Rybalko developmental and differential psychology. E.F

Knowing the relevant biological and social laws, it is possible to predict quite accurately when and at what average age the average individual of a given society will encounter certain problems, how these problems are related to each other, on what accompanying factors the depth and duration of the corresponding normative crisis depends and what typical options for its resolution.

But if we are not interested in the structure of the life path of the average individual, but in the biography individual personality, objective data will have to be supplemented with subjective ones. Turning points individual development there can be any life events (a book accidentally read, a meeting with interesting person), which for one reason or another turned out to be important and fateful for this individual. This becomes clear only in retrospect, so any biography is individual and to some extent subjective.

Critical (sensitive) periods, social transitions, normative age-related crises and individual life events are irreducible to each other and at the same time interconnected.

Not a single psychophysiological or socio-psychological event in an individual’s life can be understood unless it is correlated with: a) the chronological age of the individual at the time of the event; b) the cohort affiliation of the individual, determined by the date of his birth; c) the historical era and calendar date of this event. It is far from the same thing whether a person got married at 18 or at 30; whether the age of his marriage corresponded to the average norms for this generation and in what historical situation this event took place...

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of human development, combining data from biology, sociology and psychology, convincingly shows that:

1) neither the process nor the final result of human development can be considered unidirectional, leading to the same final state;

2) a person develops from conception to death, and plasticity, the ability to change, although to varying degrees, is preserved throughout the entire life course. Human development is not limited to any one period of life. Different developmental processes can begin, continue, occur and end at different moments in life, and these sub-processes do not necessarily proceed in the same way according to the same principles;

3) different people develop extremely unequally, this gives rise to many biosocial, class and individual differences;

4) development in different spheres of life is determined by multiple factors that cannot be reduced to a single system of influences. Development is neither a simple process of biological maturation, the unfolding of something initially inherent, nor a simple consequence of upbringing and teaching;

5) human individuality is not only a product, but also a subject, the creator of its own development. To understand her life path, it is necessary to take into account many socially unstructured, random life events, situations and crises, as well as the ways in which the individual himself resolves the tasks that arise before him.

One of the main problems of studying personal self-realization is considering the age-related dynamics of creative productivity throughout the life course. An equally important task is to determine the factors influencing the development of an individual’s creative potential. In this regard, B. G. Ananyev attached great importance to the formation of a creative personality and individuality, the consolidation of individual and subjective-activity properties of a person in the process creative activity, its social orientation, where the process of exteriorization and productive activity is the leading structure. ‹…›

One of the authors of this article has developed a fundamentally new method for studying biographies (Rudkevich L. A., 1994). In contrast to the abstract statistical methods proposed by G. Lehman (counting the number of lines in encyclopedias and dictionaries), the new research methodology is based on a historical description of creativity, analysis of biographies, discoveries, and achievements. Lehmann's historimetric method was replaced by historiographical one. Since the focus remained on the products of activity, this method was called historical-praxigraphic.

Moving on to the consideration of the results obtained, we note that if G. Lehman tried to highlight those, in his opinion, exceptional and few achievements that were created in the second half of his life, he would have discovered a curious relationship: all or almost all of these achievements were created by the most famous scientists. By the way, even before the publication of this monograph by G. Lehman, his compatriot E. Clague (Clague E., 1951), having analyzed the data of the biographical dictionary “Americans in Science”, came to the conclusion that a decrease in creative productivity occurs among the most prominent scientists no earlier than 60 years. Unfortunately, these data remained outside the field of view of psychologists.

Decline in creative productivity in different professional groups depending on the level of creative achievements, as a percentage

In our study, two samples were identified: “A” - the most famous scientists and artists; “B” – famous scientists and artists, but not so famous. Sample “A” consisted of 372 people, sample “B” – of 419. After statistical processing, the following variations with age in the creative productivity of individuals included in samples “A” and “B” were obtained (see table).

