Diagnostics of attention of younger schoolchildren: methods and results

To date, the problem of diagnosing and developing the attention of junior schoolchildren is especially urgent. At this age, a person has new psychological characteristics, as well as a way of thinking. Attention takes a special place in the work and learning activities of people of different ages. Life has formed such a tendency: the more difficult the work, the higher the level of attention.

Such a character trait, like mindfulness, is an important part of modern life. Especially it concerns the educational-cognitive program. Diagnostics of attention of younger schoolchildren, methods and methods of implementing this process are the basis of children's progress. The main problem of reducing this indicator is the inattention of students. They are easily distracted by something insignificant, while not listening to the information that the teacher gives. On one subject, children also do not stay long, and switch immediately to another. In this regard, the diagnosis of the concentration of attention of younger students is becoming an important topic for discussion.

Attention: what is it?

Attention is one of the components of the cognitive process, which acquires the greatest importance for children of primary school age. Attention is the focus and focus on one object, the knowledge of all its properties and characteristics.

Attention is closely related to the activities of a person, his behavior. At first this process is presented in the form of alertness, readiness to act. Together with this, there is also a certain inhibition, which serves to prepare for action. The theoretical and practical parts are closely connected here. If they are interrelated, a person shows special concentration on the subject, and also studies it in the most profound way.

There is a division of the expression of attention depending on external or internal activity. In the first case, if the object of interest is a moving object, then the person's view will move behind him. And in the second case, the characteristic signs of concentration are a pointing in one point, not noticing anything around. But this does not mean that the person is calm. Rather calm it only externally, but inside it there is a process of thinking. In other words, attention can be characterized as internal activity, hiding under external tranquility.

Diagnosis of memory, attention, thinking of younger schoolchildren is the first priority task of teachers, because no one knows what can be in the child's head when outwardly he is at rest. It is necessary to analyze, understand the cause and essence of the problem, and try to solve it.

Classification of attention. The involuntary type

There is a clear division of attention into three main types: arbitrary, involuntary and post-natal. Each of them will be considered in more detail.

The primary is recognized as involuntary attention. It arises independently of the human consciousness, and is caused by such factors as intensity, novelty, suddenness, etc. Involuntary attention acts as a reaction to external stimuli, and occurs reflexively. The main properties of stimuli are the suddenness of appearance, the power of influence, the relationship with the general position, etc. For example, the unexpectedly opened door to the class can not help attracting attention, no matter how busy the students are. The study of the attention of younger students should be based on this fact. The teacher is able to attract the interest of the audience simply by lowering the voice or, conversely, increasing it.

A person is attentive to what he cares about, and what he is curious about. Undoubtedly, the subject, by means of which any human need is satisfied, will become the object of attention.

Arbitrary attention

This type of attention can be characterized as a consciously regulated phenomenon. It follows from an involuntary kind, while being its complete opposite. Arbitrary attention originates from the labor activity of man. It is here that a special focus on the task and goal is required.

There was such a tendency that the more difficult to achieve the ultimate goal, the more attention it requires. With an increase in the appearance of obstacles and difficulties on the way to the goal, there is an increase in the number of efforts that must be made. They are possible only if there are strong motives that help to go to the goal. Motives can be:

• The consciousness that the task must be performed;
• Interest in the result;
• A premonition of certain unfavorable consequences in the event of failure to fulfill the task.

There is an opinion that arbitrary attention has emerged as a result of communication between one person and another. Diagnosis of voluntary attention of younger schoolchildren occurs with verbal contact with adults. The main thing is to define the goal and understand the necessity of achieving it. A person makes efforts to concentrate, especially if it is a forced measure. In the case of a person's interest in an object, efforts are reduced to a minimum value, and satisfaction is the result.

Post-mental kind of attention

It is said about him when a person is interested not only in the result, but in the process of achieving it. The activity takes people so hard that they do not need to exert strong-willed efforts in order to do it.

