INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Ed. prof. A. V. Petrovsky.

Textbook
M., 1996.

PART II. PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND CONDITIONS

CHAPTER 6. MEMORY

4. REMEMBER

Memorization can be defined as the process of memory, as a result of which the new is consolidated by linking it with the previously acquired. This is a necessary condition for enriching the experience of an individual with new knowledge and forms of behavior. Memorization is always selective: not everything that affects our senses is retained in memory. What determines the choice?

Memorization and action. It has been experimentally proven that any memorization, including involuntary, is a natural product. actions subject with object.

In their experience, the subjects were asked to classify the objects depicted on the cards. Each card, except for the object, had a number. After the experiment, the subjects were asked to remember what they saw on the cards. It turned out that in this case the objects were well remembered. As for the numbers, some of the subjects claimed that they did not see them at all. In another experiment, it was necessary to arrange the cards in the order of the numbers depicted on them. In this case, everything was the other way around: the numbers were well remembered and the pictures were almost not noticed.

Thus, what a person is with is remembered acts. This pattern was also found in experiments with practical, labor actions.

The described facts convincingly prove that a simple adjacency events (pictures and numbers) by itself does not provide unambiguous results of memorization. The thing is that does man with material. Of course, the same external conditions of activity do not lead to absolutely identical results of memorization in different people, since these conditions are always refracted through the person's past experience, his individual characteristics. But this only means that, speaking of the dependence of memorization on activity, it is necessary to consider any human action in a personal context, i.e. due to the peculiarities of motives, goals and ways to achieve them.

Thus, we can say that the characteristics of memorizing a particular material are determined by motives, goals and methods of personality activity. From these positions, one should consider the characteristics of the memorization process in all its forms and at all stages of formation, including at the very initial level, i.e. at the level short-term memorization.

Short-term and long-term memorization. What is short-term memorization? If we were dictated to a few random numbers, letters or words and asked to repeat them immediately, we would have done it without difficulty. Even the reproduction of a number of meaningless syllables would not cause us great difficulty (provided that there are no more than five or seven elements in a row). For example, we could repeat the series "De-bo-da-ti-tse-lo", but only immediately after it was uttered. After some time, we would not have been able to do this. This is short-term memorization. In order to memorize this series for a long time, we would need several repetitions, and perhaps the use of any special (mnemonic) memorization techniques (for example, combining syllables into words and linking them into an artificial sentence such as “Grandfather Bogdan - bird-catcher "). And that would be long-term memorization.

Studies of short-term memorization, caused primarily by the needs of engineering psychology, have acquired great general theoretical significance today. We can say that all modern problems in the psychology of memory are in one way or another connected with the study of the laws of its short-term processes. Here, a solution to the key problem in the study of memory - the problem of its mechanisms - should be obtained on the basis of the synthesis of all levels of research: psychological, neurophysiological, biochemical.

The very name "short-term memorization" shows that the basis of the corresponding classification from the very beginning was a temporary sign. However, the parameter of time, for all its importance for understanding the phenomena of memory, in itself does not allow an exhaustive description of short-term memorization. When considering memory processes, the dependence of its from the nature of human activity in different time conditions of information processing. It has been established that memorization is regulated by a program given from above, i.e. determined nature of activities person with memorized material.

Currently, research is underway aimed at studying the dependence of short-term memorization on the nature of the activity carried out by a person, on the characteristics of the task performed by him. So far, research into short-term memorization has varied mainly on two factors: exposure time and material presented. The task of the activity performed by the subjects remained unchanged, since it was always a mnemonic task. Therefore, naturally, the volume of memorization at a given time mode of presentation of the material remained constant. Data have now been obtained indicating that different cognitive and mnemonic tasks affect the productivity of short-term memorization in different ways. These data show that short-term memorization, at least in the time frames in which it was usually studied, is not directly imprinted.

It was found that under the conditions of short-term memorization, only such tasks are productive, for the solution of which they can be used. automated modes of action. Tasks that require the use of detailed methods of processing the material, reduce the productivity of its memorization in the conditions of short-term presentation. Based on this, short-term memorization could be defined as memorization, which is carried out in such a time frame of human activity with material, in which it is possible to use only automated methods of processing it.

Long-term memory receives information that does not tactical and strategic importance to achieve the vital goals of the personality. Long-term memorization, being a natural product of human activity, is not just a concomitant "trace" effect of actions, but is formed primarily as an internally necessary condition for its course. In other words, memorizing any material is a product of a previous action and at the same time a condition, a means of implementing the next one.

Involuntary and voluntary memorization. In accordance with the goals of the activity, which includes the processes of memorization, there are two main types of memorization: involuntary and voluntary.

Involuntary memorization is a product and condition for the implementation of cognitive and practical actions. Since memorization itself is not our goal, we usually say about everything that is memorized involuntarily:

"I remember it myself." In fact, this is a strictly natural process, determined by the characteristics of our activities. Studies show that the place that this material occupies in activity is important for the productivity of involuntary memorization. If the material is included in the content of the main goal of the activity, it is remembered better than when it is included in the conditions, ways of achieving this goal.

In the experiments, 1st grade schoolchildren and students were allowed to solve five simple arithmetic problems, after which, unexpectedly for the subjects, they were asked to recall the conditions and the number of problems. Grade 1 students remembered numbers almost three times as much as students. This is because the ability to add and subtract has not yet become a skill for a first grader. It is a meaningful purposeful action for grade 1 students.

Operating with numbers was the content of the purpose of this action for the first graders, while for the students it was included in the content of the method, and not the purpose of the action.

A material that occupies a different place in activity acquires a different meaning. Therefore, it requires different orientation and is reinforced in different ways. The content of the main goal requires more active orientation and receives effective reinforcement as the achieved result of the activity and therefore is better remembered than what concerns the conditions for achieving the goal.

Special research evidence shows that the material that takes the place of the main goal in the activity is remembered the better, the more meaningful connections are established in it.

In a study that studied the involuntary memorization of text that students needed to understand, they found that very easy text was remembered worse than text of average difficulty. A difficult text, on the other hand, was remembered better with such a more active way of working with it, such as drawing up a plan, than when using a ready-made plan of the same text.

Hence, involuntarily the material that causes active mental work on it is remembered better.

It is known that we involuntarily remember fully and firmly, sometimes for the rest of our lives, what is especially important for us. important vital importance, what causes our interest and emotions. Involuntary memorization will the more productive, the more interested we are in the content of the task being performed. So, if a student is interested in a lesson, he remembers its content better than when a student listens only "for order." A special study of the conditions for high productivity of involuntary memorization of knowledge in training has shown that one of these most important conditions is the creation of internal, inherently cognitive, motivation for educational activity. This is achieved through a dedicated organization systems learning objectives, at which each result obtained becomes necessary means to get each subsequent one.

Arbitrary memorization is a product of special mnemonic actions, those. such actions, the main purpose of which will be memorization itself. The productivity of such an action is also associated with the characteristics of its goals, motives and methods of implementation. At the same time, as special studies have shown, one of the main conditions for voluntary memorization is a clear statement of the task of memorizing the material accurately, completely and consistently. Various mnemonic goals affect the nature of the memorization process itself, the choice of its various methods, and in this regard, its result.

In one study, students were asked to memorize two stories. The check of the first was scheduled for the next day, regarding the second it was said that it must be remembered for a long time. The memorization test for both stories was actually carried out after four weeks. At the same time, it turned out that the second story was remembered much better than the first. It is known how quickly material is memorized that is memorized only for exams, without setting for a solid, long-term fixation.

Thus, the role of the mnemonic task cannot be reduced to the action of the intention to remember itself. Different mnemonic tasks cause different orientation in the material, in its content, structure, in its linguistic form, etc., determining the choice of the appropriate methods of memorization. Therefore, in educational work it is important to give students differentiated tasks: what exactly and how to remember.

An important role in voluntary memorization is played by motives that induce memorization. The information conveyed can be understood and memorized, but without acquiring stable significance for the student, it can be quickly forgotten. People who lack a sense of duty and responsibility often forget a lot of what they need to remember.

Among the conditions for the productivity of voluntary memorization, the central place is occupied by the use of rational memorization techniques. Knowledge is composed of a certain system of facts, concepts, judgments. To memorize them, it is necessary to isolate certain semantic units, establish connections between them, apply logical techniques associated with more or less developed thinking processes. Understanding is a necessary condition for logical, meaningful memorization. What is understood is remembered faster and more firmly because it is meaningfully associated with previously acquired knowledge, with a person's past experience. On the contrary, the incomprehensible or poorly understood always appears in the human mind as something separate, meaningfully not connected with past experience. Incomprehensible material usually does not arouse interest in itself.

