3 methods of educational psychology. Basic methods of educational psychology. General concept of the psyche

A method is a way of scientific research or a way of knowing some reality. In its structure, the scientific method is a set of techniques and operations, in our case, aimed at studying psychological and pedagogical phenomena.

One of the main methods in the studied sciences is method of observation, i.e. deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of the external behavior of a person with the aim of its subsequent analysis and explanation. The subject of observation is the actions and deeds of a person, his statements and the facial expressions and gestures that accompany them. The perception of the external behavior of a person is subjective, so one should not rush to conclusions, it is necessary to repeatedly check the results, compare them with data from other studies.

The main condition for scientific observation is its objectivity, i.e. the possibility of control by either repeated observation or the use of other research methods (for example, experiment). Historically, observation is the first scientific method. Observation is of several types: standardized(carried out strictly in accordance with the planned program), free(not having a pre-established framework), included(the researcher becomes a direct participant in the process he is monitoring), hidden(an example is the TV show "Hidden Camera"). observation can be external(observation of a person from the side) and internal(self-observation, introspection - observation of one's thoughts and feelings). For a teacher, external observation is one of the main methods of studying not only the behavior of the pupil, but also his character, as well as mental characteristics. By external manifestations, the teacher judges the internal causes of behavior, emotional state, difficulties in perceiving educational material, relationships with peers, adults, etc. Observation is an important professional quality of a teacher. Some teachers keep diaries of observations. For example, based on the diaries of A.S. Makarenko wrote "Pedagogical poem".

Both psychologists and educators use conversation method. The conversation serves as the main way to obtain information about the subject, the attitudes and motives of his actions, mental states, the degree of assimilation of educational material by him, etc. A specific type of conversation is a conversation as an "introduction to the experiment", i.e. engagement; and an "experimental conversation" in which working hypotheses are tested. One type of conversation is interview - a conversation of a researcher with a person or group of persons whose answers serve as the source material for scientific generalizations.

Of great importance for the teacher and psychologist is method of studying documents and products of the subjects' activities. According to them, an experienced researcher can give detailed typological characteristics of the qualities (properties) of a person, see characteristic features, detect inclinations, abilities.

Recently, it has become more and more widespread biographical method personal study, which includes the study of autobiography, diaries, letters, memoirs and eyewitness accounts, as well as audio or video recordings.

At present, it is widely used test Method, which was once underestimated in domestic science and practice. Now psychologists and educators are armed with several thousand tests. Test (English) test - test, check) is a system of tasks that allows you to measure the level of development of qualities (properties) of a person. Testing is used as a method of psychological and pedagogical diagnostics. With its help, the researcher, on the basis of standardized tasks that have a certain scale of values, with a known probability, reveals the current level of development of the individual's necessary skills, knowledge, personal characteristics, etc. There are tests-questionnaires, tests-tasks, projective tests. The latter is based on the projection mechanism, according to which a person is inclined to attribute to other people unconscious personal qualities (especially shortcomings).

One of the main methods of scientific knowledge in general, and of psychological and pedagogical research in particular, is experiment. It differs from observation and other methods by active intervention in the situation by the researcher. There are three types of experiment: laboratory, natural and formative. Laboratory experiment is carried out in specially created and controlled conditions, as a rule, with the use of special equipment and instruments. natural experiment grew out of pedagogical practice and received wide application and recognition in it. The idea of ​​holding psychological experiment in natural conditions belongs to the domestic psychologist A.F. Lazursky (1874-1917). Its essence lies in the fact that the researcher has an impact on the subjects in the usual conditions of their activities. The subjects are often unaware that they are participating in the experiment. So, for example, the teacher has the opportunity to vary the content, forms, techniques and pace of learning in parallel classes and student groups. Formative experiment - it is a research method in the conditions of a specially organized experimental pedagogical process. It has different names: transforming, creative, educating, teaching method, psychological and pedagogical method of active formation of the psyche. A number of intensive pedagogical methods are based on it, for example, a kind of immersion in the problem, training groups. The results of the experiment allow us to confirm, clarify or reject a previously developed model of impact on a person, group or team.

The study of psychology and pedagogy is of practical importance for future specialists: the knowledge gained in the learning process is necessary in working with staff and social groups, in addition, they will help build business and everyday interpersonal relationships, and are also designed to help in self-knowledge in order to rationally approach own destiny, personal growth.

Observation is a purposeful, organized and in a certain way fixed perception of the object under study. onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> Observation - basic, most common educational psychology(and in teaching practice in general) an empirical method of studying a person. Under observation is understood as a purposeful, organized and in a certain way fixed perception of the object under study. The results of fixing the observation data are called the description of the object's behavior.
Observation can be carried out directly or using technical means and methods of data recording (photo, audio and video equipment, observation cards, etc.). However, with the help of observation, one can detect only phenomena that occur in ordinary, "normal" conditions, and in order to cognize the essential properties of an object, it is necessary to create special conditions that are different from "normal".

• The main features of the observation method are (see animation):
  • direct connection between the observer and the observed object;
  • partiality (emotional coloring) of observation;
  • complexity (sometimes - impossibility) of repeated observation.

There are several types of observations (see Fig. 6) .
Depending on the position of the observer, open and hidden observation. The first means that the subjects know the fact of their scientific control, and the researcher's activity is perceived visually. Covert observation implies the fact of covert tracking of the actions of the subject. The difference between the first and the second lies in the comparison of data on the course of psychological and pedagogical processes and the behavior of participants in educational interaction in conditions of a sense of supervision and freedom from prying eyes.
Separate further, continuous and selective observation. The first covers processes in a holistic way: from their beginning to end, to completion. The second is a dotted, selective fixation of certain phenomena and processes under study. For example, when studying the labor intensity of teacher and student work in a lesson, the entire learning cycle is observed from its start at the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson. And when studying neurogenic situations in the teacher-student relationship, the researcher, as it were, waits, watching these events from the side, in order to then describe in detail the causes of their occurrence, the behavior of both conflicting parties, i.e. teacher and student.
The result of a study that uses the method of observation largely depends on the researcher himself, on his "culture of observation". It is necessary to take into account the specific requirements for the procedure for obtaining and interpreting information in the observation. Among them, the following stand out:
1. Only external facts that have speech and motor manifestations are available for observation. You can observe not intellect, but how a person solves problems; not sociability, but the nature of interaction with other people, etc.
2. It is necessary that the observed phenomenon, behavior be determined operationally, in terms of real behavior, i.e. characteristics recorded should be as descriptive as possible and as less explanatory as possible.
3. For observation, the most important points behavior (critical cases).
4. The observer must be able to record the behavior of the person being assessed for a long period of time, in many roles and critical situations.
5. The reliability of observation increases in case of coincidence of the testimony of several observers.
6. The role relationship between the observer and the observed must be eliminated. For example, student behavior will be different in the presence of parents, teacher, and peers. Therefore, external assessments given to the same person on the same set of qualities by people occupying different positions in relation to him may turn out to be different.
7. Assessments in observation should not be subject to subjective influences (likes and dislikes, transferring attitudes from parents to students, from student performance to his behavior, etc.).
Conversation- widespread in educational psychology Empirical method - based on experience.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> empirical method obtaining information (information) about the student in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions. This is a method of studying student behavior specific to educational psychology. A dialogue between two people, during which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other, is called conversation method . Psychologists of various schools and trends widely use it in their research. Suffice it to name Piaget and the representatives of his school, humanistic psychologists, founders and followers of "depth" psychology, and so on.
AT A conversation is a dialogue between two people, during which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">conversations, dialogues, discussions, the attitudes of students, teachers, their feelings and intentions, assessments and positions are revealed. Researchers of all times in conversations received such information that it is impossible to obtain by any other means.
Psychological and pedagogical conversation as a research method is distinguished by purposeful attempts of the researcher to penetrate the inner world of the subjects. educational process to identify the causes of certain actions. Information about the moral, ideological, political and other views of the subjects, their attitude to the problems of interest to the researcher is also obtained through conversations. But conversations are a very complicated and not always reliable method. Therefore, it is most often used as an additional one - to obtain the necessary clarifications and clarifications about what was not clear enough when observing or using other methods.

• For increase Reliability - the stability of the data during repeated measurements of a variable, i.e. reproducibility of measurement results of variables.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">reliability the results of the conversation and the removal of the inevitable shade of subjectivity, special measures should be used. These include:
  • the presence of a clear, well-thought-out, taking into account the characteristics of the student's personality and a steadily implemented conversation plan;
  • discussion of issues of interest to the researcher in various perspectives and connections of school life;
  • variation of questions, posing them in a form convenient for the interlocutor;
  • ability to use the situation, resourcefulness in questions and answers.

The conversation is included as an additional method in the structure of the psychological and pedagogical experiment at the first stage, when the researcher collects primary information about the student, teacher, gives them instructions, motivates, etc., and at the last stage - in the form of a post-experimental interview.
Interview called a targeted survey. An interview is defined as a "pseudo-conversation": the interviewer must always remember that he is a researcher, not lose sight of the plan and lead the conversation in the direction he needs.
Questioning is an empirical socio-psychological method of obtaining information based on answers to specially prepared questions that make up the questionnaire that meet the main task of the study.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">Questioning is an empirical socio-psychological method of obtaining information based on answers to specially prepared questions that make up the questionnaire that meet the main task of the study. Questioning is a method of mass collection of material using specially designed questionnaires, called questionnaires. Questioning is based on the assumption that the person frankly answers the questions asked of him. However, as recent studies of the effectiveness of this method show, these expectations are justified by about half. This circumstance sharply narrows the range of application of the survey and undermines confidence in the objectivity of the results obtained (Yadov V.A., 1995; abstract).
Questioning attracted teachers and psychologists with the possibility of quick mass surveys of students, teachers, parents, the cheapness of the methodology and the possibility of automated processing of the collected material.