It can be seen that in sample “A” the decline in all professional groups is observed much less frequently. On the contrary, in sample “B” (less prominent figures in science and art), the decline is detected more often in all professional groups. True, more than 40% of humanities scholars, writers, poets and composers maintain high creative activity in the second half of life, but among representatives of the exact sciences in this sample, a decline is recorded almost twelve times more often.

The data obtained allow us to draw an important conclusion that the frequency of decline in creative productivity in middle and old age negatively correlates with the level of an individual’s creative potential. That is, the most outstanding figures of science and art are characterized by high preservation of productivity in late ontogenesis, while among less significant creative individuals a decline is observed quite often.

In the creative process of creating a scientific discovery or a work of art, three main stages can be distinguished: a) preparatory, which is characterized by the accumulation of prerequisites and elements of the future discovery; b) the stage of the direct act of creativity, the creation of a creative product; c) the stage of further development of what has already been created. (A slightly different scheme was proposed by G. Wallace (Wallas G., 1926): preparation, maturation, insight, or insight, and verification.) In the ontogenesis of a creative personality, one can trace the predominance of one or another stage at a certain time of life, or, in other words, in different ages a creative personality self-realizes in various ways.

For example, during the period of training and at the beginning of professional studies, the first stage predominates. Its duration depends on a number of factors. Firstly, it depends on the type of activity. For example, chemists, mathematicians and composers tend to have shorter training periods than biologists, philosophers and historians. Secondly, environmental factors play a role, which may or may not be conducive to learning and the beginning of creative activity. Thirdly, the psychological structure of the subject of creative work itself matters. The predominance of the second stage is characteristic of the productive period of a creative personality. The predominance of the third stage - subsequent development, generalization of an already made discovery is characteristic of elderly and senile age and is expressed specifically in such forms of activity as leadership of a scientific or artistic group, pedagogical activity and teaching others, writing books, textbooks and articles on selected topics.

Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation. 1923–2001.

Elena Fedorovna Rybalko - Doctor of Psychology, professor belonged to the glorious cohort of scientists whose work created the psychological school of Leningrad - St. Petersburg University. Elena Fedorovna was born on March 16, 1923 in Leningrad. She survived the war and the blockade in Leningrad, worked during these years in kindergarten. In 1944, E. F. Rybalko was among the first psychology students at the psychology department that opened at St. Petersburg State University. After graduating from the university, Elena Fedorovna entered graduate school and in 1952 defended her PhD thesis, the topic of which was related to the study of schoolchildren.

Upon completion of graduate school, the young scientist begins teaching, combining it with scientific research. E. F. Rybalko studied age-related transformations of visual functions in children and adolescents for many years, and then in older ages. These studies served as a model in which a comparative genetic approach was implemented as applied to the entire human life cycle, and made it possible to formulate provisions on the basic ontogenetic properties of visual-spatial functions: inter-functional and intra-functional heterochrony, unevenness, stage-by-stage development of mental functions, their structure. The result of the research was the identification of sensitive periods that are most effective for pedagogical influence. In 1970, E. F. Rybalko defended her doctoral dissertation “On the ontogenetic properties of visual-spatial functions.” The implementation of the structural-genetic approach to the study of mental functions, laid down in the dissertation research, made it possible in further work to link together the problems of ontogenesis of sensorimotor and perceptual functions, mnemonic and intellectual abilities, interests and needs of the individual.

Elena Fedorovna participated in the creation of a new approach to the study of human ontogenesis, the essence of which is a holistic study of human development at different levels of its structural organization. Developing a systems approach in developmental psychology, she was the first to highlight the dynamic, structural, ontological and causal aspects of study. In the content of the ontological aspect of development, she highlighted natural and socialized forms of mental development. She showed that in the process of socialization there is a transformation of natural forms and the creation of new mental structures, while the natural forms of the mental acquire a subordinate character. It is necessary to note the fundamental difference between the approach to the problem of mental socialization, developed by E. F. Rybalko, and most points of view that understand socialization only as the socialization of the individual. The approach implemented by E. F. Rybalko allows us to better understand the mechanisms of socialization.