One of the most important techniques of logical memorization - drawing up a plan for memorized material. It includes three points: 1) breakdown of the material into its component parts; 2) coming up with titles for them or highlighting some reference point with which the entire content of this part of the material is easily associated; 3) linking parts by their titles or selected reference points into a single chain of associations. Combining individual thoughts and sentences into semantic parts reduces the number of units that must be memorized without reducing the volume of memorized material. Memorization is also facilitated because, as a result of drawing up a plan, the material takes on a clear, dismembered and ordered form. Thanks to this, it is easier to grasp mentally in the process of reading itself.

Is of great importance comparison as a method of logical memorization. Emphasizing differences in objects is especially important. This ensures the specialization of connections during memorization and directs the reproduction of images of objects along a certain path. Establishing only general, and even more so very broad, connections between objects can make it difficult to remember them. This largely explains the difficulty in remembering (for example, the names of the Ovs in Chekhov's story "The Horse Family").

Memorization of objects is carried out the faster and more firmly, the sharper the differences between them. Therefore, it is necessary to start comparing objects with clearly identified differences and only after that move on to less noticeable differences. As a result of experiments I.P. Pavlov came to the conclusion that the nervous connection to a certain stimulus is carried out faster and is more durable not when the stimulus itself is repeatedly reinforced, but when its reinforcement is interspersed, opposed to an unsupported other stimulus, similar to the first.

Associations by similarity and contrast are also based on such more complex methods of voluntary memorization as classification, systematization of the material.

When logical work on material relies heavily on figurative connections, this increases the meaningfulness and strength of memorization. Therefore, where possible, it is necessary to evoke the appropriate images, associate them with the content of the material that we memorize.

One of the important means of memorization is reproduction, acting in the form of retelling to oneself the memorized content. However, it is useful to turn to this method only after preliminary reflection, understanding of the material, especially in cases where the material is complex, difficult to understand. Reproduction, especially in your own words, improves understanding of the material. Poorly understood material is usually associated with "alien" linguistic form, well understood, is easily "translated" into "your own language."

Reproduction speeds up, rationalizes memorization, especially when memorizing by heart, since during retelling we identify weak points, exercise self-control. It is important that reproduction is not replaced by recognition. It's easier to learn than to remember. But only the ability to reproduce, recall creates the necessary confidence in knowledge.

Educational material, which requires multiple repetitions in terms of its volume, can be memorized in three ways: either in parts - partial way, or all at once - holistic way, or all and in parts - combined method. The most rational is the combined method, and the rational name is partial. With the partial method, there is no orientation towards the general content of the whole, therefore, individual parts are learned in isolation from one another. This leads to the rapid forgetting of the memorized. A holistic method is more productive, in which the general content of the material is used, which makes it easier to understand and memorize individual parts in their relationship. But the parts can differ in difficulty, besides, the middle of the material is always remembered worse than the beginning and the end, especially with a large volume. Here, a combined method of memorization can be applied, when at first all the material as a whole is comprehended, understood, in the process of which its individual parts are distinguished, then individual parts, especially more difficult ones, are memorized, and finally, the material is repeated again as a whole.

This way of memorizing is most responsible the peculiarities of the structure of mnemonic action, which includes the following operations: orientation in the entire material, the allocation of groups of its elements, the establishment of intragroup relations, the establishment of intergroup connections.

Reproducibility is not necessarily a measure of memorization strength. Therefore, the teacher should always worry about how, through repetition, to achieve a more solid consolidation of knowledge by students. According to K.D. The Ushinoye, a teacher who does not care about repetition, about the strength of knowledge, can be likened to a drunk driver with loosely tied luggage: he drives everything forward, without looking back, and brings an empty cart, boasting only that he has come a long way.

However, repetition is only productive when it is conscious, meaningful, and active. Otherwise, it leads to rote memorization. Therefore, the best type of repetition is to incorporate the learned material into subsequent activities. The experience of experimental teaching has shown that when the program material is organized into a special rigorous system of tasks (so that each previous step is necessary for mastering the next one), then in the student's corresponding activity the essential material is necessarily repeated every time at a new level and in new connections. Under these conditions, the necessary knowledge is firmly memorized even without memorization, i.e. involuntarily. Previously acquired knowledge, being included in the context of new knowledge, is not only updated, but also qualitatively changed, rethought.

The place of involuntary and voluntary memorization in the assimilation of knowledge. In training, it is necessary to focus not only on voluntary, but also on involuntary memorization. A comparative study of them revealed important conditions under which each of them is most effective. The results of this study make it possible to determine the place of involuntary and voluntary memorization in the assimilation of knowledge by students.

Involuntary memorization of objects (objects depicted on the cards), which was carried out in the process of their classification, i.e. active mental activity, gave better results than voluntary, which relied only on the perception of the material. Likewise, when students made an outline of a relatively complex text in order to understand its content, they memorized it better than with voluntary memorization, which relied only on simple reading of the text. Hence, when involuntary memorization is based on meaningful and active ways of working with material, it is more productive than voluntary, if the latter does not use similar methods.

In the conditions of the same methods of working with material (for example, classifying objects), involuntary memorization, while remaining more productive in school and younger children school age, is gradually losing its advantage among middle school students and adults, giving way to voluntary memorization. These changes in the ratio of the productivity of involuntary and voluntary memorization are explained by complex connections between cognitive and mnemonic actions in the process of their formation. Mnemic action, being formed on the basis of cognitive, lags behind it. Classification can act as a way of memorizing when it has reached a certain level formed ™ as a cognitive action. Only by learning to classify can this mental action be used as a way of voluntary memorization. This pattern also appeared in experiments on involuntary and voluntary memorization of a text with such methods of work as using a ready-made plan or drawing up a plan independently.

Involuntary memorization reaches maximum productivity when students perform cognitive task, when the material requires active understanding. In these cases, involuntary memorization is more productive than voluntary, because the process of understanding is difficult or completely impossible to combine with the performance of a mnemonic task. Voluntary memorization achieves maximum productivity in conditions when the understanding of the material can be entirely subordinated to the performance of the mnemonic task. Involuntary memorization should be guided by when studying new material, and the mnemonic task should be set at the stage of its consolidation. Thus, an important point in the management of memorization of knowledge is excretion and differentiation of cognitive and mnemonic tasks.

In associative, semantic and structural connections, the role of the material is manifested predominantly. But memorization and reproduction depend not only on the objective connections of the material, but also on the attitude of the person towards it.

This attitude is due to the orientation of the personality - its attitudes, interests and that emotional coloring, which expresses the importance of the material for the individual.

Human memory wears selective character. There is no person who would have such a bad memory, associative and other connections would function so malfunctioning so that he would forget everything, just as there is no person with whom they would function so that he remembers everything. Every person remembers something and forgets something. The selective nature of memory is expressed in the fact that we remember mainly what is significant and interesting for us.

Memorization in a person essentially depends on a conscious mindset. Its role is especially great in the highest manifestations of memory. Memorization and especially memorization is to a large extent a volitional act, the conscious performance of a certain task.

Setting to remember is an essential condition for memorizing; without it, a simple repetition of the presented series does not give an effect. The classic associative experiment of G. Ebbinghaus and his successors in fact always relied not only on associative connections, but also on attitudes, although the authors themselves did not realize this. The experimenter created this setup by giving the subject an instruction to remember.

The role of the installation spontaneously, in addition to the desire of the researchers, is well revealed by one experiment. The Serbian psychologist P. Radossavlevich, who studied memory using the Ebbinghaus method, conducted an experiment with a person who did not understand well the language spoken by the experimenter. The subject was asked to memorize a series of 8 syllables by reading them aloud. Radossavlevich describes the course of events as follows: “He read a series of 20, 30, 40, 46 times, without claiming, however, that he learned the syllables, as it should have been according to my (not understood by him) instructions. I almost doubted the possibility of a favorable result, and after 46 repetitions, having stopped presenting the syllables, I asked if the subject could repeat this series of syllables by heart. "How? So I have to memorize these syllables?" was his answer. Then he read a series of syllables aloud 6 more times and easily reached the goal. "

In order to experimentally establish how essential the instruction is, K. Levin performed the following experiment. He forced the subjects to repeat several pairs of syllables, as a result of which associative connections were established between the syllables. After that, the subject was presented with individual syllables, among which there were both those belonging to the learned pairs and new ones, and instructions were given to either simply read or say the first thing that came to mind. The subjects usually did not reproduce the second of the paired syllables. A special instruction was required, that is, it was necessary to create a special installation for this reproduction to take place. Thus, associations by themselves, without instructions, did not cause reproduction.

The role of the mindset for memorization was also manifested in laboratory experiments by B.V. Zeigarnik, who established that interrupted actions (unfinished tasks) are remembered better than completed and already completed ones.

Installation can affect not only the fact of memorization itself, but also its duration. Different attitudes seem to include the memorized material in different contexts, fix it in different systems, some of which cover more or less short-term stages, while others cover entire epochs in a person's life.

In some cases, the orientation of the personality is due to unconscious attitudes that act involuntarily, unintentionally. In his studies about forgetting - about slips, slips, etc. - 3. Freud, of course, revealed in a special aspect corresponding to his concept, the role of such unconscious attitudes.

There is no doubt that emotional moments play a more or less significant role in memorization. Emotionally colored material is remembered - all other things being equal - better than emotionally indifferent.

The psychological literature has repeatedly discussed the question of what is better remembered - pleasant or unpleasant. According to some researchers, it is mostly pleasant (3. Freud) that is remembered, according to others - unpleasant (P. P. Blonsky). The inconsistency of the data obtained by various researchers indicates that in this formulation the question does not admit of an unambiguous solution. All other things being equal emotionally rich will be more imprinted than emotionally neutral; but in some cases will be better remembered pleasant, in others - unpleasant, depending on what exactly in this particular case more relevant, more meaningful by virtue of its attitude to the person's personality. A pleasant or joyful event, which was the completion of something that has lost all relevance for a person and is buried by him in the past, will be easily forgotten. A pleasant memory associated with current interests, tearing off new perspectives and being not so much the end as the beginning of something that is still alive, has every chance of being well imprinted in memory. Equally well remembered and unpleasant, if it is in certain relations - albeit conflicting and painful - with actual interests (due to this connection with them). And vice versa: no matter how unpleasant something may be in its time, it is more likely to be forgotten if what it once wounded is already dead. Memorizing an emotionally vivid impression will depend on its significance for a given personality, on what place it will take in the history of its development.

In this case, individual characterological characteristics should also be taken into account: other things being equal, some people will be more inclined to capture the pleasant, others - the unpleasant (depending on the cheerful, optimistic, cheerful or pessimistic make-up of their personality). Some - proud people - especially can remember what in a positive or negative way affects their personality; to others - that which also positively or negatively affects some other characteristic feature of them. If facts supplied with some (positive or negative) sign are strongly imprinted in the memory of a person that touch a certain side of character, then there is every reason to expect that facts supplied with the opposite sign, but affecting the same characterological trait, will also be imprinted in the memory of this person is strong enough. The attitude towards the orientation of the personality plays a greater role than the positive or negative (pleasant or unpleasant) coloring of the impression.

In addition to emotional nature impressions, a significant role can sometimes be played by the general emotional condition personality at the moment when the impression, in itself neutral, was perceived. In the life of every person there are moments of some special intensity and tension of experience, when all forces are collected, all feelings are intense, everything is, as it were, illuminated with a particularly bright light; every impression, even insignificant in itself, which is created in a person at such a moment, has an especially strong effect.

Thus, in the process of imprinting, reproducing, etc., a more or less significant role can be played by various aspects and properties of the psyche - both emotional and intellectual, and various types of communication - semantic and associative, as well as structural, i.e. articulation of the material.

In all cases, attitudes - the orientation of the personality - play an essential role in memorization. These attitudes can be unconscious or conscious, based on the awareness of the tasks facing the person; in the first case there is an involuntary imprinting, in the second - active memorization, which, with systematic organization, turns into memorization and recall.

Memorization

Memorization starts with imprinting, which initially occurs involuntarily in one or another activity that does not set itself an immediate goal of remembering something. Much is imprinted on us unintentionally. And initially memorization is done in this way - unintentionally in the process of activity, which sets itself different goals and objectives.

Taking into account the need to preserve in the interests of his practical and theoretical activity, a person, as a conscious being, begins to specifically - consciously and deliberately capture material that is especially significant for him: the imprinting then passes into conscious memorization and stands out in a special conscious purposeful activity. When memorization is associated with certain difficulties, the consolidation of the material requires special techniques, a special organization (repetitions, etc.); it then takes the form of specially organized memorization - memorization, which is usually done in a complex learning process (see the teaching chapter below).

Basic meaning acquires therefore question about dependence of memorization on the nature of the activity, during which it takes place. Theoretically, central to the problem of memorization is the question of the relationship between voluntary and involuntary memorization, that is, memorization, which is the direct goal of the subject's action, and memorization that occurs unintentionally in the course of an activity that sets itself a different goal. At first glance, the advantages of voluntary memorization are obvious. However, everyday observations nevertheless indicate that most of what we remember in life is remembered by us involuntarily, without special intention, and much of what we did not strive to remember at all, we remember so that we can never forget. - even if they wanted to.

Research by PI Zinchenko in this regard has convincingly shown that the setting for memorization, which makes memorization the direct goal of the subject's action, is not in itself decisive for the effectiveness of memorization; involuntary memorization can be more effective than voluntary.

In Zinchenko's experiments, the memorization of pictures, which was obtained unintentionally in the course of an activity whose purpose was to classify the pictures, without the task of remembering turned out to be definitely higher than in the case when the subject was given the task of remembering the picture.

A. A. Smirnov's research devoted to the same problem confirmed the fact that involuntary memorization can be more productive than voluntary memorization.

The experimental data of A.A. Smirnov also showed that the advantage of involuntary memorization over voluntary (in those series when it took place) with delayed reproduction turned out to be more significant than with direct reproduction, sometimes more than twice. In other words, what the subjects memorized involuntarily - in the process of activity, the purpose of which was not memorization, was remembered more strongly than what they memorized voluntarily, specially performing the memorization task.

An analysis of the specific conditions under which involuntary memorization, that is, essentially memorization included in some activity, turns out to be especially effective, reveals the nature of the dependence of memorization on the activity in the course of which it is performed. The dependence of memorization on the function or role that this or that material plays in the activity performed by the subject was found in the experiments of both Zinchenko and Smirnov.

In one of his experiments, A. A. Smirnov gave his subjects a pair of phrases, selected in such a way that from their comparison it was possible to deduce some spelling rule (for example: “My brother studies speak Chinese "and" It is necessary study write in short phrases "). The words of the phrases corresponding to the rule were underlined, but the rule itself was not indicated to the subjects. Their task was to determine the rule for which each pair of words is given, and then find another pair of words for the same rule. During the experiment, the subjects were not asked to memorize either the first or the second pairs of phrases, but after a certain time (the next day), the subjects were asked to reproduce all the phrases, both those that were given as a basis for finding the rule, and those which were compiled by them.

The data indicate that memorization of phrases of the second group was more than 3 times higher than memorization of the first (74 versus 24); memorization of pairs of phrases took place in 28 cases for the second group and only in 2 cases for the first. But the main difference between the first and the second group of phrases is, obviously, that in the second case the phrases themselves, their compilation was the direct goal of the subject's activity, while in the first the phrases given by the experimenter were only a starting point for activities not aimed at them, but to find a rule. At the same time, finding the rule in the first case required not analyzing phrases, but comparing words, on which it relied; in the second case, the final task was to find phrases containing the necessary words, and as a result: in the first series of the experiment, the phrases were memorized worse than in the second part, the words, on the contrary, were memorized incomparably better in the first series, where exactly they are were the goal, if not of activity as a whole (which consisted in finding a rule), then of its initial operation. * The same general dependence was found in the experiments of PI Zinchenko.

Thus, it is remembered - as it is realized - first of all that which constitutes the goal of our action. Therefore, if a given material is included in the target content of a given action, it can be involuntarily remembered better than if - with voluntary memorization - the goal is shifted to memorization itself. But what is not included in the target content of the action, in the course of which involuntary memorization is performed, is remembered worse than with voluntary memorization directed specifically at this material. Everything depends primarily on how the subject's action is organized and directed, during which memorization is performed. Therefore, unintentional, involuntary memorization may not be just a matter of chance. It can be indirectly, indirectly regulated. In pedagogical terms, therefore, the most important task arises - to organize learning activities so that the essential material is remembered by the student even when he works with this material, and not only memorizes it. This is much more difficult, but also much more fruitful than constantly requiring students to voluntarily memorize, in which memorization becomes the main goal of their actions.

With conscious memorization and memorization, the rational organization of the primary perception of the material becomes essential.

When the goal is not to reproduce, but only to recognize or subsequently recognize what is being perceived at a given moment, the perception takes on the character of a special familiarization with subject, highlighting its identifying features, etc.

By a systematic examination of students, E. Meiman found that even objects of the immediate environment, which are constantly in front of the eyes, are often remembered very badly, if there was no special mindset to memorize them. For memorization, it is essential that the process of primary perception itself be regulated by a conscious mindset for memorization. For the assimilation and consolidation of knowledge, it is important to realize the importance of a given subject or discipline and, further, this topic or material within this discipline. Along with attitudes, which are determined by the consciousness of the objective significance of the material, emotionally stimulated interest also plays a significant role. The creation of such an interest based on emotional charging can also be expediently used to better reinforce the given material. At the same time, it is essential to observe the correct balance between the emotionally stimulated and rationally grounded memory attitudes. This ratio should be different at different age levels: the role of emotionally stimulated attitudes is more significant at an earlier age, the role of rationally grounded ones - at a later age. The ideal solution to the problem is one that, for each stage of development, finds its own way to use both attitudes in close unity with each other. For this, it is necessary that emotionality is caused not by external means, but from within to saturate objectively significant material.

In the work of consolidating material that a person must remember, repetition usually takes a significant place. The productivity of repetition depends to a large extent on the extent to which this process goes beyond the limits of mechanical recapitulation and turns into a new processing of the material associated with a new, more in-depth comprehension of it. Thus, repetition is not opposed to comprehension, but is itself permeated by it, turning into a secondary meaningful processing. An essential prerequisite for memorization is understanding.

With regard to the organization of memorization, the question usually arises about the most rational distribution of repetition. For memorization, the distribution of repetitions in time turns out to be more appropriate than their concentration on a short period of time. It is installed experimental research(G. Ebbinghaus, P. Radossavlevich, A. Jost, A. Pieron) and confirmed by observations of memorization in everyday conditions. In hasty memorization, for example, just before the test, without systematic study, the material is for the most part quickly forgotten.

A. Jost, who continued the research of Ebbinghaus, formulated the law of the age of associations: "All other things being equal, a new repetition leads to a better memorization of the series that was previously presented in time." 24 repetitions for memorizing 12 meaningless syllables Yost distributed over 4 days for 6 repetitions, for 6 days for 4 repetitions, for 8 days for 3 repetitions and for 12 days for 2 repetitions; the last ratio turned out to be the best.

It turns out to be expedient, of course, not an unlimited increase in the intervals. According to A. Pieron, an interval of more than a day when memorizing a number of numbers is unfavorable. But, according to him, at intervals of 0.5 hours, 11 repetitions are required, at 2 hours - 7.5 repetitions, 5 hours - 6 repetitions, from 10 to 24 hours - 4.5 repetitions.

The distribution of repetitions within a day gives a saving in the number of repetitions by more than half.

The rational distribution of repetitions contributes to both more economical memorization and longer memorization.

Of a certain importance is the question of how it is more expedient to memorize the material - in whole or in parts. Most laboratory studies have led to the conclusion that memorization is generally more effective; but a series of experiments gave the opposite result. In some cases, memorization in parts turned out to be more effective. Obviously, this question cannot be solved dogmatically in a general form. It is necessary to approach its solution more specifically, taking into account the content of the material, its volume, and so on. The benefits of holistic learning are especially significant when it comes to coherent material. Noting also the productivity of memorization entirely with meaningful material, P.O. Efrussi came to the conclusion that with material of uneven difficulty nice results gives memorization in parts. When studying material of uneven difficulty, the following method may be appropriate: first, memorization as a whole, then additional consolidation of more difficult places and, finally, again consolidation of the whole; memorization in parts can be considered, therefore, as an additional method of memorization as a whole. Further, when the material to be memorized is extensive, it is, of course, necessary to distribute it into parts, taking into account the semantic integrity of each part. Any of the parts into which the whole is divided during memorization must itself be more or less a complete whole, and not a fragment; the material must be dismembered so that each highlighted part is, albeit a private, but relatively complete thought. Not a vague integrity, but a clear dissection and coherence of the material is a condition for effective memorization. Thus, in fact, when it is necessary to memorize more or less extensive and heterogeneous material, it is advisable to use a combined complete and partial memorization. MN Shardakov also comes to these conclusions in his research, who calls this method of memorization a combined one.

As already noted, there is an optimal pace of memorization (R. Ogden) - slow at first and faster in the future; he should provide the most favorable opportunity for understanding and structuring the material.<...>

The strength of memorizing material given in verbal form depends primarily on its primary presentation, on the nature of the presentation, on the semantic and speech design.

Highly great importance for memorization has the first playback. While the verbal formulation, in which the material is presented to others, usually undergoes a number of changes, the first own formulations, both successful and unsuccessful, even distorting the meaning of the reproduced text, are extremely persistent.<...>Thought, as it were, merges with the speech form into which it is cast in the process of primary comprehension when mastering the material to be reproduced. Here preservation acts not only as a prerequisite, but also as a consequence of reproduction: it not only manifests itself in reproduction, but also occurs in it.

Recognition

Imprinting and remembering are manifested in recognition and reproduction. Of these, recognition is genetically (at least in ontogeny) an earlier manifestation of memory.

In recognition, perception and the processes of preservation and reproduction are presented in a not yet dismembered unity. Without recognition, there is no perception as a conscious, meaningful process, but recognition is at the same time preservation and reproduction within perception.

To learn is to recognize: recognition is an act of knowing. V recognizing stands out from perception and comes to the fore that matching activity sensory qualities arising in the process of perception of an image with an object, which is already contained in perception. Anything perception, as an act of cognition, contains in itself in a more or less hidden form correlation, juxtaposition arising in perception image with subject. When not this activity is represented in the consciousness, but its result, there is a perception; when this activity comes to the fore in consciousness, the whole process is presented as recognition. (Especially the activity of correlation and juxtaposition is represented in feeling; therefore, the feeling of an object usually easily passes from the plane of perception to the plane of recognition.)

Recognition can take place on several levels. The most elementary its primary form is it is more or less automatic recognition in action. This first stage of recognition is manifested in the form of an adequate response to the primary stimulus. I walk down the street, thinking about something, but suddenly I mechanically bow, only after remembering who this person I met. In the proper place, again automatically, without thinking about it at all, I turn right or left towards the house. External impressions automatically regulate my actions. I recognize the road because I am going in the right direction, and my recognition in this case is precisely in the right actions. Such recognition in action is possible without recognition in the form of a conscious identification of the new perception with the previous one.

The next step is the forms of recognition that are associated with a sense of familiarity without the possibility, however, of identifying a recognized object with a previously perceived one. I may feel that this object is not the same, or that the word that came to me is not the one that I am looking for, but at the same time I am not able to define this object or name the right word. Only in relation to this type of recognition can be applicable the explanation that W. Wundt put forward for recognition in general, when he argued that we recognize things not so much by their signs, but by the feelings that they excite in us; after motor reactions or simultaneously with them, emotional moments begin to play a role in recognition, which create, as it were, emotional overtones of consciousness.

The third stage of recognition is identification subject. The object given to me now in one context, in one situation, stands out from this situation and is identified with the object given earlier in another context. Such recognition essentially presupposes the formation of perception in a concept. It, in turn, can be performed at different levels and on different grounds. But this is always more or less complicated cognitive act.

Recognition, on the one hand, takes place within perception (as opposed to the reproduction of representations), and at the same time, in its expanded form, it is an act of thinking. It rests against perception, on the one hand, and thinking, on the other. The process of recognition itself can proceed in different ways: in some cases it is carried out on the basis of ideas or memories of a specific situation in which this or a similar object was perceived in the past; in others, recognition is generic in nature, based on the concept of the corresponding category of objects; the first method - according to the research of FS Rosenfeld - is especially common in young preschoolers.

Playback

Just as preservation is not only passive storage, so reproduction is not a mechanical repetition of what is imprinted or memorized. In the process of reproduction, what is reproduced is not only reproduced, but to a certain extent is also formed, since the speech design of the semantic content forms this content itself. Thought is included in the process of reproduction, clarifying, generalizing, systematizing, processing and reconstructing the content. Therefore, in the very essence of reproduction is laid reconstruction reproducible - as a result of its mental processing - as an essential aspect of reproduction.

Reproduction can occur involuntarily, in which case it is determined mainly by the associative mechanism and unconscious attitudes. It can occur on the basis of a conscious attitude to reproduction, turning in this case into a conscious process remembering or - in case of difficulty - reminiscences.

The relationship between recall and reproduction is two-way, mutual. Recalling is not only a prerequisite for reproduction, but also its result. Quite often, recollection occurs in the very process of reproduction based on the context that is formed in it. The need to formulate semantic content in speech during reproduction mobilizes thought, as the content unfolds in speech, what seemed to be forgotten is recalled. Depending on the nature of the reference points from which it emanates, recollection can occur either as a transition from separate parts to the whole, or from the meaning of the whole to separate parts.

An essential feature of active reproduction is a conscious attitude towards what is being reproduced: reproduction is recognized by the subject in his relation to the past, which it reproduces; hence the striving for accuracy, for correct, adequate reproduction. By virtue of this, reproduction turns into a conscious reconstruction of the past, in which the mental work of comparison, inference, and verification plays an essential role. Memory, reproducing the past, and thinking, restoring this past, indirectly, by inference, are intertwined in this process in an indissoluble unity, interpenetrating each other.

The position that recollection is a reconstruction, and not a mechanical reproduction of the past, was emphasized in every possible way by E. Bartletg in his major work "Recollection". However, in Soviet psychology and in Bartlett, this position has a different meaning.

By saying that recall is not a reproduction, but a "reconstruction" or even a "reconstruction" (reconstruction or construction), Bartlett argues that at the heart of all reproduction and recall is an affective attitude and the past is reconstructed in such a way as to justify this attitude. ... Therefore, remembering is recognized as an expression of the same activity as imagination. Moreover, imagination is obviously recognized as the main, leading expression of this activity, since remembering is defined as "an imaginative reconstruction", that is, in fact, as a kind of imagination. Reproduction and imagination differ by Bartlett only by the place a given image occupies in the internal history of a person, regardless of the conscious attitude of this person to the objective reality that it reproduces or transforms. This is a subjective understanding of memory. For us, the conscious attitude of the individual to objective reality, to the past, which it reproduces, is of essential importance in memory. It is precisely because of the conscious attitude to what is reproduced that reproduction at higher levels becomes a reconstruction in our understanding; Not content with involuntarily emerging images, reproducing the past, we strive by comparison, juxtaposition, inference to reconstruct the past in reproduction in maximum accordance with the original.

When we memorize something on purpose, it is called voluntary memorization. Its main forms are memorization, retelling, memorization of meaning (understanding the essence).

Memorization is a purposeful repetition of the same material, rote memorization.

If the material is reproduced verbatim as a result of memorization, then memorization was also verbatim.

This is how they learn words and texts when they learn a new language. This is how musicians learn notes and scales before learning to play.

If, as a result of memorization, the basic logic of the text, basic terms, argumentation are memorized - such memorization is called close to the text.

In school, such memorization is called retelling.

Semantic memorization is not the preservation in memory of the material itself, but the relationship between the main blocks of the material, the logic that connects these blocks. mechanisms and processes of memory, we begin with memorization.

Memorization is the process of capturing and then storing the perceived information. According to the degree of activity of this process, it is customary to distinguish two types of memorization: unintentional (or involuntary) and intentional (or voluntary).

Unintentional memorization is memorization without a predetermined goal, without the use of any techniques and manifestation of volitional efforts. This is a simple imprinting of what affected us and retained some trace of arousal in the cerebral cortex. For example, after a walk in the woods or after visiting a theater, we can recall a lot of what we saw, although we did not specifically set ourselves the task of memorizing.

In principle, every process that occurs in the cerebral cortex due to the influence of an external stimulus leaves traces behind, although the degree of their strength is different. Best of all, what is remembered is vital for a person: everything that is connected with his interests and needs, with the goals and objectives of his activities. Therefore, even involuntary memorization, in a certain sense, is selective in nature and is determined by our attitude to the environment.

Unlike involuntary memorization, voluntary (or deliberate) memorization is characterized by the fact that a person sets a specific goal for himself - to remember some information - and uses special memorization techniques. Voluntary memorization is a special and complex mental activity subordinated to the task of memorizing. In addition, voluntary memorization includes a variety of actions performed in order to better achieve a set goal. Such actions, or methods of memorizing material, include memorization, the essence of which is repeated repetition teaching material until it is completely and unmistakably memorized. For example, verses, definitions, laws, formulas, historical dates, etc. are memorized. It should be noted that, other things being equal, voluntary memorization is noticeably more productive than unintentional memorization.

The main feature of deliberate memorization is the manifestation of volitional efforts in the form of setting a memorization task. Multiple repetition allows you to reliably and firmly memorize material, many times greater than the volume of individual short-term memory. Much of what is perceived in life big number times, is not remembered by us, if the task is not worth remembering. But if you set yourself this task and perform all the actions necessary for its implementation, memorization proceeds with relatively great success and turns out to be quite durable. Illustrating the importance of setting a memorization problem, AA Smirnov cites as an example the case of the Yugoslav psychologist P. Radossavlevich. He conducted an experiment with a person who did not understand the language in which the experiment was conducted. The essence of this experiment was to memorize meaningless syllables. It usually took several repetitions to memorize them. This time the subject read them 20, 30, 40, and finally 46 times, but did not give the experimenter a signal that he remembered them. When the psychologist asked to repeat the row he had read by heart, the surprised subject, who did not understand the purpose of the experiment due to insufficient knowledge of the language, exclaimed: “How? So I have to memorize it? " After that, he read the number of syllables indicated to him six more times and repeated it unmistakably.

Therefore, in order to remember as best as possible, it is imperative to set a goal - not only to perceive and understand the material, but also to really remember it.

It should be noted that not only the formulation of a general problem (remember what is perceived), but also the formulation of particular, special problems, is of great importance in memorizing. In some cases, for example, the task is to remember only the essence of the material we perceive, only the main thoughts and the most significant facts, in others - to remember literally, in still others - to remember exactly the sequence of facts, etc.

Thus, the setting of special tasks plays an essential role in memorization. Under its influence, the memorization process itself can change. However, according to S. L. Rubinshtein, memorization depends very much on the nature of the activity in the course of which it is performed. Moreover, Rubinstein believed that it was impossible to draw unambiguous conclusions about the greater efficiency of voluntary or involuntary memorization. The advantages of voluntary memorization are obvious only at first glance. The studies of the well-known Russian psychologist P.I.Zinchenko have convincingly proved that the mindset on memorization, which makes it the direct goal of the subject's action, is not in itself decisive for the effectiveness of the memorization process. In certain cases, involuntary memorization may be more effective than voluntary memorization. In Zinchenko's experiments, unintentional memorization of pictures in the course of an activity whose purpose was to classify them (without the task of remembering) turned out to be definitely higher than in the case when the subject was tasked with specially memorizing pictures.

A study by A.A. Smirnov, dedicated to the same problem, confirmed that involuntary memorization can be more productive than intentional: what the subjects memorized involuntarily, along the way in the process of activity, the purpose of which was not memorization, was remembered more firmly than what they tried to memorize specially . The essence of the experiment was that the subjects were presented with two phrases, each of which corresponded to some spelling rule (for example, “my brother is learning Chinese” and “one must learn to write in short phrases”). During the experiment, it was necessary to establish which rule this phrase belongs to, and come up with another pair of phrases on the same topic. There was no need to memorize phrases, but after a few days the subjects were asked to remember both those and other phrases. It turned out that the phrases they themselves invented in the process of active activity were remembered about three times better than those given to them by the experimenter.

Consequently, memorization, included in any activity, turns out to be the most effective, since it turns out to be dependent on the activity in the course of which it is performed.

It is remembered, as well as realized, first of all, what constitutes the goal of our action. However, what is not related to the purpose of the action is memorized worse than with voluntary memorization directed specifically at this material. At the same time, it is nevertheless necessary to take into account that the overwhelming majority of our systematic knowledge arises as a result of special activities, the purpose of which is to memorize the relevant material in order to preserve it in memory. Such activity aimed at memorizing and reproducing retained material is called mnemonic activity.

Mnemonic activity is a specifically human phenomenon, for only in humans does memorization become a special task, and memorizing material, storing it in memory and recalling it - a special form of conscious activity. At the same time, a person must clearly separate the material that he was asked to remember from all side impressions. Therefore, mnemonic activity is always selective.

It should be noted that the study of human mnemonic activity is one of the central problems of modern psychology. The main tasks of the study of mnemonic activity are to determine the amount of memory available to a person and the maximum possible speed of memorizing the material, as well as the time during which the material can be retained in memory. These tasks are not simple, especially since the processes of memorization in specific cases have a number of differences.

Memorization Is the process of capturing and then storing the perceived information. According to the degree of activity of this process, it is customary to distinguish two types of memorization: unintentional (or involuntary) and intentional (or arbitrary). Unintentional memorization- This is memorization without a predetermined goal, without the use of any techniques and manifestation of volitional efforts. This is a simple imprinting of what affected a person and retained some trace of arousal in the cerebral cortex. Unlike involuntary memorization, arbitrary(or deliberate) memorization is characterized by the fact that a person sets a specific goal for himself - to remember some information - and uses special memorization techniques. Voluntary memorization is a special and complex mental activity subordinated to the task of memorizing. In addition, voluntary memorization includes a variety of actions performed in order to better achieve a set goal. Such actions, or methods of memorizing material, include memorization, the essence of which lies in the repeated repetition of the educational material until its complete and error-free memorization. The main feature of deliberate memorization is the manifestation of volitional efforts in the form of setting a memorization task. Multiple repetition allows you to reliably and firmly memorize material, many times greater than the volume of individual short-term memory. Such an activity aimed at memorizing and then reproducing the retained material is called mnemonic activity. Mnemonic activity is a specifically human phenomenon, for only in humans does memorization become a special task, and memorizing material, storing it in memory and recalling it - a special form of conscious activity. At the same time, a person must clearly separate the material that he was asked to remember from all side impressions. Therefore, mnemonic activity is always selective. Another characteristic of the memorization process is the degree of comprehension of the memorized material. Therefore, it is customary to highlight meaningful and rote.

29. Meaningful and rote memorization.

The development of the student's memory goes not only in the direction of the growth of arbitrariness or intentionality of memorization and reproduction, but also in the direction of the development of the meaningfulness of memory.

In psychology, two ways of memorization are distinguished:

Meaningful

Mechanical

Meaningful memorization based on an understanding of what is being memorized. The basis of rote memorization is only repeated repetition of the same material without sufficient understanding of it.

Rote is not, as some think, a feature of children of a particular age, although it is observed at an earlier age (preschool and primary school) more often than in older ones. This is explained mainly by the fact that younger children often do not yet master the techniques of meaningful memorization, which they must learn from adults.

The mechanical way of memorization, without a clear understanding of what is being memorized, is usually called “cramming”.

Meaningful memorization, as has been said, is based on understanding the meaning of the learner. With such memorization, the newly formed temporary connections are included in the system of previously formed connections in a person. Therefore, it is customary to distinguish meaningful and mechanical memorization.

Mechanical memorization is memorization without realizing the logical connection between different parts of the perceived material. An example of such memorization is memorizing statistical data, historical dates, etc. The basis of rote memorization is contiguity associations. One part of the material connects with another only because it follows it in time. In order for such a connection to be established, repeated repetition of the material is necessary.

In contrast, meaningful memorization is based on an understanding of the internal logical connections between individual parts of the material. Two positions, from which one is a conclusion from the other, are remembered not because they follow each other in time, but because they are logically connected. Therefore, meaningful memorization is always associated with thinking processes and relies mainly on generalized connections between parts of the material at the level of the second signaling system.

It has been proven that meaningful memorization is many times more productive than mechanical memorization. Mechanical memorization is uneconomical and requires many repetitions. A person who is mechanically memorized cannot always remember to a place and to a time. Meaningful memorization requires much less effort and time from a person, but it is more effective. However, practically both types of memorization - mechanical and meaningful - are closely intertwined with each other. While memorizing, we mainly rely on semantic connections, but the exact sequence of words is memorized using contiguity associations. On the other hand, memorizing even incoherent material, we, one way or another, try to build semantic connections. So, one of the ways to increase the volume and strength of memorization of unrelated words is to create a conditional logical connection between them. In certain cases, this connection may be meaningless in content, but very vivid from the point of view of ideas. For example, you need to memorize a number of words: watermelon, table, elephant, comb, button, etc. To do this, we will build a conditionally logical chain of the following type: “The watermelon is on the table. An elephant is sitting at the table. There is a comb in the pocket of his vest, and the vest itself is buttoned up with one button. " Etc. With this technique, within one minute, you can memorize up to 30 words or more (depending on the training) with a single repetition.

If we compare these ways of memorizing material - meaningful and mechanical - then we can come to the conclusion that meaningful memorization is much more productive. With mechanical memorization, only 40% of the material remains in memory after one hour, and after a few hours - only 20%, and in the case of meaningful memorization, 40% of the material is retained in memory even after 30 days.

The advantage of meaningful memorization over mechanical memorization is very clearly manifested when analyzing the costs required to increase the volume of memorized material. Mechanical memorization requires a disproportionate increase in the number of repetitions as the volume of material increases. For example, if memorizing six meaningless words requires only one repetition, then memorizing 12 words requires 14-16 repetitions, and for 36 words - 55 repetitions. Therefore, if you increase the material six times, you need to increase the number of repetitions by 55 times. At the same time, with an increase in the volume of meaningful material (poem), in order to memorize it, it is required to increase the number of repetitions from two to 15 times, that is, the number of repetitions increases 7.5 times, which convincingly indicates greater productivity of meaningful memorization. Therefore, let's take a closer look at the conditions that contribute to meaningful and lasting memorization of the material.

30. Holistic, partial and combination ways of memorization. Dynamic and static storage of information.

The productivity of memorization also depends on how memorization is carried out: in whole or in parts. In psychology, there are three ways to memorize a large volume of material: integral, partial and combined. The first method (holistic) is that the material (text, poem, etc.) is read from beginning to end several times, until complete assimilation. In the second method (partial), the material is divided into parts and each part is memorized separately. First, one part is read several times, then the second, then the third, etc. The combined method is a combination of the integral and the partial. The material is first read in its entirety one or more times, depending on its volume and nature, then difficult passages are highlighted and memorized separately, after which the entire text is read again in its entirety. If the material, for example, a poetic text, is large in volume, then it is divided into stanzas, logically complete parts, and memorization occurs in this way: first, the text is read once or twice from beginning to end, its general meaning is clarified, then each part is memorized, after which the material is read in its entirety again. Thus, for successful memorization, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the mechanisms of the memorization process and use a variety of mimic techniques.

Preservation, reproduction, recognition. A person not only remembers all the information that has been perceived, but also saves a certain time. Retention as a process of memory has its own laws. For example, it has been found that preservation can be dynamic and static. Dynamic preservation is manifested in RAM, and static preservation in long-term memory. With dynamic preservation, the material changes little; with static preservation, on the contrary, it necessarily undergoes reconstruction and certain processing. Reconstruction of the material retained by long-term memory occurs primarily under the influence of new information continuously coming from our senses. Reconstruction manifests itself in various forms, for example, in the disappearance of some less essential details and their replacement with other details, in changing the sequence of the material, in the degree of its generalization.

Memorization and reproduction, in which there is no special purpose of remembering or remembering something, is called involuntary memory.

Involuntary memorization - memorization that occurs without the intentional use of special means for better preservation of material in memory. Due to the fact that various memory processes serve the actual activity, the completeness, accuracy and strength of involuntary memorization depend on its goals and motives.

“Involuntary memorization can be considered immediate only in the sense that it is not associated with the use of means specifically aimed at the purpose of memorization. But it is also always mediated, albeit in a different way from voluntary memorization, if we proceed from the fact that any activity in which involuntary memorization is carried out is always associated with the presence of means corresponding to its goals and content ”. Involuntary memory, like involuntary attention, in principle, can also represent the "highest stage" of the development of the corresponding mental function. From this it follows that the involuntary is not a synonym for the lower. Vygotsky writes: “It is hardly possible to bring more compelling evidence in favor of the origin of secondary (voluntary. - GS) attention from primary than the fact from everyday experience that secondary attention inevitably turns into primary.” In other words, secondary voluntary again becomes involuntary, but being a "derivative" of the primary, i.e. mediated by its genesis, it no longer becomes "lower".

This view of involuntary memory primarily characterizes "the first studies of memory in Soviet psychology," which were conducted from the standpoint of a "cultural-historical direction" (Leontiev, 1928, 1931; Zankov, 1927; Vygotsky, Luria, 1930). The allocation of higher and lower forms in memory and, in connection with this, the impoverished characteristic of involuntary memorization characterizes the work of P.P. Blonsky (1935)

Involuntary memorization and activity

involuntary memorization of the subject preschooler

One of the most important researchers in the field of memory psychology is, of course, P.I. Zinchenko. Many of his publications and experiments are widely known. The most familiar and famous is the experiment with pictures and numbers.

“To reveal the regular connections and dependences of involuntary memorization on activity, it is not necessary to isolate certain material from it, but, on the contrary, to include it in any activity other than mnemonic, which is voluntary memorization.

The first task of such a study was to experimentally prove the very fact of the dependence of involuntary memorization on human activity. To do this, it was necessary to organize the activities of the subjects in such a way that the same material was in one case an object to which their activity was directed or which was closely related to this orientation, and in the other - an object not directly included in the activity, but located in the field. perception of the subjects, acting on their senses.

For this purpose, the following research methodology was developed.

The material of the experiments was 15 cards with a picture of an object on each of them. Twelve of these items could be classified into the following four groups: 1) a primus stove, a kettle, a saucepan; 2) drum, ball, teddy bear; 3) apple, pear, raspberry; 4) horse, dog, rooster. The last 3 cards were of different content: boots, a gun, a beetle. The classification of objects according to their specific characteristics made it possible to conduct experiments with this material not only with pupils and adults, but also with preschool children.

In addition to the image on each card, a number was written in black ink in its upper right corner; the numbers indicated the following numbers: 1, 7, 10, 11, 16, 19, 23, 28, 34, 35, 39, 40, 42, 47, 50.

The following 2 experiments were carried out with the described material.

In the first experiment, the subjects acted with the objects depicted on the cards. This action was organized and experienced in different ways with subjects of different ages. With preschoolers, the experiment was carried out in the form of a game: the experimenter conventionally designated a space on the table for the kitchen, children's room, garden and yard. Children were asked to lay out the cards on such bridges, on the table, to which, in their opinion, they were most suitable. They had to put cards not suitable for these places near themselves as "extra". It meant that the children would put a primus, a kettle, a saucepan in the "kitchen"; to the "children's room" - a drum, a ball, a teddy bear, etc.

In this experiment, pupils and adults were given a cognitive task: to arrange the cards into groups according to the content of the objects depicted on them, and put the "extra" ones aside separately.

After unfolding, the cards were removed, and the subjects were asked to recall the objects and numbers depicted on them. Preschoolers reproduced only the names of the objects.

Thus, in this experiment, the subjects carried out cognitive activity or play activity of a cognitive nature, and not memorization activity. In both cases, they acted with the objects depicted on the cards: they perceived, comprehended their content, and arranged them into groups. The numbers on the cards in this experiment were not included in the content of the task, so the subjects did not need to show any special activity towards them. However, the numbers throughout the entire experiment were in the field of perception of the subjects, they acted on their sense organs.

In accordance with our assumptions, in this experience, objects should be remembered, but numbers should not.

In the second experiment, other subjects were given the same 15 cards as in the first experiment. In addition, they were given a cardboard board on which 15 white squares were glued, equal in size to the cards; 12 squares formed a square frame on the shield, and 3 were arranged in a column.

Before the start of the experiment, the cards were laid out on the table in such a way that the numbers pasted on them did not create a certain order in their arrangement. For the time when the instruction of the experiment was presented to the subject, the cards were closed. The subject was given the task of placing cards in a certain order on each white square, laying out a frame and a column of them on the shield. The cards should be placed so that the numbers pasted on them are arranged in ascending order.

The compilation of an increasing numerical series, the given order of laying out the frame and column with the cards forced the subject to look for cards with certain numbers, to comprehend the numbers, to correlate them with each other.

In order to ensure that the subjects were serious about the task, they were told that this experiment would test their ability to work carefully. The subjects were warned that errors in the arrangement of numbers would be recorded and serve as an indicator of their degree of attentiveness. For the same purpose, the subject was asked to check the correctness of the task: add up in his mind the last 3 numbers arranged in a column and compare their sum with the sum of these three numbers named by the experimenter before the experiment.

For the tested preschoolers, the following changes were made to the methodology of this experiment. Instead of a number, a special badge was pasted on each card. The fifteen badges were composed of a combination of three shapes (cross, circle, stick) and five different colors (red, blue, black, green, and yellow). The same badges were pasted on each square of the frame and column. The cards were placed in front of the subject so that the arrangement of the icons did not create the order in which these icons were located on the squares of the frame and column. The subject had to put on each square of the frame and column the card on which there was the same icon as on the square. The laying out of the frame and column with cards was carried out in the same order as in the first version of the method, therefore, here too, the subject had to search for a specific card for each square with a corresponding icon. After completing the task, the subject was asked to name the objects depicted on the cards.

Thus, in the second experiment, the subjects carried out cognitive rather than mnemonic activity. However, pictures and numbers played here, as it were, in directly opposite roles. In the first experiment, the subjects of the subjects' activity were pictures, and numbers were the object of only passive perception. In the second experiment, on the contrary: the task of expanding the numbers in increasing magnitude made them an object of activity, and pictures only an object of passive perception. Therefore, we had the right to expect directly opposite results: in the first experiment, pictures should be remembered, and in the second, numbers.

This technique was also adapted for the group experiment.

In both individual and group experiments, we dealt with involuntary memorization. The content of the tasks in the first and second experiments was cognitive, not mnemonic. In order to give the subjects the impression that our experiments had nothing to do with memory and to prevent them from developing a mindset for remembering, we presented the first experiment as an experiment in thinking aimed at testing classification skills, and the second as an experiment in testing attention.

The proof that we were able to achieve this goal was the fact that in both experiments the experimenter's proposal to reproduce pictures and numbers was perceived by the subjects as completely unexpected for them. This also applied to the objects of their activity, and especially to the objects of their passive perception (numbers in the first experiment and images of objects in the second).

How can we explain the resulting differences in memorizing pictures and numbers?

The main difference in the conditions of our experiments was that in the first experiment the objects of activity were pictures, and in the second, numbers. This determined the high productivity of their memorization, although the subject of activity in these experiments and the activity itself were different. The lack of purposeful activity in relation to the same objects, where they acted in the experiments as only background stimuli, led to a sharp decrease in their memorization.

This difference led to a sharp discrepancy in the results of memorization. This means that the reason for the high productivity of memorizing pictures in the first experiment and numbers in the second is the activity of our subjects in relation to them.

So, activity with objects is the main reason for involuntary memorization of them. This position is confirmed not only by the fact of the high productivity of memorizing pictures and numbers where they were the subject of the subjects' activity, but also by their poor memorization where they were only background stimuli. The latter indicates that memorization cannot be reduced to direct imprinting, i.e. to the result of one-sided influence of objects on the sense organs outside of human activity directed at these objects ...

At the same time, we did not get a complete, absolute non-memorization of numbers in the first experiment and pictures in the second, although these objects in these experiments were not the subject of the subjects' activity, but acted as background stimuli.

It seems to us that the position of the irreducibility of memorization to direct imprinting, dependence and conditionality of its activity by a person is important not only for understanding the processes of memory. It also has a more general, fundamentally theoretical significance for understanding the essence of the psyche, consciousness.

The facts obtained in our experiments, and the position that follows from them, do not agree with any kind of epiphenomenalistic concepts of consciousness. Any mental education - sensation, representation, etc. - is not the result of passive, mirror reflection, objects and their properties, but the result of reflection included in the effective, active attitude of the subject to these objects and their properties. The subject reflects reality and assigns any reflection of reality as a subject of action, and not a subject of passive contemplation.

The obtained facts reveal the complete inconsistency of the old associative psychology with its mechanical and idealistic understanding of the process of the formation of associations. In both cases, memorization was interpreted as direct imprinting at the same time. Inactive objects, without taking into account the actual work of the brain, realizing a certain human activity in relation to these objects ...

In the experiments described, we obtained facts characterizing two forms of involuntary memorization. The first one is the product of purposeful activity. This includes the facts of memorizing pictures in the process of their classification (first experiment) and numbers when the subjects compiled a numerical series (second experiment). The second form is the product of a variety of orienting reactions, which were evoked by the same objects as background stimuli. These reactions are not directly related to the subject of purposeful activity. This includes isolated facts of memorizing pictures in the second experiment and numbers in the first, where they acted as background stimuli.

The latter form of involuntary memorization has been the subject of many studies in foreign psychology. This memorization is called "accidental" memorization. In fact, such memorization by its nature is not accidental,

Purposeful activity occupies the main place in the life of not only humans, but also animals. Therefore, involuntary memorization, which is a product of such activity, is its main, most vital form. "

Thus, P.I. Zinchenko comes to the conclusion that “the objective content of activity and the nature of its course determine a certain dynamics of nervous processes in the brain. Thanks to this, more or less favorable conditions are created for the formation and consolidation of temporary connections, associations in accordance with the internal laws of higher nervous activity. "

A necessary condition for such memorization is the interaction of the subject with objects. Interaction can be carried out on different levels, act in various forms: from involuntary, unconscious orientational reactions to objects to conscious, purposeful and voluntarily controlled actions with them.

Involuntary memorization is naturally dependent on various aspects of the objective content of the activity and the nature of its course. The main regularity characterizing this dependence, according to P. I, Zinchenko, is that the material that makes up the content of the main goal of the activity is best remembered: the material related to the methods and other conditions for achieving the goal is remembered much worse.

Also, the author notes, positive influence motives and methods of activity on the productivity of involuntary memorization turned out to be in direct proportion to how much they contribute to the creation of such a structure of activity in which orientation in stimuli and their reinforcement are manifested with the greatest completeness.

In conditions when involuntary memorization is carried out using more active and meaningful methods of activity than voluntary, it turns out to be more productive than voluntary memorization.

The mnemonic attitude reveals its advantage over the cognitive one only when it is realized with the help of rational memorization techniques. The main unit in the analysis of structure - processes

memory, their functioning and development is the action of the subject. Therefore, the division of memorization processes (as well as other memory processes) into involuntary and voluntary is the main one, leading in the characterization of the functioning of the memory processes of their development. It makes it possible to overcome the false concept of mechanical and logical memory; it removes as opposition of higher forms of memory to lower ones,

so is the reduction of the former to the latter; it provides genetic continuity in the development of their physiological foundations, methods and forms of reflection of reality.

Expand the principles of the development of arbitrary memory in ontogenesis. Illustrate the dynamics of the development of arbitrary memory with the data obtained in the study of Leontiev-Vygotsky ("parallelogram" of development). Consider the implications of the proliferation of new digital technologies for human memory.

1. Definition, functions, processes, types of memory

2. Arbitrary memory. Memory as HMF.

3. Parallelogram of development. Research by Istomina.

4. Impact of technology on memory

Definition, functions, processes, types of memory

Memory- this is mental process capturing, preserving, reproducing and losing past experience, which makes it possible to use it in activities and / or restore in the sphere of consciousness.

Functions. Acquisition of experience, preservation (this is an active process), and reproduction, forgetting. = Processes... Fixation, preservation, change, reproduction (in consciousness and speech, in action, recognition), loss (normal / pathological forgetting)

Types of memory:

By material: motor, affective, visual-figurative, abstract-logical; procedural - declarative

Whenever possible awareness: implicit-explicit

By functional role in the ensemble of mnemonic subsystems: sensory register, working memory, long-term (semantic, episodic, autobiographical)

Source: natural - cultural (arbitrary and controlled)

By place in the structure of activity: unintentional - intentional; involuntary - voluntary (the last pair is not an opposition, the involuntary is viewed more as unintentional)

Arbitrary memory. Memory as HPF

Within the framework of the activity approach, voluntary memorization is a mnemonic activity, i.e. the activity in which the goal is deliberately to remember... Involuntary memorization occurs as a by-product of any other nonnemic activity, i.e. when the task of memorization was not worth it.

4 signs of HMF: social, mediated, arbitrary, systemic.

Stages of HMF development: natural - use of external funds - interiorization - use of internal funds

Parallelogram of development. Research by Istomina

Research by A. N. Leontiev ( double stimulation technique: stimulus-object - what is remembered and stimulus-means - by means of which it is done). Preschoolers, schoolchildren, students memorized 15 words. (with picture cards (stimulus-means) and without). Preschoolers: and so and so low productivity, cards do not help much.

Pupils: actively use incentives-means (external mediation), it helps them a lot.

Adults: they remember well what is with the cards, what is without, they are already at the stage of using internal stimuli - means (images, verbal description). This is also about the process of socialization of a person: he first assimilates norms through external stimuli, and then they "rotate" and become intrapsychic.

Development parallelogram principle: memory development goes through the development of memorization with the help of external stimuli-signs influenced by the social environment. Interacting with the social environment surrounding him, a person rebuilds his behavior; mastering the behavior of other people with the help of special stimuli, he acquires the ability to master his own behavior; thus, the formerly interpsychic processes are transformed into intrapsychic processes.

Another principle for the development of arbitrary memory: asynchrony of development of the processes of voluntary memorization and reproduction... Study Z.M. Istomina: Pupils kindergarten at the age of 4-5 years were asked to randomly memorize a number of words. Children were lost and did not know what to do. The level of memorization turned out to be extremely low. Then the children were asked to play the game "Shop", in which the same words that were presented to them earlier were presented as a shopping list. The game was organized so that the researcher giving the “shopping list” was in one room and the “counter” was in another. Istomina described 3 levels of development of voluntary memory in children:

1) First no independent purpose of memorization, although the child can already deliberately remember something accidentally remembered.

2) Then already there is a goal to remember, but the child does not yet know how to do it(there are no special means), so, for example, during a game in the "store", he can run as fast as he can to the next room, where there is a "counter", when he heard the shopping list (he is afraid to spill information).

3) The third stage is the child can consciously remember and reproduce(repeats the list - goes)

The impact of technology diffusion on memory

-qualitative differences between traditional memory and the memory of a person formed in technology

-the psyche is of a hybrid nature - mnemonic traces and their connection is brought out.

-the task of remembering something is transformed into the task of remembering the path to this material(memory turns into memory for addresses and requests).

-there is no way to turn information into knowledge(Old needs to be reworked!)

You can memorize huge amounts of material

Without electricity, everything will stop working - Controllability of processes is important

Conduct a comparative analysis of the procedures and results of research of involuntary memory in the activity approach (A.A. Smirnov, P.I. Zinchenko) and in the school of K. Levin. Indicate the factors that determine the effectiveness of involuntary memorization.

1. Comparison

2. Research within the framework of the activity approach (Smirnov, Zinchenko)

3. Research within the Levin school (Zeigarnik, Birenbaum)

4. Factors of the effectiveness of involuntary memorization

Comparison

Both approaches are essentially based on general idea: what is needed now to solve the problem is remembered, this information is retained, realized, is available; as soon as the problem is solved, the information becomes difficult to access again. More details

· Within the framework of the activity approach, voluntary memorization Is a mnemonic activity, i.e. that activity in which the goal of remembering is deliberately set. Involuntary memorization occurs as a by-product in any other nonnemic activities, i.e. when the memorization task was not worth it

Zinchenko: the main form of involuntary memorization is the product of purposeful activity, not mnemonic in nature.

NZ leads effectively when the material is the subject to which the action is directed, not an operation (TARGET level D)

· In Levin's school it was believed that the need keeps a certain content in the mind; I remember only what relates to actual At the moment needs.

Research in the framework of the activity approach and the Lewin school are also close. methodologically... In both schools, involuntary memorization is investigated in the framework of any activity, the goal of memorization is not set, memorization is a by-product

	author	Brief description of the experiment	Conclusion / effect
D E I T E L N O S T N Y P O D W O D	A.A. Smirnov	Interviewed colleagues what they remembered on the way to work	remembered to a greater extent what relates to actual activity
Analyzing the phrases, the subjects deduced spelling rules, and if everything is correct, they were asked to additionally come up with several phrases illustrating the deduced rule. The next day, the level of memorization was checked.	The role of human activity in non-production is important. memorization - the effect of generation - better memorization of the material that was created by the subject himself.
P.I. Zinchenko	Stimulus is a card with a picture of an object and a number. One group classified by image, the other made a number series.	Those who performed the task of classifying objects recalled numbers almost ten times worse than objects and vice versa. High productivity memorizing material, where he was the subject of activity and low efficiency of memorization where he was only a background stimulus
It was required to make pairs of cards according to the coincidence of the first letters of the names of objects or to combine the pairs by meaning. With the second version of the instruction, the subjects could remember a significantly larger number of cards than with the first	It was shown that the effect obtained cannot be reduced to the problem of attention. All the material depicted was included in the work, but memorization was different.
Ten sets of words with four words each were proposed. 3 groups of use: 1) combine the first word at random with one of the three remaining; 2) establish a specific connection between the first word and one of the other three; 3) establish a logical connection between the first word in the set and the most appropriate word for this. after a pause, they were asked to recall the first words from each set.	The role of the complexity of the task requiring varying degrees activity of the subject. The quality of reproduction of the material involuntarily fixed in the memory increased linearly as the task became more complex.
SH K O L A L E V I N A	B.V. Zeigarnik	22 tasks were required to be completed as quickly and better as possible. At the moment of the greatest involvement of the subjects in the task, when they were already on the verge of the final result, some of the tasks were interrupted by the experimenter. After completing the experimental series, the subjects were unexpectedly asked which of the tasks they had memorized.	The effect of an unfinished action (Zeigarnik effect). Incomplete (interrupted) tasks are remembered almost twice better than completed ones
G.V. Birenbaum	They solved problems on separate sheets of paper, each of which had to be signed. Next, distracting tasks. After the break, most of the subjects forgot to sign the first two sheets with the solved tasks, but then they "remembered" their "obligation" and again began to sign the sheets.	Intention is maintained as long as it is included in the integral system of action. It is forgotten when this integrity is violated.
Found on the same material, subject to monograms: if, before putting a signature, it was necessary to put a monogram (stylized signature), the subjects forgot to sign.	The effect of surrogate execution. Partial depression of the target tension can lead to the fact that the strength of the demand tension will be insufficient to maintain the intention to perform the action.
Ovsyankina	An elementary task is given (put together a figure from cut parts, draw an object, solve a puzzle). In the middle they interrupted, slipped another. "And then what, leave?". Ignore. When the app did the second task, the remnants of the first were covered with a newspaper. Then 86% returned to unfinished.	the subject accepted the task - an intention arose, a tense system (quasi-need), which is discharged as it is being performed. “Well, why do adults, having started such a“ stupid ”job, want to return to it? Quasi-need.

Factors of the effectiveness of involuntary memorization

1. Involvement in activity (what is remembered to a greater extent refers to actual activity)

2. The effectiveness of memorization largely depends on the motivation of the activity in which memory processes are included

3. A difficult task is remembered better than a simple one

4. The effect of generation is the best memorization of the material created by the subject himself.