• Now in psychological and pedagogical research, various types of questionnaires are widely used:
  • open, requiring independent construction of the answer;
  • closed, in which students have to choose one of the ready-made answers;
  • nominal, requiring the names of the subject;
  • anonymous, do without it, etc.
• When compiling the questionnaire, take into account:
  • the content of the questions;
  • the form of questions - open or closed;
  • wording of questions (clarity, no prompting of answers, etc.);
  • number and order of questions. In psychological and pedagogical practice, the number of questions usually corresponds to no more than 30-40 minutes of work using the questionnaire method; The order of questions is most often determined by the method of random numbers.

Questioning can be oral, written, individual, group, but in any case must meet two requirements - representativeness and homogeneity of the sample. The survey material is subjected to quantitative and qualitative processing.
Test method. In connection with the specifics of the subject of educational psychology, some of the methods mentioned above are used in it to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent. However, the method of testing is becoming more and more widespread in educational psychology.
Test (eng. test - test, test, verification) - in psychology - a time-fixed test designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences(Burlachuk, 2000, p. 325). The test is the main instrument of psychodiagnostic examination, with the help of which a psychological diagnosis is carried out.

• Testing differs from other methods of examination:
  • accuracy;
  • simplicity;
  • availability;
  • possibility of automation.

(; see the article by Borisova E.M. "Fundamentals of Psychodiagnostics").

Testing is far from being a new method of research, but not sufficiently used in educational psychology (Burlachuk, 2000, p. 325; abstract). Back in the 80s and 90s. 19th century researchers began to study the individual differences of people. This led to the emergence of the so-called test experiment - research using tests (A. Dalton, A. Cattell and others). Application Test (English test - test, test, check) - in psychology - a test fixed in time, designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences. ");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">tests served as an impetus for the development of the psychometric method (psychometry) - a set of theoretical and mathematical models and procedural and methodological rules for organizing the collection and processing of empirical data, which make it possible to express mental properties and parameters of mental processes in a numerical or quasi-numerical (rank, categorical) form.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> psychometric method, the foundations of which were laid by B. Henri and A. Binet. Measuring school success, intellectual development, the degree of formation of many other qualities with the help of tests has become an integral part of a wide educational practice. Psychology, having provided pedagogy with a tool for analysis, was closely connected with it (it is sometimes impossible to separate pedagogical testing from psychological testing) (; see psychological tests).
If we talk about the purely pedagogical aspects of testing, we point out, first of all, the use of performance tests. Skill tests are widely used, such as reading, writing, simple arithmetic operations, as well as various tests for diagnosing the level of learning - identifying the degree of assimilation of knowledge, skills in all academic subjects.
Usually, testing as a method of psychological and pedagogical research merges with practical testing of current academic performance, identifying the level of learning, quality control of learning material.
The most complete and systematized description of the tests is presented in the work of A. Anastasi "Psychological Testing". Analyzing testing in education, the scientist notes that all types of existing tests are used in this process, however, among all types of standardized tests, achievement tests are numerically superior to all others. They were created to measure the objectivity of programs and learning processes. They usually "provide a final assessment of the achievements of the individual at the end of training, in them the main interest is focused on what the individual can do by now" (). (; see the Center for Psychological and Career Guidance Testing "Humanitarian Technologies" of Moscow State University).

• A.K. Erofeev, analyzing the basic requirements for testing, identifies the following main groups of knowledge that a testologist should have:
  • basic principles of normative-oriented testing;
  • types of tests and their scope;
  • the basics of psychometrics (i.e., in what units are psychological qualities measured in the system);
  • test quality criteria (methods for determining the validity and reliability of the test);
  • ethical standards of psychological testing.

All of the above means that the use of testing in educational psychology requires special training, high qualifications and responsibility.
Experiment- one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, who systematically manipulates one or more Variable - any reality, the observed changes of which (according to specific parameters or indicators of the methodology) can be recorded and measured in any scale.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">variables(factors) and registration of concomitant changes in the behavior of the object under study (see Fig. 7) .
A correctly set experiment allows you to test Hypothesis (foundation, assumption) - a scientific assumption in the form of a statement, the truth or falsity of which is unknown, but can be verified empirically (empirically). In psychology, a component of the thinking process that directs the search for a solution to a problem through the supposed addition (extrapolation) of subjectively missing information, without which the result of the solution cannot be obtained. Hypotheses may refer to the result itself or to the conditions on which it depends. An important part of solving the problem is Hypotheses about the principle (" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> hypotheses in causal causal relationships, not limited to stating the connection ( Correlation - ratio, correspondence, interconnection, interdependence of objects, phenomena or concepts; a statistical measure of association equal to the covariance of the standardized variables.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">correlations) between variables. Distinguish traditional and factorial plans for the experiment (; see the group of research of factors of formation of individuality PI RAO).
At traditional planning only one independent variable changes - the experimental effect or the experimental factor - controlled, i.e. variable actively modified by the researcher, in other words, a functionally controlled variable presented at two or more levels (qualitative or quantitative).");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> independent variable, at factorial - several. The advantage of the latter is the possibility of assessing the interaction of factors - changes in the nature of the influence of one of the variables depending on the value of the other. For statistical processing of the results of the experiment, in this case, Analysis of variance is a statistical method that allows you to analyze the influence of various factors (features) on the studied (dependent) variable.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> analysis of variance(R. Fisher). If the area under study is relatively unknown and there is no system of hypotheses, then one speaks of a pilot experiment, the results of which can help clarify the direction of further analysis. When there are two competing hypotheses and the experiment allows you to choose one of them, we speak of a decisive experiment. The control experiment is carried out in order to check any dependencies. The application of the experiment, however, encounters fundamental limitations associated with the impossibility in some cases to carry out an arbitrary change in variables. So, in differential psychology and personality psychology, empirical dependencies mostly have the status of correlations (i.e., probabilistic and statistical dependencies) and, as a rule, do not always allow drawing conclusions about causal relationships. One of the difficulties in applying the experiment in psychology is that the researcher often finds himself involved in the situation of communication with the person being examined (subject) and can involuntarily influence his behavior (Fig. 8). Formative or educational experiments form a special category of methods of psychological research and influence. They allow you to directionally form the features of such mental processes as perception, attention, memory, thinking.

Procedure Experiment is one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, who systematically manipulates one or more variables (factors) and registers concomitant changes in the behavior of the object under study. A correctly set experiment allows you to test hypotheses about causal relationships, not limited to ascertaining the relationship (correlation) between variables. ");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">the experiment consists in the directed creation or selection of such conditions that provide a reliable selection of the studied factor, and in the registration of changes associated with its impact.
Most often, in psychological and pedagogical experiments, they deal with 2 groups: the experimental group, which includes the studied factor, and the control group, in which it is absent.
The experimenter, at his own discretion, can modify the conditions of the experiment and observe the consequences of such a change. This, in particular, makes it possible to find the most rational methods in educational work with students. For example, by changing the conditions for memorizing a particular educational material, it is possible to establish under what conditions memorization will be the fastest, strongest and most accurate. By conducting research under the same conditions with different subjects, the experimenter can establish the age and individual characteristics of the course of mental processes in each of them.

• Psychological and pedagogical experiments differ:
  • according to the form of conduct;
  • the number of variables;
  • goals;
  • the nature of the organization of the study.