Since 1973, E. F. Rybalko became a professor at the Faculty of Psychology and worked at the Department of General Psychology. From that time, after the death of her teacher, Academician B. G. Ananyev, and until 2001, she headed the specialization of student training in the direction of “Developmental Psychology and differential psychology" From early works to the latest Elena Fedorovna developed the problem of bilateral regulation. This makes it possible to identify different types of interhemispheric relationships and experimentally show that the degree of specialization of the hemispheres is different at different stages of ontogenesis. The degree of maturity and qualitative features of the mechanism of interhemispheric interaction have a regulatory influence on both the level indicators of mental development and its qualitative features. The scientist rightly believed that the attribution to one or another type of asymmetry and the degree of expression of the dynamic characteristics of bilateral regulation are important for diagnosing the possibilities of psychophysiological and, in general, mental development of a person. The productivity of these ideas was reflected in subsequent work in the field of psychophysiology. E. F. Rybalko consistently developed the doctrine of ontopsychology as a synthetic science that integrates many scientific disciplines and, above all, developmental and differential psychology. She believed that the study of age-related mental phenomena associated with the individual organization of a person, as well as data from differential psychology on individual differences in a person at different levels of his organization, is of paramount importance. With this approach, the complex, multifaceted and contradictory formation of man as a biosocial being is most fully revealed.

In her works over the years, the scientist continued and developed the doctrine of the basic laws of ontogenetic evolution. She showed that heterochrony plays a huge role in optimizing human potential, especially in the early and late periods of development. Great value E. F. Rybalko gave the study a structured development. In her research, she identified factors influencing the intensity of structure formation processes and showed the importance of the laws of structure formation for the practice of training and development. A series of works by E. F. Rybalko is devoted to the formation of man as a subject of communication, educational and cognitive, musical, performing, and literary activities.

Elena Fedorovna was never an armchair scientist. She quickly responded to requests and problems of practice. Thus, in the 1970s–1980s, industrial research began under her leadership. These were one of the first studies in Russian psychology to show the influence of personal factors on occupational injuries. The results of these works attract Elena Fedorovna’s attention to the problems of personal development potential and human ability to work in the later periods of ontogenesis. They showed, in particular, that in a given period of life, the preservation of working ability is ensured through the development of reflexive personality traits that are closely related to the goals of life and activity, with value orientations and attitudes.

In her works, E. F. Rybalko convincingly showed that his creative activity is of particular importance as a factor opposing human involution. The identified patterns, substantiated by numerous data, are confirmed by the scientist’s life itself. Until her last days, she did not interrupt contact with the faculty and students, continued to work hard, overcoming illnesses, gave lectures, supervised the work of graduate students and doctoral students, and was full of ideas for new research. Elena Feodorovna was an extremely gifted scientist and teacher. Under her leadership, a huge number of theses and dissertations were completed. Students continue to study a wide variety of problems in developmental psychology: micro-age analysis of the development of attention, memory, thinking in childhood and adolescence, the psychology of satisfaction with educational activities, the psychology of musical talent, psychological defense mechanisms in adolescents, the formation of the system value orientations in adolescence and adolescence, adaptation of pupils and graduates of orphanages, the study of creativity and creativity of adults and many others. The research of Elena Fedorovna and her students covered all age periods of the human life cycle. She worked on the creation of a synthetic science that studies individual human development throughout ontogeny and the life course. Elena Fedorovna summarized all the results of research conducted at the faculty in this direction, in textbook"Ontopsychology". In 1998 she was awarded the title “Honored Scientist Russian Federation", in 2001 "Honorary Professor of St. Petersburg state university" She passed away in December 2001. Elena Fedorovna’s students work at the Faculty of Psychology, in other educational institutions and psychological centers, in many cities of Russia, in the near and far abroad, research continues, the beginning of which was laid by her works.

