Methodology for studying the features of thinking, mediated memory, affective-personal sphere. As a method of experimental psychological research, it was proposed in the early 1930s.

Pictogram (from Latin pictus - drawn, Greek grapho - writing).

Usually, the subject is asked to memorize a certain number of words or expressions, and for each of them you need to draw any image or sign, that is, write down a number of concepts pictographically. As stimuli, concepts of varying degrees of generalization are used, and mainly those whose direct representation is difficult or impossible (for example, "jolly holiday", "warm wind", "deceit", "justice", etc.).

A feature of the instruction is the orientation of the subject to the study of only the features of memory, as well as the prohibition to use any letter designations. After completing the drawings, the subject must name the corresponding concepts or expressions. One of the most important elements of the study is a conversation that allows you to reveal the meaning of the symbols produced by the subjects. The examination time is not regulated.

If, when using the variant of the pictogram according to A. N. Leontiev, the choice of the subject was limited to 30 images included in the set of cards (while the number of possible options decreased in the process of completing tasks), then the only factor limiting the choice of image in the variant with free drawing is intellectual -associative fund of the subject's personality, his affective attitudes. Thus, the nature of the subject's activity and the possibility of interpreting the drawing bring the test closer to projective methods.

Another feature that expands the interpretative orientation of the methodology is the fact that indirect memorization reflects both mnemonic and intellectual processes (AR Luria, 1962). The construction of an image suitable for memorization is a consequence of the creative activity of thinking, which reflects its individual structure (S. V. Longinova, S. Ya. Rubinshtein, 1972). Hence, there are ample opportunities for the study of thinking, primarily the process of generalization. (It is no coincidence that the first studies using pictograms (G. V. Birenbaum, 1934) were devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of thinking of patients with mental illness, since the construction of a pictogram is associated with significant mental effort and is not available with intellectual insufficiency).

In Soviet psychology, the technique was used in the context of studying mediated memorization within the framework of a cultural-historical concept (L. S. Vygotsky, 1935). The simplest method of pictographic research was proposed by L. V. Zankov (1935). The subjects were asked to remember a specific word with the help of a specific image in the picture, by establishing a connection between the word and the presented image. The variant of the test proposed by A. N. Leontiev (1930) required a more complex activity: the choice of a picture word from the proposed set for memorization. This version of the test is widely used, especially in clinical studies of children (A. Ya. Ivanova, E. S. Mandrusova, 1970; L. V. Bondareva, 1969; L. V. Petrenko, 1976).

At present, there is a tendency to develop and improve the interpretative scheme of the methodology, which takes into account the various categories of the studied indicators and provides for the formalization of data. This expands the possibilities of the methodology, which previously allowed only a qualitative generalized interpretation of the results, is the basis for the standardization of indicators, which brings the test closer to modern psychodiagnostic methods.

One of the most complete schemes for analyzing pictogram data is the interpretive scheme of B. G. Khersonsky (1988). The interpretation consists of a qualitative analysis of each image, followed by a formalized assessment based on assignment to a particular type; assessment of the quantitative ratio of images of various types in this protocol; taking into account analytical factors that are inaccessible to formalization (special phenomena), including the graphic features of the picture. Qualitative analysis takes into account: the theme of the drawing, factors of abstractness (concrete images, metaphorical images, geometric, graphic and grammatical symbols, individually significant images, formal images). Additionally, drawings are evaluated by the frequency factor (standard, original, repetitive) and by the adequacy factor (proximity of the image and concept, degree of generalization, conciseness of the image). The registered special phenomena include: associations by consonance; super-abstract symbolism; undifferentiated images; "shock" reactions; the use of letters; stereotypes; statements of the subjects, etc.

The graphic features of the drawing are analyzed taking into account the location on the sheet of paper, the nature of the lines, size, pressure, etc. Differential diagnostic criteria for evaluating rictograms, obtained on the basis of a comparison of the contingents of sick and healthy individuals, are singled out. There are norms that are both statistical and descriptive.

The construct validity of the standardized form of the pictogram was analyzed on the basis of a comparison of the obtained data with the Rorschach test, drawing projective tests, in particular, verbal methods for studying thinking. Validity criterion (current) was determined by comparing the results of patients with various mental illnesses and healthy.

The pictogram is one of the most widely used methods for studying the cognitive sphere and personality in domestic clinical psychodiagnostics.

