All articles

The ability to recognize emotional states by the expression of the face is part of the group of competencies necessary for the successful implementation of communication activities. Body language, as an important means of communication, is ambiguous in content, which can lead to difficulties in understanding and responding to information (M. Lisina, Kh. Sherjazdanova). The relevance of learning how to recognize emotions in preschool age is related to the high importance of communicative competence for the child’s socialization in kindergarten and preparation for school.

This paper analyzes research on the characteristics and conditions of development of the ability to recognize emotions in childhood. The majority of scientists allocate the following factors: recognition of emotions by facial expression passes a way from the undifferentiated perception of a sign of emotion through allocation of separate elements of mimicry to the integral and generalized perception; there are distinctions in type of perception of emotions of different modalities; ability to recognize emotions depends on experience of child-parent relations and influences personal and social development of the child.

Based on the results of research by A. Shtetinina, E. Listik, M. Kuzmishcheva, J. Russell, D. Lable, R. Thomson, T. Forslund, S. Denham, etc., the hypothesis about the relationship between the two determinants that make the success of the recognition of emotions in preschool age: the development of the proper cognitive means involved in the process and the peculiarities of interpersonal relationships between the child and parents is substantiated. This conclusion is consistent with the provisions of L. Vygotsky, L. Bozhovich, M. Lisina and others on the important role of communication with a close adult for the mental development of the child: the adult acts as a source of various influences, enriches the experience of the child, sets the task of mastering new knowledge, supports and corrects his efforts, as well as acts as a role model for the child.

A child’s ability to manage own activity is a condition of effective learning. The self-regulation of cognitive activity is carried out by means of metacognitive processes: goal-setting; highlighting the conditions of activity; programs of action; self-control. Metacognitive processes can be formal and dialectical according to the contents. Formal regulatory structures define knowledge as a set of unrelated actions aimed at the study of static and isolated properties of object. Dialectic metacognitive structures direct the subject to a comprehensive investigation of object, usage of all available resources, application of the different action programs and the substantial analysis of the achievements. Usage of visual models promotes the development of metacognitive processes in children of preschool age. It is difficult for children to hold the plan of activity and to control achievements due to the nature of their arbitrariness, thinking and memory. Experimental study of 40 children of 4-6 years showed that the visual models are an effective means of regulation of cognitive activity during its realization. The use of such models in the educational activity significantly influences on development of metacognitive processes such as analysis of the conditions of knowledge and programming of actions. Formation of the dialectical notion of cognition and skills to plan a cognitive process is organized by usage of metacognitive conversations. Such work is most effective with children 5–6 years.