The “Labyrinth” Technique as a Procedural Diagnostics of Mental Abilities in Primary School Pupils

The article describes the procedural technique for studying the mental abilities of junior students, the author of which is A.A. Litvinyuk, formerly graduate student of V.V. Davydov and D.B. Elkonin. Currently, the technique is restored and is retested by I.V. Nesterenko-Kostenko in the SEI school № 1277. It involves the use of labyrinths presented in the different materials: figural (made of plastic), a labyrinth as a scheme and a labyrinth as a model. The technique sets the parameters for analysis of the orientation and exploratory activity as a major component of thinking development. The way a child solves the labyrinth tasks allows concluding on the predominance of a specific type of thinking: empirical or theoretical.

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