Speech and practical intellectual activity of a child (an experimental-theoretical study)

This is the second part of the material published in the first issue, and it is dedicated to the study of the role of speech in the mental act. Three series of experiments show that overcoming the impulsiveness in practical task solving is natural under the use of speech. Words as object substitutes fulfill the planning function that is free from direct field influence. Thus comes into existence the true freedom of behaviour from the influence of actual situation, which makes future-oriented behaviour possible. This process consists of several stages. Overcoming the dependence of behaviour on the immediate action of field vectors was designed further in the experiment to study the possibility of self-regulation of impulsive actions. The author shows that replacing a movement with a word does not change anything in the character of mental operations; speech in its outer from is subjected to action. The next series of experiment demonstrated that children who could reflect the significant part of the medium problem solving method in their speech were acting adequately in solving the first task for the second time. The article states that not all words and not al kinds of speech that seem similar are such in essence. In the author's opinion, the main mistake of the research is that the change in word meaning has not been revealed.