Main publications

• Play and the needs of the child // Uchen. zap. LSU. 1957. No. 224.
• About the needs for knowledge and practical activity in children in preschool age// Scientist. zap. LSU. 1960. No. 287.
• On the issue of functional asymmetry of visual fields // Problems of perception of space and time. L., 1961.
• On the issue of functional asymmetry of vision // Problems of general and individual psychology. L., 1963.
• Age-related features of the volume and structure of the visual field. L., 1969.
• Age-related changes in intrafunctional relationships in connection with the factor of educational success // Experimental and applied psychology. Vol. 7. L., 1976.
• Communicative and personal aspects of operator reliability // Problems of engineering psychology. Vol. 3. Yaroslavl, 1979 (co-author).
• Psychological problems of working capacity // Vestn. Leningr. un-ta. Vol. 1. 1983. No. 5 (co-authored).
• On the psychological factor in reducing injuries at work // Experimental and applied psychology. Vol. 12. L., 1987 (co-author).
• Ontopsychology. St. Petersburg, 2003 (co-author and co-editor).

In the development of modern developmental and differential psychology, integration is of particular importance psychological knowledge, relating to different levels and components human development. This branch of psychology developed in a certain sequence: first - child psychology, then school psychology, psychogerontology and, finally, acmeology. In this way, knowledge was accumulated and generalized on individual parts of developmental and differential psychology, devoted to the consideration of one or another period of ontogenetic evolution as a relatively independent cycle, which is characterized by a certain age-related symptom complex, or syndrome (according to B. G. Ananyev). A holistic approach to individual development in Russian psychology was first carried out by I.M. Sechenov, who set the task of specially studying the development of mental functions throughout a person’s life. “Psychology should study the history of the development of sensations, ideas, thoughts, (Feelings, etc.,” wrote the scientist.

S. L. Rubinstein included genetic problems in the system of general psychology, considering the concept of development as the most important methodological principle psychological science. In his works, along with a generalization of facts about the development of mental functions and abilities in children and schoolchildren, a holistic description of the development of personality and self-awareness is given throughout a person’s entire life journey.

Fundamentally new opportunities for a deeper understanding of the problems of developmental psychology are opened by the works of G. Ananyev, who considered mental development in the system of human science as the subject of a whole complex of sciences. Developing the concept of development, the psychologist considered it as a holistic formation, including the formation of unity and interconnections of individual and personal characteristics, various properties of a person as a subject of activity and individuality. While distinguishing these properties, he at the same time emphasized their unified historical nature.

TEXTBOOK OF THE NEW CENTURY

E. F. RYBALKO

and differential

PSYCHOLOGY

Rybalko Elena Fedorovna

AGE AND DIFFERENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Series “Textbook for the New Century”

Editor-in-ChiefV. Usmanov

Head of the Psychological Editorial Office A. Zaitsev

Deputy head of psychological department I. Karpova

Lead Editor A. Borin

Cover artist K. Radzevich

Corrector T. Klimenchenko

Prepared the original layout A. Borovskikh
BBK 88.374ya7 UDC 159.922.6(075)

P93 Rybalko E. F.

Developmental and differential psychology. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. – 224 p. – (Series “Textbook of the New Century”).
ISBN 5-318-00252-8
For the first time, the textbook addresses issues of age-related changes and the development of the human psyche throughout his life. From the perspective of a systematic approach, the main patterns of mental development and factors determining age dynamics are described. various forms psyche – learning, work, play activity – in the context common system human upbringing.

The manual is addressed to students, graduate students, teachers of psychology faculties and pedagogical universities.

© Rybalko E. F., 1990

© Leningrad University Publishing House, 1990

© Publishing house "Peter", 2001
ISBN 5-318-00252-8
CJSC "Peter Buk" 196105, St. Petersburg, st. Blagodatnaya, 67.

License ID No. 01940 dated 06/05/00.