According to the form of conducting, there are two main types of experiment - laboratory and natural.
Laboratory experiment is carried out in specially organized artificial, conditions designed to ensure the purity of the results. To do this, side effects of all simultaneously occurring processes are eliminated. A laboratory experiment makes it possible, with the help of recording instruments, to accurately measure the time of the course of mental processes, for example, the speed of a person's reaction, the speed of the formation of educational and labor skills. It is used in cases where it is necessary to obtain accurate and Reliability - the stability of the data during repeated measurements of a variable, i.e. reproducibility of measurement results of variables.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">trusted indicators under strictly defined conditions. Of more limited use is the Laboratory Experiment - an experiment under specially designed conditions that allows one to isolate the so-called pure independent variable by controlling for all other conditions with which its influence may be mixed. ");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> laboratory experiment in the study of manifestations of personality, character. On the one hand, the object of study here is complex and multifaceted, on the other hand, the well-known artificiality of the laboratory situation presents great difficulties. Investigating the manifestations of a personality in artificially created special conditions, in a private, limited situation, we do not always have reason to conclude that similar manifestations will be characteristic of the same personality in natural life circumstances. The artificiality of the experimental environment is a significant drawback of this method. It can lead to a violation of the natural course of the processes under study. For example, when memorizing important and interesting educational material, under natural conditions the student achieves different results than when he is asked to memorize experimental material under unusual conditions that is not directly of interest to the child. Therefore, a laboratory experiment must be carefully organized and, if possible, combined with other, more natural methods. Technique - techniques for implementing the method in order to clarify or verify knowledge about the object under study. A specific embodiment of the method is a developed way of organizing the interaction between the subject and the object of research based on a specific material and a specific procedure.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">methods . The data of the laboratory experiment are mainly of theoretical value; the conclusions drawn on their basis can be extended to real life practice with known limitations (Milgram St., 2000; abstract).
natural experiment . These shortcomings of the laboratory experiment are eliminated to some extent by organizing a natural experiment. This method was first proposed in 1910 by A.F. Lazursky at the 1st All-Russian Congress on Experimental Pedagogy. A natural experiment is carried out under normal conditions within the framework of the activities familiar to the subjects, for example, training sessions or games. Often the situation created by the experimenter may remain outside the consciousness of the subjects; in this case, a positive factor for the study is the complete naturalness of their behavior. In other cases (for example, when teaching methods, school equipment, daily routine, etc.) are changed, the experimental situation is created openly, in such a way that the subjects themselves become participants in its creation. Such a study requires particularly careful planning and preparation. It makes sense to use it when data must be obtained in the shortest possible time and without interference with the main activities of the subjects. A significant drawback Natural experiment is an intermediate research method between observation and laboratory experiment, in which the researcher can actively influence the situation, but in forms that do not violate its naturalness for the subject. ");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> natural experiment- the inevitable presence of uncontrolled interference, i.e. factors whose influence has not been established and cannot be quantified.
A.F. himself Lazursky expressed the essence of a natural experiment as follows: “In the natural-experimental study of personality, we do not use artificial methods, we do not perform experiments in artificial laboratory conditions, we do not isolate the child from the usual environment of his life, but experiment with the natural forms of the external environment. We study the personality by life itself and therefore all the influences of both the personality on the environment and the environment on the personality become available for examination. Here the experiment enters into life. We are not investigating individual mental processes, as is usually done (for example, memory is studied by memorizing meaningless syllables, attention - by crossing out signs on the tables), but we study both mental functions and the personality as a whole. At the same time, we use not artificial material, but school subjects" (Lazursky A.F., 1997; abstract).
By the number of variables studied distinguish between one-dimensional and multidimensional experiments.
One Dimensional Experiment involves the selection of one dependent and one independent variable in the study. It is most often implemented in a laboratory experiment - an experiment in specially created conditions that allows you to isolate the so-called pure independent variable by controlling all other conditions with which its influence can be mixed. ");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> laboratory experiment .
Multivariate experiment . The natural experiment affirms the idea of ​​studying phenomena not in isolation, but in their interconnection and interdependence. Therefore, a multidimensional experiment is most often implemented here. It requires the simultaneous measurement of many accompanying features, the independence of which is not known in advance. Analysis of the links between the set of studied features, revealing the structure of these links, its dynamics under the influence of training and education is the main goal of a multidimensional experiment.
The results of an experimental study often represent an unrevealed pattern, a stable dependence, but a series of more or less fully recorded empirical facts. Such, for example, are the descriptions obtained as a result of the experiment gaming activity children, experimental data on the influence on any activity of such a factor as the presence of other people and the associated motive for competition. These data, often of a descriptive nature, do not yet reveal the psychological mechanism of the phenomena and represent only more definite material, narrowing the further scope of the search. Therefore, the results of an experiment in pedagogy and psychology should often be considered as intermediate material and the initial basis for further research. research work(; see Laboratory of Theoretical and Experimental Problems of Developmental Psychology, PI RAE).

2.4. Formative experiment as one of the main methods of psychological and pedagogical research

2.4.1. The essence of the formative experiment

Formative experiment- a method used in developmental and educational psychology for tracking changes in the child's psyche in the process of the researcher's active influence on the subject.
The formative experiment is widely used in domestic psychology when studying specific ways of shaping a child's personality, providing a combination of psychological research with pedagogical search and designing the most effective forms of the educational process (see Chrest. 2.2) (; see the laboratory of the psychological foundations of new educational technologies).

• Synonyms for formative experiment:
  • transformative,
  • creative,
  • educating,
  • educational,
  • method of active formation of the psyche.

Distinguish according to purpose ascertaining and formative experiments.
Target ascertaining experiment - measurement of the current level of development (for example, the level of development abstract thinking, moral and volitional qualities of a person, etc.). Thus, the primary material for the organization is obtained. A formative experiment is a method used in developmental and educational psychology to trace changes in the child's psyche in the process of the researcher's active influence on the subject.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);"> formative experiment.
Formative (transformative, educational) experiment sets as its goal not a simple statement of the level of formation of a particular activity, the development of certain aspects of the psyche, but their active formation or upbringing. In this case, a special experimental situation is created, which allows not only to identify the conditions necessary for organizing the required behavior, but also to experimentally carry out the purposeful development of new types of activity, complex mental functions and to reveal their structure more deeply. The basis of the formative experiment is the experimental genetic method for studying mental development (see Fig. 9).
The theoretical basis of the formative experiment is the concept of the leading role of training and education in mental development.

2.4.2. Experiential learning as a kind of formative experiment

• Experiential Learning - one of modern methods research of psychological and didactic problems. There are two types of experiential learning:
  • individual teaching experiment, already firmly established in science;
  • collective experimental training, which began to be widely used in psychology and pedagogy only in the 60s. 20th century

An individual experiment allows not only to ascertain the already established features of mental processes in a person, but also purposefully form them, reaching a certain level and quality. Thanks to this, it is possible to experimentally study the genesis of perception, attention, memory, thinking and other mental processes through the educational process. The theory of mental abilities as in vivo developing functional systems of the brain (A.N. Leontiev), the theory of the phased formation of mental actions (P.Ya. Galperin) and a number of other theories created in Russian psychology were based on data obtained mainly with the help of teaching experiments .
Collective experimental training is carried out on the scale of entire kindergarten groups, school classes, student groups, etc. The organization of such research is primarily related to the needs of pedagogy and psychology in an in-depth study of the influence of education on a person’s mental development, in particular, in studying the age-related possibilities for the development of the psyche a person under different conditions of his activity (studies by L.V. Zankov, G.S. Kostyuk, A.A. Lyublinskaya, B.I. Khachapuridze, D.B. Elkonin, etc.). Previously, these problems were developed on the basis of mass material in relation to the system of conditions that spontaneously develop and dominate in given specific historical circumstances. The information obtained in this way about the peculiarities of a person's mental development was often absolutized, and the sources of the development of this process were sometimes seen only in the more or less constant psychological nature of the individual himself. Main Task - 1) the purpose of the activity, given in certain conditions and requiring the use of means adequate for these conditions in order to achieve it; 2) a goal set under certain conditions.");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">task experimental learning consists in a significant change and variation in the content and forms learning activities a person in order to determine the impact of these changes on the pace and characteristics of mental (in particular, mental) development, on the pace and characteristics of the formation of his perception, attention, memory, thinking, will, etc. Thanks to this, it is possible to investigate the internal links that exist between learning and development, to describe the different types of these links, and also to find the conditions of educational activity that are most conducive to mental development at a particular age. In the process of experimental teaching, it is possible to form, for example, such a level of a child's intellectual activity that cannot be observed in him under the usual system of teaching.
Conducting experimental training in teams (groups, classes or their complexes) ensures the regularity, systematicity and continuity of the necessary training influences, and also provides a variety of mass material for further statistical processing. Experiential learning proper must satisfy certain specific requirements arising from the need to respect the basic vital interests of the subjects. These studies should not harm the spiritual and moral health of the people participating in them. In experimental groups, classes and schools, the most favorable conditions for learning activities are created and maintained.

• The experiential learning methodology has the following main features:
  • its content and methods are carefully planned in advance;
  • details of the process and learning outcomes are recorded in detail and in a timely manner;
  • with the help of special task systems, both the level of assimilation of educational material and the level of mental development of the subjects at different stages of experimental training are regularly determined;
  • these data are compared with those obtained during the survey of control groups and classes (engaged in conditions that are accepted as normal).

In combination with individual learning experiment, collective experiential learning is increasingly used in psychology and Didactics (from the Greek didaktikos - teaching, relating to learning) - the theory of education and training, a branch of pedagogy. ");" onmouseout="nd();" href="javascript:void(0);">didactics as a special method for studying the complex processes of human mental development.

Summary

• In educational psychology, all the methods that are in general, age and many other branches of psychology are used: observation, oral and written survey, method of analyzing products of activity, content analysis, experiment, etc., but only here they are used taking into account the age of children. and those psychological and pedagogical problems in the context of which there is a need to address them.
• Methodology - a system of principles and methods of organization, construction of theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system. The concept of "methodology" has two main meanings: a) a system of certain methods and techniques used in a particular field of activity (science, politics, art, etc.); b) the doctrine of this system, the general theory of method, theory in action.
  • In general scientific terms, the method (from the Greek methodos - the path of research, theory, teaching) - "a way to achieve a goal, solve a specific problem; a set of techniques or operations for the practical and theoretical development (cognition) of reality" (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary ..., 1998, p. 724).
  • The methodology meets the specific goals and objectives of psychological and pedagogical research, contains a description of the object and procedures of study, ways of fixing and processing the data obtained. Based on a particular method, many methods can be created.
  • AT modern methodology and the logic of science, the following general scheme of the levels of methodology stands out: the level of philosophical methodology; level of methodology of general scientific principles of research; the level of specific scientific methodology; the level of research methods and techniques.
• One of the most recognized and well-known classifications of methods of psychological and pedagogical research is the classification proposed by B.G. Ananiev. He divided all methods into four groups: organizational; empirical; according to the method of data processing; interpretive.
  • Observation is the main, most common in educational psychology (and in pedagogical practice in general) empirical method of studying a person. Observation is understood as a purposeful, organized and in a certain way fixed perception of the object under study. The results of fixing the observation data are called the description of the object's behavior.
  • A conversation is an empirical method of obtaining information (information) about a student in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions, which is widespread in educational psychology. This is a method of studying student behavior specific to educational psychology. A dialogue between two people, during which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other, is called the method of conversation.
  • Test (English test - test, test, check) - in psychology - "a test fixed in time, designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences" (Burlachuk L.F., 2000. P. 325). The test is the main instrument of psychodiagnostic examination, with the help of which a psychological diagnosis is carried out.
• Experiment is one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, who systematically manipulates one or more variables (factors) and registers concomitant changes in the behavior of the object under study.
  • A formative experiment is a method used in developmental and educational psychology to track changes in the child's psyche in the process of the researcher's active influence on the subject. Synonyms for a formative experiment: transformative; creative; educator; teaching; method of active formation of the psyche.
  • Experimental learning is one of the modern methods for studying psychological and didactic problems. There are two types of experimental learning: individual learning experiment, which is already firmly established in science; collective experimental training, which began to be widely used in psychology and pedagogy only in the 60s. 20th century