Analysis

Features of the conduct.

A set of words

1. Fun party
2. Development
3. Hard work
4. Winter day
5. Parting
6. Easy job
7. Disease
8. Happiness
9. Deception
10. Poverty

The subject is not given any restrictions on the completeness and content of the image, as well as on the materials used: color, size, time.

The order of processing and interpretation.

When processing experimental data, not only the indicators of all four criteria are taken into account, but also procedural issues (ease of completing the task, emotional attitude towards it, the need for a wider space, etc.).

Evaluation criteria:

1. The most important criterion is " adequacy". Sometimes one drawing is enough to evaluate, sometimes it is necessary to obtain additional information from its author. If the connection between the proposed concept and its pictogram is justified, the expert puts a “+” sign, in the absence of a connection - a “-” sign. The norm is characterized by high rates according to the criterion of adequacy - from 70% and above.

2. Some time after completing the task - usually in 15-20 minutes - the expert checks the ability of the subject to restore the list of initial concepts using his own pictograms. Usually, for this, the list of concepts is closed, and the subject is asked to restore them in random order. If the subject used the same pictograms to convey different concepts, he makes mistakes and all kinds of inaccuracies such as synonymy, reduction of a complex concept, confusion. 80% and above. According to this indicator, one can judge the role of memory in thinking. Some researchers considered its role so important that, for example, Blonsky even defined the mind as memory, that is, in thinking he focused primarily on the memorability of signs.

3. The third criterion - "concreteness - abstractness" - is also evaluated by the expert according to the degree of conformity of the pictogram to the real object. If this correspondence is as specific as possible (for example, a happy holiday is depicted as a feast with specific guests and table setting), then the expert evaluates the pictogram at 1 point. If the image is rather abstract (for example, the same happy holiday is depicted as a series of exclamation marks), then the pictogram is estimated at 3 points. There may be mixed images that are difficult to attribute to extreme types. In this case, they receive a score of 2 points. Expert assessments are then summed up and the average data are calculated, which normally correspond to a value of 2 points.

The ability to quickly memorize is very important for children who are faced with the need to process large amounts of information in the process of studying at school. However, even with age, this property of the complex of higher mental functions does not lose its significance. There are several tests that examine the speed and quality of memorization. One of the most interesting is the technique of A.R. Luria "Pictogram".

Description of the test "Pictogram" according to the method of A.R. Luria

Alexander Romanovich Luria is a follower of Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, one of the founders of Russian neuropsychology. The "Pictogram" test, developed by him as part of the development of this area of ​​science, makes it possible to identify the features of memorization through associative links. The objectives of the study are:

• revealing the nuances of mediated memorization;
• evaluation of memory productivity;
• determination of the nature of mental activity;
• study of the level of development of figurative thinking.

The technique is not used to diagnose preschoolers and younger schoolchildren, but is only suitable for testing among subjects who have at least 6-7 grades of education.

Testing can only be done on children over the age of 12

Application of the methodology for testing schoolchildren

The stimulus material for the test is a set of 15–20 words or phrases of a specific (“hungry child”) or abstract content (“doubt”):

• fun party;
• hard work;
• development;
• delicious dinner;
• a brave deed;
• disease;
• happiness;
• parting;
• poisonous question;
• friendship;
• dark night;
• sadness;
• justice;
• doubt;
• warm wind;
• deception;
• wealth;
• hungry child.

Moreover, the technique does not involve the use of a standardized list of words, the experimenter can create his own set or replace only a few of the proposed options. Thus, the test can be carried out as many times as required by work with a particular subject.

The test organizer can come up with his own set of simple diagnostic phrases

Diagnostics is organized both in group form and in individual form. To conduct the study, the subject will need to give out a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.

Instructions for schoolchildren aged 12–16:

1. The experimenter announces the conditions for the study: “We will examine your visual memory. I will begin to name the words, and your task is to draw a picture, which will then help you remember what you heard. It is impossible to write down, as well as depict individual letters.
2. Then the adult clearly and loudly names the words, specifying before that the serial number of each expression. The interval between pronunciations should not be more than 1 minute.
3. In the process of drawing, the child can be asked leading questions (“What are you drawing?” Or “How will this help you remember the word?”).
4. 40-60 minutes after the end of the test, during which the experimenter allows the students to do other things, the test subjects are provided with forms with their answers.
5. After that, the adult invites the children to independently reproduce all the words they heard, looking at the pictures shown (in the group form of the test, the students will need to sign their pictograms, and in the individual child it is recommended to name the concepts out of order).