After-care attention means that a person is very focused on his business, and therefore shows excellent results. The development of attention in younger schoolchildren should take place precisely in this channel. It is necessary for a child to be so interested in studying so that he would be happy to attend classes and memorize information.

Post-mental attention is considered the highest degree of concentration. Diagnostics of attention among junior schoolchildren has a goal: to ensure that each student has an interest in the educational and cognitive process.

Primary properties of attention

Attention as an object is characterized by the presence of certain qualities and properties. It is a complex structure with a large number of relationships. Attention properties can be divided into two groups: primary and secondary. The first include: stability, intensity, concentration and distribution.

Stability of attention is the duration of the retention of interest in one object. This property is influenced by several factors: personality type, emotional state, attitude to activity. This condition is one of the most important, especially among students. After all, the completed case can only be completed with a certain amount of sustainability, which is so often not enough for children. It is important for a teacher to attract the interest of students, and constantly change the object, because monotony is boring. Diagnostics of the stability of the attention of junior schoolchildren will help to identify certain problems, and solve them.

Intensity of attention differs in that this property requires a lot of energy expenditure in the process of performing a certain activity. During work there are periods of high intensity, and, conversely, low. The application of this property depends on the type of person: there are people who are easier to work hard and do business in two hours. In addition, there are other people who will perform this work at an average pace for five hours.

Concentration or different concentration is characterized by the subject's attention to one subject or type of activity. Diagnostics of the level of attention of junior schoolchildren strongly depends on this property. If a child writes a dictation without being distracted by extraneous factors, it is most likely to make a minimum of errors. Of course, subject to a certain level of knowledge.

Attention distribution means that a person can show interest and perform actions at once with several objects. Diagnostics of distribution of attention of younger schoolboys is expressed in work of the teacher. When teaching a topic, the teacher should emphasize the form, content, emotional coloring, as well as listen attentively to the students' answers and, if necessary, prompt them. For the competent use of this property it is necessary to bring one of the objects of attention to automatism to focus on the other.

Secondary properties of attention

The shift of attention is a conscious replacement of one object of interest by another. This property means a person's ability to quickly make a decision and navigate in a difficult situation. Diagnosis of attention of younger students should be based on this feature. After all, a child often finds himself in unforeseen situations, and one must teach him to find the right way out.

The success of this property depends on several factors: on the degree of completeness of the case, on the subjective attitude towards it, on the significance of the goal for the individual and on the individual traits of character.

Some experts emphasize such a property of attention as oscillation. It is expressed in the regular change of objects of interest. Oscillation differs from the change in stability in that even in conditions of extreme concentration, a change in the object of attention is possible.

Diagnostics of development of attention of younger schoolchildren

Depending on the age characteristics of children, the distribution and concentration of attention is different. The specialists found out that first-grade students are practically unable to distribute attention, this comes with age.

By the end of the third year of schooling, students can switch and concentrate attention. For example, a student can write in a notebook, follow the literacy of a letter, and also hear what the teacher says. It is important to periodically change the type of work so that fatigue does not come.

Features of attention of younger schoolchildren are the development of concentration and intensity of attention. This is especially evident in the situation when the child is engaged in a favorite business. For example, a pupil so earnestly draws that he does not hear what the instructor is telling him. Junior students are not able to do the same for a long time, because the stability of attention is not yet developed.

Diagnostics of attention of younger schoolchildren consists in allocation of any kind. Such attention helps the child in learning activity. After all, it requires a certain amount of labor from it when the goal is achieved. Many teachers believe that training should only be built around involuntary attention, since children are not yet ready to concentrate on what they are not interested in. However, many experts argue with this statement, and believe that the teacher should make sure that the child is not focused only on his interest.

All kinds of attention to one degree or another occur during training activities. The leading role is played, of course, by involuntary appearance, but the teacher's task is to try to teach the child contrary to his interests. In connection with this, it is difficult to overestimate such a process as the diagnosis of the attention of younger schoolchildren. The methods of this case can be very diverse.

With the help of what you can study the amount of attention?