Glossary of terms

1. Questionnaire
2. Conversation
3. Validity
4. Hypothesis
5. natural experiment
6. A task
7. Induction
8. Interview
9. Causal hypothesis
10. Correlation
11. Laboratory experiment
12. Method
13. Methodology
14. Methodology
15. Observation
16. Reliability
17. Independent variable
18. Variable
19. Principle
20. Problem
21. Formative experiment
22. Experiment

Questions for self-examination

1. What is the essence of the methodological foundations of psychological research and their implementation in educational psychology?
2. What is the relationship between methodology, methods and methods of research in educational psychology?
3. Name the main stages of psychological and pedagogical research.
4. Give a classification of methods of psychological and pedagogical research on various grounds.
5. Describe the main special methods of educational psychology.
6. What are the features of the application of the method of observation in psychological and pedagogical research?
7. Highlight the advantages and disadvantages of using the conversation method in psychological and pedagogical research.
8. What is the specificity of using the method of studying "products of activity" in educational psychology?
9. Give general characteristics method of experiment and formulate the basic requirements for its application in educational psychology.
10. Name the main types of experiment in educational psychology and give their comparative characteristics.
11. What is the essence of the formative experiment in educational psychology?

Bibliography

1. Ananiev B.G. Man as an object of knowledge. SPb., 2001.
2. Anastasi A. Psychological testing. M., 1982. Books 1, 2.
3. Asmolov A.G. Cultural-historical psychology and construction of worlds. M.; Voronezh, 1996.
4. Bodalev A.A., Stolin V.V. General psychodiagnostics. SPb., 2000.
5. Big encyclopedic dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 1998.
6. Burlachuk L.F., Morozov S.M. Dictionary-reference book on psychodiagnostics. SPb., 2000.
7. Druzhinin V.N. Experimental psychology. SPb., 1997.
8. Erofeev A.K. Computers in psychodiagnostics in higher education. M., 1987.
9. Zimnyaya I.A. Educational psychology: Proc. allowance. Rostov n/a, 1997.
10. Kornilova T.V. Experimental psychology: theory and methods. M., 2002.
11. Lomov B.F. Methodological and theoretical problems of psychology. M., 1999.
12. Milgram S. Experiment in social psychology. SPb., 2000.
13. Workshop on developmental and educational psychology: Proc. allowance for students ped. in-tov / Ed. A.I. Shcherbakov. M., 1987.
14. Workshop on Pedagogy and Psychology high school/ Ed. A.K. Erofeev. M., 1991.
15. Sidorenko E.V. Methods of mathematical processing in psychology. SPb., 2000 .
16. Slobodchikov V.I., Isaev E.I. Fundamentals of psychological anthropology. Human psychology: Introduction to the psychology of subjectivity: Proc. allowance for universities. M., 1995 .
17. Solso R., Johnson H., Beale K. Experimental Psychology: A Practical Course. SPb., 2001.
18. Shevandrin N.I. Psychodiagnostics, correction and personality development. M., 1998.
19. Yadov V.A. Sociological research: methodology, program, methods. Samara, 1995.
20. Yaroshevsky M.G. History of psychology. M., 1985.

Topics of term papers and essays

1. The relationship of methodology, methods and techniques of psychological and pedagogical research.
2. Features of the application of general scientific methods in psychological and pedagogical research.
3. Comparative analysis of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
4. Formative experiment as one of the main methods of educational psychology.
5. Application of the method of conversation in the study of the personality of the student.
6. The problem of the validity of psychological and pedagogical research.
7. Factors violating the internal and external validity of psychological and pedagogical research.
8. Features of the application of the method of analysis of "products of activity" in educational psychology.
9. The main stages of psychological and pedagogical research.
10. Multifactorial multilevel experimental psychological and pedagogical research.

Psychology- the science of the patterns of emergence, development and functioning of the subject's psyche, intersubjective interactions and mental phenomena.

The object of psychology - personality, communication, activities and groups.

The subject of psychology are facts, patterns, mechanisms, aspects of mental phenomena.

Tasks of psychology:

Description and analysis of mental phenomena

Study of the mechanisms of the functioning of the psyche and mental phenomena

Pedagogy is the science of the patterns of education and upbringing of a person with the help of a purposeful and specially organized education system.

The object of pedagogy - education as a special activity to introduce a person to life in society.

Subject of Pedagogy- a system of relations arising in educational activities.

Tasks of pedagogy:

identification and study of patterns in the areas of education and training, management of educational and educational systems

forecasting the further development of educational systems

study of the essence, structure and functions of the pedagogical process

development of effective forms of organization of the pedagogical process and methods for its implementation

development of methods of self-education and self-education

Functions pedagogy: scientific-theoretical, constructive-technical (normative, regulatory).

Scientific and theoretical the function is realized in the description and diagnostics of the pedagogical process, forecasting effective models of this process.

Structural and technical the function is realized through the development of methodological materials, their introduction into practice and adjustment of the process of education and upbringing.

1. Principles and stages of scientific research in psychology and pedagogy

Psychology and pedagogy are guided by the following general scientific principles: 1) consistency; 2) determinism; 3) historicism; 4) unity of consciousness and activity; 5) individuality; 6) development.

The principle of consistency. The key category of this principle is the category of “systems”.

System – it is an integral structure that functions in terms of achieving some goal and has systemic qualities determined by interaction with other, external systems and not reducible to the properties of individual elements of this system.

The essential properties of such a reality as a system are:

integrity,

inclusion in metasystems (i.e., in systems of a higher order),

interaction of elements,

presence of system properties.

Both mental phenomena and objects of pedagogy (personality, group, communication, etc.) are complex, multi-level and dynamic systems, which in different social and subject contexts reveal different systemic qualities.

Principle of determinism is that any mental, pedagogical phenomenon is determined, i.e. has a reason. There is nothing random. And the task of the researcher or practitioner is to find the cause.

The principle of historicism is that any phenomenon must be considered in a historical context. Namely, in the context of his individual history of development, functioning, and in the broad context of the historical conditions of existence.

The principle of unity of consciousness and activity.

This principle means that consciousness arises, develops and manifests itself in the process of activity and communication.

The principle of individuality. According to the principle of individuality, in any mental phenomenon, both the general and the individual should be distinguished. In particular, the teacher must see individual characteristics in each student and, at the same time, be able to attribute him to a certain type of personality.

Development principle mental phenomena (as well as pedagogical objects, situations). As Rubinstein wrote, “The regularities of all phenomena, including mental ones, are known only in their development, in the process of their movement and change, emergence and death.”

Research stages:

formulation of the problem;

formulation of research hypotheses;

choice of research methods and techniques;

pilot (trial) study;

main study;

mathematical processing of the obtained empirical data;

analysis and interpretation of the received information;

implementation of research results into practice.

Answer plan:

method problem. one

Correlation of the concepts "methodology", "method", "technique". one

Methods of pedagogical psychology. 2

Classification of methods. 6

Educational psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the psychological problems of education and upbringing.

method problem.

The problem of the method in psychology, despite its ancient origin, is also relevant at the present stage of development of psychological knowledge. The problem of the method is closely connected with the problem of the subject of science. There are several positions in determining the subject, and, accordingly, the method.

A number of domestic scientists believe that psychology has a special subject of knowledge and a method that should take into account specificity. There is also an opposite point of view, that the phenomena of mental life are the same real objects and may well be studied by general scientific methods. Experimental psychology is, in a certain (historical) sense, the fruit of this opposition. It is the problem of selecting and using a method adequate to the object under study that is one of the key problems of all empirical psychology.

Correlation of the concepts "methodology", "method", "technique".

Method in the most general sense is a way to achieve a goal, a specially ordered activity. In philosophy, the method as a means of cognition is a way of reproducing the object being studied in thinking.

The doctrine of the method is a special field of knowledge - methodology, which is defined as a system of principles and methods of organization, construction of the theoretical and practical activities of the researcher, as well as the doctrine of this system. There are three levels of methodology of science.

1. general methodology: provides the most accurate ideas about the most general laws of development of the objective world, its originality and constituent components, as well as the place and role in it of those phenomena that psychology studies.

2. special methodology, or the methodology of a specific science, allows the latter to formulate its own laws and patterns related to the uniqueness of the formation, development and functioning of the phenomena it studies.

3. private methodology: it is a set of techniques and methods for studying various phenomena by psychology.

Methodology is the broadest concept of the three considered.

A method is a way of organizing an activity. Methods are the main ways and methods of scientific knowledge of mental phenomena and their patterns. Methods must meet the requirements of validity and reliability. Validity refers to the quality of a method that is consistent with the goals of studying and evaluating what it is intended for. Reliability refers to the quality of the research method, allowing you to get the same results with repeated use of this method.

Methodology - a system and sequence of research actions, means (tools, instruments, environment), which allows solving a research problem. That is, a specific implementation of the method, a way of organizing the interaction between the subject and the object of research based on a specific material and a specific procedure.

