Egocentric speech. Speech and thinking of the child. Jean Piaget

The phenomenon of the egocentric speech of the child has been discussed extensively and quite often in psychology. Speaking of speech in general, it contains the external, internal and sensual aspects of human consciousness. Therefore, to understand what the child thinks, what he is inside, it is worth paying attention to his speech.

Some parents begin to worry when their baby utters unrelated words, as if mindlessly repeating everything that someone heard. It can be uncomfortable when you try to figure out what he said a particular word for, but the child simply can not explain it. Or when the child speaks to the other person, as if with a wall, in other words, practically to nowhere and not expecting an answer, let alone understanding. Parents may have thoughts about the development of their child's mental disorder and the dangers that this form of speech conceals.

What is an egocentric speech really? And is it worth worrying if you notice her signs in your child?

What is egocentric speech?

One of the first scientists who devoted much time to the study of childish egocentric speech, and also discovered this very concept, was Jean Piaget, a psychologist from Switzerland. He developed his own theory in this field and conducted a series of experiments involving young children.

According to his conclusions, one of the obvious external manifestations of egocentric positions in the child's thinking is precisely egocentric speech. The age in which it is most often observed is from three to five years. Later, according to Piaget, this phenomenon almost completely disappears.

What is the difference between this behavior and the usual childish babble? Egocentric speech is a conversation in psychology aimed at oneself. In children, it manifests itself when they speak out loud, without addressing anyone, ask themselves questions and do not worry at all about not receiving an answer to them.

Self-centrism itself is defined in psychology as a focus on personal aspirations, goals, experiences, lack of focus on the experiences of others and any external influences. However, if your child has this phenomenon, you should not panic. Much will clear up and it will appear absolutely not terrible at deeper consideration of researches of psychologists in the given area.

Developments and conclusions of Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget in the book "Speech and thinking of the child" tried to reveal the answer to the question about what needs the child tries to satisfy by talking with himself. In the course of research, he came to several interesting conclusions, but one of his mistakes was the assertion that to fully understand the child's thought patterns, it is enough to analyze his speech alone, because words directly reflect actions. Later, other psychologists disproved such an incorrect dogma, and the phenomenon of egocentric language in children's communication became more clearly understood.

When Piaget investigated this question, he argued that speech for children, as well as for adults, exists not only for communicating thoughts, but has other functions. During the research and experiments conducted in the "House of Babies", J.-J. Rousseau and Piaget succeeded in determining the functional categories of children's speech. For a month, detailed and detailed records of what each child was saying were being conducted. After carefully processing the collected material, psychologists identified two main groups of children's speech: egocentric speech and socialized speech.

What can this phenomenon tell about?

Egocentric speech manifests itself in that, speaking, the child is not at all interested in who listens to it and whether someone listens to it at all. Egocentric this form of language makes, above all, the conversation only about yourself, when the child does not even try to understand the point of view of his interlocutor. He only needs a visible interest, although the illusion that he is understood and heard, the child is likely to be present. He also does not try to exert any influence on his interlocutor with his speech, the conversation is conducted exclusively for himself.

Types of egocentric speech

It is also interesting that, as Piaget defined, egocentric speech is also divided into several categories, each of which has different features:

1. Repetition of words.
2. Monologue.
3. "Monologue together."

Dedicated types of egocentric children's language are used by children in accordance with a specific situation and their immediate needs.

What is repetition?

Repetition (echolalia) involves a virtually thoughtless repetition of words or syllables. The child does this for the sake of the pleasure derived from speech, he does not quite comprehend the words and does not address anyone with something specific. This phenomenon is the remnants of infantile babble and does not contain the slightest social orientation. In the first few years of life, the child likes to repeat the words he has heard, imitate sounds and syllables, often without investing in it any special meaning. Piaget believes that this kind of speech has some similarities with the game, because the child repeats sounds or words for the sake of entertainment.

What is a monologue?

A monologue as an egocentric speech is a conversation between a child and himself, like loud thoughts aloud. This kind of speech is not directed to the interlocutor. In such a situation, the word for the child is associated with an action. The author outlines the following consequences from this, important to correctly understand the child's monologues:

• Acting, the child (even alone with himself) must speak and accompany the games and various movements with words and cries;
• Accompanying the words with a certain action, the kid can modify the attitude to the action itself or say something without which it could not be realized.

What is a "monologue together"?

"Monologue together", also known as a collective monologue, is also described in some detail in the works of Piaget. The author writes that the name of this form, accepted by egocentric children's speech, may seem somewhat contradictory, because how can a monologue be conducted in a dialogue with the interlocutor? However, this phenomenon is often traced in the conversations of children. It is manifested in the fact that during the conversation each child attaches the other to his action or thought, not striving at the same time to be truly heard and understood. The opinion of the interlocutor such a child never takes into account, for him the opponent is a kind of causative agent of the monologue.

Piaget calls the collective monologue the most social form of egocentric varieties of speech. After using this kind of language, the child speaks not only for one himself, but also for others. But at the same time, children of such monologues do not listen, because they are turned, ultimately, to themselves - the child is thinking aloud about his actions and does not set himself the goal to convey any thoughts to the interlocutor.

Contradictory opinion of a psychologist

According to Piaget, speech for a small child, unlike an adult, is not so much an instrument of communication as an auxiliary and imitative action. From his point of view, the child in the first years of life represents a self-directed creation. Piaget, based on the very fact that the child's egocentric speech takes place, and also on a number of experiments, comes to this conclusion: the child's thinking is egocentric, which means that he thinks only for himself, not wanting to be understood, and not seeking To understand the way of thinking of the interlocutor.

Studies and conclusions of Leo Vygotsky

Later, carrying out similar experiments, many researchers refuted Piaget's conclusion presented above. For example, Lev Vygotsky , a Soviet scientist and psychologist, criticized the Swiss's opinion about the functional meaninglessness of the egocentric speech of a child. In his own experiments, similar to those produced by Jean Piaget, he came to conclusions, to some extent contradicting the initial statements of the Swiss psychologist.

A new look at the phenomenon of egocentric speech

Among Vygotsky's findings on the phenomenon of childish egocentrism, one can take into account the following:

1. Factors that hamper certain activities of the child (for example, pencils of a certain color were taken from him during drawing), provoke egocentric speech. Its volume in similar situations almost doubles.
2. In addition to the discharge function, purely expressive function and the fact that the egocentric speech of a child often accompanies games or other types of child activity, it can also play another important role. This form of speech includes the function of forming a plan for solving a problem or task, thus becoming a peculiar means of thinking.
3. The egocentric speech of a toddler is very similar to the inner mental speech of an adult. They have much in common: imaginative thinking, shortened thought, impossibility of understanding the interlocutor without using an additional context. Thus, one of the main functions of this phenomenon is the transition of speech in the process of its formation from internal to external.
4. In later years such a speech does not disappear, but passes into egocentric thinking - inner speech.
5. The intellectual function of this phenomenon can not be considered a direct consequence of the egocentrism of children's thought, because there is absolutely no connection between these concepts. In fact, egocentric speech becomes a kind of a means of verbal shaping of the child's realistic thinking quite early.

How to react?

These conclusions seem much more logical and help not to worry excessively if the child shows signs of an egocentric form of communication. After all, this kind of thinking does not talk about focusing solely on oneself or on social disability, and the more so is not any serious mental disorder, for example, as some quite wrongly confuse it with the manifestations of schizophrenia. Egocentric speech is only a transitional stage in the development of the child's logical thinking and eventually turns into an inner one. Therefore, many modern psychologists say that the egocentric form of speech does not need to be attempted to correct or cure - it is absolutely normal.