The amount of attention is the number of objects that the child simultaneously perceives for a certain time. To develop this feature, methods based on the search for numbers and images of letters, figures and figures are used. Let's consider some methods of diagnostics of attention of younger schoolboys.

To develop the dynamics of attention, the Gorbov tables are used in the number of four pieces. They are schemes measuring 35 x 35 cm, in each cell the numbers from 1 to 25 are scattered randomly. The child is given a pointer and with it he should show all the figures as soon as possible.

You can improve the amount of attention with the help of simple objects. The teacher prepares several sets of 15 cards. On each of them should be drawn a grid with 16 squares. The grids contain points in the number from 2 to 8 pieces. The schoolboy takes turns to show cards with a chaotic arrangement of points. His task is that in a short period of time he must remember how many points were on the card, and where exactly they were located. Immediately after visual perception, he should depict the result on his card.

Methods for improving the concentration of attention

Diagnosis of memory and attention of younger students is based on concentration. To study it, use different tables with the image of geometric shapes, and students in a period of time need to find certain signs and drawings. Good results are considered if the number of errors was minimal.

In order to improve the concentration of children, it is necessary to conduct regular exercises. An important factor in this case is the diagnosis of the attention of younger students. Methods of development of concentration are quite diverse, and the most effective of them is an exercise called "confused lines".

This task also improves the stability of attention, and therefore quite popular. Each student is given a form, which shows 25 lines, intertwined with each other. Lines begin on the left side, and end on the right. The task of the student is to trace the course of each of them and put the serial number at the end. The approximate time of the assignment is 10 minutes.

Development of stability, switching and distribution of attention

Diagnosis of memory, attention, thinking of younger schoolchildren is of great importance. The child should be able not only to quickly switch attention from one subject to another, but also make the minimum number of errors, increase their productivity. To develop this property, teachers often use the so-called red-black tables.

They are schemes where red and black numbers are alternately represented in chaotic order. This experiment is divided into three parts, in each of which the teacher will detect the time of the task and record the number of mistakes made. In the first part, the pupil, at the signal of the teacher, should use the pointer to reveal the black numbers in ascending order: from 1 to 25. The essence of the second stage is that the child finds all the red numbers in descending order. The third part is characterized by the performance of a combined task, that is, the student alternately finds the black numbers in ascending order and the red ones in descending order.

For the evaluation of stability and the possibility of distributing attention, the Pieron-Ruther test is excellent. With it, you can also determine the pace of work and the degree of involvement in the task. The schoolboy receives a card with the image of four kinds of geometric figures located at an equal distance from each other in a 10 x 10 matrix. On the letterhead itself, there is a sample of the filling at the top. The child should, in accordance with the manner indicated in the example, put the icons in each figure. The purpose of this experiment is to find out in what amount of time the student will stop looking at the pattern, and will fill in the figures based on memory.

The most effective method for developing stability and distribution of attention is the use of Landolt rings. The essence of this experiment is as follows: each child is given a card with a picture of the rings, and warns that in certain places there is a gap. Children should strike rings with such a defect. Duration of work - 5 minutes. Every 60 seconds the teacher pronounces the word "devil" and the child puts it in the place where it was found by this team. At the end, the teacher looks at the number of rings studied by each child, as well as the mistakes made by him.

Analysis of the selectivity of attention

In today's world, such a problem as the diagnosis of the attention of younger schoolchildren comes to the forefront. Methods and methods for assessing the attentiveness of children differ from each other. To analyze the selectivity of this phenomenon, the Münstenberg test is used.

Its purpose is to identify attention in a monotonous, but dynamic work. Each student gets a form, where letters are written in five lines. The task of the child - for a limited amount of time to find those words that he noticed against the background of the letters and emphasize them. Here, the number of words that were found by children is estimated.

Diagnostics of attention of younger schoolchildren, methods and results of its development suggest that this problem exists, though not to a great extent. Teachers regularly carry out exercises and experiments to raise the level of attention of children, as it is one of the most important principles for the success of the working and learning process.