Use of the method for the formation of the concepts of size and shape in preschool children for clinical research

The goal of the present study was to test the method of forming or actualizing preverbal concepts in the conditions of an independent search for a task solution in order to use the method in clinical practice. The conditions of the absence of researcher’s instructions allow: 1) to compare in ontogenetic and clinical aspects; 2) to develop the skills of an independent search for solutions in problem situations; 3) to improve the creative potential of a child; 4) to develop the ability to achieve a goal. The advantage of using the preverbal concepts of size and shape is that this method can be applied to children of primary preschool age and children with a delay in speech development. To test the method, 7 healthy children of the middle preschool age (4-5-year-old children) were selected. The first task was to form or actualize the concept of a bigger or smaller size in children during the simultaneous presentation of 4 flat or volume geometrical figures. The second task was to form or actualize the concept of a flat or volumetric object among simultaneously presented 4 figures of the same size (small, medium or big). To get reward children should have chosen the figure, which was different from the other 3 ones in a trial during the formation of both the concepts. In the both tasks, we calculated the quantity of trials, which were needed for the single attainment or excess of the 70% level of the correct task performance per each type of learning. The behavioral results showed that the learning speeds during the formation of the concepts of the bigger/smaller size and flat/volumetric shape did not significantly differ from each other. It could be suggested that those concepts were equally important for the 4-5-year-old children. The study showed that the concept formation model is a convenient psychological method for testing the level of the development of the higher cognitive functions in participants and its use is possible in clinical practice with the parallel recording of the brain activity (EEG, evoked potentials etc.) in children in the process of their performing cognitive tasks. The described model is promising for identifying intellectual developmental delays in preschool children and can be used to test children with various cognitive abnormalities.