PSYCHOLOGICALLY MEANINGFUL AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF STUDYING THE PHENOMENA “ACTIVATION” AND “ACTUALISATION”

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to reveal the meaningful correlation of the concepts “activation” and “actualization”, to describe the peculiarities of their application in modern applied fields of psychology and pedagogy. The content of the article represents the scientific understanding by psychologists and educators of such psychological phenomena as “actualization” and “activation” and presents the authors’ understanding of the possibilities of taking these phenomena into account in psychological counselling, psychotherapy, education, in particular, preschool children’s education and speech development. It is noted that in psychology, activation is seen as an intensification of activity; an incentive to take decisive action; intensification, revival of the activity, as a transition to a more mobile state, to decisive action. The term “actualization” is used much less often in psychological and pedagogical literature – an action in the sense of the verb to actualize. This is the transfer of something from a potential state, not corresponding to modern conditions, to a real, actual state, corresponding to modern conditions. The analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature shows that the psychological term “actualization” has not yet found a correct applied meaning, appropriate and sufficient use in psychotherapy, psychological counseling, pedagogy and linguodidactics. The attention of scientists and practitioners to these terms is especially important in relation to the development of all mental processes in children, including their speech, vocabulary and grammatical structure, especially in preschool age, since the correct understanding of the concepts “actualization” and “activation” directly affects the effectiveness of psychological and pedagogical influences aimed at both the client and the purposeful formation of children’s psyche. The analysis of preschool children’s speech has shown that they are extremely receptive to new words and grammatical forms. This age is a period of an active practical learning the rules for using lexical and grammatical means. However, unfortunately, the expressiveness of their statements is ensured not by actualizing the used lexemes, phrases and sentences, but mainly by the widespread use of non-verbal means of communication (various postures, movements, actions, gestures, facial expressions, etc.), which does not contribute to mental development and mutual understanding with communicators.