In the living conditions of modern society, psychological and pedagogical diagnostics of the development of children is of great importance.
Concept and role
In order to find an individual approach to the child, to know his strengths and weaknesses, to train and educate both at home and in educational institutions most effectively, to provide psychological assistance on time, the diagnosis of the child is necessary. This involves a comprehensive study of psychological characteristics, an assessment of personality, a forecast of further development.
Types of Research
There are many types of diagnostics. For ease of use, they are usually classified according to various criteria.
The most functional classification is the selection of species depending on the subject of study:
- Diagnosis of personality - the definition of temperament, type of self-esteem.
- Diagnosis of the emotional sphere. We study the ability to control oneself, experiences, attitude to moral standards.
- Diagnosis of the cognitive sphere is the diagnosis of the development of children intellectually, the study of mental abilities, the study of lateral preferences (determining the leading arm, leading eye, etc.).
- Diagnosis of behavior.
But even this division is very arbitrary, since often a complex diagnosis of the child takes place, when a comprehensive examination and assessment of the developmental characteristics of all or several areas take place.
Classification by types of nervous activity (diagnostics of attention, thinking, memory, speech, learning skills) is also interesting for practice. It is carried out depending on age (diagnosis of preschool children, diagnosis of children of primary school age).
Methodology
Diagnostic techniques for children are very diverse and each of them depends on the type of study. At present, group methods are already losing their importance, giving way to individual testing. But in order for the diagnosis of the child to be successful, it is important to choose the right tool that will be used in the future. In practice, psychologists most often use the following set of tools:
- Observation - the study of the mental properties of a child under ordinary conditions. This is an observation of behavior, game, interaction with others.
- Conversation - gives an idea of the child as a result of establishing contact and direct communication.
- A method for studying the results of children's activities is the analysis of drawings and crafts.
- Experimental method - involves the study of the actions of the test subject in specially created, simulated conditions.
- Tests for children are the most common method widely used by psychologists today.
Test method
The testing method can be called a comprehensive, complex diagnostic method, since during testing a wide range of tools are used to study and monitor the behavior of the test person, analysis of the results of his activities and experimental conditions. Therefore, there are different types of tests for children - quiz tests, task tests, action tests.
Questionnaire tests are often used to diagnose personality; the questionnaire works well in determining the type of temperament. Tests are usually aimed at studying the emotional and intellectual sphere and are especially relevant when it is necessary to diagnose a child’s readiness for school. Action tests are used to study behavior.
Personality Diagnostics
Diagnosing a child for constitutional personality traits: temperament, poise, mobility of nervous processes, etc. is important, as it answers many questions in the behavior of the child. The features of the four main types of temperament are most pronounced precisely in childhood and, with the correct application of the program for diagnosing children, can easily be pedagogically corrected.
Of course, when determining the type of temperament of the child, the questionnaire is also offered to his parents. For older children, independent tests with questions are also acceptable. The analysis of the answers obtained as a result of testing allows us to call the child a choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic or melancholic.
Test "Transfer cubes"
In the process of research, a different number of cubes is placed on a small spatula and give the child the task of moving the cubes approximately three meters apart and returning with them. Then put this burden on the table so that not one dice falls. The blade must be held in one hand.
According to the test results, balance is assessed (what kind of behavior the child shows when he fails, whether he expresses dissatisfaction), ability to work (how much time the child succeeds in completing the task), mobility of nervous processes (how quickly the child understands and accepts the task, is he adapted to work, distracted )
Program for determining the type of self-esteem: test "Ladder"
To find out how a child evaluates himself, allows a very common test, in which a child is given a drawing with a picture of a ladder of seven steps, where the middle step is larger than the others. The child is explained that on the top three steps there are good children, and the best children are at the very top, on the seventh step. Bad children are located on the bottom three, on the lowest - the worst. On the middle rung are children who cannot be attributed to either bad or good. The test person must mark his place on this ladder and explain why he placed himself there. When the child chooses the step, he is asked to tell if he really is or wants to be like that? If he really considers himself so, let him mark the step on which he would like to stand. Let him choose where his mother would place.
The test allows you to find out how the child assesses his personal qualities, as well as his opinion about how he appears to others (mother).
At the end of the test, the psychologist draws the following conclusions:
- Self-esteem is inadequately overestimated - the child instantly positions himself at the very top as an indisputable fact, without explanation, without hesitation.
- Self-esteem is overestimated - he thinks and chooses the very top, arguing about some shortcomings, but explaining this with factors beyond his control.
- Self-esteem is adequate - after thinking, marks himself on the second or third step, explaining his choice.
- Self-esteem is underestimated - it puts itself on one of the lower steps without argumentation.
Diagnosis of the emotional sphere
Diagnosis of the child is impossible without examining the emotional-volitional sphere. In preschoolers, it is predominant in the intellectual sphere. The world is known more through the senses than the mind.
Diagnosis of children of 6 years is very important and informative for parents (educators). Since feelings of anxiety, fear, and embarrassment appear at this age, for six-year-olds, the environment in which the examination is conducted, the personality of the tester, is of great importance.
Cactus Test
Have your child draw a cactus on a piece of paper. Do not help or prompt. It is advisable to answer any questions evasively: "Think a little, you will succeed." Do not give your vision and do not express your ideas.
The figure will tell about the emotional characteristics of the child. Examine the result in detail:
- The size and position of the painted flower in space indicates how the child defines himself in the surrounding world. A large flower in the center of the leaf indicates egocentrism and leadership qualities. A small cactus, drawn below, speaks of an insecure, dependent personality of the artist.
- Dashed lines, strong pressure on the pencil give out an impulsive child.
- A prickly cactus represents aggressiveness. The more needles, the longer they stick out of the flower, the higher the degree of aggressiveness of the child.
- A cactus planted in a flower pot will be drawn by "home" children seeking family protection.
- A cactus growing in the desert indicates a feeling of loneliness.
Intelligence Diagnostics
Tests are mainly used in the study of the intellectual sphere. In this aspect, the objects of the survey are attention, memory, analytical thinking, fine motor skills, and learning activities.
Inclusion Test
Disassemble in the presence of the child a six-seater matryoshka and put six twins, differing in size, in a row in size. Then remove one of them and align the distance between the remaining ones. Invite the child to find her place in the row. If the task is completed successfully, complicate the test: remove two row matryoshkas.
The test is aimed at assessing the level of cognitive-orientational sphere, orientation on the value.
Image classification test
You have two groups of pictures in your hands. Eight are dishes, eight are clothes. Show your child the spoon card and place it on the table. Now - a card with a picture of a jacket, put on the table at some distance from the spoon. The spoon and jacket are arranged in such a way that one can continue the row from one and the other picture.
After that, in a different order, show the child pictures with the image of utensils or clothes with a request to put the next card in the desired row. Do not correct if clothes fall into the wrong group. At the end of the test, ask the test subject to explain why he arranged the cards so.
The purpose of this test is to identify the ability to generalize according to an essential criterion; visual-figurative thinking is investigated.
Test "Search for the season"
The child is presented with four pictures depicting the seasons of the year, and is offered to show where the spring is, where is the winter, etc. and explain by what signs he guessed.
The test reveals the formation of ideas about the seasons.
Test Differences
Two subject pictures are put in front of the test, similar at first glance, but upon careful examination, having a number of differences.
The child seeks and names the differences. The test examines the attention and ability to compare.
Test "What happened first, and then what?"
The psychologist shows four plot pictures. On one, a boy digs a hole, on the second, he sprinkles seeds in a hole, on the third, watering the sprouts, and on the fourth, admires the flowers. The child is invited to place the pictures in order. The test reveals the ability to determine the sequence of events.
School readiness
The study of mental abilities becomes especially relevant when a diagnosis of a child’s readiness for school is required.
Willingness to study at school requires certain skills and the necessary level of development of thinking, memory and attention.
Test "Exclusion from the series or who is superfluous?"
Presenting a series of four objects (images of objects), the child is asked to find the extra and explain why. When a test subject excludes an airplane from a series including a truck, a passenger car, an airplane, and a cart, ask him to give an argument for the answer, ask what word can be used to name all objects, to which type of transport the excess belongs, and to which of the remaining ones.
The test reveals the ability to group objects according to the main attribute, the level of formation of ideas about the world.
Find exactly the same test
The picture shows seven almost identical umbrellas, and two of them are absolutely identical. The difference between the others is insignificant - different specks on the fabric of the umbrella. The child must independently and quickly find two identical umbrellas. The test checks the level of development of attention.
Test "Remember all objects"
The child is offered 9 pictures to study. He must memorize them for 15-20 seconds. Then, turning away, he must name at least seven to eight objects. The test shows the level of development of memory.