Tax benefit- All-Russian product classifier OK 005-93, volume 2; 953000 - books and brochures.

Signed for publication on 05/23/01. Format 70x100 1/16. Conditional p.l. 18.06. Circulation 5000 copies. Order No. 791.

Printed from ready-made transparencies at the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Printing Dvor” named after. A. M. Gorky Ministry of the Russian Federation

on press, television and radio broadcasting and mass communications.

197110, St. Petersburg, Chkalovsky pr., 15.

INTRODUCTION

In the development of modern developmental and differential psychology, the integration of psychological knowledge related to different levels and components of human development is of particular importance. This branch of psychology developed in a certain sequence: first child psychology, then school psychology, psychogerontology and, finally, acmeology. In this way, knowledge was accumulated and generalized on individual parts of developmental and differential psychology, devoted to the consideration of one or another period of ontogenetic evolution as a relatively independent cycle, which is characterized by a certain age-related symptom complex, or syndrome (according to B. G. Ananyev). A holistic approach to individual development in Russian psychology was first carried out by I.M. Sechenov, who set the task of specially studying the development of mental functions throughout a person’s life. “Psychology should study the history of the development of sensations, ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc.,” the scientist wrote.

S. L. Rubinstein included genetic problems in the system of general psychology, considering the concept of development as the most important methodological principle of psychological science. His works, along with a generalization of facts about the development of mental functions and abilities in children and schoolchildren, provide a holistic description of the development of personality and self-awareness throughout a person’s life path.

Fundamentally new opportunities for a deeper understanding of the problems of developmental psychology are opened by the works of B. G. Ananyev, who considered mental development in the system of human science as the subject of a whole complex of sciences. Developing the concept of development, the psychologist considered it as a holistic formation, including the formation of unity and interconnections of individual and personal characteristics, various properties of a person as a subject of activity and individuality. While distinguishing these properties, he at the same time emphasized their unified historical nature.

A special consideration of development in its various manifestations is important for understanding how human individuality arises and the fusion of the biological and the social occurs. B. G. Ananyev defined a person’s individuality “as the unity and interrelation of his properties as a person and a subject of activity, in the structure of which they function natural properties man as an individual." The combination of differentiated and integral approaches to individual development leads, according to B. G. Ananyev, to the accumulation of new knowledge about human development, to the creation of a new synthetic discipline - ontopsychology, where correlations and interrelations of individual and personal properties are established throughout a person’s life path. The study of general patterns and their modifications in various substructures of human development is one of the ways to understand its unity and integrity. This approach provides a scientific basis for diagnosing and managing the development of individuals.

The psychological study of individual development is based on Marxist philosophy. The category of development occupies one of the central places in materialist dialectics, which V.I. Lenin defined as “the most comprehensive, rich in content and deep doctrine of development...”. The possibilities for a meaningful analysis of the category of development and the establishment of its specificity depending on the forms of movement of matter open up by combining the two principles of development and the unity of the world. V.I. Lenin pointed out this: “... the universal principle of development must be united, connected, combined with the universal principle of the unity of the world, nature, movement, matter.” IN modern philosophy a systematic approach is being developed that makes it possible to more accurately identify the specifics of levels, “disentangle” patterns of various kinds, and establish real relationships, which contributes to a more complete and more correct understanding of development as a multidimensional and multilevel phenomenon.

The position of Marxist philosophy that time is one of the main forms of movement of matter is fundamental for understanding development in psychology. In psychology, the duration of personality formation does not coincide with the life span of the individual. “The personality is always younger than the individual in the same person; a person’s history or life path (biography), although marked by the date of birth, begins much later.” In modern philosophical works, the consideration of development processes is carried out on the basis of a systematic approach, analysis of connections and the nature of interactions in various systems. The works of philosophers emphasize the complex, contradictory relationships of progress and regression in their dialectical unity, which is important for revealing the complexity and inconsistency of mental development as a multi-quality, systemic formation. “The problem of development is primarily a problem of systems development. The study of the structure of the development process and the criteria for the stages of systems development comes to the fore.” Methodologically, the degree of its integrity is identified as an essential feature of development, and development itself is interpreted as an increase in the level of organization.