Methods of pedagogical psychology.

Educational psychology has the main arsenal of scientific methods, such as observation, conversation, questioning, experiment, analysis of products of activity (creativity), testing, sociometry, etc.

Depending on the level of scientific knowledge - theoretical or empirical - methods are defined as theoretical or empirical. In pedagogical psychology, empirical methods are predominantly used.

1. Observation is the main, most common in educational psychology (and in pedagogical practice in general) empirical method of purposeful systematic study of a person. The observed does not know that he is an object of observation, which can be continuous or selective - with fixation, for example, of the entire course of the lesson or the behavior of only one or several students. Based on the observation, an expert assessment can be given. The results of the observation are recorded in special protocols, where the name of the observed (observed), date, time and purpose are noted. Protocol data are subjected to qualitative and quantitative processing.

Self-observation - a method of observing a person for himself on the basis of reflective thinking (the object of self-observation can be goals, motives of behavior, results of activity). This method is the basis of self-reports. It is characterized by sufficient subjectivity, it is used most often as an additional one.

2. Conversation is an empirical method of obtaining information (information) about a person in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions, which is widespread in pedagogical psychology (and in pedagogical practice). Answers are recorded either by tape recording, or in shorthand, shorthand (if possible, not attracting the attention of the speaker). A conversation can be both an independent method of studying a person, and an auxiliary one, for example, a preliminary experiment, therapy, etc.

3. An interview as a specific form of conversation can be used to obtain information not only about the interviewee himself, who knows about it, but also about other people, events, etc.

During the conversation, the interview can be given an expert assessment.

4. Questioning is an empirical socio-psychological method of obtaining information based on answers to questions specially prepared and corresponding to the main task of the study. Preparing a questionnaire is a responsible business that requires professionalism. When compiling the questionnaire, take into account:

2) their form - open and closed, the latter should be answered "yes" or "no",

3) their wording (clarity, no prompting of the answer, etc.),

4) the number and order of the questions. In pedagogical practice, no more than 30-40 minutes are allotted for questioning. The order of the questions is most often determined by the method of random numbers.

Questioning can be oral, written, individual, group, but in any case it must meet two requirements - representativeness and homogeneity of the sample. The survey material is subjected to quantitative and qualitative processing.

5. Experiment - the central empirical method of scientific research, which has become widespread in educational psychology. A distinction is made between a laboratory experiment (under special conditions, with equipment, etc.) and a natural experiment carried out under normal conditions of learning, life, work, but with a special organization, the influence of which is being studied. One of the most effective and widespread in recent decades (especially in domestic educational psychology) forms of natural experiment is the formative experiment. In its course, changes are studied in the level of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, in the level of mental and personal development of students under targeted educational and educational influence.

6. Analysis of products of activity (creativity) - a method of indirect empirical study of a person through deobjectification, analysis, interpretation of material and ideal (texts, music, painting, etc.) products of his activity. This method is widely (and often intuitively) used in pedagogical practice in the form of analysis of student presentations, essays, abstracts, comments, speeches, drawings, etc. However, in the course of scientific research, the method of analyzing products of activity (creativity) presupposes a specific goal, hypothesis and methods for analyzing each specific product (for example, text, drawing, musical work).

In connection with the specifics of the subject of pedagogical psychology, some of the methods mentioned above are widely used in it more often, others less frequently. Analysis of the products of students' activities, their creativity (analysis of the results of solving problems, abstracts, essays, products of labor, visual creativity of students, etc.), conversation, questioning, a formative (training) experiment, along with observation, are the most accessible and used methods in educational psychology.

7. At the same time, the testing method is becoming more widespread in educational psychology.

Analyzing testing in education, A. Anastasi notes that all types of existing tests are used in this process, however, among all standardized tests, there are most achievement tests. They were created to determine the effectiveness of programs and the learning process. They “usually give a final assessment of the achievements of the individual upon completion of training in them the main interest is focused on what the individual can do by now.

All of the above means that the use of testing in educational psychology is a responsible, ethical, highly professional matter that requires special training and compliance of a person with the requirements of the ethical code of a diagnostic psychologist.

8. Another important research method in educational psychology is sociometry - an empirical method for studying intragroup interpersonal relationships developed by J. Moreno. This method, which uses answers to questions about the preferred choice of group members, allows you to determine its cohesion, group leader, etc. It is widely used in pedagogical practice for the formation and regrouping educational teams, definitions of intragroup interaction.

"Research procedures" and their types.

1) Analysis of the existing mental phenomena or activities (some "cut").

L.S. Vygotsky criticized this procedure, because the phenomenon had become stereotypical by the time of the analysis and turned into a "fossil". In order to reveal the specifics of mental phenomena, it is necessary to turn to the process of their formation. In the course of the analysis of this process, it is possible to identify the essential features of a mental phenomenon at the highest stage of its formation and to explain them.

2) Genetic (experimental genetic, genetic modeling).

Formative or learning experiment:

There is a goal setting: to obtain a mental process with desirable characteristics;

The researcher finds a system of conditions under which this goal can be achieved;

The identified conditions are considered to be normative, corresponding to the nature of the phenomenon under study.

Most of all, L.S. Vygotsky, P.Ya. Galperin, A.N. Leontiev.

P.Ya. Galperin sufficiently substantiated this method, characterized its capabilities and methods of implementation - "Method of phased or systematic formation."

V.F. Talyzin described two ways that can be used in this method:

1. theoretical and experimental: the researcher carries out a theoretical analysis of the solution of problems that implement activities and identify the difficulties that students have in solving them.

The constructed theoretical model is tested in the experiment.

2. analysis of existing activities: people who successfully perform this activity are identified. This success is taken as an indicator of the adequacy of its composition, which is subjected to research.

Limitation: the successful completion of any activity by the subjects does not give grounds to believe that its given composition is optimal. The researcher can make a conclusion about optimality.

3) Slice (for example, the method of cross sections) is a study of the existing phenomenon with its division into parts and their detailed description. This method involves the study of participants of different ages, large enough groups to obtain reliable statistical data.

Measurements are taken at the same time period.

But this method does not provide traceability of the true genesis of phenomena. At the same time, with corrective application, it can be adequate for studying the characteristics of the psyche of people of different ages.

The method of longitudinal sections (longitude) - the same areas of the study are used, and it is possible to trace the real transitions from one stage to another.

Sections are made sequentially throughout the genesis.

When using this method, as a rule, all kinds of deviations from the norm (standards), various kinds of defects are recorded.

Classification of methods.

All research methods can be grouped according to the following grounds.

The level of scientific knowledge is theoretical or empirical. Accordingly, methods of theoretical research (approximation, axiomatization, extrapolation, modeling, etc.) and methods of empirical research (observation, conversation, experiment, test, etc.) can be distinguished.

The nature of the actions of the researcher-teacher with the object. It could be:

a) study of the object (all enumeration methods of theoretical and empirical research);

b) processing of the obtained data (qualitative and quantitative, where the methods of correlation, factorial, cluster analysis, etc. are distinguished), different levels of mathematical and statistical processing. To obtain reliable research results, the nature of data processing is important, especially in terms of quantitative (statistical) analysis.

However, it is essential to note that, despite the importance of mathematical processing of research results in any science in general and in educational psychology in particular, qualitative, i.e. interpretive, meaningful analysis is paramount and indispensable.

The purpose and duration of the study: a) to obtain data on the current state of the object, process, phenomenon, or b) to trace the dynamics of their change over time. In educational psychology, as in other branches of psychological knowledge, the study of an object, carried out by different methods, can be short-term, pursuing ascertaining, diagnosing goals. But it can also be very long (up to several years, for example, diary entries of a child’s development), aimed at identifying the development, genesis (actually genetic method) of any psychological formation of a person, its properties, etc. On this basis, two methods are distinguished - the method cross sections and longitudinal method. Using the first method, a teacher, based on a large amount of material, can obtain, for example, a general characteristic of learning, its dependence on the average, the "norm" and deviations from it, the distribution curves of students for various reasons (for example, age, learning success, etc.). The longitudinal method allows us to trace the evolution of the phenomenon, its formation and formation. The advantage of this method over the cross-sectional method is that it solves two problems. I) foreseeing the further course of mental evolution, scientific substantiation of psychological prognosis; 2) determination of genetic links between the phases of mental development. For example, studying the effectiveness and new training program over several years of training the same person, group, class, stream, etc. Widely used in educational psychology, the formative experiment, which often lasts several years, is also a longitudinal research method in its form.

Features of the object of study itself, which depend on what specifically acts in this capacity, a) the people themselves, their mental processes, states, psychological traits, their activities, i.e. the phenomenon itself; b) products of human activity, or c) some characteristics, assessments, indicators of human activity and behavior, its organization, management. Naturally, all these objects are inextricably linked and the distinction between methods on this basis is very conditional, but to analyze the scope of each of them in practical work teacher, such differentiation is expedient. In general, in pedagogical practice, in relation to the study of, for example, a student, it is advisable to use observation methods (in particular, the diary method), conversations (questionnaires, interviews) and testing. To study the relationship of students in a class, in a group (for example, group differentiation), along with long-term observation, sociometric and referentometric methods can be successfully used. With regard to the study of products of activity, in particular educational activities, i.e. in which it is embodied, materialized, the method of analyzing the products of activity is the most common. Purposeful, systematic analysis of essays, presentations, texts of oral and written communications (answers) of students, i.e. the content, form of these messages, contributes to the understanding by the teacher of the personal and educational orientation of students, the depth and accuracy of mastering the subject, their attitude to learning, educational institution, the subject itself and teachers. With regard to the study of personal, individual psychological characteristics of students or their activities, the method of generalization of independent variables is used, which requires, for example, generalization of data about one student obtained from different teachers. It is possible and should generalize only data obtained under equal conditions, in the study of personality in various activities.

