity (Fig. 2).
General abilities–The set of potential (hereditary, congenital) psychodynamic characteristics of a person that determine his readiness for activity.
Special Abilities- a system of personality traits that help to achieve high results in any field of activity.
| Capabilities |
Rice. 2. General structure of abilities
Talent - a high level of development of abilities, especially special (musical, literary, etc.).
Talent is a combination of abilities, their combination (synthesis). Each individual ability reaches a high level, it cannot be considered a talent if it is not linked to other abilities. The presence of talent is judged by the results of a person's activities, which are distinguished by fundamental novelty, originality, perfection and social significance. A feature of talent is a high level of creativity in the implementation of activities.
Genius- the highest level of talent development, allowing to implement fundamentally new things in a particular field of activity. The difference between genius and talent is not so much in quantitative as in qualitative terms. One can speak of the presence of genius only if a person achieves such results of creative activity that constitute an era in the life of society, in the development of culture.
The totality of a number of abilities that determine especially successful human activity in a certain area and distinguish him from other persons performing this activity under the same conditions is called giftedness.
Gifted people are distinguished by attentiveness, composure, readiness for activity; they are characterized by persistence in achieving goals, the need to work, as well as an intellect exceeding the average level.
The more pronounced the abilities, the fewer people possess them. In terms of the level of development of abilities, most people do not stand out in anything. There are not so many gifted people, much less talented, and genius can be found in every field about once a century. These are simply unique people who make up the heritage of mankind, and that is why they require the most careful attitude.
Excellence in a specific type of activity, requiring a lot of hard work, is called skill.
Mastery is revealed not only in the sum of skills and abilities, but also in the psychological readiness for the qualified implementation of any labor operations that will be necessary for the creative solution of the problems that have arisen.
The structure of abilities for a certain activity is individual for each person (Fig. 3).
Rice. 3 Signs of ability
to any kind of activity
Lack of abilities does not mean that a person is unfit to perform an activity, since there are psychological mechanisms for compensating for missing abilities. Compensation can be carried out through acquired knowledge, skills, through the formation of an individual style of activity, or through a more developed ability. The ability to compensate for some abilities with the help of others develops a person's inner potential, opens up new ways to choose a profession and improve in it.
In the structure of any ability there are individual components that make up its biological foundations or prerequisites. These can be increased sensitivity of the sense organs, properties of the nervous system and other biological factors. They are called inclinations.
Makings- these are innate anatomical and physiological features of the structure of the brain, sense organs and movement, which constitute the natural basis for the development of abilities.
Most of the inclinations are genetically predetermined. In addition to innate inclinations, a person also has acquired inclinations, which are formed in the process of maturation and development of a child in the first years of life. Such inclinations are called social. By themselves, natural inclinations do not yet determine successful human activity, i.e. are not abilities. These are only natural conditions or factors on the basis of which the development of abilities occurs.
The presence of certain inclinations in a person does not mean that he will develop certain abilities, since it is difficult to predict what kind of activity a person will choose for himself in the future. Therefore, the degree of development of the inclinations depends on the conditions of individual development of a person, the conditions of education and upbringing, the characteristics of the development of society.
The makings are ambiguous. On the basis of one deposit, a wide variety of abilities can be formed, depending on the nature of the requirements imposed by the activity.
Abilities are always associated with human mental functions: memory, attention, emotions, etc. Depending on this, the following types of abilities can be distinguished: psychomotor, thinking, speech, volitional, etc. They are part of the structure of professional abilities.
When assessing professional abilities, one should take into account the psychological structure of this profession, its professiogram. When determining the conformity of a person to a certain profession, it is necessary not only to comprehensively study a given personality by scientific methods, but also to know its compensatory capabilities.
Development of abilities
Any inclinations, before turning into abilities, must go a long way of development. For many human abilities, this development begins with the birth of a person and, if he continues to engage in those activities in which the corresponding abilities develop, does not stop until the end of life.
In the development of abilities, several stages can be conventionally distinguished. Each person in his development goes through periods of increased sensitivity to certain influences, to the development of a particular type of activity. For example, a child at the age of two to three years intensively develops oral speech, at five to seven years he is most ready to master reading. In middle and senior preschool age, children are passionate about role-playing games and exhibit an extraordinary ability to reincarnate and get used to the role. It is important to note that these periods of special readiness for mastering special types of activity end sooner or later, and if any function did not receive its development in a favorable period, then later its development turns out to be extremely difficult, if not completely impossible. Therefore, for the development of a child's abilities, all stages of his formation as a person are important. You cannot think that at an older age, the child will be able to catch up.
Primary stage in the development of any ability is associated with the maturation of organic structures necessary for it or with the formation of the necessary functional organs on their basis. This usually occurs between birth and six to seven years of age. At this stage, there is an improvement in the work of all analyzers, the development and functional differentiation of individual parts of the cerebral cortex. This creates favorable conditions for the beginning of the formation and development of general abilities in the child, a certain level of which acts as a prerequisite for the subsequent development of special abilities.
At the same time, the formation and development of special abilities begins. Then the development of special abilities continues in school, especially in the lower and middle grades. At first, various kinds of children's games help the development of special abilities, then educational and work activities begin to exert a significant influence on them.
As you already know, children's games have a special function. It is the games that give the initial impetus to the development of abilities. In the process of games, the development of many motor, design, organizational, artistic and visual and other creative abilities takes place. Moreover, an important feature of games is that, as a rule, not one, but a whole complex of abilities develops in them.
It should be noted that not all types of activity that a child is engaged in, be it playing, modeling or drawing, are of the same importance for the development of abilities. The most conducive to the development of abilities is creative activity, which makes the child think. Such activity is always associated with the creation of something new, the discovery of new knowledge for oneself, the discovery of new possibilities in oneself. This becomes a strong and effective incentive to engage in it, to make the necessary efforts to overcome the difficulties that arise. Moreover, creative activity strengthens positive self-esteem, raises the level of aspirations, generates self-confidence and a sense of satisfaction from the success achieved.
As you remember, the development of abilities largely depends on the conditions that allow the inclinations to be realized. One of these conditions is the peculiarities of family education. If parents show concern for the development of the abilities of their children, then the likelihood of finding any abilities in children is higher than when children are left to their own devices.
Another group of conditions for the development of abilities is determined by the characteristics of the macroenvironment. The macroenvironment is considered to be the peculiarities of the society in which a person was born and grows up. The most positive factor in the macroenvironment is the situation when society takes care of the development of the abilities of its members. This concern of society can be expressed in the constant improvement of the education system, as well as in the development of a vocational guidance system for the younger generation.
Klimov, in the interests of vocational guidance work, developed and implemented a classification of professions in the form of a questionnaire. The classification proposed by him was based on the requirements that the profession imposes on a person. For example, it is possible to single out the types of activities that are generally characterized as systems of relationships "man-man", "man-nature", etc.
In any case, a forecast about the suitability of an individual for a particular activity should be based on the provision on the development of abilities in activity. S. L. Rubinshtein formulated the basic rule for the development of human abilities as follows: “The development of abilities occurs in a spiral: the realization of an opportunity, which is an ability of one level, opens up new opportunities for the further development of abilities of a higher level. A person's giftedness is determined by the range of new possibilities, which opens up the realization of existing possibilities. "
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