The problem of determinism in Marxist-Leninist philosophy is developed on the basis of the principle of the universal connection of the phenomena of the material world. The own characteristics of mental development, considered in philosophy as a relatively independent object of study, can be understood only by specifying the most general and basic patterns that are inherent in development as a general philosophical category. For a deeper understanding of mental development, it is also important to meaningfully apply materialist dialectics and patterns discovered in the development of living systems, on the one hand, and in the development of social formations, on the other, which are uniquely refracted and act in human development.

In this book, mental development is considered in terms of age and covers the entire life cycle person. Mental development analyzed as a multidimensional, multi-level holistic formation; its general patterns are revealed; their specific manifestations in the formation of basic human substructures in certain periods of life are shown.

LITERATURE

1. Lenin V.I. Karl Marx // Op. - T. 26.

2. Lenin V.I. Synopsis of Hegel’s book “Lectures on the History of Philosophy” // Ibid. -T. 29.

3. Engels F. Anti-Duhring // Marx K., Engels F. Op. – 2nd ed. -T. 20.

4. Ananyev B. G. Favorite psychol. works: In 2 vols. - M., 1980. - T. 1.

5. Blauberg I. V., Yudin E. G. Systematic approach to social cognition // Historical materialism as a theory of social cognition and activity / Ed. V. Eichhorn. - M., 1972.

6. Bute M. Causality. The place of the principle of causality in modern science. – M., 1962.

7. T. Visharenko V. S. Determination in biological processes. – L., 1975.

8. Issues of determination of development processes in modern science / Ed. V. S. Tyukhtina. - M., 1985.

9.Zavadsky K. M. The problem of the progress of living nature // Questions of philosophy. – 1967. - No. 9.

10. Yu. Ilyichev L. F., Davydova G. A. Materialistic dialectics and the problem of development // Questions of Philosophy. – 1985. – No. 3.

11. Isaev I. T. Dialectics and the problem of development. – M., 1979.

12. Kremyansky V. I. Structural levels of living matter. – M., 1969.

13. Kuzmin V. P. Systematic approach to scientific knowledge and Marxist methodology // Questions of Philosophy. – 1980. – No. 1.

14. Kuzmin V. P. Historical background and epistemological foundations of the systems approach // Psychological Journal. – 1982. – T. 3. – No. 3, 4.

15. Kuzmin V. P. The principle of consistency in the theory and methodology of K. Marx. – M., 1986.

16.Leonovich V.V. On the relationship between the biological and the social in human development// Diss.... doc. Sci. – M., 1967.

17. Loy A. N., Shinkaruk E. V. Time as a category of socio-historical existence // Questions of Philosophy. – 1979. – No. 12.

18. Materialistic dialectics as general theory development: In 4 volumes. T. 1: Philosophical foundations of the theory of development / Under the direction of. and general ed. L. F. Ilyicheva. – M., 1982.

19. Micklin V. I., Podolsky V. A. Category of development in Marxist dialectics. – M., 1980.

20.Milyukhin S. T. Patterns of development of matter. – M., 1967.

21.Molchanov Yu. B. Development and time // Questions of philosophy. –1970. – No. 2.

22.Morozov V. D. The problem of development in philosophy and natural science. – Minsk, 1969.