For older subjects, words should be read at intervals of only 30 seconds.

In the process of work, the experimenter must necessarily draw the attention of students to the fact that the test results do not depend on the level of their visual abilities.

Processing and interpretation of results

If the subject draws little men as illustrations for all concepts, then this indicates his sociability

• A - abstract (the drawn lines are not framed in a separate image);
• Z - iconic or symbolic (images are arrows, squares, trapezoids, and so on);
• K - specific (quite definite objects are presented);
• C - plot (drawn pictures are united by a specific situation);
• M - metaphorical (drawings are an artistic invention of the subject; for example, for the concept of "joy" a bouncing person is depicted).

The experimenter notes the type of each pattern, and then counts the frequency of use of each type:

• If abstract and symbolic images predominate (more than 55%), then a person can be classified as a group of “thinkers” who are aimed at synthesizing the information received, generalizing. Such people have a high degree of development of abstract-logical thinking.
• With frequently occurring plot and metaphorical drawings, one can draw a conclusion about the creative thinking of the student. Such subjects are called "artists". This result is typical mainly for children 12–14 years old.
• When the images are for the most part represented by certain objects of the surrounding world, this indicates the predominance of a concretely effective way of thinking. Such people tend to approach all issues from the point of view of rationality. They are called "practitioners". But usually, such results are observed only in adults (most often in teachers and executives).

It is possible to make a conclusion about the level of formation of the conceptual apparatus by how freely the subject reproduces words from images in the final test.

Another additional parameter that can be determined is sociability. If the subject draws little men and remembers the words without a hitch, then he probably likes to be surrounded by people. But when it is difficult for a child to navigate by drawings-men, this indicates the infantility of the person being tested.

The author of the methodology, in addition to diagnosing the quality of memorization, also suggested assessing the exhaustion of attention. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the hardness of the pressure, as well as the increasing negligence in the performance of the task. The more pronounced the changes in these characteristics, the higher the exhaustion.

The assessment of qualitative indicators of thinking is carried out according to 4 criteria:

• Adequacy. To understand this property, it is enough to look at 1-2 figures. Sometimes you need to pay attention to the author's comment. If a logical and justified connection between the concept and the image is noticeable, then the experimenter marks the pictogram with a “+” sign, in the absence of one - “-”. More than 70% of positive marks are considered the norm.
• The ability to restore images after a certain amount of time. The number of correctly named words in the final test is estimated. The norm is more than 80% of words and phrases.
• Correspondence of the pictogram to the real object. Concrete drawings are worth 1 point, abstract drawings - 3 points. If the image is difficult to classify, then 2 points are counted. Then the average is determined. Norm - more than 2 points.
• Originality. If the plot of the drawings is the same for several tested, the image is estimated at 1 point, which indicates the mediocrity of the approach to the task. If the pictogram is unique, then 3 points are given for it. The intermediate option deserves 2 points. The norm, as in the previous case, is the result of 2 points.

Luria's pictogram allows you to evaluate not only the quality and speed of memorizing information, but also to get an idea of ​​the ability to build associative links between a concept and its image, and of such an important indicator of attention as exhaustion. Thus, in a short period of time, the experimenter gets a complete picture of the development of the main properties of the thinking of the test person.

Pictogram(from Latin Pictus - to draw and Greek Γράμμα - record) - a sign that displays the most important recognizable features of an object, objects, phenomena to which it points, most often in a schematic form. The Pictogram technique was developed in the early thirties and used in psychological research. In the 1960s and 1970s, the use of this technique expanded.

The use of pictograms for child development has been around for a long time. The pictogram method was first developed by . The relevance of the use of pictograms lies in the fact that the child's thinking develops through a visual and accessible form. This method was also used by D. B. Elklinin for teaching preschoolers to read and write, that is, the use of visual models to determine the sound composition of a word.

Pictograms of "word schemes" help the child, focusing on the visual image, to count how many and what sounds are in the word, where the sound is (at the beginning, in the middle or at the end), sentence schemes - to determine the number of words, develops interest in communication, improves speech-thinking activity, masters the operations of analysis and synthesis.

Pictograms for stories and fairy tales are good to use for the development of coherent speech in children. This contributes to the development of higher mental functions (thinking, imagination, memory, attention), activation of coherent speech, orientation in space, makes it easier for children to get acquainted with nature and with the phenomena of the surrounding reality (road signs, environmental signs, etc.). When using different schemes, the nature of children's activity changes: children not only hear their own speech or speech addressed to them, but also have the opportunity to "see" it. When compiling stories from pictures and pictograms, children more easily memorize new words not mechanically, but in the process of active use.

2. The use of pictograms when retelling fairy tales or short stories.

Retelling is an easier type of monologue speech, since it adheres to the author's position of the work, it uses a ready-made author's plot and ready-made speech forms and techniques. This is to some extent reflected speech with a certain degree of independence. The retelling of literary works in kindergarten is one of the activities in speech therapy classes.

The use of pictograms in teaching retelling makes it easier to memorize the work, and then the retelling itself, based on a graphic image. Pictograms help the child understand the sequence of events and build the outline of the subsequent story.

Stages of learning:

1. Preparation for retelling. In the beginning, it is necessary to take into account the requirements for a literary work:

accessible and complete and content;

a clear composition

small size;

Presentation in a simple but rich language;

genre diversity.

You should not retell the work without examining it.

2. First reading of the text without installation on memorization and retelling. It is intended for a holistic emotional and artistic perception of the text by children.

3. When re-reading a work the emphasis is on memorization with subsequent retelling is carried out by a speech therapist directly in the lesson on teaching retelling. After re-reading, it is necessary to talk with the children about the content, based on leading questions. Questions should be carefully selected and posed so that children can analyze the read work, comprehend connections and draw independent conclusions. The purpose of the conversation is the assimilation of the content of the work. This will help and the following techniques for working on the text:

viewing illustrations, pictures;

laying out in sequence a series of plot pictures for a story, a fairy tale;

selection of phrases from the text for each picture;

acquaintance with the pictogram, comparison of pictograms with the plot picture, illustration;

Finding the pictogram according to the text.

4. After the third reading, the children are given the opportunity to retell the text using pictograms. When using pictograms, children develop the ability to replace characters with substitutes (models); transmit text based on subject modeling; the ability to draw up an internal plan of action, a speech statement is formed, the ability to draw conclusions; imagination develops to model for independent stories.

3. Pictograms for retelling Russian folk tales.

The use of pictograms for retelling is very helpful in working with children with general underdevelopment of speech, since mental processes (thinking, imagination) develop only on the basis of various types of perceptions and sensations. This means that the more channels of perception of information the teacher can use, the better and faster the children will be able to feel, analyze and systematize the flow of incoming information in the content and speech aspect.

It is better to start using models (pictograms) with familiar fairy tales: “Gingerbread Man”, “Masha and the Bear”, “Turnip”, etc. over time, children will want to independently model the work they like.

4. Games with pictograms.

Pictograms can be used for games:

“Don’t yawn, pick up the right pictogram,” the speech therapist reads the story, and the child picks up the pictogram according to the text.

“Continue the story,” the speech therapist distributes pictograms, reads the story, and the child continues, relying on the pictogram.

“Put it right”, the speech therapist puts the pictograms in the wrong order, reads the story. Then he proposes to correctly arrange the icons. In case of difficulty, ask questions.

“Make up your own story,” the child is offered pictograms. The child must independently compose a story.

Pictogram of the fairy tale "Kolobok".

This method, proposed by A.R. Luria, is a variant of mediated memorization, but it is used not so much to study memory as to analyze the nature of associations. Can be used to study subjects with at least 7 grades.

To conduct the experiment, it is enough to have a pencil and paper. It is necessary to prepare in advance 12-16 words and expressions for memorization. An example set of words that you can use:

1. Happy holiday 2. Hard work 3. Development 4. Delicious dinner 5. Bold act 6. Illness 7. Happiness 8. Separation 9. Poison question

10. Friendship 11. Dark night 12. Sadness 13. Justice 14. Doubt 15. Warm wind 16. Deception 17. Wealth 18. Hungry child

However, it is not necessary to use standard sets of words, they need to be slightly varied, i.e., while maintaining the main composition of words, replace two or three of them.

The subject is told that his visual memory will be tested, they ask if he noticed how it is easier for him to remember - "by ear or with the help of vision." Then they give him a sheet of paper and a pencil and say: “Neither words nor letters can be written on this paper. I will name words and whole expressions that you will have to remember. In order to make it easier to remember, you should draw something for each word that could help you remember the given word. The quality of the drawing does not play a role, you can draw anything and anything, as long as it can remind you of the given word - like a knot is tied for memory. Here, for example, I ask you the first expression "Merry Holiday". What can you draw so that you can later remember the "Merry Holiday"? It is advisable not to suggest anything else to the patient unless absolutely necessary. If he stubbornly complains about the inability to draw, you can advise: "Draw whatever is easier." If the subject declares that he is unable to draw a holiday, you can repeat to him that he should not draw a "jolly holiday", but only what can remind him of a merry holiday. If he easily selects the drawings and tells the experimenter aloud what he chooses and how he is going to remember, the experimenter silently takes the protocol. The protocol is conducted according to the following scheme.

Given Expressions	Drawings and explanations of the patient	Perception after an hour

If the subject himself does not explain, you should ask him every time: “How will this help you remember the given word?”.

No objection or disapproval should be expressed, no matter how unusual the patient's connections are, but if his drawings are too many subjects, you can ask him to draw a little faster.

In the process of completing the task, the experimenter varies the order of the words given to the subject: depending on whether the subject easily establishes connections, the experimenter offers either lighter, more concrete expressions (“tasty dinner”, “hard work”), then more abstract, difficult ones (“development” , "doubt", "justice").

After completing the task (from 12 to 16 words), the sheet with the pictures is put aside and only at the end of the study (an hour later) is the subject asked to recall the given words from the pictures. Remembrance should be offered out of order, better one - from the beginning, the other - from the end. You can invite the subject to write down the word or expression that was given to him under the picture. You should definitely ask how he managed to remember the word, how the drawing helped him.

When interpreting the results of an experiment, first of all, attention should be paid to whether the subject is able to access the generalized symbolization of the word, i.e., whether he can independently find a generalized mediated image. Normally, even a schoolboy with a 5th grade education can find such an image; so, for example, for the words "hard work" he draws a shovel or a hammer, a person with a load, for the word "doubt" - a fork in the road (where to go?) or a question mark or a door (whether to enter it?). For an intellectually handicapped subject, such a task is difficult. For the words "hard work" he would like to draw a whole scene of working in a mine, but he is afraid that he will not be able to do it. For the word "doubt" he can't think of anything at all. With mild mental deficiency, the subject is able to draw something for specific concepts: for the word "disease" - a bed; for the words "delicious dinner" - a table, plates. But such words as "justice", "doubt", "development" remain inaccessible for mediation. Such manifestations of concreteness of thinking, difficulties in generalization are observed in oligophrenia and epilepsy. In other cases, the subject copes with the task of generalization, but in no way can he limit himself to isolating one of any images and draws a lot of them.

So, for example, when deciding to draw a growing plant for the word "development", he draws not just one sprout, but a whole series of gradually increasing flowers in the amount of 7.8. For the word “disease”, he draws a bed and a patient on a pillow, and a vial of medicine, and also a thermometer. Such multiple associations in pictograms indicate thoroughness of thinking, a tendency to detail and are usually observed in epileptics, as well as in some patients who have had encephalitis. It is noted in passing that the same categories of subjects draw too carefully and slowly, returning to the previous drawing and correcting it even when the experimenter has already given them the next word. Such "returns" and the desire for unnecessary thoroughness of drawings also testify to the inertia of mental processes.

The second criterion on which the assessment of the performance of this task is based is the criterion of the adequacy of associations.

Mentally healthy people usually make varied but meaningful connections. So, for example, to the expression "jolly holiday" they can draw a flag or flowers, or even a glass of wine; to the word "separation" - an envelope or a locomotive, or a hand waving a handkerchief; to the word "development" - a growth chart or a plant, or a baby, or an egg, or an athlete. All these and many other connections are equally good, since they can really serve as a means of remembering a given word, they mediate it.

But here, a patient with schizophrenia draws a river for the word "doubt" and explains it this way: "There is Glinka's romance "Doubt", and Glinka is Neglinka - a river." Such a connection is cumbersome, abstruse in nature. In another case, to memorize the words “delicious dinner”, the patient draws a toilet room and, in the reasoning during the performance of tasks, comes to this as follows: “Delicious dinner means that it smells good ... smell ... I will draw a toilet.” There is also a paradox in this association. Another elderly patient draws lips to memorize the words "warm wind" and explains that this is a "mother's kiss." Despite the bright emotionality, this association is not adequate to the task; because painted lips do not serve the purpose of remembering given words.

In some cases, the emasculation, the emptyness of the association of patients with schizophrenia reach such an extent that they draw only dashes and ticks for different words. Such brightness of images is often observed in persons of a hysterical warehouse, although it is not excluded in mentally healthy people. Some patients perceive each word given to them for a pictogram through the prism of their personal tastes and aspirations. So, for example, the patient says: “Warm wind,” I can’t remember at all, since we don’t have a warm wind in the north; “delicious dinner” - for me, only curdled milk is suitable for dinner; “joyful holiday” - I don’t have holidays; “fairness” - I am being treated unfairly”, etc. Such egocentricity of perceptions is observed in epileptics and some psychopaths. At the same time, normal people also have a small amount of personal reaction, especially to emotionally significant words.

Therefore, if patients choose completely neutral, abstract, universal images for all such emotionally significant words, for example, “happiness” - the sun, “sadness” - bad weather, etc.), this can be assessed as a manifestation of some emotional isolation, introversion or even coldness.

The last criterion by which the results of the study of pictogram methods are evaluated is the memorization criterion. The technique itself was created for the study of memory. Of particular interest is the comparison of the results of the study of memory by the method of memorizing 10 words and the pictogram method. If the patient memorizes 10 words poorly, but remembers the words in the pictogram much better, this indicates an organic weakness of memory. Assimilation of the new is difficult, but the ability to meaningfully mediate, logically connect the material helps the patient, so he copes better with the pictogram.

If the subject easily learns 10 words, but cannot remember the words in the pictogram, this indicates that indirect connections only prevent him from remembering. This ratio is observed in patients with schizophrenia with mental disorders and the preservation of formal abilities to learn new things. Some conclusions about the patient's memory can also be drawn by how accurately he reproduces the given words - sometimes patients reproduce only the approximate content of the given words.

The pictogram should be judged “as a whole”, i.e. according to the general nature of the images chosen by the subject, and not according to individual associations. So, for example, abstract signs and symbols are often found in pictograms of perfectly healthy people. Let us give an example of a pictogram drawn by a mentally healthy, very capable student (Fig. 2.3).

In this pictogram, abstract symbols alternate with emotionally rich, lively, figurative ones.

In this pictogram, very abstract associations to the words "separation" and "justice" could alert. However, its general liveliness and diversity, lightness and simplicity of design, and finally, the complete reproduction of all the given words convince us that these two associations were not emasculated, but truly abstract symbols.

Rice. 2.3. Healthy female student pictogram

The pictograms made by patients with schizophrenia with emasculation and lack of content of association look completely different (Fig. 2.4).

Fig.2.4. Diluted meaningless symbols

The same words were offered to this patient, but there is no need to decipher them here. Neither at the time of composing the pictogram, nor during reproduction (which turned out to be completely impossible, despite the fact that when memorizing 10 words, the patient found good retention opportunities), she could not explain why she could remember “jolly holiday” by the cross, and “development” - by tick, "disease" - by two points, and "friendship" by one. Some subjects (in most cases this is characteristic of patients with schizophrenia, but in several cases over decades such pictograms were made by both those who had encephalitis and those who suffered from epileptic seizures) try to associate the concept with various outlines of the line. So, for example, the patient symbolizes a "merry holiday" with rounded outlines of a winding line (above) and separation with an angular zigzag line (below). He does not explain in any way why he designates “happiness” with a straight line resting on a shapeless lump above “separation”, and “doubt” with a straight line resting on a zigzag.

Geometric symbolization of concepts in general is very often found in pictograms of patients with schizophrenia. So, for example, a patient with schizophrenia, who made a pictogram from some geometric shapes, symbolizes “doubt” as a circle, but then begins to doubt whether he chose the diameter of the circle correctly. He says that "the circle is uncertainty" and quite seriously asks the experimenter: "What do you think, will "uncertainty" be narrower or wider than "doubt" in area?".

Let us give examples of two more emasculated pictograms made by patients with schizophrenia (Fig. 2.5, 2.6).

Fig.2.5. Symbolic zigzags (of a schizophrenic patient)

Fig 2.6. Pictogram of a patient with schizophrenia

It makes no sense to decipher them, since there are only separate strokes-symbols (in Fig. 2.6 in the center, a spiral rising up means “happiness”, and going down next to it means “illness”). Basically, arrows, ticks, lines, crosses and circles are devoid of objective content and even for the patients themselves do not serve as a means of communication and memorization; attempts to read their pictogram, i.e., to recall the given words, are unsuccessful. Some pictograms should also be cited, which, in appearance, give the impression of simple and concrete, but upon closer psychological analysis, they reveal signs of a deep pathology of thinking. Figure 2.7 shows a pictogram of a schizophrenic patient with verbal hallucinosis. The patient's associations are specific, meaningful, but they are striking in their stereotypy both in the content and in the execution of the drawings.

The last pictogram is also specific. Thought disorders are found here not in the drawings, but in the explanations of the patient (schizophrenia, defective state)

The patient reproduces some words approximately, others cannot remember. Her explanations testify to the bizarre vague nature of the associations and at the same time to their significant inertness, since the choice of some new images is influenced by the previous images and thoughts of the patient (illness - work, drunkard - fence).

Fig 2.7. stereotypical drawings

In general, the "pictogram" technique is very versatile, it allows you to make many observations regarding the essential features of the psyche of patients.

The pictogram technique was developed by Luria. AR for mediated memory analysis. Using this method, you can get information to study the nature of associations and thinking.

The essence of the pictogram

This pictogram technique consists in the fact that the patient is asked to remember about 15-20 words and phrases, among which there are the following specific concepts: a hungry child, hard work, a delicious dinner, and so on. More abstract words are also used: doubt, development, and so on. At the same time, for each expression, it is necessary to draw any sign or image, that is, write down a number of concepts using a pictogram.

What expressions to offer for memorization to the patient are chosen taking into account his state of mind. If there is a need to track the development of schizophrenia, a number of specially selected expressions are used.

Data analysis pictogram

The pictogram technique consists of a thorough analysis of each image with a further assessment based on assignment to a particular type. The quantitative ratio of images of various types in this pictogram is estimated, analytical factors that are inaccessible to formalization are taken into account. The graphical features of the drawing are also taken into account.

Methodology "Pictogram Luria"

In domestic clinical psychodiagnostics, the pictogram is the most common cognitive environment and personality. This method does not limit the subject neither the content of the images, nor their completeness. Also, the patient is allowed to use any materials. He is not limited in time.

Processing and interpretation

When processing experimental data, if the "Pictogram" technique is used, the interpretation contains indicators of all criteria, as well as procedural issues: emotional attitude to the task, ease of its implementation, need for a wide space, and so on.

Criteria for evaluation

The methodology is evaluated according to four criteria:

To evaluate this criterion, sometimes one figure is enough, but in some cases you need to get additional information from the author. If there is a reasonable connection between the proposed concept and its image, then the specialist puts the “+” sign, if there is no connection, the “-” sign. The adequacy criterion is characterized by rather high rates of the norm - more than 70%.

2. Recoverability of concepts after a delayed period

To evaluate the patient according to the second criterion, the specialist suggests that after some time he restore the list of proposed concepts according to the pictogram he created. To do this, the list of concepts is closed, and the subject must randomly restore them. This criterion is also quite high, indicators above 80% are considered normal. The pictogram technique for this criterion allows you to determine what role memory plays in the thinking of the subject.

3. Concrete-abstract

Experts evaluate this criterion according to the degree of conformity of the pictogram to the real object. The maximum specific correspondence is estimated at 1 point, the abstract image - at 3 points. In some cases, the images are difficult to attribute to any type. In this case, they receive a score of 2 points. Further, the expert's estimates are added up and the average data is calculated. A value of 2 points is considered the norm.

4. Standardity-originality

Experts also evaluate the originality or standardity of the created pictograms. If different subjects have the same images, then this indicates the mediocrity of the task. Such pictograms are evaluated by the lowest score, equal to 1. Intermediate options are rated at 2 points, for the uniqueness of the pictograms, the subject receives 3 points. A score of 2 is considered normal.