Honored Scientist of the RSFRS, an outstanding psychologist, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Pyotr Yakovlevich Halperin was born on October 2, 1902 in Tambov. His contribution to science lies in the fact that he not only introduced into psychology such a concept as the systematic development of an orientation to future action, but also created on its basis the theory of the phased formation of mental actions.
Theory creation
The creation of the theory dates back to 1952, when Halperin introduced it to the scientific community as a hypothesis of the formation of mental action. The theory was based on the idea of a possible genetic relationship between mental operations and its external expressions in the form of practical actions. This assumption is based on the fact that children's thinking develops mainly through a connection with objective activity, when the child directly interacts with objects.
The main conclusions of Halperin were based on the fact that an external action can gradually turn into an internal one, passing through a series of specific stages that are closely interconnected and cannot exist without each other. Halperin's theory of the phased formation of action does not lose its relevance to this day.
Subsystems
Halperin divided the system of systematic-phased formation of mental actions into four components:
- Formation of adequate motivation.
- Ensuring the receipt by action of the desired properties.
- Formation of an indicative basis of activity.
- Ensuring the transfer of action to the mental plan.
It is on these four subsystems that Halperin's theory of phased mental actions is built. The system was further developed in the division into 6 stages.
Main stages
Halperin's theory implied the presence of six stages of the formation of mental action: motivation, an indicative basis, material actions, external speech actions, external speech "to oneself", mental actions.
- It all starts with the stage of motivation - this is the creation of an incentive individual attitude to understanding and assimilation of actions.
- The second stage is the formation of an indicative basis for future action. This stage is carried out by familiarizing in practice with the content of future mental action. Also, one should not forget about the final requirements for action.
- The third stage is the stage of actions with real objects by their deputies. That is, material or materialized actions. The essence of this stage is the practical assimilation and awareness of the action using the necessary items.
- The fourth stage is external speech activities. This period is characterized by further assimilation, but already a person does not rely on really existing objects. The process itself begins with the transfer of external action to the internal plane. Halperin believed that this transfer of action to speech is not just a voiceover, but the speech execution of an action.
- The fifth stage is a speech "to oneself." By the end of a certain mental action, the process no longer requires the work of external speech, it completely moves into internal speech.
- The final stage is the stage of mental actions. The sixth stage is the completion of the transition of the process of formation of mental actions into the internal plane, that is, the speech component is no longer needed. However, it is at the final stage that the action undergoes significant transformations. It can be reduced, automated and completely leave the sphere of consciousness.
Each of these stages involves a reduction in the action, which at the initial stage is performed in expanded form. Halperin and the theory of phased formation of actions is a new word in educational psychology.
The system of properties of human action
P. Ya. Halperin made a lot of efforts to create a theory of the systematic-phased formation of mental actions. But subsequently there was an urgent need for a subsequent assessment of the quality of the already formed action. That is why, after the theory of the formation of mental actions, the professor created a system of properties of human actions. Pyotr Yakovlevich divided all the properties into two components:
- Primary action parameters - characterize any human action. The basis of this group is the completeness of the properties of the system, the separation of significant and non-essential relationships, the level of implementation of the action, power and time characteristics.
- Secondary action parameters - reflect the result of the connection of primary parameters. This group includes rationality, awareness, criticality, a measure of development.
Only in aggregate do the data of Halperin P. Ya. Theory reflect the whole essence of mental actions.
The method of systematic and phased formation of mental activity
The psychological mechanisms are revealed exclusively in the process of the action, while in the process of formation the action can change significantly, and the study of the result is not possible. This regularity served as the basis for creating the idea of a formative experiment, which was precisely based on the method of systematic and phased formation of mental actions. Halperin P. Ya. Proposed not to direct forces to search for what has already been formed, but to create conditions for formation that can be controlled.
This method is based on the concept of a specific action with preformed properties and attributes. Thanks to this technique, it is possible to reveal the relationship not only between the content of the action and the conditions for its assimilation, but also between the characteristics of the result of the activity.
This invention of the scientist has opened up truly wide opportunities for the practical use of the theory of the formation of mental actions in the learning process. After some time, the professor noted that the methodology of a systematic-phased formation contributed to the identification of psychological mechanisms.
The meaning of the theory
The theory of Halperin P. Ya. Had both theoretical and practical significance. The professor’s thoughts created a real sensation not only in psychology, but also in pedagogy.
Theoretical value
The value of the technique in theoretical terms is as follows:
- Pyotr Yakovlevich Halperin actually created a specific unit of analysis of the human psyche - this is a mental human action, which is distinguished by awareness and purposefulness.
- The method of forming the mental action of Halperin in accordance with predefined properties has become a real tool in the psychology and development of a person’s spiritual life.
- The world saw such an approach as a formative experiment.
- A new word in psychology is a quality control system for the performance of one or another mental action.
This theory has become the basis for the work of many psychologists.
Practical value
In addition to theoretical significance, the theory has gained its recognition in the practical sphere:
- This technique contributes to the automation of mental activity, that is, significantly reduces the time of formation and development of skills not only without loss of quality, but also with an increase in this indicator.
- The method of forming mental actions at all levels of education is used, from kindergarten to university.
- The theory of Pyotr Yakovlevich Halperin served as the basis for the implementation of a sufficient number of applied projects. Their essence was to improve the content and learning process.
This theory of Halperin on the formation of mental actions has become one of the most famous in Soviet and Russian educational psychology.
Peter Yakovlevich made an invaluable contribution to the development of psychology. In October 2012, in honor of the professor, a scientific conference of the international level was held, the title of which is “New Life of Classical Theory”. The event was timed to the 110th birthday of P. Ya. Halperin. The main topic of the conference is the professor’s contribution to pedagogical psychology, the development of his theories in modern times, as well as the actual problems of using the general psychological concept of a scientist.
Theory example
In order to understand the theory of mental actions of Halperin P. Ya., You can turn to such an example. A Russian language teacher needs to teach his student not to make specific grammatical mistakes. To do this, you can write down on the cards those rules that cause problems in use. The cards are laid out in the order in which they should be used in the written phrase. The learning process begins with the student reading the first rule out loud, then applying it to the written phrase, then reading the second rule out loud and also applying it to the sentence. And this happens with all the rules written on the cards. By the second stage, the student already knows all the rules by heart, the teacher must pick up the cards, and the student repeats the rules out loud without their help. The next stage is the pronouncement of the rules “to oneself”, all the same with their application to the sentence. By the final stage, according to Halperin’s theory of the formation of mental actions, the student is already able to independently use the learned rule at a subconscious level, without reading it either aloud or “to himself”.