In the understanding of an adult, communication is an expression of one’s own thoughts in order to achieve any result. From the point of view of the general concept of this phenomenon, the very phenomenon of communication is also considered an action. This was written by the scientist A.N. Leontyev. He also offered his explanation regarding the origins of this phenomenon.
Situational-personal communication is ...
The process of human development is multifaceted and continuous. Each period plays an important role in the formation of a holistic personality. From this point of view, the first six months of life are of particular interest to scientists. At this time, communication is based solely on emotions. The circle of persons is limited mainly by the mother, less often by the father and other family members. Communication has no subject and content.
The situational-personal form of communication in this case is of a direct nature, the purpose of communication is to simply transfer your attitude to another person. Usually this attitude is completely disinterested and unconditional. Although, if you follow the logical order of things, everything could be different: the first months from the birth of the baby require constant participation and vigilance from the mother. The mother’s attitude is also selfless. She does not require any response from the baby for her care, loves him and enjoys the very fact of his presence. It is believed that it is in this form of relationship that love manifests itself in its purest form.
Other forms of communication
A form of communication is considered to be a communication method used between the ages of 0 and 7 years. Each form of communication has its own characteristics, according to which it is customary to classify them for research and study.
- Means of communication used by children. For example, if we are talking about babies up to 1 year old, then the pointless type of communication is relevant for them - situational-business communication, non-situational, personal communication.
- Leading motives for communication.
- The needs that the baby seeks to meet through communication.
- The place where communication takes place.
- The time of the emergence of the ability to use this particular type of communication.
Each form replaces the other, based on the acquired skills in the period of the previous stage. In this chain, situational-personal communication of an infant with an adult is the initial form. In practice, this manifests itself as a general activity: an adult says something - the child pays attention; They give him something - he examines the subject, explores it, and so on.
Types of communication by age
Communication skills with other people, the ability to express their feelings and emotions originate from the first days of a baby's life. From this point of view, situational-personal communication is a form of studying the world from 2.5 to 6 months.
At all stages, the leading role is played by adults who surround the baby. Interestingly, the child responds to all types of signals equally benevolently, whether it is rudeness or an angry voice. According to the postulates of psychology, during this period a person develops the deepest foundations of personality. Therefore, attention and constant emotional contact with adults, in particular with the mother, is very important.
Situational-business communication
As already mentioned, situational-personal communication is the period during which the foundation is laid for the development of other types of communication. By the end of this period, the baby begins to develop grasping abilities. After this stage is mastered, another stage immediately begins - the development of situational-business communication.
There are already objects of communication around which the kid is trying to build contact with other people. In practice, this is expressed in the fact that the baby learns to hold toys in his hands, if someone sympathizes with him, he hands him his toys or his hand. Similarly, if something attracts his attention, then he tries to touch or pick it up.
However, new interests and abilities do not cancel the need for emotional contact with others, it remains at the same level. Interestingly, he does not distinguish between adults according to one or another sign: gender, appearance, and how they relate to him. The fact of the presence of an adult nearby is important for the baby. A feature of the development of the baby during this period is his desire to establish completely disinterested contact with adults.
Vocalization
During this period, the child learns to reproduce short sounds expressing his emotions. The foundation of this skill was laid in 2-4 months. If you listen carefully, you can clearly hear that the baby makes sounds from one type of letter. Usually these are the sounds “a”, “o”, “y”, “and”, “s”, or a combination thereof. Positive emotions are expressed by screeching or screaming. If something bothers him, then you can hear something like “ygggugu” or “uguuu”. Sometimes reproduced sounds resemble short words.
The goal of all communications initiated by the child himself is to show affection for an adult. The level of self-esteem in the future depends on this stage. If adults make it clear that they also love him and are ready to interact with him, then a deep conviction is formed in him that he is necessary in this world. Also during this period cognitive abilities develop.
Speech Formation
If situational-personal communication is a form of communication without words, then closer to two years the baby has all the conditions in order to start pronouncing individual words. If there are gaps in the development of speech abilities, then this process can drag on for another 1-2 years.
