6.4. Crisis of three years
The three-year crisis is characterized by the fact that personal changes occurring in the child lead to changes in his relationships with adults. This crisis arises because the child begins to separate himself from other people, is aware of his capabilities, and feels himself a source of will. He begins to compare himself with adults, and he involuntarily has a desire to perform the same actions as them, for example: “When I grow up, I will brush my teeth myself.”
At this age, the following traits appear: negativism, stubbornness, devaluation, obstinacy, self-will, protest-rebellion, despotism. These characteristics were described by L.S. Vygotsky. He believed that the emergence of such reactions contributes to the emergence of a need for respect and recognition.
Negativism
manifests itself in a negative reaction to an adult’s demand or request, and not to the action itself. For example, a child ignores the demands of one family member or teacher, while obeying others. It was also noted that negativism mainly manifests itself in relationships with relatives, and not with strangers. Perhaps subconsciously the child feels that such behavior towards his family will not cause him serious harm. Therefore, we must remember that negativism and disobedience are two different things.
Another characteristic of the three-year crisis is stubbornness.
Its reason is not the child’s desire to get what he wants or demand at any cost, but that his opinion is taken into account. It doesn’t matter to the child whether he gets this thing or not, he needs to establish himself in his “adulthood”, in the fact that his opinion also means something. Therefore, a stubborn child will insist on his own even if he does not really need this thing.
The next characteristic is depreciation
— is inherent in all crises. It manifests itself in the fact that all habits and values that were previously dear begin to depreciate. For example, a child may throw and even break a previously beloved toy, refuse to comply with previously accepted rules of behavior, now considering them unreasonable, etc.
Obstinacy
is directed against accepted norms of behavior in the family and is similar to negativism and stubbornness. For example, if it is customary in the family to have dinner together, then the child begins to refuse to eat at this particular time, and then he develops an appetite.
Self-will
is expressed in the child’s desire to do everything himself.
If in infancy he strived for physical independence, now his behavior is aimed at independence of intentions and plans. This behavior manifests itself not only in the actions offered to adults, for example: “Do it yourself,” “You are already big and can do it,” etc., but also in the persistent desire to do this and not otherwise. This feeling captures the child to such an extent that he openly contrasts his desires with the expectations of others. The manifestation of independence is reflected in relationships with adults. When a child realizes that he can do something on his own,
he does not need adult help. They must understand this and try to avoid negative statements on this matter, not criticize the child, but allow him to show independence.
Protest riot
is expressed in frequent quarrels between children and parents. According to L.S. Vygotsky, “the child is at war with others, in constant conflict with them” (Vygotsky L.S., 1991).
Manifestations of despotism
are as follows: the child begins to dictate to everyone around him how to behave, and strives to be listened to and acted as he says. Such behavior can occur when the child is alone in the family or the last one.
Gender characteristics
When overcoming the crisis period of this age, parents should take into account the gender characteristics of their children.
Girls
By the age of 3, they speak much better than boys, so during a crisis they use their verbal abilities for manipulation. In this they must be immediately limited: clearly define what is permissible to say and what is not.
Girls have well-developed auditory perception, so she needs to say all requests loudly and clearly.
Girls are more emotional, which is why they are the ones who most often throw tantrums and act up during a crisis. Given this psychological feature, parents need to direct their overwhelming emotions in the right direction. For example, delegate some of the household chores, get involved in modeling or drawing.
Boys
By the age of 3, boys cannot always express their overwhelming emotions in words. Therefore, they result in aggression and isolation. To prevent this, talk to your baby every day about what happened, what he feels and what he wants.
Boys have well-developed visual perception, and they ignore half the information. Therefore, it is better to show him everything clearly. Don’t waste time saying “Put the toys away!”, but bring them to them and show them where to put them.
By the age of 3, boys already develop a need to explore the world around them. Therefore, they run around a lot, look into every basement and open hatch, climb trees and fences, put something in sockets, disassemble (= break) household appliances. To avoid injury, parents must clearly define territorial restrictions for them.