23. Orlov V.V. Matter, development, progress. – M., 1974.

24. Pakhomov P. Ya. Determinism and the principle of development // Issues of philosophy. – 1979. - No. 7.

25. The concept of development and current problems theories of social progress / Ed. V.V. Orlova. – Perm, 1985.

26. Rubinshtein S. L. Fundamentals of general psychology. – M., 1946.

27. Setrov M. I. Fundamentals of functional organization. – L., 1972.

28. Sechenov I. M. Favorite op. - M., 1952. - T. 1.

29. Solopov E. F. Movement and development. – L., 1974.

30. Tyukhtin V.S. Dynamics of cognition of complex systems. – M., 1988.

31. Frolov I. T. On causality and expediency in living nature. – M., 1961.

At the Research Institute of Continuous Education of Adults of the Russian Academy of Education, a study was conducted of the socio-pedagogical problems of teachers’ activities, which covered the age stage from beginning to end professional activity. This study made it possible to identify a number of stages of age and professional development. Stage 1: from 23 to 30 years – the stage of entering the profession. It is characterized by social and professional adaptation. When passing it, compensation for missing knowledge, development of a professional worldview, and awareness of civil rights and responsibilities take place. This period is also associated with creating a family, establishing intra-family relationships, and solving everyday and family problems. At this stage, 40% of the teachers surveyed believe that their previous ideas about teaching work did not coincide with practice. Only 7% of teachers got involved in activities without special problems. 80% consider themselves unprepared for educational work, 72% for educational work. This stage is characterized by high emotional stress of the specialist, resulting in 10% of 4 periods: normative crisis period - 40 years; mid-life crisis – 40-45 years or 37-43 years; stable period – 43-50 years. The normative crisis of 30–33 years is caused by a discrepancy between a person’s life plans and the real possibility of implementing plans, which leads to a revision of the value system. The stable period - 33-40 years is characterized by the fact that a person sets certain goals and achieves their implementation. At this time he receives professional and public recognition. The period from 40 to 45 years is a crisis for many, since during this period a person tries to comprehend and rethink life goals, to find new meaningful content for himself in universal human values. The period from 45 to 50 years is considered stable. A person fulfills his professional and civic duty, understands and tolerates others, shows compassion and agreement with other people.

Interesting data on the dynamics of creative activity were obtained in the study of 3.F. Esareva. As she was able to establish, the creative activity of scientists of different specialties during maturity has a number of alternating periods of optimum and decline. Moreover, optimums and rises occur even in such a late period as the age of 58-67-70 years. Thus, the example of creative activity shows the continuity of development of a mature person.

For a systematic approach, it is necessary not only to consider phenomena in their development, but also to establish connections between them. B.F. Lomov notes that it would be a mistake to believe that the simple arrangement of data accumulated in different areas of psychological science is the implementation of a systematic approach. The real challenge is to understand the natural connections between them. B.G. Ananyev says that the theory of connections is a primary task that psychology can and should set. The structural nature of the general nature of development is manifested in the complex contradictory dependencies of some functions on others, their correlation and correlation. I.I. Schmalhausen described three main types of connections and interdependencies: genomic, morphogenetic, ergontic. The study of these connections will help to understand how the system is formed and what are the features of its organization in a given period of operation. The issue of research into connections remains very little studied. There are data obtained in the laboratory of B.G. Ananyev, as well as his students E.F. Rybalko, E.I. Stepanova and others that age characteristics are characterized not only by the dynamics of level indicators of a particular function, but also by changes in the entire structure of inter-functional connections, which excludes the possibility of a purely local change in any individual function (for example, verbal-logical or mnemonic) under external influence without certain or accompanying shifts in other functions and allows us to construct an age-related syndrome. Thus, studying the age periods of human development from 18 to 35 years, employees of the laboratory of differential psychology and anthropology under the leadership of B.G. Ananyev showed that for the age of 18-21 years, a simple structure of interfunctional connections is characteristic, having the character of a “chain”; at 22-25 years of age, connections take on a different character and represent a complex branching constellation; at 30-35 years of age, a restructuring of the entire complex of connections occurs. No less significant qualitative changes also occur at the border between the 2nd and 3rd stages of postnatal ontogenesis, the time boundaries of which fall at the age of 55 to 65 years, i.e. to the final stage of maturity. On genetic, morphological and physiological.

Other news on the topic: