Experience of survey of mental development of modern 5-year-olds

Context and relevance. Currently, there is a shortage of complete and reliable diagnostic complexes for the comprehensive examination of 5-year-olds. Existing techniques often lack a single scientific basis, are not sufficiently valid and are mainly limited to the cognitive field. At the same time, 5-year-old age is a critical stage of development, when the child's psyche is plastic, and timely diagnosis allows you to effectively correct possible developmental defects before entering school. Purpose. Creation, testing and description of a set of diagnostic methods for the comprehensive detection of the level of mental development of children 5 years old, covering the communicative, cognitive, arbitrary and activity spheres, as well as the aerobatic examination of modern preschoolers. Methods and materials. Sample: 50 children aged 4 years 10 months to 5 years 2 months attending kindergartens in Moscow. Diagnostics of the communicative sphere: a method for determining the form of communication with an adult (based on the concept of M.I. Lisina), a test "Family drawing," a method "Pictures" (E. O. Smirnova and E. A. Kalyagina) to assess social competence. Diagnostics of the cognitive sphere: the game "Absurdities" (orientation in the surrounding), the technique "Fourth excess" (highlighting significant signs), the technique of L.A. Wenger (visual-figurative thinking), the task of arranging plot pictures (logical connection of events and coherent speech). Diagnostics of an arbitrary sphere: the technique "Graphic figures" (reproduction according to the model) and the assessment of the acceptance/performance of adult tasks. Diagnostics of gaming activities: the "Cognitive choice" technique (motivational aspect) and standardized observation of free gaming activities of a group of children. Results. Communication sphere: 70% of children show a high level of communication with an adult (the non-institutional-cognitive form prevails), however, 30% retain a situational-business form. Low social competence in communicating with peers was revealed: 50% of children are helpless in resolving conflicts, 25% are prone to aggressive decisions. Family relationships: Analysis of family drawings showed signs of loneliness, alienation of children from close adults, and disunity of family members. Intellectual sphere: indicators of orientation in the surrounding (63%) and visual thinking (73%) are within the normal range. The ability to isolate significant signs is distributed heterogeneously (25% high and 25% low). Logical thinking: revealed a significant underdevelopment of verbal-logical thinking (only 25% success rate), children show helplessness and incoherence of speech when building a sequence of events. Arbitrariness: 70% of children could not mediate their actions with a sample in the "Graphic Figures" technique, which indicates a lack of arbitrariness and insufficient development of fine motor skills. Gaming activity: 62% of children prefer the game, but only 40% actually demonstrate the forms of role-playing. Games are characterized by primitiveness, monotony of subjects (mainly everyday) and a lack of the ability to get used to the role or follow the rules. Conclusion. Curtailing role-playing in preschool age leads to the degradation of general mental and personal development. The decrease in the quality of gaming activities is directly related to a deficit of arbitrary behavior, underdevelopment of imagination and logical thinking, as well as to an increase in aggressiveness and social helplessness in communicating with peers. It is necessary to develop conditions for the development of the story game as the main tool for the formation of communication, thinking and self-regulation in preschoolers.