Analyzing research methods by the nature of the researcher's action, B.G. Ananiev identifies four groups:

1) organizational methods (comparative, longitudinal, complex);

2) empirical, which includes

a) observational methods (observation and self-observation);

b) experimental methods (laboratory, field, natural, formative or psychological and pedagogical);

c) psychodiagnostic methods (standardized and projective tests, questionnaires, sociometry, interviews and conversations);

d) praximetric methods (chronometry, cyclography, professional description, evaluation of work);

e) modeling method (mathematical, cybernetic, etc.);

f) biographical methods (analysis of facts, dates, events, evidence of a person's life);

3) data processing, i.e. methods of quantitative (mathematical-statistical) and qualitative analysis;

4) interpretive methods, including genetic and structural methods.

Based on the methodological principles of psychology, such as consistency, complexity, the principle of development, as well as the principle of the unity of consciousness and activity, educational psychology in each specific study uses a set of methods (private methods and research procedures). However, one of the methods always acts as the main one, while the others are additional ones. Most often, with a purposeful study in educational psychology, as already noted, the formative (teaching) experiment acts as the main one, and additional to it are observation, self-observation, conversation, analysis of products activities, testing. In the practical activities of each individual teacher, observation and conversation are the main ones, followed by an analysis of the products of the students' educational activities.

Methods of educational psychology
In educational psychology, all the methods that are in general, age and many other branches of psychology are used: observation, oral and written survey, method of analyzing products of activity, content analysis, experiment, etc., but only here they are used taking into account the age of children. and those psychological and pedagogical problems in the context of which there is a need to address them. The changes introduced into these methods, when they are used in educational psychology, relate to the possibility of assessing with their help the current level of upbringing and learning of the child or those changes that occur in his psyche and behavior under the influence of training and education. To determine the specifics of the application of general scientific research methods in educational psychology, it is necessary to consider some features of the relationship between the methodology, methods and methods of psychological and pedagogical research, as well as the levels of methodological knowledge. (http://www.pirao.ru/; see the website of the Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education).

The relationship of methodology, methods and techniques of psychological and pedagogical research
Each science, including educational psychology, in order to develop productively, must rely on certain starting points that give correct ideas about the phenomena it studies. Methodology and theory act as such provisions.
The activity of people in any of its forms (scientific, practical, etc.) is determined by a number of factors. Its final result depends not only on who acts (subject) or what it is aimed at (object), but also on how this process is carried out, what methods, techniques, means are used in this case. This is the problem with the method.
The history and the current state of knowledge and practice convincingly show that not every method, not every system of principles and other means of activity provides a successful solution of theoretical and practical problems. Not only the result of the study, but also the path leading to it must be true (see Fig. 2).

Methodology - a system of principles and methods of organization, construction of theoretical and practical activities, as well as the doctrine of this system.
The concept of "methodology" has two main meanings: a) a system of certain methods and techniques used in a particular field of activity (science, politics, art, etc.); b) the doctrine of this system, the general theory of method, theory in action.
Methodology:
teaches how a scientist or practitioner should act in order to get a true result;
explores the internal mechanisms, logic of movement and organization of knowledge;
reveals the laws of functioning and change of knowledge;
studies the explanatory schemes of science, etc.
In turn, theory is a set of views, judgments, conclusions, which are the result of knowledge and understanding of the studied phenomena and processes of objective reality.
This or that scientific approach and methodological principles are realized in specific research methods. In general scientific terms, the method (from the Greek methodos - the path of research, theory, teaching) - "a way to achieve a goal, solve a specific problem; a set of techniques or operations for the practical and theoretical development (cognition) of reality" (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998 pp. 724, abstract).
The main function of the method is the internal organization and regulation of the process of cognition and practical transformation of an object. Therefore, the method (in one form or another) is reduced to a set of certain rules, techniques, methods, norms of cognition and action. It is a system of prescriptions, principles, requirements that should guide in solving a specific problem, achieving a certain result in a particular area of ​​activity. It disciplines the search for truth, allows (if it is correct) to save time and effort, to move towards the goal in the shortest way. The true method serves as a kind of compass, according to which the subject of knowledge and action paves its way, allows you to avoid mistakes.
In turn, the methods of pedagogical psychology are specified in research methods. The methodology meets the specific goals and objectives of psychological and pedagogical research, contains a description of the object and procedures of study, ways of fixing and processing the data obtained. Based on a particular method, many methods can be created. For example, the experimental method in educational psychology is embodied in methods for studying the intellect, will, personality of the student, and other aspects of mental reality.
Example. Let us consider the "triangle" of the relationship between the methodology, methods and methods of psychological and pedagogical research on the example of domestic psychology and humanistic psychology.
In the Soviet period, the development of domestic pedagogical psychology, as well as psychology in general, was due to the prevalence of the dialectical-materialistic approach to understanding the essence of the phenomena of reality.
Its gist was:
in the idea of ​​the primacy of matter and the secondary nature of consciousness;
idea of ​​the driving forces of the development of the surrounding reality and the psyche;
understanding the unity of external, material activity and internal, mental;
awareness of the social conditionality of the development of the human psyche.
Consequently, one of the most important research methods in the field of psychology, in particular educational psychology, was the method of experiment. With the help of this method, hypotheses of the causal, i.e. causal nature. At that time, such a type of experiment as a formative experiment gained particular popularity. Therefore, various programs of a formative experiment, correctional and developmental training programs, etc. were actively developed.
The basis of humanistic psychology (K. Rogers, A. Maslow, etc.) is the humanitarian paradigm. This paradigm in science presupposes the knowledge of nature, society, man himself from an anthropological, humanistic position; it introduces a "human dimension" into all spheres of public life. It is characterized by the use of general principles in the interpretation of individual, social or historical events. But at the same time, a single case is not considered as a special case of a general pattern, but is taken in its own value and autonomy. For humanitarian knowledge, it is important to comprehend individual facts as such. Therefore, one of the main ways of knowing a person and his "second nature" is understanding. Understanding is not only knowledge, but also complicity, empathy, sympathy for another. Therefore, among the main methods of cognition, the methods of practical psychology prevail (psychological consultation, psychotherapy, psychotraining, transactional analysis, etc.). (http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1995/952/952019.htm; see the article by V.N. Vorobieva "Humanitarian psychology: subject and tasks").

Levels of methodological knowledge
In modern methodology and logic of science (Asmolov A.G., 1996, abstract), the following general scheme of methodology levels is distinguished:
level of philosophical methodology;
level of methodology of general scientific principles of research;
the level of specific scientific methodology;
the level of research methods and techniques.
(http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1999/991/991003.htm - see the article by Asmolov A.G. "XXI century: psychology in the age of psychology (dedicated to the memory of my teacher A.N. Leontiev ( 1903-1979)).
Philosophical methodology is the basis on which research activity is based. Major philosophical doctrines act as the methodological basis of specific scientific areas. It does not exist as a system of rigid norms or indications of the need for vague techniques, but only offers basic guidelines. Consideration of the general forms of scientific thinking belongs to the same level of methodology.
General scientific methodology includes attempts to develop universal principles, means and forms of scientific knowledge, correlated, at least potentially, not with any particular science, but applicable to a wide range of sciences. However, this level of methodology still remains, in contrast to philosophical methodology, within the framework of proper scientific knowledge, without expanding to the general worldview level.
These include, for example, the concepts of systemic scientific analysis, the structural-level approach, cybernetic principles of description complex systems and others. At this level, general problems of constructing scientific research, ways of carrying out theoretical and empirical activities, in particular, general problems of constructing an experiment, observation and modeling are developed (http://www.vygotsky.edu.ru/html/da.php ; see International Department of Cultural-Historical Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education).
Specific scientific methodology develops the same problems as general scientific methodology, but within the framework of specific sciences, based on the characteristics of the object of science, in relation to both theory and empirical activity.
This is carried out within the framework of knowledge systems created by scientific schools, which differ from each other in their explanatory principles and methods of research and practical work (http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1999/993/993018.htm; see. article Lazareva VS Problems of understanding mental development in the cultural-historical theory of activity).
At the level of specific methods and techniques of research, the development of specific methods of psychological and pedagogical research is carried out in relation to the solution of cognitive problems of a certain type. At this level, the problems of validity and methodology of the developed diagnostic research methods are considered (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/l-diag.html; see the laboratory for the diagnosis and correction of mental development of the PI RAO).

