MOSCOW, 23 Mar. PSU scientists were among the first to study the phenomenon of impressing in school-age children and prepared recommendations for the early discovery of talents that can be used in educational organizations throughout the country, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation reported.
Impressions are strong impressions received, as a rule, in childhood and adolescence, as a result of which a person develops a steady interest in some kind of activity. This term was first introduced by the famous Soviet geneticist and teacher Vladimir Efroimson, who studied this phenomenon. /sn.ria.ru/20230127/mgppu-1847686237.html» data->
Teachers and psychologists of Penza State University (PSU) have significantly revised the model of impressing, improved the definition, described the phenomenon and the factors influencing it, age characteristics, developed its typology by source, nature and focus.
The researchers collected a unique memoir base of more than 70 biographies of great people (composers, writers, artists), analyzed cases from their lives and established at what age the creators experienced the impression and how this factor was later reflected in their creative activity.
Then PSU scientists conducted a large-scale formative experiment on the basis of five schools and gymnasiums in Penza. It lasted four years and involved more than 400 schoolchildren aged 11 to 18. Scientists created conditions favorable for the emergence of impressing, and with the help of questionnaires and testing, they studied how the behavior and hobbies of adolescents change over time.
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“Fundamental studies of impressing, one might say, are not. The impressing effect is one-time, its course cannot be double-checked, therefore, there are problems with the reliability of the data obtained. Yes, we cannot recreate the conditions of the already occurred impressing, but it is in our power to identify and develop predictors of its occurrence. To do this, we are creating a biographical database, comparing the stories of famous people with the data of our empirical research,” said Elena Viktorova, project leader, candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor at PSU.
For four years, PSU representatives have held master classes for teachers, school psychologists, parents, as well as open lessons for schoolchildren in schools and gymnasiums in Penza. Children attended cultural events and exhibitions, passed psychological tests, questionnaires and author's psychological methods developed specifically for this project.
As a result of the experiment, according to scientists, teachers and parents changed their attitude to the hobbies of adolescents, the schoolchildren themselves changed their attitude to their hobbies and to the results of their activities. The proportion of enthusiastic children among the participants in the experiment increased from 85 to 95%, and the number of parents who approve of their children's hobbies increased by 15–20%. In the control group, where favorable conditions were not created, these figures, on the contrary, decreased.
Researchers found signs of impressing in 10% of schoolchildren in the experimental group. They found that adolescence is especially favorable for impressing, although this phenomenon can also occur in preschool age and in adolescence. They also found that impressing helps develop purposefulness, the need to achieve results, and passion.
«Not all impressions become so significant in a person's life. For impressing to occur, several factors must coincide at once: hereditary predisposition, a favorable age period, a situation of emotional stress. At the same time, the content and consequences of impressing largely depend on the sociocultural and psychological characteristics of the environment in which the child develops,” Viktorova noted.
The scientific team has developed recommendations for parents and teachers on how to notice impressing in a child and help him realize his talent. Scientists propose to regularly hold classroom hours and master classes for schoolchildren, teachers, psychologists and parents in schools.
PSU scientists plan to identify and describe the negative manifestations of impressing, its possible connection with psychotraumas, as well as to conduct a large-scale sociocultural study of impressing in terms of its functioning in different cultural and historical eras.
The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.