First, the baby utters babble - individual syllables. Usually this period lasts up to 1.5-2 years. He understands that by combining several sounds that are familiar to him, you can achieve a lot: get food, call your mother, draw attention to yourself, etc.
At this stage, it is very important that adults take an active part in communication. If you do not communicate with the child, then active speech will lag far behind. That is, the baby will understand the words and theoretically will be ready to pronounce them, but if adults do not insist on this, then the child can start talking only after 1-2 years.
Experiment M.I. Lisina
Situational-personal communication is not only the foundation for further development, but also the basis for the formation of attitudes towards surrounding objects. To identify a specific level of influence of this period on the emotional relationship of the baby with adults, an experiment was conducted. The initiator was a psychologist M.I. Lisin.
Two groups of infants were selected: control and experimental. The participants in the experiment in both groups were children from the baby’s house at the age of 2-4 months. As you know, such children are disastrously suffering from a lack of attention.
The experiment consisted in the fact that with the representatives of one group, situational and personal communication of the child with an adult should be carried out, and in the other - not. The adult's task was to provide the babies of the first group with the maximum level of positive emotions. The second group of children was deprived of this.
After the experiment, the change in the emotional state of the infants was measured, special attention was paid to the level of interest in toys and the duration of general activity. As the results showed, in children from the first group, all indicators were an order of magnitude higher.
From this it follows that the situational-personal form of communication between a child and an adult during the first 6 months of life plays a decisive role in the further development of the child. In particular, this factor affects the development of grasping abilities and the formation of relationships with the world of objects, which originates from 5-6 months.
An important point is the age of situational-personal communication - no later than 2.5 months. As the baby develops, the need for the emotional involvement of an adult gradually decreases. But in all cases, the adult remains the organizing link and the main initiator of these relationships.
Conversely, the lack of close emotional contact with an adult helps the child grow up passive and will not show much interest in the environment. This explains the peculiarity of the orphanage environment, where each child grows literally with a critical lack of attention from adults.
Mechanism for further development
It was mentioned above that the next stage of development - the development of grasping abilities - originates from the previous one. It is logical to ask a question about how this happens and how situational-personal and situational-business communication are associated with active action aimed at the subject? Psychologists of different times had their own views and explanations.
One of the theories suggests that a skill is formed as a result of accidental touches of material objects. In other words, a toy or a rattle, hung on a crib at a distance of the baby’s outstretched arm, randomly contacts the baby’s hands. After a while, he begins to realize that he can set objects in motion with his own hands at any time. After some time, he will consciously touch toys and rattles. In this process, the role of an adult is indirect - the creation of conditions. The development process itself occurs naturally.
Another explanation
According to another theory, it is assumed that communication with an adult allows the baby’s sensory system to develop. Adult for the baby is the most informative object. It is this informational content that gives rise to the development of perceptual and sensory systems. When they reach a certain level of development, the baby transfers his skills to environmental objects.
Now these objects become the object of study of the child, he receives new impressions from the process. This explains the interest in bright and large objects.
Third explanation
The third explanation indicates that the adult has a decisive role and his attitude to objects. Usually an adult selects suitable objects and tries to attract the attention of the baby. So there is a synchronization of the subject, a certain attractiveness of things is formed and the baby's interest in them is awakened.
Which of the options is reliable? The answer to this question is interesting not only from the point of view of science, but also from the point of view of the public. The choice of adult behavior strategy depends on a well-defined version.
Conclusion
In order to identify genuine mechanisms for the development of communication skills in children under 7 years old, many scientists worked. Noteworthy is an experiment conducted by E.O. Smirnov. The kids were given several types of objects that were not endowed with special attractiveness for children (small sizes and blurry colors). At the climax, an adult was involved in the process: he examined one type of object, showed the baby some details and actively explored. Then these same items were provided to the baby in a day, in a week and in two. The results struck scientists: the children sought to choose the subject with which the adult interacted more.
However, experts believe it is too early to draw final conclusions, since a large number of scientists are involved in the formation of various human abilities and their dependence on the role of an adult. As soon as new, reliable details are known, perhaps the theoretical part of psychology will be significantly enriched.