FEATURES OF THOUGHT PROCESSES YOUNGER SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH DELAYED MENTAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This article is devoted to the theoretical and practical analysis of the problem of the development of thinking processes of children of primary school age with mental retardation. A general psychological description of younger schoolchildren with mental retardation is provided. The psychological principles of diagnosing deviations in the intellectual development of children of primary school age are characterized. The problem of the development and functioning of thought processes in children suffering from mental retardation is substantiated. It is emphasized that in children with mental retardation, all cognitive processes develop slowly, lagging behind the norm. Limitations of mental and cognitive abilities do not allow students to successfully cope with the tasks and requirements that are offered to them, which quickly leads to their school failure in one or more subjects. The methodical aspects of researching the thinking processes of elementary school students with mental retardation are analyzed: exclusion of the fourth extra, simple analogies, comparison of concepts, school maturity test. This psychodiagnostic complex of methods comprehensively diagnoses the peculiarities of the development of all thinking operations, such as analyses, synthesis, comparison, generalization, classification, systematization and abstraction, taking into account the age and personal characteristics of children. The organization of empirical research and the results of psychodiagnosis of the thinking of children of primary school age with mental retardation are analyzed: determination of the level of development of students’ thinking processes, agerelated features of the course of children’s thinking, the gender aspect of the specificity of thinking of younger schoolchildren.