Classification of methods of psychological and pedagogical research
One of the most recognized and well-known classifications of methods of psychological and pedagogical research is the classification proposed by B.G. Ananiev (Ananiev B.G., 2001; abstract) (http://www.yspu.yar.ru:8101/vestnik/pedagoka_i_psichologiy/4_2/; see the article by Mazilov V.A. "B.G. Ananiev and modern psychology(To the 90th anniversary of the birth of B.G. Ananiev)").
He divided all methods into four groups:
organizational;
empirical;
according to the method of data processing;
interpretive.
1. The scientist attributed to organizational methods:
comparative method as a comparison of different groups by age, activity, etc.;
longitudinal - as multiple examinations of the same persons over a long period of time;
complex - as a study of one object by representatives of different sciences.
2. To empirical:
observational methods (observation and self-observation);
experiment (laboratory, field, natural, etc.);
psychodiagnostic method;
analysis of processes and products of activity (praxiometric methods);
modeling;
biographical method.
3. By the way of data processing
methods of mathematical and statistical data analysis and
methods of qualitative description (Sidorenko E.V., 2000; abstract).
4. To interpretation
genetic (phylo- and ontogenetic) method;
structural method (classification, typology, etc.).
Ananiev described each of the methods in detail, but with all the thoroughness of his argumentation, as V.N. Druzhinin in his book "Experimental Psychology" (Druzhinin V.N., 1997; abstract), many unresolved problems remain: why did modeling turn out to be an empirical method? How are practical methods different from field experiment and instrumental observation? Why is the group of interpretative methods separated from organizational ones?
It is advisable, by analogy with other sciences, to distinguish three classes of methods in educational psychology:
1. Empirical, in which externally real interaction of the subject and object of research is carried out.
2. Theoretical, when the subject interacts with the mental model of the object (more precisely, the subject of study).
3. Interpretation-descriptive, in which the subject "externally" interacts with the sign-symbolic representation of the object (graphs, tables, diagrams).
The result of the application of empirical methods is data that fixes the state of the object with instrument readings; reflecting the results of activities, etc.
The result of the application of theoretical methods is represented by knowledge about the subject in the form of natural language, sign-symbolic or spatial-schematic.
Among the main theoretical methods of psychological and pedagogical research, V.V. Druzhinin pointed out:
deductive (axiomatic and hypothetical-deductive), otherwise - the ascent from the general to the particular, from the abstract to the concrete. The result is theory, law, etc.;
inductive - generalization of facts, ascent from the particular to the general. The result is an inductive hypothesis, regularity, classification, systematization;
modeling - concretization of the analogy method, "transduction", inference from particular to particular, when a simpler and / or more accessible object is taken as an analogue of a more complex object. The result is a model of an object, process, state.
Finally, interpretive-descriptive methods are a "meeting place" for the results of applying theoretical and experimental methods and where they interact. The data of an empirical study, on the one hand, are subjected to primary processing and presentation in accordance with the requirements for the results of the theory, model, and inductive hypothesis that organize the study; on the other hand, these data are interpreted in terms of competing concepts for the correspondence of hypotheses to the results.
The product of interpretation is a fact, an empirical dependence, and, ultimately, a justification or refutation of the hypothesis.

Basic Methods of Educational Psychology
Observation is the main, most common in educational psychology (and in pedagogical practice in general) empirical method of studying a person. Observation is understood as a purposeful, organized and in a certain way fixed perception of the object under study. The results of fixing the observation data are called the description of the object's behavior.
Observation can be carried out directly or using technical means and methods of data recording (photo, audio and video equipment, observation cards, etc.). However, with the help of observation, one can detect only phenomena that occur in ordinary, "normal" conditions, and in order to cognize the essential properties of an object, it is necessary to create special conditions that are different from "normal".
The main features of the observation method are:
direct connection between the observer and the observed object;
partiality (emotional coloring) of observation;
complexity (sometimes - impossibility) of repeated observation.
There are several types of observations. Depending on the position of the observer, open and covert observation are distinguished. The first means that the subjects know the fact of their scientific control, and the researcher's activity is perceived visually. Covert observation implies the fact of covert tracking of the actions of the subject. The difference between the first and the second lies in the comparison of data on the course of psychological and pedagogical processes and the behavior of participants in educational interaction in conditions of a sense of supervision and freedom from prying eyes.
Further, continuous and selective observation are distinguished. The first covers processes in a holistic way: from their beginning to end, to completion. The second is a dotted, selective fixation of certain phenomena and processes under study. For example, when studying the labor intensity of teacher and student work in a lesson, the entire learning cycle is observed from its start at the beginning of the lesson to the end of the lesson. And when studying neurogenic situations in the teacher-student relationship, the researcher, as it were, waits, watching these events from the side, in order to then describe in detail the causes of their occurrence, the behavior of both conflicting parties, i.e. teacher and student.
The result of a study that uses the method of observation largely depends on the researcher himself, on his "culture of observation". It is necessary to take into account the specific requirements for the procedure for obtaining and interpreting information in the observation. Among them, the following stand out:
1. Only external facts that have speech and motor manifestations are available for observation. You can observe not intellect, but how a person solves problems; not sociability, but the nature of interaction with other people, etc.
2. It is necessary that the observed phenomenon, behavior be determined operationally, in terms of real behavior, i.e. characteristics recorded should be as descriptive as possible and as less explanatory as possible.
3. The most important moments of behavior (critical cases) should be highlighted for observation.
4. The observer must be able to record the behavior of the person being assessed for a long period of time, in many roles and critical situations.
5. The reliability of observation increases in case of coincidence of the testimony of several observers.
6. The role relationship between the observer and the observed must be eliminated. For example, student behavior will be different in the presence of parents, teacher, and peers. Therefore, external assessments given to the same person on the same set of qualities by people occupying different positions in relation to him may turn out to be different.
7. Assessments in observation should not be subject to subjective influences (likes and dislikes, transferring attitudes from parents to students, from student performance to his behavior, etc.).
A conversation is an empirical method of obtaining information (information) about a student in communication with him, as a result of his answers to targeted questions, which is widespread in educational psychology. This is a method of studying student behavior specific to educational psychology. A dialogue between two people, during which one person reveals the psychological characteristics of the other, is called the method of conversation. Psychologists of various schools and trends widely use it in their research. Suffice it to name Piaget and the representatives of his school, humanistic psychologists, founders and followers of "depth" psychology, and so on.
In conversations, dialogues, discussions, the attitudes of students, teachers, their feelings and intentions, assessments and positions are revealed. Researchers of all times in conversations received such information that it is impossible to obtain by any other means.
Psychological and pedagogical conversation as a method of research is distinguished by purposeful attempts of the researcher to penetrate into the inner world of the subjects of the educational process, to identify the reasons for certain actions. Information about the moral, ideological, political and other views of the subjects, their attitude to the problems of interest to the researcher is also obtained through conversations. But conversations are a very complicated and not always reliable method. Therefore, it is most often used as an additional one - to obtain the necessary clarifications and clarifications about what was not clear enough when observing or using other methods.
To increase the reliability of the results of the conversation and remove the inevitable shade of subjectivity, special measures should be used. These include:
the presence of a clear, well-thought-out, taking into account the characteristics of the student's personality and a steadily implemented conversation plan;
discussion of issues of interest to the researcher in various perspectives and connections of school life;
variation of questions, posing them in a form convenient for the interlocutor;
ability to use the situation, resourcefulness in questions and answers.
The conversation is included as an additional method in the structure of the psychological and pedagogical experiment at the first stage, when the researcher collects primary information about the student, teacher, gives them instructions, motivates, etc., and at the last stage - in the form of a post-experimental interview.
The interview is called a targeted survey. An interview is defined as a "pseudo-conversation": the interviewer must always remember that he is a researcher, not lose sight of the plan and lead the conversation in the direction he needs.
Questioning is an empirical socio-psychological method of obtaining information based on answers to specially prepared questions that make up the questionnaire that meet the main task of the study. Questioning is a method of mass collection of material using specially designed questionnaires, called questionnaires. Questioning is based on the assumption that the person frankly answers the questions asked of him. However, as recent studies of the effectiveness of this method show, these expectations are justified by about half. This circumstance sharply narrows the range of application of the survey and undermines confidence in the objectivity of the results obtained (Yadov V.A., 1995; abstract).
Questioning attracted teachers and psychologists with the possibility of quick mass surveys of students, teachers, parents, the cheapness of the methodology and the possibility of automated processing of the collected material.
Now in psychological and pedagogical research, various types of questionnaires are widely used:
open, requiring independent construction of the answer;
closed, in which students have to choose one of the ready-made answers;
nominal, requiring the names of the subject;
anonymous, do without it, etc.
When compiling the questionnaire, take into account:
the content of the questions;
the form of questions - open or closed;
wording of questions (clarity, no prompting of answers, etc.);
number and order of questions. In psychological and pedagogical practice, the number of questions usually corresponds to no more than 30-40 minutes of work using the questionnaire method; The order of questions is most often determined by the method of random numbers.
Questioning can be oral, written, individual, group, but in any case must meet two requirements - representativeness and homogeneity of the sample. The survey material is subjected to quantitative and qualitative processing.
Test method. In connection with the specifics of the subject of educational psychology, some of the methods mentioned above are used in it to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent. However, the method of testing is becoming more and more widespread in educational psychology.
Test (eng. test - test, test, check) - in psychology - a test fixed in time, designed to establish quantitative (and qualitative) individual psychological differences (Burlachuk, 2000, p. 325). The test is the main instrument of psychodiagnostic examination, with the help of which a psychological diagnosis is carried out.
Testing differs from other methods of examination:
accuracy;
simplicity;
availability;
possibility of automation.
(http://www.voppsy.ru/journals_all/issues/1998/985/985126.htm; see the article by Borisova E.M. "Fundamentals of Psychodiagnostics").
Testing is far from being a new method of research, but not sufficiently used in educational psychology (Burlachuk, 2000, p. 325; abstract). Back in the 80s and 90s. 19th century researchers began to study the individual differences of people. This led to the emergence of the so-called test experiment - research using tests (A. Dalton, A. Cattell, and others). The use of tests served as an impetus for the development of the psychometric method, the foundations of which were laid by B. Henri and A. Binet. Measuring school success, intellectual development, the degree of formation of many other qualities with the help of tests has become an integral part of a wide educational practice. Psychology, having provided pedagogy with a tool for analysis, was closely connected with it (it is sometimes impossible to separate pedagogical testing from psychological testing) (http://psychology.net.ru/articles/d20020106230736.html; see psychological tests).
If we talk about the purely pedagogical aspects of testing, we point out, first of all, the use of performance tests. Skill tests are widely used, such as reading, writing, simple arithmetic operations, as well as various tests for diagnosing the level of learning - identifying the degree of assimilation of knowledge, skills in all academic subjects.
Usually, testing as a method of psychological and pedagogical research merges with practical testing of current academic performance, identifying the level of learning, quality control of learning material.
The most complete and systematized description of the tests is presented in the work of A. Anastasi "Psychological Testing". Analyzing testing in education, the scientist notes that all types of existing tests are used in this process, however, among all types of standardized tests, achievement tests are numerically superior to all others. They were created to measure the objectivity of programs and learning processes. Usually they "give a final assessment of the achievements of the individual upon completion of training, in which the main interest is focused on what the individual can do by now" (Anastazi A., 1982. P. 36-37). (http://www.psy.msu.ru/about/lab/ht.html; see Center for Psychological and Career Guidance Testing "Humanitarian Technologies" of Moscow State University).
A.K. Erofeev, analyzing the basic requirements for testing, identifies the following main groups of knowledge that a testologist should have:
basic principles of normative-oriented testing;
types of tests and their scope;
the basics of psychometrics (i.e., in what units are psychological qualities measured in the system);
test quality criteria (methods for determining the validity and reliability of the test);
ethical standards of psychological testing (Erofeev A.K., 1987).
All of the above means that the use of testing in educational psychology requires special training, high qualifications and responsibility.
Experiment is one of the main (along with observation) methods of scientific knowledge in general, psychological research in particular. It differs from observation by active intervention in the situation on the part of the researcher, who systematically manipulates one or more variables (factors) and registers concomitant changes in the behavior of the object under study.
A correctly set experiment allows you to test hypotheses in causal causal relationships, not limited to ascertaining the connection (correlation) between variables. There are traditional and factorial plans for conducting the experiment (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/g-fak.html; see the research group of the factors of formation of the individuality of the PI RAO).
With traditional planning, only one independent variable changes, with factorial planning, several. The advantage of the latter is the possibility of assessing the interaction of factors - changes in the nature of the influence of one of the variables depending on the value of the other. For statistical processing of the results of the experiment, in this case, analysis of variance is used (R. Fisher). If the area under study is relatively unknown and there is no system of hypotheses, then one speaks of a pilot experiment, the results of which can help clarify the direction of further analysis. When there are two competing hypotheses and the experiment allows you to choose one of them, we speak of a decisive experiment. The control experiment is carried out in order to check any dependencies. The application of the experiment, however, encounters fundamental limitations associated with the impossibility in some cases to carry out an arbitrary change in variables. So, in differential psychology and personality psychology, empirical dependencies mostly have the status of correlations (i.e., probabilistic and statistical dependencies) and, as a rule, do not always allow drawing conclusions about causal relationships. One of the difficulties in applying the experiment in psychology is that the researcher often finds himself involved in the situation of communication with the person being examined (subject) and can involuntarily influence his behavior (Fig. 8). Formative or educational experiments form a special category of methods of psychological research and influence. They allow you to directionally form the features of such mental processes as perception, attention, memory, thinking.


