The Krepelin account methodology is very well-known, demanded and informative for diagnostic psychologists. About its occurrence, the research procedure and the results that it allows you to get, will be described below.
Emil Kraepelin: a study of attention and mental performance
The famous German psychiatrist, researcher of most of the mental illnesses and practices in this area, E. Kraepelin, proposed this technique in 1895. Initially, it was intended to study the quality of mental activity: working capacity, fatigue and the ability to exercise. The Krepelin account method then represented a series of numbers that for a certain period of time had to be added in the mind.
Since then, the test has undergone modifications and modifications. In particular, G. Schulte and N. Kurochkin were engaged in this. Series were added in the execution of actions, as well as a subtraction operation, which made it possible to investigate the switching time of attention between the individual stages of testing and mathematical actions.
A pathopsychological study using the test revealed some differences in the tasks performed by a healthy person and suffering from neurosis, organic brain damage and schizophrenia. Now the technique is used in the practice of school psychology and other areas of work with healthy people, as well as in psychiatry.
Emil Kraepelin is the creator of the nosological concept in psychiatry, the largest scientist of his time, thanks to whom science knows about the distinctive features, causes and mechanisms of the occurrence of most mental illnesses.
Method "Krepelin account": what is aimed at
To date, the technique has a fairly wide range of applications. It is used not only to study the will in the process of performing mental tasks, but also to determine the quality of attention - its switchability, stability - as well as the pace of mental activity.
The Krepelin Count methodology is designed to work with subjects older than young adolescents. As a result of the psychologist has the opportunity to build a schedule of attention and the number of errors at each stage of the work and draw conclusions about the causes of possible violations.
Stimulus material and research process
The psychodiagnostic test is a pair of rows of numbers (8) that need to be added or subtracted, depending on the stage of the study. The numbers are simple, accessible for mental operations of a person who has reached adolescence.
Work begins at the command of the researcher. A person tries to add / subtract as many numbers as possible in the allotted time (30 seconds) and write down the result under each of the pairs. After the time has elapsed, the execution ends and a dot is put in the place where the subject stopped. After performing one series of operations immediately proceed to the next. In total, testing takes up to 5 minutes.
Processing and Interpretation
After the study, a qualitative and quantitative processing of the results is carried out. The quantitative indicator is compared with the group average and conclusions are drawn about the difference between this indicator. This result is the speed of work (the number of calculations performed) and the number of errors made at each stage.
This is visually demonstrated when constructing a schedule of work performed, where the abscissa axis is the number of the time interval, the ordinate axis is the number of correctly performed operations. Also here, the conventional signs (shaded columns) indicate the number of errors made.
Qualitative processing of the results takes into account this particular chart. It is of four types, depending on which they draw conclusions about the causes of violations in work:
1. It is characterized by minor changes at all stages. It is further divided into subtypes:
- high rates in all respects at all time intervals - conditional "norm";
- the speed of execution is large, but there are many errors, which indicates the anxiety of the subject and the desire to complete the task as soon as possible to the detriment of accuracy or poor stability of attention and the development of self-control;
- the reverse process - the speed of execution is low, but with a minimum number of errors (desire to execute correctly at the expense of speed, anxiety, type of temperament is inert);
- low rates for both parameters (unfavorable result, requires additional examinations).
2. The type of graph with a pronounced decrease in the speed of work, an increase in the number of errors, or with both trends. This indicates exhaustion of attention, fatigue. Causes:
- low level of development of randomness of attention;
- general asthenicity of a person (physical and mental);
- organic disorders in the functioning of the brain and the functionality of the central nervous system.
3. The graph in the form of a zigzag: uneven productivity with a different number of errors at all stages. This indicates the nervous state of the subject, pronounced lability of the nervous system.
4. An increase in speed indicators and a decrease in the number of errors at each subsequent stage of testing. Such a schedule is typical for people with slow, inhibited attention, slow inclusion and randomness in the initial stages of work. It is also associated with the type of temperament.
In addition, there are common causes that can give an unfavorable result. This is the low interest of the subject in the process of work and its results, insufficient mastery of the operations of the account, the state of fatigue.