6.5. The leading activity in early childhood
, objective activity becomes dominant
which affects both mental development and communication with adults.
In infancy, activity is manipulative in nature: the child can repeat actions shown to adults, transfer the learned action to another object, and master some of his own actions. But when manipulating, the child uses only the external properties and relationships of objects. In early childhood, objects become for the child not just an object, but a thing that has a specific purpose and a specific way of use. The child tries to master more and more new actions of the subject, and the role of the adult is to mentor, cooperate, and help in difficult situations.
By manipulating an object at the end of infancy and at the beginning of early childhood, the child will never be able to understand its functions. For example, he can open and close a cabinet door an infinite number of times, but will never understand its functional purpose. Only an adult can explain why this or that thing is needed.
Mastering the purpose of an object does not guarantee that the child will use it only for its intended purpose, but what is important is that he will know how, when and where it should be done. For example, having learned that pencils are needed for writing and drawing, a child can nevertheless roll them around the table or build something with them.
At first, the action and the object are closely related in the child’s understanding. An example of this is the following fact: he cannot comb his hair with a stick or drink from a cube. But over time, the subject is separated from the action.
There are three phases in the development of the connection between an action and an object:
1) any actions can be performed with the object;
2) the item is used only for its intended purpose;
3) free use of an object is possible, but only if its true purpose is known.
D.B. Elkonin identified two directions for the development of substantive activity:
1. Development of action from joint with an adult to independent execution.
The path of development of action from joint to independent was studied by I.A. Sokolyansky and A.I. Meshcheryakov. They showed that at first the orientation, execution and evaluation of the action are under the control of the adult. This manifests itself, for example, in the fact that an adult takes the child’s hands and performs actions with them. Then a partial or joint action is performed, i.e. the adult begins it, and the child continues. Then the action is performed on the basis of demonstration and, finally, on the basis of verbal instructions.
2. Development of means and methods of orienting the child in the context of the action. It goes through several stages. The first stage consists of:
a) in the non-specific use of tools (manipulation of objects);
b) using an object when the methods of its use have not yet been formed, for example, a child understands what a spoon is for, but when eating he takes it very low;
c) mastering a specific method of use.
The second stage occurs when the child begins to perform actions in an inadequate situation. In other words, the action is transferred from one object to another, for example, a child, having learned to drink from a mug, drinks from a glass. There is also a transfer of action according to the situation, for example, having learned to put on shoes, the child tries to pull them on the ball.
The third stage is accompanied by the emergence of game action. Here the adult does not tell the child what to do, how to play or use an object.
Gradually, the child begins to correlate the properties of objects with operations, that is, he learns to determine what an object can best do, which operations are most suitable for a specific object.
The stages of formation of such fastenings were identified by P.Ya. Galperin. He believed that at the first stage the child varies his actions based not on the properties of the tool with which he wants to get the object he needs, but on the properties of the object itself. He called this stage “targeted trials.” At the second stage - “lying in wait” - the child finds an effective way of acting with an object and tries to repeat it. At the third stage - the “stage of obsessive intervention” - he tries to reproduce an effective method of influence and master it; at the fourth stage he discovers ways to regulate and change the action, taking into account the conditions in which it will have to be performed.
Correlative and instrumental actions are significant for mental development.
Correlating Actions
consist of bringing several objects into certain spatial interactions - this is, for example, folding pyramids from rings, using collapsible toys, etc.
Gun actions
- these are actions in which one object is used to influence other objects. The child masters instrumental actions in the process of learning under the guidance of an adult.
It was found that instrumental actions can be an indicator of the intellectual development of children, and subject actions indicate the degree of their learning and the breadth of contacts with adults.
Towards the end of early childhood, play and productive activities arise in object-tool activity.
Risks
If the main need of infancy (the need for security) has been satisfied, then the need for love is formed at an early age. Moreover, the need for love from a parent of the opposite sex is especially acute. It is at this moment, with an unsatisfied need, that the foundation of the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex is laid.
If at the previous stage of development the child felt the need for verbal contact, then in early childhood the need for tactile sensations is relevant. If she is not satisfied, then the child remains tactilely insensitive for the rest of his life.
If parents limit independence and ridicule attempts to show it, then the child’s volitional regulation is replaced by a feeling of guilt and shame, and self-doubt. This is dangerous due to life’s passivity in the future, denial of one’s own participation in the course of life, indecision and inability to change and build life according to one’s own needs and desires.
7.1. Social development situation
Preschool childhood
covers the period from 3 to 6–7 years. At this time, the child is disconnected from the adult, which leads to a change in the social situation. For the first time, the child leaves the world of the family and enters the world of adults with certain laws and rules. The circle of friends expands: the preschooler visits stores, the clinic, and begins to communicate with peers, which is also important for his development.
The ideal form with which a child begins to interact is the social relationships that exist in the world of adults. The ideal form, as L.S. believed. Vygotsky, is that part of objective reality (higher than the level at which the child is) with which he enters into direct interaction; this is the area that the child is trying to enter. In preschool age, the world of adults becomes this form.
According to D.B. Elkonin, the entire preschool age revolves around its center, around an adult, his functions, his tasks. The adult here acts as a bearer of social functions in the system of social relations (an adult - dad, doctor, driver, etc.). Elkonin saw the contradiction of this social situation of development in the fact that the child is a member of society, he cannot live outside society, his main need is to live together with the people around him, but he cannot realize this, since the child’s life passes in conditions of indirect, and not direct connection with the world.
The child is not yet able to fully participate in the life of adults, but can express his needs through play, since only it makes it possible to model the world of adults, enter it and play out all the roles and behavior patterns that interest him.
Who is L.S. Vygotsky?
Lev Vygotsky is considered an outstanding Russian psychologist, the creator of cultural-historical theory .
The scientist made a real revolution in the field of defectology, and was also one of the first to pay attention to people with disabilities.
When the Western public got tired of the omnipresent Freud, it switched to “life according to Vygotsky.” The famous connoisseur of human souls became a truly cult figure after the translation of his powerful scientific work “Thinking and Speech” into foreign languages - English and Japanese.
7.2. Leading activity
The leading activity in preschool age is play.
A game is a form of activity in which a child reproduces the basic meanings of human activity and assimilates those forms of relationships that will be realized and implemented later. He does this by replacing some objects with others, and real actions with abbreviated ones.
Role-playing play receives special development at this age (see 7.3). The basis of such a game is the role chosen by the child and the actions to implement this role.
D.B. Elkonin argued that a game is a symbolic-modeling type of activity in which the operational and technical side is minimal, operations are reduced, and objects are conventional. It is known that all types of preschooler activities are of a modeling nature, and the essence of modeling is the recreation of an object in another, non-natural material.
The subject of the game is an adult as a bearer of some social functions, entering into certain relationships with other people, adhering to certain rules in his activities.
In the game, an internal action plan is formed. This happens as follows. The child, while playing, focuses on human relationships. In order to reflect them, he must internally play out not only the entire system of his actions, but also the entire system of the consequences of these actions, and this is only possible by creating an internal plan of action.
As shown by D.B. Elkonin, play is a historical education, and it arises when a child cannot take part in the system of social labor, because he is still too young for this. But he wants to enter adulthood, so he does this through play, having a little contact with this life.
Deadlines
Parents faced with a 3-year crisis are primarily interested in how long it lasts and when it should normally end. However, this question is too individual to have a clear answer.
Firstly, it can begin at 2.5 years or at 3.5. Psychologists say that the sooner a child is sent to kindergarten, the sooner a crisis occurs. The main thing is that this happens before the age of 4 - then we can talk about the norm of mental development.
Secondly, it can end within 3 months, or it can last up to one year. This depends on the stability of the nervous system, the child’s temperament, the behavior of the parents and outside psychological help.
Thirdly, a short-term crisis period is most often accompanied by bright appearances, while a protracted period is accompanied by calmer ones. This is the norm. But if it lasts more than six months and uncontrollable hysterics occur annually, a consultation with a psychotherapist is mandatory.