The procedure of the experiment consists in the directed creation or selection of such conditions that provide a reliable isolation of the factor under study, and in the registration of changes associated with its influence.
Most often, in psychological and pedagogical experiments, they deal with 2 groups: the experimental group, which includes the studied factor, and the control group, in which it is absent.
The experimenter, at his own discretion, can modify the conditions of the experiment and observe the consequences of such a change. This, in particular, makes it possible to find the most rational methods in educational work with students. For example, by changing the conditions for memorizing a particular educational material, it is possible to establish under what conditions memorization will be the fastest, most durable and accurate. By conducting research under the same conditions with different subjects, the experimenter can establish the age and individual characteristics of the course of mental processes in each of them.
Psychological and pedagogical experiments differ:
according to the form of conduct;
the number of variables;
goals;
the nature of the organization of the study.
According to the form of conducting, there are two main types of experiment - laboratory and natural.
The laboratory experiment is carried out in specially organized artificial conditions designed to ensure the purity of the results. To do this, side effects of all simultaneously occurring processes are eliminated. A laboratory experiment makes it possible, with the help of recording instruments, to accurately measure the time of the course of mental processes, for example, the speed of a person's reaction, the speed of the formation of educational and labor skills. It is used in cases where it is necessary to obtain accurate and reliable indicators under strictly defined conditions. A more limited application has a laboratory experiment in the study of manifestations of personality, character. On the one hand, the object of study here is complex and multifaceted, on the other hand, the well-known artificiality of the laboratory situation presents great difficulties. Investigating the manifestations of a personality in artificially created special conditions, in a private, limited situation, we do not always have reason to conclude that similar manifestations will be characteristic of the same personality in natural life circumstances. The artificiality of the experimental environment is a significant drawback of this method. It can lead to a violation of the natural course of the processes under study. For example, when memorizing important and interesting educational material, under natural conditions the student achieves different results than when he is asked to memorize experimental material under unusual conditions that is not directly of interest to the child. Therefore, the laboratory experiment should be carefully organized and, if possible, combined with other, more natural methods. The data of the laboratory experiment are mainly of theoretical value; the conclusions drawn on their basis can be extended to real life practice with known limitations (Milgram St., 2000; abstract).
natural experiment. These shortcomings of the laboratory experiment are eliminated to some extent by organizing a natural experiment. This method was first proposed in 1910 by A.F. Lazursky at the 1st All-Russian Congress on Experimental Pedagogy. A natural experiment is carried out under normal conditions within the framework of the activities familiar to the subjects, for example, training sessions or games. Often the situation created by the experimenter may remain outside the consciousness of the subjects; in this case, a positive factor for the study is the complete naturalness of their behavior. In other cases (for example, when teaching methods, school equipment, daily routine, etc.) are changed, the experimental situation is created openly, in such a way that the subjects themselves become participants in its creation. Such a study requires particularly careful planning and preparation. It makes sense to use it when data must be obtained in the shortest possible time and without interference with the main activities of the subjects. A significant drawback of the natural experiment is the inevitable presence of uncontrolled interference, i.e., factors whose influence has not been established and cannot be quantitatively measured.
A.F. himself Lazursky expressed the essence of a natural experiment as follows: “In the natural-experimental study of personality, we do not use artificial methods, we do not perform experiments in artificial laboratory conditions, we do not isolate the child from the usual environment of his life, but experiment with the natural forms of the external environment. We study the personality by life itself and therefore all the influences of both the personality on the environment and the environment on the personality become available for examination. Here the experiment enters into life. We are not investigating individual mental processes, as is usually done (for example, memory is studied by memorizing meaningless syllables, attention - by crossing out signs on the tables), but we study both mental functions and the personality as a whole. At the same time, we use not artificial material, but school subjects" (Lazursky A.F., 1997; abstract).
According to the number of variables studied, one-dimensional and multivariate experiments are distinguished.
A one-dimensional experiment involves the selection of one dependent and one independent variable in the study. It is most often implemented in a laboratory experiment.
Multidimensional experiment. The natural experiment affirms the idea of ​​studying phenomena not in isolation, but in their interconnection and interdependence. Therefore, a multidimensional experiment is most often implemented here. It requires the simultaneous measurement of many accompanying features, the independence of which is not known in advance. Analysis of the links between the set of studied features, revealing the structure of these links, its dynamics under the influence of training and education is the main goal of a multidimensional experiment.
The results of an experimental study often represent an unrevealed pattern, a stable dependence, but a series of more or less fully recorded empirical facts. Such, for example, are the descriptions of children's play activities obtained as a result of the experiment, experimental data on the influence on any activity of such a factor as the presence of other people and the associated motive for competition. These data, often of a descriptive nature, do not yet reveal the psychological mechanism of the phenomena and represent only more definite material, narrowing the further scope of the search. Therefore, the results of an experiment in pedagogy and psychology should often be considered as intermediate material and an initial basis for further research work (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/l-teor-exp.html; see Laboratory of Theoretical and Experimental Problems developmental psychology PI RAO).

Formative experiment as one of the main methods of psychological and pedagogical research
The essence of the formative experiment
A formative experiment is a method used in developmental and educational psychology to track changes in the child's psyche in the process of the researcher's active influence on the subject.
The formative experiment is widely used in domestic psychology when studying specific ways of shaping a child's personality, providing a combination of psychological research with pedagogical search and designing the most effective forms of the educational process (http://www.pirao.ru/strukt/lab_gr/l-ps- not.html; see the laboratory of the psychological foundations of new educational technologies).
Synonyms for formative experiment:
transformative,
creative,
educating,
educational,
method of active formation of the psyche.

According to the goals, the ascertaining and forming experiments are distinguished.
The purpose of the ascertaining experiment is to measure the current level of development (for example, the level of development of abstract thinking, the moral-volitional qualities of a person, etc.). Thus, the primary material for organizing a formative experiment is obtained.
The shaping (transforming, teaching) experiment aims not to simply state the level of formation of this or that activity, the development of certain aspects of the psyche, but their active formation or upbringing. In this case, a special experimental situation is created, which allows not only to identify the conditions necessary for organizing the required behavior, but also to experimentally carry out the purposeful development of new types of activity, complex mental functions and to reveal their structure more deeply. The basis of the formative experiment is the experimental genetic method for studying mental development.
The theoretical basis of the formative experiment is the concept of the leading role of training and education in mental development.